rec.kites Advertising Policy
This policy has no explicit authority. It has not been voted on and there
is no-one to enforce it. It is just one person's (andrew@tug.com) attempt
to try to write down the consensus of feeling about the issue in the group.
Abstract
We want to support the the kite trade in rec.kites, for the benefit
of both traders and fliers. However, we want to avoid being swamped by
commercial advertising as the net contines to expand (at around 10%/month!)
Remember that people *pay* to recieve rec.kites. Commercial adverts can
do your business more harm than good. Imagine how you would feel about a
company that sent you junk-mail with "postage to pay"...
Policy
- Don't post adverts
- A posting announcing a NEW catalogue is fine, but *don't* post the
catalogue (make it available by Email or on the web), and don't repeat
the posting
- If there is a thread about a product that you manufacture or sell, feel
free to contribute to the thread, but do so as an informed poster, not
as an advertiser
- An announcement of a new trade service on the net (by Email or Web) is
fine, but don't repeat it, and keep it to announcement only.
- Keep your signature to 4 lines maximum. a 4-line .sig is widely
accepted as acceptable and considered to part of the normal overhead
associated with each posting. If it's going to be there, then I see no
reason to stop traders using it in any way that they see fit. Since the
signature space would likey be filled with other low-information content
stuff if it wasn't an advert, I see this as zero-cost option. However,
even here, people get upset if you overdo it. The AKA's "No price
based ads" policy may be appropriate but I can't find it to hand to
quote from.
Your signature is a good place to mention
your trade, and to have a pointer to your catalogue or Web page.
It is considered good form to mention your trade connection so that
people can identify any bias you may have in your postings.
- Private ads are OK, but only do it once. Put it in your 4-line signature,
if you like.
- The correct response to a post asking for a dealer in is to
reply by Email. If you feel that a posting is appropriate, you should
detail how to get the answer from the Address FAQ. Check your entry in the
Address FAQ (at the time of writing, this is being updated - the latest
copy is at www.kfs.org - Hawaii will be updated when we're finished)
- Feel free to discuss the products that you make or sell, but remember that
we can tell what is advice, information and opinion and distinguish it
from advertising.
- It is in your own long-term interest to keep to the spirit of this policy,
as it's failure is likely to lead to the creation of biz.kites,
to which all trade activity will be banished, but which is also likely
to have a smaller audience. If you want to go ahead and create biz.kites
for this purpose, then go ahead...
When the thread comes to a close, I'll include it here...