What was NIRVANAnet(tm)?
Once upon a time, say about 1988, it was next to impossible to get an account with Internet access, and the web did not yet exist, but there were tens of thousands of private Bulletin Board Systems that people set up in their homes. Each one was a unique microcosm. Many were private. Most restricted what you could see, say, and do. Almost all required more personal information about you than a credit card application. They were outposts of fascism for control freaks known as "sysops".
NIRVANAnet(tm) was a collection of networked BBS systems which offered open access. NIRVANAnet(tm) BBS systems agreed to let anyone log in with just a handle and a password and have immediate access to everything the BBS system had to offer. As soon as you logged in you could read and post messages, download files, chat, play games, and do whatever you liked.
What happened to NIRVANAnet(tm)?
We won.
The Internet happened. No longer did people have to pay for a long distance phone call to connect to a "cool" site. The web makes it easy to offer open access, and difficult to restrict what people can do. Anonymous, secure, private access is the norm, rather than the exception.
The Internet made BBS systems obsolete.
Of course there are things that the Internet lacks. A sense of community for one. Privacy and anonymity are here for now, but changes in technology could easily erode that privacy. So the inner cabal of NIRVANAnet(tm) has re-focused our attention on:
Fostering intentional communities on the net
Promoting technologies that make anonymity and privacy possible
If you're interested in joining us, try joining our ongoing e-mail conferences. If you want to see what you've missed, check out our current affiliated web sites.
Counter started on 03/05/98 at 3:30pm PST
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How It All Began
There were once three BBSes in the Bay Area with the same philosophy. Dr. Strangelove ran a board called Just Say Yes in San Francisco, Ratsnatcher ran Rat Head Systems in Berkeley, and I ran & the Temple of the Screaming Electron in Walnut Creek. We decided that since our message bases were very similar, our users tended to overlap, and we shared the same basic philosophy of how to run a BBS system, we decided to create NIRVANAnet(tm) so that our ideas could spread throughout the BBS community.
Since that initial beginning, NIRVANAnet(tm) has grown to become one of the country's best and most infamous networks because of its open access policies and diverse subject matter.
Interest in joining NIRVANAnet(tm) has been intense, but it was founded with the sole purpose of being a regional network. That is, it was designed to serve only the San Francisco Bay Area. This limitation on network size was done on purpose so that we could concentrate on the quality of the boards involved, address regional issues, and keep things small-scale and personal.
Because of the enormous success of NIRVANAnet(tm), the sysops of the net have decided to open NIRVANAnet(tm) to the rest of the planet. The new, expanded NIRVANAnet(tm) will consist only of boards that offer OPEN ACCESS. This means that member boards must let anyone on and give them full access on the first call.
If you're interested, read on...
In a perfect world, Open Access means no registration, no validation, no complex new user questionnaires, no requirement for users to enter their real names, addresses, phone numbers, birthdays, gender, or other personal information, handles are allowed and encouraged, users are trusted, freedom of speech reigns supreme, knowledge is available to everyone, and no discrimination based on age, sex, race, religion, drug use, or mental stability. It also means that once a person is on-line they can immediately read and write messages, download files, play games, and use any other functions that the BBS provides.
In short, OPEN.
Unfortunately, we do not live in a perfect world. Many countries and states place restrictions upon free speech and free expression. Sysops who violate these restrictions can end up fined, imprisoned, or worse. Because of this governmental interference, sysops may be required by law to restrict information about sex to people over the age of 18 or 21, or in some areas, the information may not be provided at all. Some countries do not allow people to exchange information about explosives or weapons, in some jurisdictions you cannot discuss entry codes for getting into computer networks, and passing out credit card numbers is verboten just about everywhere.
