ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ Purpose - ========= The BUSINESS conference is for discussion of starting and running a business. Feel free to talk about ideas, problems, ask questions, state your opinion, and bring up topics relevant to business. While the primary purpose of this echo is NOT to act as an advertising medium, nor a place to 'broadcast' messages that advertise or solicit business, recruit employees, or seek quotes on goods or services, there may be instances when an explanation of your business will be of benefit to others in the echo. Because of the potential for abuse, the moderator reserves the right to deny access, either on a temporary or permanent basis to those that violate the rules of the echo. If you are unsure of whether or not your postings may be in violation of the rules...DO NOT post! You may contact the moderator via netmail or email at the addresses listed below for clarification. Behavior - ========== This echo is for civilized and reasonably mature discussion. Personal attacks and other modes of flaming not be tolerated. The object of this echo is to learn from others, not to argue with them. Messages judged by the moderator to be personal attacks will result in denial of access to the echo. ASCII Characters - ============ While ascii characters are allowed in the echo, the will be NO use of ANSI escape codes. Posters are gently discouraged from overuse of ASCII characters. Real Names Only - ========= Please use your full and "real" name when posting messages in the BUSINESS conference. If you have a logon that appears to be a handle, you can sign your real name at the end of your message. Netmail Access REQUIRED - ======= It is sometimes desirable to respond by netmail to the poster of a message in this echo. In addition, the moderator may have a requirement to reach a poster. If you don't know how to send netmail, ask your sysop how to do this on the particular board you use. The poster of any message MUST be reachable through Netmail either by: 1. using the name that appears in the From: field of the message and the Fidonet address that appears in the origin line, or 2. using another name and Fido address for Netmail. This name and address must be added to each message you post. Sysops: If users of your system cannot comply with these rules, then your system can not deliver BUSINESS to your users. If the moderator can not reach a user on your board via netmail, then you run the risk of having access to the echo denied. While posters may have internet email addresses at their disposal, that method of mail does NOT replace the requirement for netmail capability. Moderation - ============ Moderation duties are the sole responsibility of the moderator of record for the BUSINESS echo, and any such co-moderators he may appoint. Airing complaints about other participants in the echo not only can lead to personal attacks, but also create traffic that impedes the orderly dissemination of business information. As such, complaints should be directed at the participant(s) with a cc to the moderator. They should NOT be posted in the echo, and if done, will be considered Off-Topic, and grounds for denial of access to the echo. Complaints, Comments and suggestions about moderation in this echo should be sent via netmail to the moderator. They are NOT to be posted in the echo, and if done, will be considered as Off-Topic. Quoting - ========= Quoting parts of the message to which you're replying is often useful in establishing the context of your reply, however, quoting should be kept to a minimum. Quoting the tagline, tearline, etc. are nearly always a complete waste of space. Quoting the entire message is generally a waste. Quoting entire paragraphs is often a waste; a well-chosen sentence or two will usually do. Excessive quoting will be considered excessively annoying behavior and dealt with accordingly. MLM, Employment, Etc. - ========================= Discussions of MLM or other opportunities is OFF TOPIC. There is an echo devoted to the discussion of MLM. "FA$T CA$H" postings are grounds for an immediate ban from the BUSINESS echo. Employment issues, hiring and retention, salary and benefit packages are legitimate concerns for businesses. Postings by either those seeking employment or offering it are not appropriate and are OFF TOPIC. The moderator(s) reserve the right to make further rules for those who continue to be an aggravation to the rest of us! On occasion, the moderator(s) may judge that the content of a message is inappropriate or has the potential to attract a barrage of inappropriate messages, and may arbitrarily rule a posting OFF TOPIC. Geographic Scope - =================== Please consider before posting about a specific situation that is purely local in nature. The BUSINESS echo is received not only in the US and Canada, but many other countries as well. Sysop Responsibility - ====================== Sysops who carry the BUSINESS echo on their systems are responsible for all messages which are posted to this conference from their systems. This includes all messages from the system and from any points. All messages must have an origin line with a valid (in the nodelist) fidonet address. Gating to other networks must have the approval of the moderators prior to any messages being gated. Gating will only be approved if the other network agrees to cooperate with the BUSINESS conference moderator, pass messages to users in their net, and respond to moderator disciplinary requests. If messages are gated to and from this conference from another net, the gateway system must append its origin line to the message so that netmail replies can be properly routed. Gating the BUSINESS Echo to and from Internet NewsGroups is EXPRESSLY PROHIBITED, by either users or sysops! Sysops should make these rules available to their users to insure that the users read them BEFORE they begin participation in the conference. If you have been contacted by a Moderator regarding use or abuse of the echo, you are expected to respond promptly via netmail to 1:261/1352 or email at thom@fablotz.min.net if requested to do so. Failure to do so will result in the loss of the ability to carry the BUSINESS Echo. Noncompliance - =============== If you cannot abide by and comply with the rules, you are not welcome in this echo. Sysops are required to not allow their users to post inappropriate or abusive messages to this conference. Anyone who posts such messages will be warned of the infraction. If inappropriate posting continues by a user, the moderator will ask the system(s) upstream to disconnect your BUSINESS echo feed. While this method is effective, it is far better is all participants simply abide by the rules.