[arin-ppml] Interpretation Question -- ARIN Code of Conduct

[John Curran]

Ronald - 

I would suggest that all posters strive to treat another with civility, courtesy and respect, as postings to ARIN’s mailing lists are expected to comply with ARIN Mailing List AUP <https://www.arin.net/participate/community/mailing_lists/aup/> and ARIN Participants Expected Standards of Behavior <https://www.arin.net/about/corporate/standards/> 

With regard to the particular scope of the term “harassment”, it is quite broad.  In short, if party feels that their ability to participate in an ARIN mailing list is hindered by posts whose intention appears to be threatening, demeaning, intimidating, bullying, or other similar behavior, they should report the violation to ARIN’s Mailing List Acceptable Use Policy Committee via "mlc at arin.net”  (noting the mailing list name, date of post, time of post, name of poster and subject header, and a reference to the reason why it is believed to violate the Standards of Behavior or the ARIN Mailing List AUP.) 

Reports of violations are evaluated by the Mailing List AUP Committee (<https://www.arin.net/about/welcome/board/committees/#mailing-list-acceptable-use-policy-committee>) for possible action, as ARIN reserves the right to maintain order and decorum on the mailing lists it manages, to include imposing disciplinary actions on individual mailing list subscribers.

Thanks,
/John

John Curran
President and CEO
American Registry for Internet Numbers


> On 24 Jun 2022, at 1:12 AM, Ronald F. Guilmette <rfg at tristatelogic.com> wrote:
> 
> My apologies for interrupting ongoing discusions of pending policy proposals,
> but I have reason at the moment to seek views regarding people's
> interpretations of the word "harassment" as used repeatedly within the
> ARIN Code of Conduct.
> 
> I should begin by saying that my sudden interest in this topic has been
> piqued by recent events on one particular mailing list of a different
> Regional Internet Registry (i.e. not ARIN).
> 
> My hope and belief is that "harassment" as used within the ARIN Code of
> Conduct is sufficiently broad in its practical interpretation to cover
> any and all manner of threats against any and all participants in the
> ARIN community, including but not limited to threats of bodily harm,
> threats of doxxing, threats to reveal personal information of any kind
> which might possibly be damaging in any way to the party being threatened,
> and threats of legal action, whether well founded or otherwise.
> 
> I have a particular interest in that final category of threat at the present
> time, but really, because of the inherent ambiguity of the rather broad
> brush term "harassment" I'd like to know if others here feel as I do that
> any type of interpersonal threat should have no place in othewise civilized
> discussions in or on any mailing list belonging to any Regional Internet
> Registry.
> 
> I shall of course, be perusing the Codes of Conduct for all five RIRs to
> try to ascertain what each might have to say on this subject, if anything,
> although I'm sure that many, including myself, would have hoped that it
> would have been implicitly clear to all, globally, even without any formal
> codification, that threats are not exactly conducive to cooperation toward
> shared goals, let alone any communal sense of esprit de corps.
> 
> 
> Regards,
> rfg
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