Lathender hasn't posted it in a while so I'm gonna repost it weekly if he
doesn;t

He is the FAQ keeper

Dan

alt.binaries.pictures.olsen-twins FAQ
1. ABOUT THE GROUP
a. What is alt.binaries.pictures.olsen-twins?
b. What is the difference with alt.fan.olsen-twins?
c. Why does this group exist?
d. Why do people visit this group?

2. ABOUT THE CONTENT
a. What pictures may I post here?
b. May I posted edited pictures?
c. May I post video or audio clips?
d. May I post text messages?
e. May I cross post?
f. May I post links to websites?

3. MULTIPART MESSAGES
a. How do I combine multipart messages?
b. What's up with all those .rXX files?

4. SAFTEY & HARRASMENT
a. Can I get a computer virus by downloading files from this group?
b. What is a troll?
c. What is flaming?
d. What happens to violators of the FAQ?
e. Who enforces the FAQ?
f. Is this group safe to visit for my child?

5. LAW
a. Is the content in this group legal?
b. How about copyrights?
c. Do the guidelines at mary-kateandashley.com affect this group?

6. CONTACT INFO
a. Where can I contact the Olsen-twins?
b. Where can I contact the FAQ keeper of this group?


1. ABOUT THE GROUP

a. What is alt.binaries.pictures.olsen-twins?
alt.binaries.pictures.olsen-twins (abpot for short) is a binaries newsgroup
on the usenet based on the Olsen-twins, Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen
(actresses/producers/fashion designers, born on Friday June 13 1986,
official site: http://www.mary-kateandashley.com (Who's computer is this?) ). The group is meant as a
gathering place for fans and allows them to share pictures and other files
about Mary-Kate and Ashley. The twins' main production company is Dualstar.
Some rules do apply to the group though, and those are clarified in this
FAQ. Whenever the FAQ speaks of "absolute off topic", it means the following
subjects:

- Nudity and pornography in any form and in any shape.
- Racism, nazi, KKK and similar hate-promoting material.
- Violence, guides to violence and guides to terrorism (e.g.: instructions
on how to make explosives)
- Extreme rude and adult language.
- Digital attacks such as viruses, Trojans and worms.
- Trolling.
- Commercial advertisements and spam which do not directly relate to
Dualstar and/or Olsen-twins products.
- Religion and politics unless it clearly focuses on Dualstar and/or the
Olsen-twins (as such topics are likely to start flame-wars).
- Drugs, unless it would be a plot in one of the productions of the
Olsen-twins.

Things which are absolute off topic will under no circumstances be allowed
in the newsgroup. Falsely pretending to be one of the twins, their family or
a close friend is also not allowed.

b. What is the difference with alt.fan.olsen-twins?
The only difference between the two newsgroups is that this group allows the
posting of binary attachment files and alt.fan.olsen-twins (afot) does not.
abpot is in general also more active than afot.

c. Why does this group exist?
Because fans wished to share pictures and such of the Olsen-twins and
couldn't do so in afot. For that reason abpot was created and it has taken
over most functions of afot now.

d. Why do people visit this group?
There can be several reasons why people watch this group. The primary reason
would be because they are fans of Mary-Kate and Ashley and their work. It is
also known that some people visit the group because they are attracted in
other ways to the Olsen-twins.
No matter what reason you have to visit the group, as long as you stay
within the rules of the FAQ, you are welcome.


2. ABOUT THE CONTENT

a. What pictures may I post here?
All unedited and unmodified pictures on the following subjects may be
posted.

- Pictures of Mary-Kate and/or Ashley.
- Pictures of other family members of the Olsen-twins.
- Pictures of movies of Mary-Kate and/or Ashley, with or without Mary-Kate
and/or Ashley in the picture.
- Pictures of Mary-Kate and Ashley's fashion line, even when modeled by
someone else than Mary-Kate and/or Ashley.
- Pictures of productions produced by, but not starring, Mary-Kate and
Ashley.

b. May I post edited pictures?
Yes, provided they are not absolute off topic. So you may post a wallpaper
collage of Mary-Kate and Ashley pictures and you may post an edited picture
which makes one of the Olsen-twins look like a Star Trek character, but you
may not post pictures with:

- The head of one or both of the twins pasted on a partially or completely
nude body.
- Partially or completely nude body parts pasted on pictures of Mary-Kate
and/or Ashley or other people.
- Modifications so that Mary-Kate and/or Ashley are in a sexually suggestive
position, even with clothes on.
- Symbols of racism and hate edited in it.
- Text balloons with rude or adult language in it.
- Absolute off topic content.

