New Commercial User (anti-spam) Policy DRAFT [input welcome]

Well since I'm soliciting suggestions regarding policy I'll throw this into my own suggestion box. Here goes:

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.

This policy is a DRAFT ONLY at this point, and is NOT POLICY YET. There are some areas that may need some work yet. The main points of this policy are fairly solidified, however if you have conerns, please feel free to voice them.

Thanks!

 

<p><br> As a commercial user utilizing the free public forums of TalkBass, please make all efforts to follow these guidelines, in fairness to those who choose to pursue legitmate paid advertising, and who keep this site online with their support. <br> <br> <strong>Definitions:<br> </strong><br> <strong>Commercial User</strong>: Any registered TalkBass member who: <br> <br> A) Owns or operates a music-related business. <p>B) Is employed by a music-related business <br> <br> C) Produces and sells music related merchandise. HOWEVER: &nbsp;&nbsp;<br> You are NOT considered a commercial user if you are not described by points A and B above, and ALL of the following are true: &nbsp;&nbsp;<br> - You do not operate or advertise a commercial website &nbsp;&nbsp;<br> - You do not operate or advertise a physical storefront &nbsp;&nbsp;<br> - You do not individually produce or sell music-related products under a brand name or hold a business license <strong><br> <br> Commercial User Policy: </strong> <p>--Commercial users must fully disclose their affiliation in their USER TITLE. Please use a format similar to the following examples: <br> <br> Builder: XYZ Basses <br> Manufacturer: XYZ Amps <br> Retailer: XYZ Bass Supplies &amp; Accessories <br> <br> If you are a Supporting Member, Gold Supporting Member, or Moderator, you can input your own usertitle in the &quot;My TalkBass&quot; user control panel area. If you are a 'registered user', please contact the board admin to set this for you. <br> <strong><br> </strong>--Commercial users must refrain from including any text or links relating to their business in their profile signature. <br> <strong><br> Forum Participation Guildelines and Restrictions: </strong> <p>--Under no circumstances should a commercial user initiate discussion about their business, or about a product or service which they sell, distribute, or produce. Reason: doing so takes advantage of the public forums for commerical gain, and devalues paid advertising vehicles which help to keep TB online. <p>--Commercial users are welcome to contribute posts which pertain to their business, product, etc., but must limit such discussion to providing only that information which has been specifically requested, or to correct misinformation. <p>--Pricing information and other sales dialogue must be confined to private conversations with TB users (PM or email). <p>--Commercial users may not use the TalkBass Classifieds to post products or services <p>--Please be honest when representing yourself on TalkBass.com. Using two or more user accounts concurrently is prohibited. If you operate duplicate user accounts on TalkBass and post as a shill, or post in a manner that hides your commercial affiliation, the entire posting history of all your accounts will be wiped from TalkBass, and the action will be made public. TalkBass.com reserves the right to check/verify all incoming internet IP addresses for verification.<br> <br> <strong>Exceptions </strong><br> <br> Threads may be started in order to solicit user input and opinions regarding a product in development. Any abuse of this exception will not be tolerated. <br> <br> Users may include information and links which promote and sell sound recordings in their profile signature. <br> &nbsp; <br> Luthiers/builders may post “Works in Progress” threads in the Luthier's Corner Forum. These are threads which detail the creation of an instrument, and must be non-commercial in nature (no sales, pricing info, etc). <p><strong>A couple examples: </strong> <p>If you are a manufacturer and a user posts a question about your product, you may post a reply containing only such information as requested. However, if a user asks a general question such as &quot;what kind of bass has feature A and B&quot; or &quot;what's a good amp for...&quot;, please do not suggest your product in reply. <br> <br> Similarly, if you are a retailer and a user asks a question specifically about your retail business, you may reply with such information. But if a user asks &quot;where can I find an xyz bass?&quot;, please do not advertise your own business in response. <p>---<br> <br> <strong>SPONSORED FORUMS:</strong> <br> <br> If you are interested in purchasing your own sponsored forum on TalkBass, please contact <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected] </a>. Sponsored forums are sub-forums within broader forums (such as “Basses” or Amps”), are listed at the top of their parent forums, contain your business name in their title heading, and offer you free reign to communicate with TalkBass users through unlimited &amp; unmoderated discussion threads. <strong><br> <br> Press Releases: </strong><br> <br> Please submit all PR to <a href="mailto:[email protected]">[email protected] </a>for publication on TalkBass.com

 

I'm thinking that signatures which link to 'for sale' ads on TalkBass would be fine, with regards to the goal of this policy - If a user is posting classifieds, he's not commercial and is not a threat to our paying advertisers. I would say off-site 'spam links' are generally frowned upon by the TB community and therefore shouldn't be allowed. But that would be a new rule, outside a 'commercial user policy'.

 

I would argue that according to this policy a manufacturer could use any public forum to relay this info - as long as a reg user requests specific information, that info can be provided by a commercial user.

 

Sam - if you could, please clarify what you mean by 'flipping a lot of gear'. I'll add a line to the the com. user policy stating that no commercial user is to use the free classifieds. If a small-time builder or other small operation falls within the definition of a commercial user, that user should not utilize the classifieds. But if they do not fall within the definition - if they just personally buy and sell a lot of gear - that seems ok to me..... ?

EDIT: Ok I'll follow up on my own words... I failed to realize the real issue here I think - how to tell if a registered account is being used by a commercial entity to sell stuff and not disclosing such information... Ok, I would support and agree with your post Sam - it must be left up to you and Chris to make a determination if the user is using the classifieds in a legit manner, based on posting history (similar to NMB's "NIB" posting habit)

 

Mark,

Regarding PR: Absolutely - any TB'er or industry rep is welcome to send press releases regarding new products - however I like to have them sent to my email ([email protected] as mentioned in the policy) so that images, word docs, etc can be attached directly.

 

The sponsored subforum has not been introduced yet. If public opinion is against such a measure than I have no problem derailing it. However I thought it might be appreciated by some members to have for instance a dedicated XYZ brand bass forum, where the company reps would be free to post new product info, questions could be posed, etc etc.

I have no idea if it's something that would even catch on - I would propose leaving the info in the policy for now, and perhaps run a couple sponsored forums as a trial to see how they're received.