· 8 years ago · Jul 23, 2018, 05:30 AM
1Awesome-HD Internal Rules and Standards
2
3Introduction
4The purpose of this document is to provide an unambiguous declaration of the rules which members of the Awesome-HD internal teams must follow, and the standards of their work.
5
6Conduct
7Be respectful to each other. There is no reason to speak to another internal (or anyone, for that matter) with disrespect.
8
9Claiming
10Logistics
11All internal releases must be claimed and announced in the Upcoming Internal Releases subforum before it is upload to the site. Internal releases must be uploaded to Awesome-HD first; they may be uploaded to other trackers afterwards.
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13The number of claims that can be put up by each group is dependent on the number of group members. Currently it is 3 claims for a group + 2 for each additional member. This is a soft limit.
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15Claiming a title means that your release will be given an exclusive internal status.
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17Internal status is granted to releases that were claimed, remuxed/encoded, and presented according to the internal rules and standards as of the time of release. Internal encodes are granted 75% Freeleech. Internal remuxes (which includes WEB-DL) are granted 50% Freeleech. This is similar to user status.
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19
20Members of the internal teams should work together as allies, not as competitors. Please do not attempt to claim every title that appears, especially if you do not have the resources to complete the work in a timely fashion. Announced titles must be released within 14 days.
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22Claims for single titles are meant to be filled within 14 days. Duologies/trilogies/etc. should have a separate claim (announce thread) for each title, each of which must be filled within 14 days. A single season of a TV show is considered to be a single title.
23Staff reserves the right to remove an announced claim if the time needed to prepare the release exceeds this limit by too much.
24Please refrain from claiming new blockbuster titles if you know in advance that your free time is limited during that time period.
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26
27Claim (Announce) Threads
28The thread title of the announce must include:
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30Original title and the international title. Example: Moou gan dou (AKA: Infernal Affairs)
31Year of release.
32Edition information for non-theatrical cuts. Example: Unrated Cut, Director's Cut, Extended Cut, Extras, etc. Theatrical Cut must be labeled if a non-theatrical cut exists.
33Release type. Either Remux, 1080p x264, 720p x264, 1080p WEB-DL, or 720p WEB-DL. The modifiers Hybrid, 3D or any three letter code (see ISO 3166-1 alpha-3, although some codes such as "EUR" or "CEE" may also be used) that distinguishes between sources (e.g. JPN) may also be prepended to any of these types.
34Group name.
35
36
37The preferred format for thread titles is:
38Original Title (AKA: English Title) (Year) Edition - Release Type - Group. You may use alternative formats, but the above information must be present.
39
40Important! Keep the announce topic title readable; refrain from using dots/underlines instead of spaces.
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42The body of the first post of the announce thread must include:
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44An IMDb link
45Screenshots (for encodes, these should be the comparisons)
46BDInfo or other relevant log of the source or a link to the source used if the source is an internal remux
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48
49All images in announcement posts must be hosted on AIMG.
50
51Streams
52All streams should be muxed in a matroska/mkv container.
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54Video
55For all releases, the use of the best available source is strongly encouraged (use of an inferior source may cause your release to be trumped). This may mean downloading multiple sources and creating comparisons, which are encouraged to be posted in the HD Comparison Discussion forum. The use of Custom/DIY discs is strongly discouraged.
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57For remuxes, the use of untouched video is required. If the video is AVC encoded with x264, the encoded stream is not required to meet the minimum settings set by the mediainfo parser.
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59For encodes, x264 is the only allowed encoder. The settings used must pass the minimums set by the mediainfo parser. The use of filters is allowed, and is encouraged when the source exhibits issues such as banding. At minimum, source vs filtered vs encode screenshots are required. The posting of the complete script is strongly encouraged.
60
61In the case of 10 bit encodes, comparisons between Source vs 8 bit vs 10 bit are required. There must be some noticeable gain from using 10 bit.
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63Audio
64For remuxes, the inclusion of lossless audio is mandatory. If the source only includes a lossy audio track, then you should first search for another source which does include a lossless track, and if failing that, include the highest quality lossy track.
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66For encodes, the inclusion of lossless audio is not allowed, unless the audio is mono or stereo. It is encouraged that a lossless track is uploaded separately.
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68The use of matroska is still required for standalone lossless audio.
