How to Become a UWI Node

Document: UWIRULES.001
Document number: 001
Date: 1992-10-14
Creator Node: UWI001
Modifications: Modify 02.25 ("Two ads....")
Subject: General rules and guidelines for UnderWorld Industries nodes
PLEASE CRITICIZE -- OPEN FOR DISCUSSION/COMMENTS. DIRECT TO UWI001.

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"PURPOSE" OF UNDERWORLD INDUSTRIES
"CREATION" OF NEW NODES
SPREAD OF INFORMATION
CONDUCTING BUSINESS

01.00 "PURPOSE" OF UNDERWORLD INDUSTRIES

01.10 Concept:
UnderWorld Industries (UWI) is to serve as a common name and reference for all locations ("nodes") that wish to share information with other UWI nodes. UWI is not a business, corporation, or entity. Each UWI node can be as different as it pleases, as long as it agrees (or at least tries) to adhere to the fundamental "purposes" described below.

01.20 Purpose and expectations:
UWI exists, in simplest terms, to spread information and encourage free thinking. Other than this loose guideline, each UWI node can carry on with its own "business". The rest of this document lays out some guidelines which each UWI will hopefully follow to make the exchange of information somewhat standardized.

01.30 "Politics":
This section is going to touch BRIEFLY on the broad topic of "politics". One should have in mind issues concerning civil rights, freedom of speech/press/etc., discrimination of race/gender/etc./etc., and so on and so on and so on...

01.35 Though UWI would ideally be a "transparent" network, in the real(?) world problems occur. As mentioned above (01.20), UWI is centered around the free thinking. Each node chooses to do WHATEVER it wants, even if it goes against what other nodes believe in. It should be understood that such nodes might not receive cooperation from these other nodes, and, therefore, may find UWI is not useful for them. Hopefully, a "fair" balance between the "do-what-you-want" and the "inalienable-rights-of-all-human-beings" ideals will be, for the most part, maintained.

02.00 "CREATION" OF NEW NODES

02.10 Definition of a node:
A "node" of UWI is simply a person or group of individuals who wishes to be recognized as part of the information exchange system of UWI. To make the exchange of information thorough, each node should register for recognition at the primary UWI node (UWI001). This process is explained below (02.20).

02.15 Nodes shall be refered to (though not necessarily "named") using the convention: UWIxxx, where xxx is an assigned sequential three-digit number. The primary node would be UWI001 and subsequent nodes shall be named as they are recognized. If we ever ever get over 1000 nodes, and any of these conventions are still around, we will worry about the new nodes' naming conventions then!

02.16 To contact the current primary node (UWI001):

UnderWorld Industries; P.O.Box 4060; Ann Arbor, MI 48106-4060 USA
Internet: jon.van.oast@med.umich.edu
Fax: 313.936.1951

02.20 Recognition process:
The minimum required piece of information to "register" as a node is the name of a contact person. Aliases may be used if desired, but the point is, SOMETHING has to be required. Of course, it would be helpful to have some WAY of contacting this individual/group, so more information would be appreciated. Though UWI is not excluded to only individuals with computer network access, an email address is very helpful as it can lend to fast and cheap communication. Some suggested information to send with the request for information is listed below. Other information can be included if it is considered necessary.

02.25 Suggested information to supply includes:

Individual (or group) name -- required, may be alias
Electronic mail address
Standard (paper) mail address
Phone number (incl. fax, etc if desired)
Resources (Possible services that may be available, such as printing contacts, computer services, talents [fiction writer, etc.], areas of expertise, etc. Include anything you MIGHT have to offer to "further the cause". Listing resources does NOT obligate the node to actually providing the resources [see 02.27].)
Two "advertisements" -- one graphic, one text. These are for use by other nodes as they see fit. Since most ads will be put in zines (or other publications where space is often limited), the following size guidelines are suggested: For the GRAPHIC ad, make the ad one inch square or less (preferably .75 inch x .75 inch). This isn't much, so you will have to be creative! Remember, a picture is worth a thousand words. For the TEXT ad, limit to one (short) paragraph. Both ads should just summarize what your node does, and how to get ahold of you. Simplicity is the key. These ads will be made available to other nodes in electronic and/or paper format as needed. Ads from any/all nodes can then be sprinkled throughout publications (or whatever) as each node sees fit. [They make great filler art!]
Other information

02.26 Further recognition (by non-primary nodes):
Any node of UWI has "authority" to recognize and, in a sense, recruit further nodes. Of course, it would be desirable for all information to be routed to UWI001 (or at least somewhere in the information network of UWI). So, feel free to hang out at your favorite club, with your band, or at your secret underground anti-censorship printing press and rightfully state: "I hereby proclaim thee as part of UnderWorld Industries!"

