Intro
Firstly, Zotalk IRC Network was established in 23rd December 2005. Running an
IRC network has been quite a learning experience for 
us (the founders & net-admins). As always we strive to make our network a
friendly, welcome, unique, and attractive place for everyone. A great deal of
team work and time is put into the development, growth, and
advancement of our network. In the past, we have had to deal with a number of
problems, thus forcing us to create new regulations that everyone may not
agree with. Zotalk IRC Network does not deal with the affairs or structure
of government or politics or the state; we are a non-governmental network,
therefore we ask and request users and channels to respect some of our basic
network rules. We expect you to be courteous and friendly to other irc users
while you are on the Zotalk irc channels.
One of our objectives is to create a fun, lively, friendly and safe community for everyone to enjoy. We strive to create a friendly, family-oriented atmosphere; however, this is not to say that parents should believe that Zotalk is a heaven for their children. As a general rule, IRC should be considered at *minimum* a 13+ activity. Our channel ops will kick inappropriate content as they see it occurring, but they can't prevent it from occurring in most instances. Conduct yourself in a mature, respectful and courteous manner or get risked being kick or banned from any of the channels. If you can't, won't, or don't know what courteousness and respect are, then you are not going to do well in our network.
Just because something is not "mentioned on this page/document" does not mean that it is not covered under the basic rule. Failure to read and/or abide by the rules page does not exempt you from being bound by it. The Ops (the people with the "@" by their nicknames) have a certain amount of authority over other guests in Zotalk. If you have problems with authority go somewhere else. The official language for the network is Mizo and English. If you can speak and/or type Mizo/English, please do so in the channels. No whining about Zotalk Network or channel policies. If you don't like the way Zotalk IRC Network is run, you are free to leave and/or start your own network/channel.
Internet typing shortcuts, "leetspeak" (l337$p34k), and "SHOUTING" are discouraged. There is a difference between acronyms (examples: lmao, wb, lol, wc, etc.), and internet typing shortcuts (examples: y r u here, whut u doin, r u 4 real, etc.) and leetspeak (examples: l337$p34k, haxx0r, I R t3h 1337357 fux0r in t3h p14c3!, j00 R 411 bi7chz0rz, etc.). TYPING IN ALL CAPS (LIKE THIS), AlTeRnAtInG CaPs (LiKe ThIs), lame laughing (lolzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) etc. are also strongly discouraged; it is considered shouting, bad netiquette, and is rude and unnecessary. Each of these styles of typing is hard to read, hard to understand, and don't be surprised if you get yelled at or kicked out or even banned from the channel for doing them.
Be patient, don't get angry because nobody says anything in a few minutes - just because you said "hi" immediately doesn't mean other people are paying rapt attention to the main channel or screen. Some hours of the day are known for having 15 people idling and only 1 or 2 actually awake but only paying sporadic attention. If the time of day or night you happened to arrive at seems dead, try again in a few hours.
Be aware of, and respect, your current audience. IRC is a dynamic place, it is a conversation, not a message board where others can come and go and browse at their leisure. It's understandable that the discussion will drift into more specialized or even mature subjects at time, but if you are stretching a rule it is your responsibility to ensure you are not offending or excluding other participants in the chat. If you are discussing more adult (sexual related) topics and someone asks you to stop or otherwise expresses discomfort, you should change subject, as should you if children are present. If you are not aware of which users might be young or who might be offended, then it's probably a good indicator that you don't know the network or channel well enough to be broaching risqué subjects. Cyber sex and prOnography (including 'furry prOn') are never acceptable conversation topics for the channel, however.
Zotalk IRC Network channels are a public area. Everyone in the channel, idle or not, is receiving the conversation, so it's only common sense to avoid saying things in the main chat that you'd prefer were kept strictly private. But most of all, just try and be yourself, use your common sense, treat others with understanding and respect and have fun!
Amendments: The Network Committee and all Network Administrators, reserves the right to change anything contained in this document at any time without prior warning.
Enjoy Zotalk!