California UseNet Project - Posted Opinions

Proposed charter for ca.wanted

Newsgroups: ca.news.group,ca.wanted
From: ikluft@thunder.sbay.org (Ian Kluft)
Subject: Proposed charter for ca.wanted
Distribution: ca
Message-ID: <Dyy9yI.BIH@thunder.sbay.org>
Organization: sbay.org - South Bay/Silicon Valley Community Network
Date: Tue, 8 Oct 1996 09:20:41 GMT

                          CHARTER FOR CA.WANTED
                                    
This is a proposed charter for ca.wanted. Please post comments and
suggestions in ca.news.group and ca.wanted. 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.wanted is for posting items wanted in California only. Acceptable
topics for ca.wanted include
  * desire to purchase/barter goods/services
  * inquiries about the existence or location of goods/services
    
The following items do not belong in ca.wanted. Use ca.forsale
instead.
  * offers of sale/barter/giveaway of goods/services
  * notices of auction
    
Articles posted in ca.wanted should be one-time or limited-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 the need remains, 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, 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 buyer does not want to buy from out of area (perhaps
    preferring to deal face-to-face),
  * mobile but more convenient to acquire nearby (vehicles, boats,
    aircraft), or
  * for anything else, it must be sought from and requested within
    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.wanted 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.
  * For a nationwide or worldwide distribution, misc.wanted may be a
    more appropriate newsgroup.
  * In Los Angeles and Southern California, la.wanted may be a better
    choice.
  * In the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California,
    ba.forsale.* may include a more appropriate newsgroup. (There is
    no *.wanted newsgroup in the ba.* hierarchy.)
  * In the San Diego area, sdnet.wanted may be better.
  * In the San Jose/South Bay/Silicon Valley area, sbay.forsale may be
    a better choice. (There is no *.wanted newsgroup in the sbay.*
    hierarchy.)
  * Or ask your site news admin if your city or county has a regional
    newsgroup hierarchy.
  * When looking for an item, Californians should also read the
    forsale newsgroup for your local area first, then try ca.forsale,
    us.forsale, and misc.forsale.*.
    
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.wanted               Items wanted 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