Micronet Information Network Policy Document
Last updated 16 November 2025
Written by Sean Dennis, Micronet Zone Coordinator
618:618/1@Micronet -or- zc@minftn.net
=============================================================================
Micronet is meant to be a laid-back, friendly and comfortable mail network
where everyone can feel comfortable.  Unfortunately, over the years, there
have been incidents that require us to define a broad network-wide policy
concerning various topics, including what is expected and not allowed in the
network.

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By carrying Micronet on your system, you agree to abide by the following, so
make sure you read and understand this before you submit your application!
*****************************************************************************

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Micronet's Golden Rules:

  1. Treat others as you want to be treated.

  2. A kind word goes much farther than one said in haste or in anger.

  3. Do not be annoying or excessively annoying.

  4. Remember that this is a hobby and everyone has a life to live outside
     of this hobby.

  5. Do not taunt nor tempt the Iron Fist or Iron Fist Junior.
=============================================================================

SECTION I: General Policies

  1. Your membership in The Micronet Information Network ("Micronet") is a
     privilege, not a right.  Your membership may be revoked at any time, with
     or without reason or notice.  Normally, sufficient time and warning is
     provided to hopefully rectify any situation but if after three warnings,
     your system may be removed from the network immediately (please see
     Section II, Paragraph 6 of this document).

 1A. If you decide you no longer wish to participate in Micronet, please contact
     your hub immediately and ask them to remove you from the network.  If you
     are a member of IBBS League 618, please contact Andrew Leary at 618:100/1
     so he can remove you from his setup.

  2. Andrew Leary, Assistant Zone Coordinator, has full authority over the
     network in the ZC's absence and in normal daily network operations.

     Andrew can be contacted at 618:618/2, 618:100/1, or asstzc@minftn.net.

     If Andrew is unable or unwilling to serve as ZC if the ZC cannot serve,
     the main network hubs shall, as a coordinated group, administrate the
     network until a new ZC is agreed upon by the network.

  3. You are solely responsible for all traffic coming from your BBS and it is
     both expected and required of a Micronet node to prevent any problems
     that could disrupt Micronet in any way.

  4. Micronet is not a "free speech" network meaning that all echoes are
     moderated by the Micronet administration.  We expect everyone to be
     well-mannered in Micronet.  Disagreements happen but we expect that any
     disasgreements will be taken elsewhere, such as netmail.

  5. Absolutely no illegal content is allowed in Micronet in any form.  This
     can include pornography, software cracks for actively developed software,
     "warez" (illegally obtained computer software), personal information
     about someone that was not provided by that person ("doxxing"), or
     anything else the Micronet administration deems as illegal content.  This
     is not an inclusive list and Micronet administration reserves the right
     to determine the legality or the appropriateness of a message.

  6. You can use aliases in all echoes except for MIN_ADMIN and L618_SYS.

  7. Network nodediffs, nodelists, and infopacks are released on a weekly
     basis, normally at 0415 Friday Eastern time (UTC -4/-5 DST).  They
     are hatched out via the MIN_DIFF, MIN_LIST and MIN_INFO filebones,
     published to outpostbbs.net and minftn.net, and are available via
     anonymous FTP, and BinkP FREQ.

     The BinkD-formatted nodelist is published by Andrew Leary at
     618:618/2 immediately after the FTN nodelist is hatched.  It is
     hatched out in MIN_BINKD.

     You can also get the latest infopack, FTN nodelist, BinkD-format 
     nodelist, and nodediff via the following:

          FTP: Anonymous FTP to bbs.outpostbbs.net in
	       /pub/network/micronet/min_diff, min_info, min_bink, or min_list

          Web: http(s)://minftn.net/MINDIFF.ZIP, MININFO.ZIP, MICRONET.ZIP
	       http(s)://outpostbbs.net//MINDIFF.ZIP, MININFO.ZIP, MICRONET.ZIP
	       (URLs are case-sensitive)

         FREQ: FREQ MINDIFF, MININFO, MINLIST, MINBINK at 618:618/1 or
               1:18/200@Fidonet via BinkP.

	  BBS: Log into bbs.outpostbbs.net and press 1 at the main menu to
               download the latest infopack.  All of the files are
               available in their respective file areas.

  8. If you find an error in your nodelist entry, please notify your hub as
     soon as possible.  The correction will be published in the next weekly
     nodelist update.  Please note the ZC and AZC have nothing to do with
     nodelist changes unless it is at a zone level.  If you contact them
     about your local issues, you will be referred back to your hub.

  9. If there are issues with the weekly nodelist, they will be corrected and
     the new corrected nodelist will be published in the next weekly update
     unless a new nodelist is needed to ensure the network's integrity.

 10. You may use ROT-13 encryption in Micronet but any other type of
     encryption, including GPG, is strictly forbidden in all Micronet
     areas.  Micronet not use nor recognize the "ENC" nodelist flag.

 11. UUencoded traffic is allowed in Micronet.  Examples of this would be
     encoding a small executable and putting the UUencoded file into a message
     and posting it in an echo.  Please be mindful of the size of UUencoded
     programs/information in Micronet.  

     The ZC offers UUencoding and UUdecoding utilities for DOS, OS/2, and
     Win32 in UUUTILS.RAR via:

     FREQ: FREQ UUUTILS.RAR from 618:618/1

     FTP: Anonymous FTP to bbs.outpostbbs.net in /pub/local/cheep

     Web: http(s)://outpostbbs.net/cheepware.html

     BBS: Log into bbs.outpostbbs.net.

 12. Sysops are allowed to have multiple node numbers for multiple BBS systems
     they control directly within reason.  If you are a member of Micronet and
     need another node number, please contact your hub.