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70
71Allowed formats (lossless):
72
73DTS:X / DTS-HD MA. DTS-HD MA should be used for lossless transcodes.
74Atmos / TrueHD. Due to poor compatibility with some players, TrueHD must be accompanied by an AC-3 version of the same audio. This stream is typically embedded in the TrueHD track on a retail disc, although it may also be included as a secondary stream. The matroska file format does not support embedding one stream within another, so it must be muxed in as an additional track.
75FLAC. For mono or stereo audio. (See notes below if source is LPCM.)
76
77
78Allowed formats (lossy):
79
80DTS (and other lossy variants). If encoded at home, the encoder used must be DTS Inc.. The recommended implementation is DTS Master Audio Suite.
81Dolby Digital (and other lossy variants). If encoded at home, the encoder used must be Dolby Digital Encoder. Implementations include Dolby Digital Surcode Encoder, Dolby Media Producer Suite, and Sony Sound Forge Pro.
82AAC Allowed only for 1.0/2.0 channel main audio and commentary tracks. If using for main audio, Fraunhofer FDK AAC must be used along with the highest variable bitrate setting (fdkaac -o output.aac -m 5 input.wav). Fraun and QAAC are both acceptable for commentary tracks.
83OGG/MP3. Allowed only for commentary tracks.
84
85
86Specifically disallowed formats:
87
88LPCM. Not allowed in any form. For encodes: Audio must be transcoded to FLAC for 1.0/2.0 audio or an appropriate lossy format for multi-channel (see note above for acceptable lossy formats and encoders). For remuxes: 1.0/2.0 audio can either be transcoded to FLAC or DTS-HD MA; Multi-channel audio must be transcoded to DTS-HD MA.
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90
91Audio commentary tracks must be included, if present on the source (e.g. you are not required to sync DVD commentary). Encodes may choose to include a re-encoded version, however, lossy to lossy transcoding is strongly discouraged. Remuxes are still allowed to perform lossless to lossless transcoding for commentary tracks.
92
93Isolated score and similar types of tracks are allowed. They may be muxed in or uploaded as a separate stream.
94Descriptive audio tracks (for the sight impaired) are not allowed.
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96
97For foreign movies (i.e. the original language is not English), English dub streams may be included (or uploaded separately), but only as a secondary (or tertiary, ...) stream. Dub streams for languages other from English may be uploaded separately.
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99When uploading an audio track as a separate torrent, lossy formats may be uploaded untouched (it is unnecessary to mux to mka). Lossless formats must follow the rules stated above, with the exception that Atmos / TrueHD does not require a secondary AC-3 track to be included.
100
101Including audio streams not matching the original language of the title or English in the mkv are grounds for torrent deletion.
102
103Subtitles
104English subtitles are mandatory. The only exceptions are concerts and other types of titles that require no subtitles at all.
105
106Forced English subtitles, those marked with a forced flag in the original English SUP / English for non-English parts in English speaking titles, must be extracted and included as a separate stream with the track title set to "For foreign parts only" (or something to that effect). See also: Best Practices.
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108For remuxes, all subtitle streams present on the source should be present. Exceptions are as follows:
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110For sources of custom origin (e.g. DIY's), any custom subtitles should be omitted.
111Trivia captions and the like, which may be excessively large, may be omitted.
112Non-speech captions in languages other than English may be omitted. For example, titles and signs in Japanese may be omitted, but Japanese captions for commentary must still be included.
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114
115Subtitles of the types SDH, for foreign parts only, commentary, etc should have their track titles labeled as such.
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117The allowed file formats for embedded subtitles are:
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119PGS/SUP. For bitmap-based subtitles. The use of zlib compression is mandatory.
120SRT. For text-based subtitles.
121ASS/SSA. For stylized text-based subtitles.
122
123
124Important! Text-based subtitles should be carefully checked for OCR errors and typos. This is exceptionally important for any subtitles sourced from subtitle websites.
125
126Chapters
127Chapters, if existent, must be included. Chapter titles should not be left empty. If no chapter names can be found, substitute with generic chapter names (i.e. Chapter 1, Chapter 2, ...).
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129Chapter names in a foreign language may be included but must use the following format: 'Chapter X (Original Language Title)'. Do not include English-translated chapter names.
130
131Release Types
132Rules specific to a type of release are as follows.
