eGroup Rules & Etiquette
Thanks for being part of our eGroup community. To ensure the best possible experience for all eGroup members, we have established some basic guidelines for participation.
By joining and using these online communities, you agree that you have read and will follow the rules and guidelines set for these peer discussion groups. You also agree to reserve list discussions for topics best suited to the medium. This is a great medium with which to solicit the advice of your peers, benefit from their experience, and participate in an ongoing conversation.
Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. To preserve a climate that encourages both civil and fruitful dialogue, AUTM reserves the right to suspend or terminate membership on all lists for members who violate these rules.
If you have questions, please contact AUTM Customer Service.
The Rules
- Don't challenge or attack others. The discussions on the lists are meant to stimulate conversation not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may. To protect the community from unsolicited sales activity and maintain an unbiased environment:
- Do not post commercial messages of any kind on any eGroup.
- Third parties, vendors, and service providers may not advertise, market, solicit, or promote products or services — including demos, events, tools, software, consulting engagements, or lead-generating links — without prior written approval from AUTM staff.
- If you believe a product or service may genuinely help a member, contact them directly rather than posting to the full list.
- Use extreme caution when discussing specific products; your comments are visible to all and subject to libel, slander, and antitrust laws. All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything in an eGroup message that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.
- Respect copyright and intellectual property. Do not post material protected by copyright unless you own it or have permission from the copyright holder.
- By posting, you grant AUTM and eGroup participants the nonexclusive right to display, copy, and distribute the content.
- Send your message only to the most appropriate list(s). Do not spam several lists with the same message. All messages must add to the body of knowledge.
- AUTM reserves the right to reject any message for any reason.
eGroup Etiquette
- Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, and location.
- State concisely and clearly the topic of your comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
- Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply. Delete any header information and put your response before the original posting.
- Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from.
- Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals — not to the entire list. Do this by using the "Reply to Sender" link.
- Do not send administrative requests (e.g., “remove me from this list”) to the eGroup. Instead, update your settings, including changes to your email address, in your community profile or contact AUTM Customer Service for assistance.
- Warn other community members of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says, "Long Message."
The Legal Stuff
These eGroups are provided as a service of AUTM. AUTM is not responsible for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. AUTM disclaims all warranties regarding information posted on this site, whether posted by AUTM or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall AUTM be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.
Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.
AUTM does not actively monitor the site for inappropriate postings and does not undertake editorial control of postings. However, if any inappropriate posting is brought to AUTM’s attention, AUTM will take all appropriate action.
AUTM reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.
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