The Alliance Discussion List(hereafter the list), in order to operate effectively, requires that contributors to the list have confidence that what they say on the list will not be repeated in public fora. The list is a useful place for floating ideas that are yet very tentative, or for frank discussion between party members which we would not necessarily wish to see aired in public. To this end, the list has no public archive. This also requires

Forwarding messages from the list to non-list members is therefore prohibited unless two conditions have been satisfied:

1. Prior permission has been sought and expressly obtained from all those who are quoted in the message to be forwarded. Yes, this means checking the message for secondary quotes and chasing up people’s e-mail addresses if you don’t know them, and waiting until all have given permission.
2. Permission from the moderator of the list (currently Gerry Lynch) has been sought and obtained.

An accidental and innocuous violation of this charter will result in a warning the first time it occurs, and removal from the list for a second violation. A deliberate violation and/or one which could cause damage to the Alliance Party will result in immediate removal from the list.

This charter does not cover such ‘chain e-mail’ jokes as might be posted to the list.