Since we don't want Sysops to end up in jail, it is permissable to restrict access to some areas or remove some types of information IN ORDER TO COMPLY WITH GOVERNMENT REGULATIONS. However, restrictions should be at the absolute minimum levels needed to be acceptable to the local authorities. For instance, if it is legal in your area to give access to erotic material by having users sign a document that says "I am over 18", then by no means should you be requiring them to send in photocopies of their driver's licenses.
Just because computers are good at collecting data on people, doesn't mean that you have to collect data. Just because you have the power to be Big Brother doesn't mean that you should. Give people as much freedom as possible on your system.
I could go on and on for days about the advantages of running an open system as opposed to a closed one, but I won't. If you run an open system, you KNOW why it's a better way. If you run a closed system, you're not going to be allowed to join NIRVANAnet(tm) so there's no point in arguing with you about it.
NIRVANAnet(tm) does not force anyone to run their system a particular way, we just say that if you agree with these principles, we'll share a bunch of really cool echos and files with you. You and your users will get to read messages from freaks of all types on subjects from encryption to phone systems to movies to techo-jargon to music to sex. NIRVANAnet(tm) is designed to REWARD sysops who run open systems by giving them the most interesting and diverse messages and files on the planet.
Hope to see you on NIRVANAnet(tm)!
Taipan Enigma, & the Temple of the Screaming Electron, Walnut Creek, California, 510/935-5845, March 11, 1994
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The Philosophy
As a system operator, it is easy to overlook the inherently tyrannical aspects of even the simplest computer. Conceived as manipulators of numbers, computers did not come into their own until they could sort and store large quantities of ordinary information.
The largest user of computing power in the world today is the National Security Agency, or NSA. With a budget more than that of the FBI and the CIA combined, it is the job of the NSA to keep track of "threats to national security". These are the folks who intercepted that lovely little phone call that linked the bombing of a Disco in West Germany and Kaddafy. What do they do, really? three things: they gather, store, and collate information. They use computers to do it.
It is not the mission of a Bulletin Board to be a small NSA, but the capability is there. On most boards throughout the nation, users are requested to input all kinds of information. Names, "Use REAL NAMES ONLY! NO HANDLES!" And phone numbers, "The system will call you back. Hang up now." Often other information as well. What kind of computer do you have? How old are you? Sex? SEXUAL ORIENTATION?(!) How long have you had a modem? Where do you live, WHAT'S YOUR ADDRESS? WHAT'S YOUR RACE? Amazing that anyone even logs onto any boards anywhere. Many folks lie. Even worse, many don't.
Sysops do this to keep 'Undesirables' off of their boards. They examine this data and compare it to their image of an ideal user. Usually a upper middle class white male with an expensive IBM computer. They let most people on anyhow. But this stuff remains on file. Scared yet? You should be. The well-meaning system operators are trying to keep disruptive people off their boards. They don't want swearing or inane prattle. Striving for the ideal forum for communication, they try and weed out the misfits. Instead of promoting an exchange of ideas, they try to limit what ideas may be exchanged.
And all this data remains on file. Chances are it will never be looked at again. But what if, someday, the board gets confiscated by the police for something that you had nothing to do with. Oops! You're a witness! Or worse, an accomplice. Maybe not. But who knows, and who wants to find out? "Bob" knows no computer system is secure. ANY data on ANY disk anywhere in the world should be considered PUBLIC information, and treated accordingly. The only truly secure computer is OFF.
Don't let your own instincts make you into a fascist. An open system is a healthy system. Back in the olden golden days of the first multiuser operating system, people would pit their intelligence against the computer and crash it. Instead of beefing up the security, the programmers installed a new command, "crash". Now all you had to do was type 'crash', and the system would be brought to it's knees. Voila, the problem went away.
Keep your system open and free. It's what computers are really good for anyhow -- all information to all people. There is no such thing as a bad fact, or a bad word. There never was. And that is the power that a system truly does have -- the power to exchange new and different information, and bring people together. If you give people this power, your system will grow.
