I disagree. The whole purpose of these lists is information. Why should 
we discriminate between sources of info? Just about any worthwhile info 
will trace back to a commercial source. Ex: A diver asks a question about 
what kind of regulator is best for a particular application. If a 
recommendation is made, then this can be interpreted as an ad. To follow 
your rule you would have to answer the question above like: "I recommend 
the black regulator with the blue trim and triangle purge button". 
Worthless. I want to know specifics. And if a person or company comes up 
with a solution to a divers problem, let's hear it.

So, the only *realistic* approach is leave the lists wide open to 
relevant posts of either recommendations or commercial solutions. Should 
anyone abuse this, well, look what happened to Cochran. Keep in mind this 
is a list, not a newsgroup and a much more controlled enviroment. Should 
there be posts which are not relevent, a simple message to the listmaster 
will stop the problem.

We are grownups on this lists (ah, for the most part) and don't need a 
"mama" to save us from evil commercial posts, thank you very much. Now 
the gullible idiots on rec.scuba, on the other hand, needs your firm 
guidance. Why, look, another commercial post over there! Go gettem, Jim!

   Jim

>
>> Even more effective would have been a WEB page with all the above
>> info, plus pictures.
>
>Jim (Cobber) is right on target with this - if you want to advertise
>on the Internet, then you need to set up a Web page. It is not
>terribly expensive, and then people can pretty much visit on their
>own time, and on their own dime.
>
>> Then you could have posted a simple URL and not wasted a bunch of
>> bandwidth.
>
>This is not such a good suggestion. It is like saying "this message
>is not really an ad, but here is where you can go to see one". The
>best overall approach is to register your Web page with an Internet
>search engine. And if you put your URL in your .signature, then you
>may get also some peripheral interest from your participation in
>mailing lists and newsgroups.
>
>Blatant advertising is frowned upon in most dicussion forums on the
>Internet. It clutters things up, and there are no checks and balances
>aside from those that are self-imposed by the readership. The only
>"fair" approach to this is to have a policy of zero tolerance.
>Otherwise there is the potential for the list to get completely
>over-run by ads (if you do not believe this will happen, then just
>take a look at a few of the USENET newsgroups where the readership
>was not diligent about keeping ads out).
--
Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'.
Send list subscription requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.

Navigate by Author: [Previous] [Next] [Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject: [Previous] [Next] [Subject Search Index]

[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]

[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]