ppd491@leah.Albany.Edu (Peter P. Donohue @ nowhere) (08/24/89)
Comments constantly appear about the ethicality/legality of posting commercial messages on Usenet, so I think it is time to clear up whether it is allowed or not. Here is a quote from "Rules for posting to Usenet" in NEWS.ANNOUNCE.NEWUSERS. "Announcement of professional products or services on Usenet is allowed; however, since someone else is paying the phone bills for this, it is important that it be of overall benefit to Usenet. Post to the appropriate newsgroup -- comp.newprod -- never to a general purpose newsgroup such as "misc.misc". Clearly mark your article as a product announcement in the subject. Never repeat these -- one article per product at the most; preferably group everything into one article. Advertising hype is especially frowned upon -- stick to technical facts. Obnoxious or inappropriate announcements or articles violating this policy will generally be rejected. This policy is, of course, subject to change if it becomes a problem." I was unable to find any other mention of the right or wrong of commercial messages, so this is all we have to go by. IMHO, it appears that most commercial posting would be "frowned upon" but not denied. I would be interested in hearing about the rules of posting, if they are defined better anywheres else. Please post followups to NEWS.NEWUSERS.QUESTIONS. This question came up on MISC.FORSALE, but that is not the appropriate place to have a discussion on it. I do think this is important enough that it should be bounced around on the net, so post your ideas (as opposed to filling up my mailer). -- Peter P. Donohue ppd491@albny1vx.bitnet . "Education is a journey, ppd491@leah.albany.edu . not a destination..."