 13. Any legal questions are bound to follow the laws of the state of
     Tennessee and the federal laws of the United States of America.

 14. If you are a BBS-related software author, we would be happy to provide you
     with your own Micronet echo for support!  Please contact the ZC for more
     information.

 
SECTION II: General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Compliance

    The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU) 2016/679 is a
    regulation in EU law on data protection and privacy for all individuals
    within the European Union and the European Economic Area.  The GDPR aims
    primarily to give control to citizens and residents over their personal
    data.

    It became enforceable on 25 May 2018.  Because the GDPR is a regulation,
    not a directive, it does not require national governments to pass any
    enabling legislation and is directly binding and applicable.

    After May 25, 2018, companies and organizations can only communicate with
    people who have given their explicit consent.

    Every sysop in the past has requested to be listed in the nodelist
    otherwise they would not be a Micronet sysop so the permission of each
    individual sysop in regions within the European Union as well as the EEA
    has already been obtained. Should any of these sysops feel that their
    privacy is compromised by being listed in the nodelist, please get in
    touch with the appropriate hub and either have the entry removed or
    updated.                                            

    As The Micronet Information Network is non-commercial and does not
    compile, store, nor process sensitive information, the bulk of the GDPR
    regulation does not apply to us as a group.

    The Micronet nets affected by GDPR are Net 500 and 520.        

          
SECTION III: Mail/Connection Policies

  1. You can connect to Micronet via a single network feed type.  If you
     are wanting to switch from FTN to QWK, please contact Mike Powell
     at 618:250/1 directly.

  2. Not all network hubs support all mail transfer protocols.  The most
     common protocol for FTN connections is BinkP (BinkD).  Other transfer
     methods may be supported by some systems.

  3. If you cannot connect your system properly within two weeks of your
     Micronet node application being approved and your uplink has not been
     notified by you about problems you may be having with your system,  your
     BBS will be removed from the network.

  4. If you have mail problems, contact your hub first!  If your hub does not
     reply within 48 hours, please contact the ZC or assistant ZC.

  5. If your system will be down for longer than a day, please let your hub
     know immediately.  If your system is unable to toss mail for a week and
     there is no action from you, your system will be marked "down" in the 
     nodelist.  After another week (two weeks total time) with no notice from
     you, your BBS will be removed from Micronet for no activity.  It is
     imperative that you keep in contact with your hub.

  6. Every Micronet hub has the authority to take any action they deem
     necessary to protect their system's and/or Micronet's safety and
     integrity, with or without notice.  This can include immediate feed cuts.

  7. We will try to help you get Micronet set up as much as we can but you
     need to know how to use your BBS software before you join Micronet. 
     Support like this is given on a "best effort" basis by individual
     Micronet systems and is not guaranteed to be provided at all. 

  8. Unless you are a designated hub for any type of network feed, you, as a
     node, CANNOT be a mail feed.  The sole exception to this is feeding an
     approved point system.

  9. All echomail has to be host routed through 618:618/1.  Peering of any
     kind is not allowed.  If I discover that a hub or a node is peering, I
     will issue one warning.  If this continues, they will be immediately
     removed from the network with prejudice.  This is not Fidonet.

 10. Do not strip seen-bys because this relates to peering.  As with 
     paragraph 9, if I discover that seen-bys are being stripped by a node
     or a hub, I will issue one warning.  Again, this is not Fidonet. 

 11. The ZC has the ability to read any and all messages, including netmail,
     that are sent through his BBS.  This is not normally done but if there
     are suspected issues, the ZC reserves the right to read all messages to
     preserve the safety and functioning of his BBS and Micronet in general.

 12. FTN hubs must have a current nodelist compiled for their BBS to ensure
     proper routing of netmail.  It is recommeneded that all FTN nodes keep
     their nodelist in their system up to date to ensure the smooth flow of
     netmail in the network.  Current nodelists are always available from
     the ZC; see Section 1, paragraph 8 of this document.


SECTION IV: Micronet IBBS League 618

  1. The Micronet IBBS League 618 is for FTN-based systems only and is an
     optional part of Micronet.

  2. Andrew Leary (618:100/1) is the network's league coordinator (LC) and
     has full control over the league's operation.  All questions and comments
     about the League should be directed to Andrew directly in L618_SYS.

     Please note thast Andrew has volunteered to run this IBBS league on his
     own for Microner as a favor to us.  Please do not abuse this or pester
     Andrew.  It is expoected that you are competent and know how to work
     with your BBS software to particiopate in the League.

  3. A seperate policy document, available in L618.ZIP, is available for those
     wishing to join IBBS League 618.  You can obtain L618.ZIP via:

	Filebone: in MIN_L618

	    FREQ: FREQ MINL618 from 618:618/1

	     WWW: http(s)://minftn.net/L618.ZIP (case-sensitive)

	     FTP: Anonymous FTP to bbs.outpostbbs.net and look in
		  /pub/network/micronet/min_l618

             BBS: Log into bbs.outpostbbs.net and look in
                  the "Micronet League 618" filearea.


SECTION VI: Miscellaneous

Violations of the above policy can result in disciplinary action which will
depend on the severity of the policy violation, up to and including immediate
feed cuts and removal from Micronet in extreme cases.

The ZC and AZC reserve the right to take any action necessary, with or without
notice or reason, to preserve the safety and functionality of Micronet, at
any time.

If you have any questions about any of the above policies, please contact me
via in MIN_ADMIN, netmail, email, or leave a private message for me on my BBS.
You may also contact Andrew for any questions.

Thank you for your participation in Micronet!

-- Sean Dennis
   Micronet Zone Coordinator

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