The only limit a Bulletin Board System has is time. If every user could use the system for only two seconds, the board would always be available. But such is not the case, and virtually every board in existence has some kind of time limit. Even download limits are, in essence, time limits.
Don't cheat yourself my restricting the users! If a user really wants to get on, he will get on. Be lenient. If you can, be free. Give the user a gentle reminder. If you treat the people who use your computer like people, they will behave like people. Shackled and barred at every turn, they will misbehave and cause trouble at every turn.
I have run two systems in the past. The first was rigidly structured, one hundred levels. Each level had greater time allotted to it, and more data could be accessed. People would participate just to get to a higher level, without even knowing what was available. I was inundated with level and time raise requests. Finally I shut the system down. "Too many losers," I said. "People who just take, take, take. Nobody could run a BBS today!" And indeed, they did just take, take, take. All they could, while they could.
The next board I ran was different. One level. No validation. People would call up and have instant full access to the board. Often, these users would go totally bats. They would run to the files section and download all they could. They would read ALL the messages in one session, and then call back with another name. The second call was different, though. They would come and look, and download something, and read a message or two, and leave.
Finally, after a couple of weeks, an amazing thing happened. Hopeless losers, people who usually spent all their time trying to download as much as they could, started to get into it. Many posted their first messages. And they even would upload. Why? They didn't have to. Those users had found a home, and you try to improve your home.
Welcome home. Welcome to NIRVANAnet(tm).
Dr. Strangelove Sysop, Just Say Yes San Francisco, CA November 15, 1989
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The Charter
01 What NIRVANAnet(tm) Is
NIRVANAnet(tm) consists of a group of Open Access BBSes, which carry a number of identical message echoes and file echoes. All boards will carry a minimum of two thirds of the message echoes offered by the net, as well as NNSYSOP and Netmail. In addition to NIRVANAnet(tm) Message Areas, NIRVANAnet(tm) members can also carry NIRVANAnet(tm) Text File Echoes, NIRVANAnet(tm) Public Key (encryption) Distribution Echoes, and other NIRVANAnet(tm) data feeds to be announced.
02 Why This Charter Exists
This Charter is written not to be excessively bureaucratic, but simply because, in order for a network like this to exist and grow, it needs to have some sort of basic structure. This Charter attempts to nail down that basic structure so that NIRVANAnet(tm) will last for decades.
03 Hubs
A Hub is defined as any BBS System that is feeding the NIRVANAnet(tm) message echoes to two or more NIRVANAnet(tm) BBSes.
04 Net / Local Net
A Net or Local Net is all of the Nodes that get data from one Main Hub.
05 Node
A node is a single BBS system.
06 Hub Duties and Responsibilities
Hubs have to connect with each other at least twice a night in order to transfer all echomail, netmail, and file echoes. The sysops running these systems must be very technically proficient and have systems which are reliable. They must coordinate mail transfer periods with the other hubs and nodes that they feed data to.
A Hub is responsible for routing mail around systems that go down within their Local Net.
Hubs work with new Nodes to iron out technical problems and to get the new Nodes on-line.
Hubs will pass nodelist updates on to the Nodes they are feeding.
Hubs also have all of the duties and responsibilities of Nodes.
07 Node Duties and Responsibilities
Nodes will do their best to remain Open Systems and resist the urge to control their users. Nodes must call their Hub at least once a night, but preferrably twice, to pick up mail. Nodes will make NIRVANAnet(tm) Info Packs available to all callers, so that others can join the net.
08 Voting
Voting is used for electing network officers, amending the NIRVANAnet(tm) Charter, and when adding or ejecting nodes.
Votes can be for, against, or abstain. An abstain vote does NOT count as a vote. If a person does not vote, this is counted as an "abstain" vote. (This means that in a simple majority vote, if there there are 100 nodes in the net, and 49 vote "YES" and 48 vote "NO", then there are 3 abstensions, the YES votes win.)
