Dear all There have been some vibrant and important discussions lately on air-list and I, and am sure many others, have been following them with interest, appreciating the time and effort people put into free scholarly discussion. This has always been the case with air-list and I hope that it continues in that vein. All of us will be aware, after more than a decade's research into online communication, that from time to time, the freedom of the means of communication and the lack of co-presence can limit the effectiveness of the overall communicative process or produce unexpected and counter-productive damage to that process. As has been pointed out recently on the list, air does, like most lists, have a stated etiquette (http://www.aoir.org/?q=node/5). The etiquette is deliberately open to interpretation so as to enjoin each list subscriber to think carefully about the manner and content of their communications via the list as well as their reaction to others' communications. Balancing enthusiastic, engaged and productively antagonistic discussion with respect for others and their views does not happen because of the etiquette but because of people's commitment to those outcomes, guided by the etiquette. May I ask subscribers to utilise this guidance please. I would also remind subscribers that air-list is a service provided by the Association as one of the primary means of achieving the Association's primary objectives concerning scholarship of the Internet. Management of the conduct of the list, including permission to subscribe, conditions under which subscription is permitted, conduct of subscribers etc., remains at all times the prerogative of the Asssociation whose affairs are conducted by the Executive. Finally, the Executive is currently reviewing the etiquette statement and will be discussing whether or not it should be revised and if so, in what manner, at the Brisbane Executive meeting. Best wishes Matt Dr Matthew Allen Associate Professor in Internet Studies President Association of Internet Researchers Faculty of Media Society and Culture Curtin University of Technology CRICOS Provider Code 00301J http://smi.curtin.edu.au/NetStudies/allen.htm +61 8 92663511 (v) +61 8 92663166 (f)