Some Netiquette Tips
Last month we discussed a little about Netiquette - how to be polite while communicating in e-mail, chat rooms and newsgroups. We'd like all our members to understand what Netiquette is so you can confidently navigate throughout the Internet with an understanding of the customs of on-line communication. This is especially important when you have access to newsgroups, which may well be the "Jungle of the Internet." Certainly no one can enforce Netiquette, and you just might find some rude and offensive people. There's a newsgroup for every topic under the sun, and if you feel a topic is not for you, just search for another newsgroup. The Internet has its roots in alternative thought, and there's plenty of room for everyone.

Deliberately sending harassing messages, however, is not acceptable. While everyone in cyberspace is entitled to his or her opinion, however unpopular, abuse cannot be tolerated. Abuse includes sending sexually explicit or violent images to people you don't know or who don't want them, discussing offensive topics in chat rooms where it is not appropriate, pretending to be an official, or sending hateful or threatening mail. If severe enough, WebTV Networks, Inc. will contact customers who are abusing their access to the Internet. If the behavior continues, their accounts will be permanently terminated.

Chat rooms are a special case. The owners of the chat rooms may often not only ban rude or offensive individuals, but the whole domain that the offender is associated with. That means that if one WebTV Networks customer is banned from a chat room, all WebTV users could be!

Remember, too, that the WebTV Network is not the Internet itself, but rather your access to the Internet, so we don't really have control over what you may encounter. If a particular chat line or newsgroup is discussing something you don't enjoy, it's best to just avoid it. If a particular person is being offensive in a chat room, contact the host of that chat room. If you are receiving harassing e-mail, please contact WeCare@webtv.net, and the Internet Access Provider of the offender, if known.

And now for the fun stuff!

This Month's Smileys!

(Also know as ASCII art!)

And Now Some Acronyms

ASCII	American Standard Code for Information Interchange (the standard text used for E-mail - pronounced "Askee")
F2F	Face to Face
FWIW	For What its Worth
IMAO	In My Arrogant Opinion
IME	In My Experience
IRL	In Real Life
MOTOS	Member of the Opposite Sex
LHO	Laughing Head Off
ROTFL	Rolling on the Floor Laughing

For Emphasis: Since you can't use bold letters or italics with ASCII, to emphasize a word use *stars* or _underlines_. For example: