The 313 List is not moderated. That would mean me, or some other poor schlemiel, reading every message and deciding whether it's appropriate for the list.
The 313 list has 2 administrators, Matt and I. My main responsibility is looking at subscription requests and approving them, and occasionally I look at the admin mailbox on hyperreal and tell people whose messages bounced why they bounced. As admins, we reserve the right to step into discussions that for one reason or another have gone over the line. What is over the line? Well, since we own the microphone, we decide. Lucky for us (and for you) 99% of the discussions on 313 can run their courses without us getting involved. Neither Matt or I want to get involved with arbitrating disputes or threatening people. We're on 313 as readers and occasional contributors, we didn't sign up to be cops. I only stepped in today because things were going down a worse than useless path -- people complaining about off topic posts, people arguing with people complaining about off topic posts. That sort of thing is completely pointless, and makes for more smoke (as opposed to light) on the list than just letting discussions run their course. Maybe I should have let it slide, but hey, this isn't an exact art. Detroit Techno isn't a completely self-contained thing, so even trying to define off topic, err, definitively, is difficult. Consequently, I'm probably never going to try and kill a discussion thread, unless I get complaints, and even then I'd either let the thread die on it's own or make a suggestion to parties involved off list to maybe STFU already. Similarly, someone would have to be a complete sh*t to get banned -- make racist or homophobic comments, make threats, try to take over the list with flame-baiting, etc. So no fear, my little Vikings, nothing on 313 has changed. Just play nice, respect others, and put the lid back on the paste jar when you're done. All will be well.
