Terms of Service Revision
Confession
Quote:
Update, 2006-08-31: Since I spent the night at the emergency room last night (sister took a spill down the steps), I didn't get a chance to revise anything. Soo, that means this thread will continue until the end of the week. Note: As Keith mentions below, I'm looking for clarification of our existing terms. Baby steps.
Well, since I originally wrote the terms of service, I figure I should be the one to amend it. I've come to terms with the fact that I can be overly articulate or verbose. In this case, the terms were obviously open to several different interpretations. Hey, have you ever tried reading Slashdot's Terms of Service? Yikes.
Anyway, I apparently failed in my original attempt to convey my thoughts on this section of the Terms clearly and simply.
This thread is open to suggestions for rewriting Section E part 3.
Please reference individual changes to the sentences or post your version in full. I'll review your suggestions and finalize the changes this evening.
Quote:
E. Commercial Advertising
...snip...
3. External Linking
1. Links to other websites are allowed in posts.
2. In fact, they are encouraged.
3. However, links for the sole purpose of marketing, generating traffic to a site, or any other commercial advertisement deemed to solicit commercial benefit are not allowed.
4. Links to other public or private forums are not allowed.
5. Links should be submitted as references, for the sole purpose of generating or supporting discussions on SawMill Creek.
...snip...
Here is the setup (the facts behind what I want to convey):
1. I really dislike all the advertising I see everywhere I go. (One of the reasons I watch everything on TIVO). Our members have expressed the desire to keep the forums free of advertisement; In my experience, the advertising usually gets in the way of real information.
2. Unfortunately, SawmillCreek is recognized as a valuable advertising resource, and as such, companies and members do try to advertise from time to time; thus, we prohibit commercial links which are defined as: 1. those that can solicit commercial benefit; 2. those which are used solely to drive traffic to another site.
Determining What is commercial and what is not is a judgment call, but you usually know it when you see it.
3. With the exception of advertising, I really do think links add a lot to posts (and why I encourage them). For instance, my links to Slashdot at the top of this post are strictly informational, used to drive a discussion here in this thread.
4. In my professional experience with forums and the Internet, forum links become 'stale' (Page Not Found) with much greater frequency than other types of websites. (This is second only to "Marketing" pages, such as company specials, as well as product links to eCommerce sites, etc).
In an attempt to build archival value, I try to encourage interesting topics be posted here at the 'Creek in order to open up the topic to posts. Links to other forums tend to drive the conversation away from the Creek, rather than into it. (Not a hard and fast rule, but just my experience)
My inbox is full of inputs on how members feel about forum linking, both for and against. I am currently on the fence from my position when I wrote this 3 years ago. Once we reword the existing terms, I'll reconsider my position on forum linking, and take it from there.
SawmillCreek is a wonderful woodworking related archive. Without discussion, though, a thread topic isn't useful to the archive (except perhaps in the short run).
... ...
Now, all of the above doesn't need to be explicitly spelled out, but I do want the end result conveyed in the Terms.
So, yielding the floor...