Archive-name: support/stop-smoking/compost/part1
Posting-Frequency: weekly (every friday) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- C O M P O S T See reader questions & answers on this topic! - Help others by sharing your knowledge P o l i c y O n C o m m e r c i a l P o s t i n g s f o r A l t . S u p p o r t . S t o p - S m o k i n g (A.S.S-S) Updated July 30, 1995 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Preamble: Recognizing that Usenet, the newsgroup arm of the Internet, has lost much of its purity as its population skyrockets and books instructing people how to spam for commercial purposes are published, we have to likewise recognize that "Netiquette" is breached every day. Nonetheless, we strive to maintain a support group to which people who are seeking freedom from nicotine addiction and tobacco use can come, lurk, and post freely, without feeling restricted by the presence of a moderator, or preyed upon by those seeking to profit at their expense. We find the conducting of commercial enterprise on a Usenet group, particularly when done under cover of being helpful, to be the most severe and despicable form of "net abuse," and for that reason we have formed a policy to which we ask people to adhere. Failure to do so will result in one or more complaints being made to the offending poster's postmaster. These complaints can lead, *and have led*, to the cancellation of offenders' Internet accounts. 2. The Policy: It is simply this: if you have a technique or have used a product for smoking cessation, feel free to post about that technique or product in full, as long as IT WILL NOT COST A SINGLE SUBSCRIBER TO alt.support.stop-smoking A SINGLE PENNY, CENTIME, PENCE, ETC. AT ANY TIME. That means you may not offer to send, provide, or point to any material of any sort for any fee whatsoever, including photocopying charges or postage costs. It also means you may not make a post which offers free information which *leads* to the vending of any idea, technique, or product designed to hel p a person to quit smoking. In addition, please follow these guidelines in determining whether your post is appropriate. If you cannot satisfy *each* of these conditions, do not post! : a) You should first make sure your post does not violate any aspect of this policy; b) You should be able to reveal everything you know by posting to the group, *not* through e-mail; c) The product or technique should be available *in stores*, preferably world-wide, or, in the case of software or electronic media, available without cost or fee over the Internet; d) You should have no beneficiary connection to the product or technique whatsoever, except that: e) You yourself should be an ex-smoker who has actually used the product or technique to quit, or alternatively, make clear where you heard of the product or technique. 3. Good Intentions No one will be exempted from this policy because of a pure heart or good intentions, even if your technique or product will wipe tobacco use off the face of the earth. In such a case, we suggest you contact a patent lawyer and learn about your other marketing options, such as retail, mail order - even a commercial Web pa ge. You could make a fortune, and you would deserve to! But alt.support.stop-smoking is a support group, not a store, and we're not here to go shopping. 4. Action Taken Against Violators of this Policy It is likely that one or more readers will report your violation of "netiquette" to your postmaster or systems administrator and ask him or her to take action. After a complaint has been lodged, you can expect your postmaster or systems administrator to warn you that posting commercial messages to a SUPPORT newsgroup is considered UNETHICAL. Be advised that IT IS NOT UNCOMMON TO HAVE ONE'S ACCOUNT TERMINATED or INTERNET ACCESS REVOKED for unethical behavior on the net. 5. Other Commercial Posts Any commercial post appearing on alt.support.stop-smoking will be dealt with as above, even if it is not for something related to smoking cessation. User Contributions:
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Last Update March 27 2014 @ 02:12 PM
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