Good whatever day it is where you are to you all! I’m just writing to let you know of a couple of major changes to list policy within the Techno-Chat forum.
In the past, largely at Lynne’s insistance, it has been contrary to list policy for this group to have members advertise technology-related items with which they may wish to part, or items for which they are searching, to this group. However, now that Lynne is, I’m sorry to say, no longer around to assist with the administration of the group, and after speaking with a couple of members off list, I have decided that the advertising of technology-related equipment/items for sale or swap is something which wouldn’t do the group any harm, and could provide a very worthwhile service. Therefore, I have decided on the following amendment to group policy: • Members may post notices of items of technology-related nature which they wish to sell for a nominal sum, give away for free in order to find a good home for equipment, or swap in the search for other items of equipment. Important note: • When selling items, it must be on a strictly non-profit basis. We’re not a replacement for a shopping mall and it would be against the spirit of the group were members profiting by such transactions. • Group members may also post notices if they are looking for specific items of technology-related equipment. Once contact is established between two parties regarding a specific item, it would probably be better if the transactions took place via private communications. This would circumvent the possibility of a member’s confidential information being spread around in a public forum. Distributing such data would be a direct contravention of the General Data Protection legislation which, owing to the location of the group’s hub, we are subject to. I believe that other countries, such as the US, Canada and Australia, also have similar legislation. We’ll give this a whirl and see how it goes. Should it prove to be in any. Way detrimental to the group as a whole, or should members encounter and report difficulties in dealing with other group members after responding to such a notice being placed in this group, I reserve the right to curtail the activities of this group related to the distribution of hardware. Note: • Software should not b a part of this service, if it is licensed too, or registered to, the current owner. That, again, would contravene legal mandates internationally. There are, however, a few exceptions to this. For example, if a laptop or notebook machine is involved, the software should really be restored to purchase status. That way, the operating system I.E. Windows 10, would then be licenced to the owner of the machine. Change #2: Until now, it has kind of evolved that this group contains only members who have a visual impairment, and/or other sensory impairments. I feel that this policy should be relaxed, as one of the list’s functions was originally intended to promote the interaction by sensory-impaired people within the main stream of technologies. Now that accessibility is a big part of many main stream solutions, I feel that it would spice up the group if we were to open the doors to non-disabled people as well as disabled. Pertainant to the first change, I also intend for this policy to apply on our sister group, Mac Access. I shall announce the change there shortly as well. Thanks for your attention and, of course, if you have any comment regarding the above, please do feel free to let us know. Some short term debate or discussion amongst members could prove a worthwhile exercise. But I urge everybody not to allow any differences of opinion to become a heated discussion. Let’s approach this in a mature and constructive manner. Gordon
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