Whenever a bunch of highly motivated, intelligent, and opinionated people assemble for any reason, it's a good idea to have some basic rules to enable us to keep things in line. For this reason, the following List Guidelines have been adopted:

The sending of any unsolicited email advertising messages to our mail servers will result in the imposition of civil liability against you in accordance with Cal. Bus. & Prof. Code Section 17538.45.

Ten Commandments of Netiquette submitted by an anonymous member -ed.

1. Please restrict your posts to the discussion of insulin pumps in the treatment of diabetes. This may also include general discussion of diabetes and related matters.

2. Please remember that it is in the nature of diabetes that what works for one person may not work for another. In Internet parlance, "your mileage may vary," or YMMV.

3. Be accurate with the information you provide. Cite your sources when you quote them. Make it clear when you offer a personal opinion.

4. Give blood glucose levels (bg's) in mg/dL (US lists)

5. Be polite and respectful.

6. Religion and politics are not suitable topics for discussion EXCEPT for the "Spirit" mail list where they may be discussed.

7. Advertisements are not allowed.

1. Give your post a litmus test. Ask yourself, "Would I say this to the person's face?" Be honest. Then ask, "How would I react if this post was addressed to me?" It may be that you need to rewrite and reread. Remember, when you are facing a computer screen, it's easy to forget that you are communicating with real people with feelings similar to your own. Send messages that you would not be embarassed to say to a person's face.

2. Choose your words carefully. With written words, you are unable to use gestures and facial expressions to help convey your meaning. It is easy for readers to misinterpret your message. Use "emoticons" to help express yourself. These are the "smileys" such as :) or ;) or :( etc. Do not use offensive language. Remember, all posts are part of the list archives. Don't send a message that you would not want someone to see months down the road.

3. If you are new to the list, checking out the FAQ's and the archives may give you the answer you are seeking much faster than posting to the list. If you don't find the answer, go ahead and post.

4. Use specific subject lines to help others determine if it is a topic they might be able to contribute to. When responding from the digest or browser, change the subject line to reflect the nature of your post.

5. Try not to add posts that don't contribute to the discussion.

6. Refrain from one line "me too" and "atta boy/girl" messages. With many hundreds of members, the added "non-content" mail volume contributes to e-mail fatigue as well as increasing the number and size of the digests.

7. Remember that not everyone has unlimited internet access at a flat rate and a fast modem. When you send a post to the list, it takes up bandwidth which translates into taking up another person's time and money. Make sure your post adds value to the group. And limit signature lines. Insulin Pumpers appreciates it if you keep your signature line to 1 or 2 lines at most. With 100 or more posts a day, multiple signature lines on lots of posts results in longer download times and higher access charges for some members. It also adds considerable volume to the text that digest subscribers must scroll through to find the real messages. Your email program may allow you to use different signatures, please shorten or eliminate your signature for posts to the Insulin Pumpers' lists.

8. Make SURE you turn HTML off in your mailer, it turns into garbage in the digest and in many people's mail programs. If you need assistance doing this, contact HELP@insulin-pumpers.org.

9. Be courteous and also try to keep your responses as short as possible. Try not to copy the entire message that you are responding to. <snip> the portions that are not relevant to your response. Snipping is very easy to do and helps keep the list volume manageable.

10. Don't post in ALL CAPS, it is the same as shouting, and is considered impolite.

11. Spamming is strictly prohibited on the Insulin-Pumpers list. Do not send chain letters, get rich quick schemes, or other spam mail to the list. Your privileges will be revoked. The goal of Insulin-Pumpers is to provide a resource to help us maintain, improve, and enhance our lives as people living with diabetes. Anything that goes against this common goal is not allowed on the list.

12. Mining of the mail list for e-mail addresses or redirection of list messages to other forums is prohibited without express permission.

13. Flaming will not be tolerated. "Flaming" is what people do when they make an emotionally opinionated comment using language intended to be confrontational. For this list, flaming is defined as personal attacks and/or criticism of another list member that have the effect of holding another person up to harsh ridicule, demeaning them as a person, or otherwise inflicting hostility or anger on them. What one person may understand to be friendly kidding, another may perceive as hostile flaming. To help control the flaming impulse, remember:
    • everyone has an opinion, a life, and a value; don't try to demean that
    • be kind and think twice before responding; sometimes the most appropriate response is a nicely worded private e-mail instead of posting to the list
    • flaming helps no one, not even yourself; remember you may be losing the respect of hundreds of people you have never even seen before
    • repeated flaming offenses will result in your list membership being revoked.

14. Don't post on off-topic issues. Don't post on religious issues unless it is on the Spirit List. The Spirit list is for the discussion of Diabetes and Spirituality. Because this topic is potentially divisive, it is not allowed on the regular lists since commonly the discussions diverge or are considered off-topic. The Spirit mail list considers these matters to be on-topic.

15. Because IP is a non-profit organization, the sale of any item, including pumping equipment and supplies, is not allowed on the list. Members who have unwanted items are encouraged to donate them to Insulin Pumpers or to another organization that benefits people with diabetes and has a distribution network for those items. Receipts for tax purposes will be provided.

    The address for donating excess equipment and supplies to IP is:

    Insulin Pumpers
    558 Valley Way
    Milpitas, CA 95035.

16. Please do not solicit members for donations, including those for diabetes or other types of medical causes. IP has a large membership list with many of the members involved in fund-raising efforts, which can result in a sizeable number of people making such requests.