For those of you "new post" searchers
I'm including a copy of the new forum announcement below. Please help spread the word.
Thanks
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http://www.talkbass.com/forum/faq.php
The above URL points to the new Commercial User Policy, which will take effect on TalkBass on January 10th 2005. This policy is the result of many, many months of thought and revisions (thanks again to those mods and members who have provided input).
If you own a business or are affiliated with a music-releated business, PLEASE READ THIS POLICY CAREFULLY as it will most likely pertain to you.
I'll copy here what I posted previously, about the reasons behind this new policy:
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I have decided that a new commercial user policy, or 'anti-spam' policy is needed for the TalkBass forums. This new policy has been pursued for several reasons, including the facts that:
- As our visibility has increased in the bass world, more commercial users (retailers, manufacturers, builders) are participating in the forums than ever before.
- Our paying advertisers support TalkBass by purchasing ad spots to place their brand in front of the TalkBass crowd - Several advertisers have lately expressed frustration with some 'loopholes' that provide free advertising to commercial forum participants (seeding the forums with commercial links via user signatures, for example).
- Several commercial users and moderators have become frustrated by the lack of a fair, detailed policy that applies equally to all commercial posters, whether they be small builders, small manufacturers, large manufacturers, or dealers.
Constructing a new policy that would best serve TalkBass was no easy task. Our current forum rules have stood for some time, and I was afraid of taking away some of what genuinely adds to TalkBass - such as the ability to get info 'from the horse's mouth', from manufacturers, or to see the latest project in development by a resident luthier. However over the course of last summer it became apparent that if TalkBass is going to remain financially stable over the years to come, respected as an unbiased resource, and not totally turn away those many commercial users who are in fact an asset to this community, a new policy would have to be drafted.