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134Remuxes
135Video and audio stream titles should be sourced from the Quick Summary section of a BDInfo log. An eac3to log of the entire demuxing process (command line included) must be included in both the announce thread and torrent description. Commentary tracks should be labeled with the names of the individual(s) or the group(s) that is/are commentating.
136
137Examples.
138
139MPEG-4 AVC Video / 23777 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
140DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3826 kbps / 24-bit
141FLAC Audio / 1.0 / 48 kHz / 579 kbps / 24-bit
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143
144Hybrids.
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146USA / MPEG-4 AVC Video / 23777 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
147EUR / DTS-HD Master Audio / 5.1 / 48 kHz / 3826 kbps / 24-bit
148
149
1503D.
151
152MPEG-4 AVC+MVC Video / 21731+12899 kbps / 1080p / 23.976 fps / 16:9 / High Profile 4.1
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154
155Notes.
156
157The language name, DTS core information, and dynamic range specification (ex: DN -4dB) are omitted.
158FLAC bitrate is not the bitrate of the source track, but of the encoded FLAC stream (use mediainfo on the FLAC stream).
159Hybrids are prefaced with the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code that corresponds to the disc from which that stream is sourced from. In the case that a source is specific to a region instead of a country (e.g. CEE, EUR), use the abbreviation for that region instead.
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161
162All meaningful subtitle tracks on the source must be included. Meaningful means for the full movie, commentary, etc. An example of an unmeaningful subtitle would be titles and signs in a non-English language.
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164Encodes
165Transparency should be the ultimate goal. However, take care to not produce any oversized or bloated encodes. These defeat the purpose of compression.
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167Similarly, lossless audio (with the exception of mono and stereo FLAC), is not allowed to be included with encodes.
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169English subtitles (full, foreign parts only, commentary, etc) must all be OCR'd and included as SRT (or another text based format). Other languages may be included as PGS. However, SRT is preferred when possible, provided that the encoder is comfortable with OCRing a given language.
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171Encodes sourced from WEB-DL must recieve staff approval.
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173WEB-DL
174All DRM must be stripped. Adverts may be stripped by cutting the streams; re-encoding to achieve this is not allowed (one or two blank frames are ok, e.g. with VideoReDo).
175
176In the event iTunes offers both DD5.1 and AAC2.0, the DD5.1 stream must be included. The AAC2.0 stream is optional. If the AAC2.0 stream is included, it must be placed after the DD5.1 stream and must not have the default track flag set.
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178It is allowed to source audio tracks from other mediums, such as DVDs, for uncensored audio, commentary tracks, etc. However, the original iTunes track(s) must be kept. In this case, the stream title should reflect the source, e.g. "iTunes AAC2.0", "DVD DD5.1", "DVD Commentary DD2.0", etc.
179
180Extras
181Extras should be uploaded as a separate torrent. If any extra has it's own IMDb ID, it must be uploaded as a standalone torrent into a new group. All remaining extras that do not have an IMDb ID should be packed together into a single torrent, to be uploaded as an "EXTRAS" edition on the main movie torrent page.
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183Mixed resolution extras are allowed. This means as long as one of the extras is in high definition, it is allowed to be uploaded.
184
185This does not mean you can upload 1080p and 720p in the same torrent. This is for SD to be uploaded alongside HD extras. All HD files must be the same resolution (1080p/720p).
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187
188Extras should have a separate announce thread. All remuxing and encoding standards still apply with the following exception(s):
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190English subtitles are not required, although they are still encouraged.
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192
193File Naming
194
195Avoid characters outside the range of 7 bit ASCII. Normalize when possible; e.g. this means replacing an accented character with the unaccented version.
196Always use the English title (if there are multiple, use the title that was used in the USA).
197Titles should match IMDb for movies and TVDB for TV series.
198Edition may specify both the cut (e.g. Extended Cut) and the source origin (e.g. JPN). It may also specify the 3D format: 3D (frame packed), 3D Left/Right Eye (2D stream from 3D BD), 3D HSBS (half side by side), or 3D HOU (half over under). The default assumption should be 2D. The ordering should be Cut.Origin.3D, for example, Extended.Cut.USA.3D.
