Add an initial policy for delisting unmaintained projects

docs/user/index.rst

@@ -250,7 +250,8 @@ of Read the Docs and the larger software documentation ecosystem.
 * **Policies & Process**:
   :doc:`security` |
   :doc:`DMCA takedown policy <dmca/index>` |
-  :doc:`Policy for abandoned projects <abandoned-projects>` |
+  :doc:`/abandoned-projects` |
+  :doc:`/unofficial-projects` |
   :doc:`Release notes & changelog <changelog>`
 
 
@@ -283,6 +284,7 @@ of Read the Docs and the larger software documentation ecosystem.
    security
    dmca/index
    abandoned-projects
+   unofficial-projects
    changelog
 
    about

docs/user/unofficial-projects.rst

@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+Policy for Unofficial and Unmaintained Projects
+===============================================
+
+This policy describes a process where we take actions against unmaintained_ and unofficial_ forks of project documentation.
+
+
+Rationale
+---------
+
+Documentation projects may be kept online indefinitely, even though a newer version of the same project exists elsewhere.
+There are many reasons this can happen,
+including forks, old official docs that are unmaintained, and many other situations.
+
+The problem with old, outdated docs is that users will find them in search results,
+and get confused to the validity of them.
+Projects will then get support requests from people who are using an old and incorrect documentation version.
+
+We have this policy to allow a reporter to request the *delisting* of forks that are old and outdated.
+
+
+High level overview
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+The process at a high level looks like:
+
+* A reporter contacts us about a project they think is outdated and unofficial
+* A Read the Docs team member evaluates it to make sure it's outdated and unofficial, according to this policy
+* We delist this project from search results and send an email to owners of the Read the Docs project
+* If a project owner objects, we evaluate their evidence and make a final decision
+
+
+Definitions
+-----------
+
+
+Unofficial projects
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+A project is considered *unofficial* when it is not linked to or mentioned in ANY of these places:
+
+* Websites and domains associated with the project
+* The project's primary repository -- README files, repository description, or source code
+
+
+Unmaintained projects
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+A project is considered *unmaintained* when ANY of the following are met:
+
+* The configured version control repository is unreadable. This can happen if the repository is deleted, credentials are broken or the Git host is permanently unresponsive.
+* The project is only serving content from releases and commits 6 months or older.
+* All builds have failed for more than 6 months.
+
+
+Implementation
+--------------
+
+
+Requesting a project be delisted
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+You can request that we delist an outdated, unmaintained documentation by contacting our :doc:`/support`.
+
+Please include the following information:
+
+.. code-block:: text
+
+  URL of unofficial and unmaintained documentation project: ...
+  URL of official documentation (if any): ...
+  URL of official project website (if any): ...
+  URL of official project repository (if any): ...
+
+  Describe attempts of reaching the owner(s) of the documentation project:
+  ...
+
+
+Delisting
+~~~~~~~~~
+
+Projects that are determined to be unmaintained_ and unofficial_ will have a ``robots.txt`` file added that removes them from all search results:
+
+.. code-block:: text
+
+  # robots.txt
+  User-agent: *
+  # This project is delisted according to the Policy for Unofficial and Unmaintanied Projects
+  # https://docs.readthedocs.io/en/stable/unofficial-projects.html
+  Disallow: /
+
+
+Projects will be delisted if they meet ALL of the following criteria:
+
+* The person who submits the report of the unmaintained_ and unofficial_ project also demonstrates failed attempts to contact the existing owners.
+* The project has been determined unmaintained_ and unofficial_ by the rules described above.
+* The project owners are notified by the Read the Docs team.
+* The core team does not have any additional reservations.
+* If any of the project owners respond, their response will be taken into account by the core team and it may be listed again if the criteria are met.
+
+
+Thinking behind the policy
+--------------------------
+
+The main idea behind this policy is that Read the Docs serves the community.
+Every user is invited to upload content under :doc:`/terms-of-service`,
+understanding that it is at the sole risk of the user.
+
+While Read the Docs is not a backup service, the core team of Read the Docs does their best to keep content accessible indefinitely in its published form. However, in certain edge cases,
+the greater community's needs might outweigh the individual's expectation of continued publishing.
+
+
+Prior art
+---------
+
+This policy is inspired by our :doc:`abandoned-projects`.
+The Python Package Index (PyPI) policy for claiming abandoned packages
+(`PEP-0541 <https://www.python.org/dev/peps/pep-0541>`_) heavily influenced this policy.
+
+.. _unmaintained: #unmaintained-projects
+.. _unofficial: #unofficial-projects