Voting is done by placing the question on the NNSYSOP board and asking for a vote. Once a question has been put to a vote, all voting members must vote within 14 days, unless stated otherwise within the Charter. There is no such thing as a "secret ballot".
If a new node is added while a vote is in the middle of being conducted, the new node does not get a vote.
The NNC tallies all votes and posts a running total of who voted "Yes" and who voted "No" up until the voting period is over. At which time the NNC will post the final results.
A Voting Member may change their vote at any time up until the voting period is over.
All votes to elect Net Officers are by simple majority of the votes cast.
Amending the Charter takes a 2/3 majority of ALL voting members.
See the section on "New Systems" for information on voting in new systems.
See the section on "System Expulsion" for information on voting when cutting a system's data feed.
All other votes are by simple majority, unless otherwise stated in the Charter.
09 Who Votes
In order to vote, a member must have an active system. There is one vote per BBS system, and no one gets more than one vote.
Generally, if a person's name appears in the nodelist, then they're eligible to vote, which is why the NNC also conducts elections.
10 Net Officers
There are six elected positions for Net Officers in NIRVANAnet(tm): International Network Coordinator (INC), Network Nodelist Coordinator (NNC), Network Data Router (NDR), Network Technology Advocate (NTA), Network Outreach Coordinator (NOC), and Network Public Relations (NPR).
All votes to elect Net Officers are by simple majority of the votes cast. Each officer is elected for a period of two years. No one may have more than one official position.
An officer may step down before their two years are up if they feel they can no longer carry on with their duties. An officer must step down if they no longer qualify as a voting member.
Each officer has an Official Title as reflected in the Charter and a Silly Public Title to reflect the whimsical nature of the net. Each candidate gets to pick their own Silly Public Title which they will use for the duration of their term of office. Furthermore, they must state what Silly Public Title they will use when they declare their candidacy.
Once an officer's term is up an election is called. Once an election is called voting members have 10 days to declare their candidacy. After the 10 days are up, voting begins. Voting continues for a period of 14 days. During the two weeks the NNC will tally and post the results, posting the final results at the end of the two week voting period. If the election is for the position of NNC, the INC will tally and post the votes.
11 International Network Coordinator (INC) Responsibilities
The INC is ultimately responsible for everything, but spends most of their time coordinating the efforts of the other officers, resolving disputes, and filling in where necessary.
12 Network Nodelist Coordinator (NNC) Responsibilities
Maintains the NIRVANAnet(tm) nodelist. Adds new nodes to the nodelist and deletes boards which are no longer active. Changes board information as necessary. Sends out nodelist updates to all Main Hubs.
The NNC conducts all elections and tracks votes. Each officer's last date in office is stated in the nodelist.
The NNC also puts together the NIRVANAnet(tm) Info Packs which should be available on every node. These packs contain the NIRVANAnet(tm) Charter, an application, the NIRVANAnet(tm) Nodelist, and anything else the NNC deems appropriate.
13 Network Data Router (NDR) Responsibilities
Makes sure that echomail, netmail, and file echoes are flowing smoothly. Works with the hubs to make sure that mail is not being lost. Has the final say in determining the routing for mail between the various Hubs. Is responsible for adding new echomail areas to the backbone as requested by nodes. Is responsible for scheduling mail run times so that echomail will flow quickly.
Makes sure that those boards that wish to participate in the file echoes are getting their files. Makes sure that boards which do NOT wish to participate in the file echoes do not get stuck with the cost of transporting files. Figures out routing for files. Adds new file echoes as needed or requested.
14 Network Technology Advocate (NTA) Responsibilities
Researches new networking technologies and software. Finds ways to make communication private, faster, and cheaper. Suggests ways that NIRVANAnet(tm) members can implement encryption, remailers, Internet technologies, and other cutting edge technologies that can be adapted for BBS users. Reports findings on a regular basis to other NIRVANAnet(tm) members.
15 Network Outreach Coordinator (NOC) Responsibilities