199
200
201Movies
202Remux: Title.Year.Edition.Source.Remux.Resolution.Vcodec.Acodec.Channels-Tag
203
204Examples:
205
206Captain.America.The.Winter.Soldier.2014.BluRay.Remux.1080p.AVC.DTS-HD.MA.5.1-AHD
207Godzilla.2014.3D.BluRay.Remux.1080p.MVC.DTS-HD.MA.7.1-AHD
208
209
210Encode: Title.Year.Edition.Resolution.Source.Acodec.Vcodec-Tag
211
212Example:
213
214Captain.America.The.Winter.Soldier.2014.1080p.BluRay.DTS.x264-AHD
215X-Men.Days.of.Future.Past.2014.3D.HSBS.1080p.BluRay.AC3.x264-AHD
216
217
218WEB-DL: Title.Year.Edition.Resolution.Source.AcodecChannels.Vcodec-Tag
219
220Example:
221
222Captain.America.The.Winter.Soldier.2014.720p.WEB-DL.DD5.1.H264-AHD
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224
225TV Series
226For the top level directory:
227Title.Year.Season... (follow the format above)
228
229For individual episodes:
230Title.Year.Season.Episode.Title... (follow the format above)
231
232The Year field is only used if another show of the same name exists, and the show in question is not the original. For example, the Netflix series "House of Cards" would include the year in which the pilot aired because there is another series of the same name from 1990. For the 1990 series, the year would not be included.
233SXXEXX is the only allowed format for marking season and episode. Mini-series, such as Band of Brothers, may omit the "SXX" portion.
234Episode Title only needs to be included if the official title is not generic, such as "Chapter 1", "Episode 1", and so on.
235
236
237Example:
238
239House.of.Cards.2013.S01E01.720p.BluRay.DTS.x264-AHD
240Orange.Is.the.New.Black.S01E01.I.Wasn't.Ready.1080p.BluRay.AC3.x264-AHD
241
242
243Sources should be stylized as BluRay, HDDVD, DTheater, HDTV, or WEB-DL.
244
245Below is a table of codecs and their abreviations for use in file and thread names.
246
247Note: For encodes only, the use of DDX.X (where X.X is the channel count) is allowed as an alternative to AC3. The only other audio codec for encodes that may have audio channels listed is FLAC.
248
249+------------------------+---------+-----------------------------+
250| Codec | Abbrev. | Notes |
251+------------------------+---------+-----------------------------+
252| Advanced Video Coding | AVC | Only for Blu-ray remuxes |
253| Advanced Video Coding | H.264 | Only for WEB-DL |
254| Advanced Video Coding | x264 | Only for encodes |
255| Multiview Video Coding | MVC | Only for 3D Blu-ray remuxes |
256| SMPTE 421M | VC-1 | Only for Blu-ray remuxes |
257| H.262/MPEG-2 Part 2 | MPEG-2 | Only for Blu-ray remuxes |
258+------------------------+---------+-----------------------------+
259+------------------------------+------------+------------------------------+
260| Codec | Abbrev. | Notes |
261+------------------------------+------------+------------------------------+
262| DTS:X | DTS X | |
263| DTS-HD Master Audio | DTS-HD MA | |
264| DTS-HD High Resolution Audio | DTS-HD HRA | |
265| DTS Extended Surround | DTS-ES | |
266| DTS | DTS | |
267| Dolby Atmos | Atmos | |
268| Dolby TrueHD | TrueHD | |
269| Dolby Digital EX | DDEX | |
270| Dolby Digital Plus | E-AC3 | |
271| Dolby Digital | AC3 | Only for encodes |
272| Dolby Digital | DD | Allowed for all releases |
273| Free Lossless Audio Codec | FLAC | |
274| Advanced Audio Coding | AAC | |
275| MPEG-2 Audio Layer III | MP3 | Only allowed for commentary |
276| Vorbis | Vorbis | Only allowed for commentary |
277+------------------------------+------------+------------------------------+
278
279
280Presentation Standards
281The following are requirements for the torrent description, but appropriate sections are encouraged for the first post of announce threads as well.
282
283Screenshots are mandatory. Remuxes should include at least 4 screenshots. Encodes should include a set of at least 5 source vs. encode screenshot comparisons. Source frames must be compared to B frames of the encode; additional comparisons with P frames of the encode are welcome. Both P and B frames of the source should be used in the comparisons. Size may be smaller as needed to allow for comparisons between multiple sources/encodes. Comparison screenshots with other encodes are optional, but encouraged.