This list is not limited, each modified picture is subject to review and
will be judged by the rules of the FAQ.

The following modifications are always allowed in the group, but before
making such modifications, make sure that the original poster of the
pictures does not mind that you modify them:

- Adjustments in color, balance, saturation, brightness, contrast, levels
and gamma.
- Resizing.
- File format conversions.
- Sharpening and blurring.
Fake nude pictures of Mary-Kate and/or Ashley (and anyone else actually) are
under no circumstances allowed. It's not only very disrespectful, it's also
illegal. In 1998, actress Alyssa Milano successfully claimed money from
people who posted fake nude pictures of her on the internet. For more
details, see http://www.courttv.com/people/1998/1223/milano_ap.html (Who's computer is this?) . Next
to that, it can also be a request for or distribution of child pornography
for which severe jail times can be given.
Should you ever encounter such an edited picture, then you should not only
take the appropriate actions against the poster (see question 4e) but you
should also delete anything you might have downloaded from your computer, as
possession of such images is immoral and illegal.

c. May I post video or audio clips?
Yes. The same rules apply as for pictures and edited pictures. There is no
limit in the size of files you may post, but when people start to complain
that you are flooding, please take things easy then. About 100 MB per day
seems like a reasonable amount, but it is not really a rule since most
servers determine their retention rate in an amount of time instead of file
size.

d. May I post text messages?
Yes, as long as they are not absolute off topic.

e. May I cross post?
Yes, but there are certain rules. First of all, you may not cross post to
groups which are about absolute off topic subjects and/or have such subjects
in their name. You must also make sure that the groups you are cross posting
to don't mind that you cross post that message to abpot and their group.
Cross posting non-binary messages to afot is always allowed.

f. May I post links to websites?
Yes, as long they are websites that are about Mary-Kate and/or Ashley and/or
their products and as long as the sites are not absolute off topic.


3. MULTIPART MESSAGES

a. How do I combine multipart messages?
It really depends on what news reader you use. Most readers have some option
to join messages or just treat a multipart message as one single message. In
all cases it is important that you download all parts of the message.
Multipart messages always contain big attachments. These can be huge
pictures, audio or video clips. They can be recognized by a subject which
ends with (X/Y) in which X is the part of that message and Y is the total
number of messages. So (5/8) means that it is message 5 of 8 messages which
contain one attachment.

b. What's up with all those .rXX files?
.rXX files (XX is a number) are part of a split up rar-archive. This is a
popular way to split huge files into smaller parts so that they can be
posted easier. All .rXX files should come with a .rar file with the same
filename.
To open a file in such an archive you need to do the following things.

- Download and install winrar (http://www.winrar.com (Who's computer is this?) ).
- Download all .rXX files and the .rar file with the same filename.
- Double click the .rar file in windows explorer and drag/drop all files in
the .rar to the directory where you wish to save them.
- When asked, click on "process all files in all volumes from the current".
- You can now open the file normally.


4. SAFTY & HARRASMENT

a. Can I get a computer virus by downloading files from this group?
It depends on what files you download. A picture, video clip or audio file
which is not compressed into a self executing extracting program should be
virus free. In general you can say that most file formats posted in abpot
(.jpg .jpeg .avi .rm .mp3 .gif) can not contain any viruses. Should you
encounter a file in the newsgroup which has a .exe or .vbs extension, then
it more than likely contains a virus or trojan (a file that allows other
people to access your computer).
When you are on the internet, you should always have a virus scanner and
firewall installed.

b. What is a troll?
A troll is someone who posts messages with the sole purpose to get
attention. This is often done by making the regulars of a newsgroup mad by
insulting the subject of the newsgroup or the regulars of the group. In the
case of abpot, that would mean a direct and rude verbal and/or visual attack
on Mary-Kate and/or Ashley or the people in abpot. Such behavior is called
trolling, and those who practice it are trolls.

c. What is flaming?
Flaming is nothing else than insulting someone on the internet. It may
happen for any reason. Trolls often engage in flaming, and usually they are
flamed as a response.

d. What happens to violators of the FAQ?
Abpot uses the guideline that you shouldn't play if you don't know the
rules. Everyone in abpot is assumed to know its FAQ, just as everyone in a
country is assumed to know its law.
People who violate the FAQ will be reported to their server. The server may
then take action against such people, or give them a warning. In most cases
someone gets several warnings. If he still keeps offending, his Internet Pro
vider will deny him access to the internet.
If people post edited or unedited forms of child pornography they will also
be reported to the legal authorities, which might prosecute him. Such
actions of distribution often result in long times in jail.

e. Who enforces the FAQ?
Although I am the FAQ-keeper and I will go to great length to enforce the
FAQ, it is always possible that I miss a message. Also, the more people who
enforce the FAQ correctly, the stronger the FAQ is.
Whenever you encounter a violation of the FAQ, you should send a message to
the server of the offender. The e-mail address you should use is often
abuse@server.counrty.
In your e-mail you should include the following things:

- The full headers of the offending message.
- The reason why you think the message is offending.
- The link to the FAQ or a quote from the part of the FAQ that has been
violated.

