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Re: Removal of my name

  • From: Don Welch, Merit Network
  • Date: Wed Sep 20 14:06:26 2006
Title: Standard Signature
NANOG Community,
The issue of altering the NANOG Archive has come up and I wish to present Merit's position on the matter. 

The NANOG Acceptable Use Policy as it currently stands includes the following:

1. Discussion will focus on Internet operational and technical issues as described in the charter of NANOG.
2. Postings of issues inconsistent with the charter are prohibited.
:
4. Postings that include foul language, character assassination, and lack of respect for other participants are prohibited.
:

The part of the post in dispute is not operational or technical and clearly shows a lack of respect for a participant.  The subject of the post and not the poster requested that we remove his name from the post in the Archive.  Merit has decided to replace the subject's name with "NAME REMOVED".  Since this post was not allowed, we believe that we are correcting our mistake in a way that we think has the least impact on the integrity of the archive.  We are not removing the post itself.  The poster's name and the rest of the text are intact.  The topic of the post is still clear even though the individual targeted is not.  Operational or technical content was not modified.

We have considered a number of things in making this decision including: the age of the post, the reason for the request and Merit's legal exposure.  We let the Steering Committee know what we were doing.  If you disagree, do not blame the Steering Committee although we consulted with the Steering Committee, it was my decision.

This issue has been helpful in that it pointed out some shortcomings in our policies and notification mechanism.  We are working with the Steering Committee to address those now. 

We are not removing a thoughtless post at the request of the poster and do not anticipate doing so in the future.

This issue is unique and does not represent a blanket policy.  Any request to modify the archive is a serious issue that requires consultation with the Steering Committee and must be balanced against the loss of archive integrity.

See you at NANOG 38!

Cheers,
Don
--
Donald J. Welch, Ph.D.
President & CEO
Merit Network, Inc.
734-764-8450
1000 Oakbrook Drive
Ann Arbor, MI 48104