284
285The only allowed image host is AIMG. Preferred thumbnail size is 300px wide (also the maximum allowed). Do not use 350px, as it does not display more than one thumbnail side by side with the default stylesheet.
286
287The torrent description should contain a link to the announce thread.
288
289Information about the source and encode bitrates is mandatory. If using a downloaded source, the release name must be mentioned. For encodes, BDInfo/Bitrate Scan/MPEG2Repair Log of the source is encouraged, but not required. For remuxes, the log is required. The BDInfo log should not be an unfinished scan (e.g. 0 bitrate scan) or otherwise be tampered with and should at the very minimum contain the bitrate information for all streams used in the remux (streams synced from DVD or other similar sources are exempt).
290
291Do not include any distracting or irrelevant images/other media.
292
293See to it that edition information properly reflects the source used. The layout is Edition | Studio | Country where released.
294
295Example. Director's Cut | Sony Pictures | United States
296IF AND ONLY IF the string exceeds the maximum length allowed, replacing the country name with the ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 code is allowed.
297Visit Wiki: Editions Explained for more information on editions. Here you will find a list of commonly used editions and distributors that internal releases must follow.
298
299
300WEB-DL ONLY. A link to the appropriate iTunes store is required.
301
302For example, if the source is the Australian iTunes store, the link should lead to the web page for the download in the Australian store. If the release is for Orange is the New Black from the Australian store, then the uploader would include this link: https://itunes.apple.com/au/tv-season/orange-is-new-black-season/id716970739
303
304
305Create a new post in the announce thread (don't merge) after uploading that contains the permalink (right click [PL] and copy the address). Example.
306
307Miscellaneous
308REPACK/PROPER.
309
310A release which fixes serious flaws (OoS issues, glitches on the video/audio stream, muxing issues, etc) of the previous release should be labeled as REPACK (done by the same group) or PROPER (done by a different group). This should be in the first position of the edition field of the file name.
311A flawed release should be nuked as soon as it is proven that it is, indeed, flawed. A reasonably detailed description of the issue must be included in a forum post to the appropriate release thread when the torrent is deleted and in the torrent description of the new upload.
312These uploads have a grace period of 24 hours or however long it takes for the uploader to seed a complete copy (whichever is greater), in which they can be set to 100% FL upon upload. The correct freeleech percentage is to be reset manually by the uploader after the grace period.
313
314
315INACTIVITY
316
317Internals are required to release, at minimum, once per six months.
318At the three month mark, you will receive a PM regarding your inactivity. If you do not reply or reply that you do not wish to continue, your internal status will be removed. Otherwise, you have an additional three months to release something.
319At the six month mark, you will receive another PM, and will have two weeks to release something or your internal status will be removed.
320
321
322Best Practices
323Best practices are just that - best practices. These are not hard rules and will not be enforced for internals (for user releases, these are enforced.). However, they are listed here for a reason. You are encouraged to follow these as their purpose is to make releases more user friendly.
324
325For titles in English, English subtitles for non-English parts should have the default track flag set to yes. This will ensure that user intervention is not necessary for these subtitles to be enabled. Only one subtitle track can be set to default. By default, mkvmerge will promote the first track of a type (either video, audio, or subtitle) to default. The only way to set the default track to no for all tracks is do it explicitly (you cannot leave the flag as default). For more information about the default and forced track flags, see the mkvtoolnix wiki.
326
327Examples.
328
329English for Na'vi scenes in Avatar
330English for Farsi in Argo
331
332
333For titles in English, with the exception of English subtitles for non-English parts, no subtitle track should have the default track flag set to yes. If no English subtitles for non-English parts exists, this means that every subtitle track should have the default track flag set to no.
334
335For titles in a language other than English, English subtitles should have the default track flag set to yes.
336
337The use of other tools such as MakeMKV should be reserved for creating 3D remuxes.
338
339Wait Time
340Internals on AHD are expected to prioritize releasing to AHD first. This means any internal here must wait 24 hours before uploading their own releases to any external site. Out of consideration and respect for our internals, we suggest that users wait these 24 hours as well in order to give our internals a chance to upload their own work elsewhere if they so choose.
341
342Epilogue
343To ensure that every internal is up to date on these rules and standards, upon release of a new major version of this document, all internals will require approval on their next upload.
344
345Please direct any comments or concerns to an administrator.