02.27 Availability of information to others:
It should be clear that the information you provide will be distributed to all nodes, as this is the nature of UWI. It must be understood that nothing is expected of anyone, along the lines of contributing time or resources. However, you may be a useful contact to ask if you CAN or WANT to help out with some project. It is this sharing of resources and talents that will hopefully keep UWI alive and active.

03.00 SPREAD OF INFORMATION

03.10 "Official" documents:
Documents such as this one, which will be distributed to all active UWI nodes should be routed through UWI001 and follow (as closely as possible) the guidelines set out below. These guidelines are just suggestions to aid organization and clarity, and are not necessarily required. If the documents are filtered through UWI001 first, they may be cleaned up a bit before general distribution.

03.13 If ever in doubt about what to classify as a "official" document, a good rule of thumb would be: it is official. The only real definition of an "official" document is that it will be passed to all the nodes through the primary one. So, if it can't hurt for all UWI nodes to get your document, make it official. Of course, any node may take it upon itself to distribute documents (in official form or otherwise) to all of the nodes. In fact, this is encouraged, though this method of distribution tends to make retrieval of archive copies (and other aspects of administration) more difficult, hence the guidelines.

03.16 Guidelines to official documents. Hopefully, this document can serve as an example.

Each document shall have a header which includes:
- A document name
- A document number* (which is [hopefully!] unique to that document for the creator node)
  * If a document is significantly altered, it should be given a DIFFERENT document number than the original and be processed as a different document. This should help in identifying out-of-date documents.
- Document date (date of creation or last alteration)
- Name of source node (When there is a need to be specific, the document can be refered to, without ambiguity, as ccc.nnn, where ccc is the node number of the creator, and nnn is the document number. For example, this document can uniquely identified as 001.001.)
- BRIEF list of modifications (if an alteration of a previous doc)
- Brief description of document
Each document shall attempt to be clear and concise as to its goal. Of course, this is open to lots of interpretations. For a document such as this one, for example, hopefully(!) the numerical sub- headings help get some points across more clearly!
Each document should be in a pure text form (or easily converted to such). Acceptable are: ASCII text files (mailed on floppies, available through FTP, etc.), or email. Handwritten, paper output, faxes, PostScript files, and so-on are not as "nice", because they are more difficult to translate to other mediums. These will be accepted if necessary.

03.18 Examples of what might be considered "official" documents include: announcements, requests for information or help, changes in previous information, new information, etc.

03.20 Unofficial documents:
The bulk of the information transmitted thoughout the UWI exchange will be in "unofficial" form. Such documents include: artwork, documents from outside sources, newsletters, fiction, and so on. The transmittion of these documents can be dealt with as required for each document. Of course, any unofficial documents may be routed to all nodes through the primary node, if this is not too difficult (for either the primary node or the sender node), simply by attaching a note to the document requesting "distribution to all nodes". Hopefully, though, it will be just as easy for the UWI nodes to transmit such information as it is for UWI001, so some of the work can be diverted from the primary node!

03.30 Copyrights and credit:
For original documents and articles, the author may choose to retain the rights if so desired. In other words, the information does not become property of UWI or any specific node, etc. Information that is from another source should be noted as such, and complete credit should be given to the extent possible. Individual nodes should decide how to appropriately handle copyright issues of both original and reproduced material.

03.32 No disclaimer is necessary; however, it should be understood that any information is the opinion of the author and not all of UnderWorld Industries. In the case of anonymous publications, the editor or node publishing the document should assume responsibility. The main reason to point all of this out is not to discourage free expression, but rather to try to prevent situations where all of UWI is generalized as having a certain opinion simply because one part of it expressed this opinion. For this reason, the independence of each node should be taken into consideration.

04.00 CONDUCTING BUSINESS

04.10 Reports and paperwork:
In general, there shall be no "paperwork". That is, there shall be no monthly reports or submissions of recent events. Again, the independence of each node should be stressed.

04.20 Keeping track:
Theoretically, upon having been "recognized" (which, in effect, is not even necessary) as a UWI node, there is no requirement that you ever be heard from again. There is no "derecognition", as there is really no "bad" behavior. Of course, there is behavior that may tarnish the image of UWI, but hopefully either this will not happen, or the fact that the nodes are independant will keep the rest of UWI clean.

How to Become a UWI Node

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