Instead of taking 29 puffs of smoke,
tom@greatlifetechnologies.com
spoketh upon us:
>Hi everyone,
>
>I've written some spam and hoped you'd enjoy it.
No, we did not enjoy it at all.
Here, educate yourself:
C O M P O S T
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 help 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 page. 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.
--
Tihomir 7M2W, Knin, HR 44°N 16°E
http://www.usenetpedia.com/google-groups.html
.... Committee: A group that keeps minutes and loses hours.
New book on new stop smoking techniques - Be Smoke Free Now 
Linear Mode