If you are not sure what to do, send me an e-mail (see question 6b) and tell
me which message you find offending. I will then take action.
If you find an offending message, please do not reply to it. If it is a
troll, you are only encouraging him to offend more. I will reply with a
message saying that his actions are unwanted in the group and why. If there
are a lot of replies however, it all might seem like a flame-war, and people
who do have the power to delete the offending message will be less likely to
take action if there is a flame-war, because they don't pick sides.

Please note: The usenet is not a message board! I have no power to delete
offending messages, I can only report them to the correct people. It is up
to them what happens next.

f. Is this group safe for my child to visit?
Among the fans of Mary-Kate and Ashley are quite a few children. This group
might seem appealing to them. However, this group is part of the internet,
in fact it is part of the usenet.
The internet isn't the safest place for a child and the usenet is together
with IRC the roughest area on the internet.
Of course, every parent makes his own choices, but I would recommend the
following safety lines:

- Review the group first, and delete all material you don't wish your child
to see.
- Then view the group together with your child, and always do so together.
- Never let your child post any information such as: real name, home
address, e-mail address or phone number.

An even safer way to let your child have access to the pictures and videos
posted in this group is downloading them yourself and then show them to your
child, without telling where you found them.
Although the group works hard to be clean, there are always trolls,
FAQ-violators and lurkers (people who do read, but don't post). It is
therefore not possible to be a group which is totally safe. Safety measures
should always be taken, on any place on the internet.


5. LAW

a. Is the content in this group legal?
It is the usenet and anyone can post anything everywhere he likes. The
content which is allowed by this FAQ is, also considering the works of the
Olsen-twins, in all cases legal in all western countries.
Messages which are (absolute) off topic can be illegal in some or all
countries. But action will be taken against those messages anyway.

b. How about copyrights?
It might be possible that certain posts in the group are a violation of
copyrights. This does not always have to be the case. Everyone is
responsible for his own posts.

c. Do the guidelines at mary-kateandashley.com affect this group?
I can not guarantee that it won't, but it is very unlikely. First of all; it
is nearly impossible to destroy a newsgroup once it has been created. It can
be taken off several or lots of servers, but to destroy it complete is an
extremely difficult job as each server should remove it.
It might be possible that managers or lawyers of Dualstar would send
individual warnings to people who post pictures of the twins. Should they do
this, then they are doing something which isn't very smart. Should you ever
get a warning from the managers or lawyers of the twins (or their lawyers)
that you are not allowed to post pictures of the twins in this group, then
you should let the group know, and you should tell them why it's not smart
what they are doing.
If we are restricted (by threats of legal consequences) we might no longer
have fun at posting, and we'll stop posting or postings will become at a
minimum rating. The group will get empty. But as I said, a group can not be
destroyed completely. We had experience of spammers who posted
adult-oriented material, but they are being dealt with.
Should the group get empty, then it might (like many empty groups) become a
trash-can for adult oriented spamming and porn. Actions against such post
can hardly be taken then, as the group is empty and this FAQ becomes void.
So should Dualstar forbid or restrict us in our postings, then the group is
likely to become a trash can for adult material, and Dualstar will not like
this, because their product name "Olsen-twins" will be the key to all this
trash.



6. CONTACT INFO

a. Where can I contact the Olsen-twins?
I cannot and will not answer that question. I don't think anyone in the
group can, will or should do so. You can find their official site at
www.mary-kateandashley.com

b. Where can I contact the FAQ keeper of abpot?
You can e-mail me (Lathander) for any questions and comments about the group
or FAQ at: abpot@sunriseolsensurprise.nl
For technical questions you can e-mail APCyberax at :
olsen_newsgroup_help@yahoo.co.uk
___________________________________________________________________
The Nexus BBS - telnet://bbs.nexusbbs.com - http://www.nexusbbs.com (Who's computer is this?)