California UseNet Project - Posted Opinions

Proposed charter for ca.forsale

Newsgroups: ca.news.group,ca.forsale
From: ikluft@thunder.sbay.org (Ian Kluft)
Subject: Proposed charter for ca.forsale
Distribution: ca
Message-ID: <Dyy9wK.BCv@thunder.sbay.org>
Organization: sbay.org - South Bay/Silicon Valley Community Network
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 09:19:31 GMT

                         CHARTER FOR CA.FORSALE
                                    
This is a proposed charter for ca.forsale. Please post comments and
suggestions in ca.news.group and ca.forsale. This does not currently
deal with net abuse - upcoming policy discussions in ca.news.group
will deal with that and then the result of the discussion will be
added to all the charters.

This and previous announcements of the California UseNet Project are
also on the Web at http://www.sbay.org/ca/
  _________________________________________________________________

ca.forsale is for posting items for sale in California only.
Acceptable topics for ca.forsale include
  * offers of sale/barter/giveaway of goods/services
  * notices of auction
    
The following items do not belong in ca.forsale. Use ca.wanted
instead.
  * desire to purchase/barter goods/services
  * inquiries about the existence or location of goods/services
    
Articles posted in ca.forsale should be one-time announcements, not
recurring solicitations. Recurring ads should be on web pages - then
make a one-time announcement about the location of the page. However,
it is OK to post an article about the same item up to once a month
while it remains unsold, as long as the re-posting is temporary.
Articles for the same item should be posted no more often than every 4
weeks because local news sites tend to keep local news articles longer
than mainstream (and higher-traffic) UseNet groups. (Also, readers
have good memories and don't want to see the same article repeated.)

Articles and the items they discuss must have a direct tie to
California. In particular, this requires that the item is
  * relatively immobile/unshippable (couches, cars, grand pianos),
  * located exclusively in California (apartments, real estate),
  * of particular interest to area residents or visitors (books such
    as "Yet Another Vacation Guide to California"),
  * the seller does not want to deal with shipping out of area
    (perhaps preferring to deal face-to-face),
  * mobile but more convenient to sell nearby (vehicles, boats,
    aircraft), or
  * for anything else, it must be for sale from and to California.
    
If the item does not meet these requirements, it does not matter if
the poster thinks that people in California might be interested. One
person posting from outside the area may not see how their article
adds up, but the non-local articles do add up to make it difficult or
impossible for local readers to find local articles.

As with the rest of the ca.* newsgroups, ca.forsale is specific to
California and is not appropriate for articles that can fit for larger
or smaller distributions. For example, the following newsgroups may be
better choices depending on your circumstances.
  * Items to be posted for sale nationwide may be appropriate for
    us.forsale.
  * For a worldwide distribution, misc.forsale.* may include a more
    appropriate newsgroup.
  * In Los Angeles and Southern California, la.forsale may be a better
    choice.
  * In the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California,
    ba.forsale.* may include a more appropriate newsgroup.
  * In the San Diego area, sdnet.forsale may be better.
  * In the San Jose/South Bay/Silicon Valley area, sbay.forsale may be
    a better choice.
  * Or ask your site news admin if your city or county has a regional
    newsgroup hierarchy.
    
Always check for charters and/or guidelines before posting in any
newsgroup. Do not cross-post to regional newsgroups for areas you are
not in or near. Do not use more than the minimum number of newsgroups
necessary. If one newsgroup fits best, use only that newsgroup. 

[Idea credits: this borrows from the charters of dc.forsale and
sbay.forsale.]

Newsgroups file entry:

ca.forsale              Items for sale in California. (regional articles only)

Rules in common among all the ca.* newsgroups:

The ca.* newsgroups are only for discussion of subjects related to
California. They were made for residents of California and others
interested in California. They are intended for topics directly
relevant to residents of California. The general policy is that any
topic not at least partly related to California is considered
off-topic, though the specific newsgroup charters may list exceptions.
-- 
Ian Kluft  KO6YQ PP-ASEL  http://www.kluft.com/~ikluft/   sbay.org coordinator
ikluft@thunder.sbay.org (home)  ikluft@cisco.com (work)           San Jose, CA