Site Anti-Spam / Anti-Solicitation Policy
Anti-Spam / Anti-Solicitation Policy
Date Last Updated: September 25, 2007
We have adopted a very strict anti-spam and anti-solicitation policy, necessitated by the extraordinary growth of the XLR Net community, our desire being to keep the site free of solicitations and keep the focus on discussions and community. We must strictly enforce these provisions out of fairness to the many who abide by these policies and the desire not to have the XLR Net taken over by spam and solicitations.
Our Spam Policy is as follows:
You may not post or PM any information, images, or text of a solicitous or promotional nature that has the possibility of financial gain with the following exceptions:
- Industry Partners. Industry Partners are allowed to have business information and a banner ad in their signature and posts. They are allowed to post advertisements and start new threads regarding their business within their assigned forums. They are allowed to participate in the general discussion and technical discussion forums as long as they are not excessively spamming those forums with advertisements - to be determined by the XLR Net Administration.
- Signature Line. You may use your signature line to provide up to 3 links to your own personal sites.
- Do not use promotional language in your link. For example, you may post: "My eBay" with a link to your eBay listings, but you may not post "My eBay -- Check out my newest products."
- Do not promote products. For example, you may NOT post a link where you sell Cadillac XLR parts or accessories to vendors.
- Do not include more than two graphics in your signature. Industry Partners are allowed to display a clickable 468x60 company banner.
- You will be notified that your signature line was edited or asked to edit your signature line to ensure compliance with the user agreement. Refusal to comply with site anti-spam policy may lead to user account suspension or removal.
- For Sale Forums. The For Sale forums are provided to our members that just need to swap or sell individual cars, parts or accessories. It's not a place to showcase an entire collection or to offer discounts for everything you sell or to advertise your web address for items you sell unless you are a Industry Partner.
- Industry Partner Program. This is the ideal way for companies selling Cadillacs, Cadillac products or services to owners and enthusiasts to advertise their services while supporting a fantastic community dedicated to the Cadillac. For more information, please visit our advertising section.
The following are not allowed and will be removed as solicitous. These are named specifically either because of the frequency or gray area involved. However, please refer to the information above for the complete rules.
"Why On Earth Won’t You Let Me Advertise For Free?" Posts. Spam is one of the things we deal with most on a day-to-day basis. Sometimes well-meaning business owners seem angry that we do not allow free advertising on the site, under the assumption that they have a right to profit off of the XLR Net. The site requires multiple servers, a full-time person, and pushes many terabytes of data each month; please know the site costs more than it takes in from member-generated support and we need the support of those who would like to reach the XLR Net membership to continue to operate. Companies who advertise, and benefit, subsidize the costs, as do the generous members of the XLR Net who name their own subscription.
Direct solicitations or offers. Representatives of a third party site may not solicit members of the XLR Net to engage in activities on third party sites (like purchasing product, posting, creating articles, lessons, projects, etc.).
Indirect solicitations or offers. Indirect solicitations or offers disguised, or embedded within, other, often meaningful or useful information. This includes the use of message posts to discuss or promote (directly or indirectly) your products and/or services. Please know that the entire post may be removed in these instances.
Bulk Purchase. Organization of bulk or pooled-purchase programs for Cadillac parts or accessories.
Special Deals. Use of posts to convey solicitous information, such as special deals, sales, inventory availability (or other stock-level information), shipping or payment terms, phone numbers, reference to other vendor sites or other such information.
Private Messages. Use of solicitous private messages with any possibility of financial gain.
Avatars. Use of company logos for avatar/tinyhead images is not allowed. The exception to this rule are members of our Industry Partner Program (see below).
The following are allowed because they are not solicitous:
- Industry Partners can respond to technical or informative questions posed by other members specifically to another member, so long as no marketing or selling takes place. For example, if someone asks a known vendor of parts and accessories where they are located, this would not be a solicitation, but the vendor should keep the comments brief and be sure to answer the question asked without additional marketing and refer the user off the site for future discussion. However, if someone asks generally, "Does anyone know where I can find this part or accessory," a Industry Partner can answer this post, or a community member who has no financial interest in the product or service.
Any post found in violation of the above policies will be summarily removed or edited by our staff. Any member account in violation of signature or avatar rules will be removed or edited.
Repeated violations of the policies outlined above will lead to account removal, although in certain circumstances, it is not necessary to be a repeat offender of the anti-spam policy to have an account removed.
Industry Partner Program
Like many community sites, we are able to continue providing online services to our members primarily through third-party advertising, in much the same manner as commercial magazines and other publications. In addition to traditional banner-advertising opportunities, we offer a robust Industry Partner Program that offers powerful tools to our partners, including custom discussion forums, banner advertising, press releases, traffic shaping, and more.
However, being a XLR Net Industry Partner is NOT a license to openly conduct self-promotion in an excessive manner in our public message forums.
If you, or your company, are interested in advertising with us, or becoming a Industry Partner, please see our online media kit. We guarantee that we have the best online marketing solutions for products and services that target Cadillac owners and enthusiasts.
More information, about the Industry Partner Program can be found in our advertising section.
Responsible vendor participation guidelines
We encourage and invite members of the industry to participate within our message forums, provided that they adhere to the rules above. Dealers or Vendors who are NOT participating in our Industry Partner Program must be careful to avoid using our forums to openly promote their products or services.
However, from time to time, we realize that discussions in our forums may mention products and services provided by various companies. We do not allow using the XLR Net forums to work out service or product complaints, but do allow all vendors to ask that any member having complaints get in touch with the company directly rather than using the XLR Net forums to resolve the issue(s). This would not be considered spam, but rather a "fair use" of our network.
For example:
A member posts: "I've been having trouble getting my xxx product shipped from XYZ company. Has anyone had this trouble?"
Another member posts: "Yes... all the time!"
Proper Vendor response: "We at XYZ company encourage everyone to get in touch with us using the support email at [url]www.xyzcompany.com[/url]. We will do all we can to resolve any problem and appreciate your business."
The above message would not be considered spam, as we want to provide a way for vendors to initiate problem resolution if possible.
Note: If this particular vendor is a XLR Net Industry Partner, they most certainly can direct the members to their CAC partner forum, if they choose.
Example question: "Example Question: "Does anyone know where to get xyz product?"
Using the above example, companies who are NOT members of our Industry Partner program are not allowed to respond to such an inquiry, as it represents a direct selling opportunity. Partners are allowed to respond, however, provided they move the discussion off of the main/public forums, as illustrated in the example below.
Proper response from an Industry Partner: "Yes, I have some available, check our inventory on our company web site."
Vendor-to-Vendor Disputes
Vendor-to-vendor disputes will be handled on a case-by-case basis. Again, we want to provide a way for resolution when vendors do not agree on technical aspects questioned by our members, but we will not allow vendors to use public boards to create unnecessary tension or conflict between other members or vendors. Those posts that are deemed unproductive or harmful to the XLR Net community will be removed. If we deem that a vendor is deliberately instigating trouble, not only will they be damaging their reputation here within our community, but most likely, it will lead to account removal.
Exemplification
While we appreciate our Industry Partners, we do not permit Industry Partners to dictate posts or policies related to posting. We will not censor the community in the interests of Industry Partners.
We are also aware that some forum members post just to acquire a reactionary response. Members who consistently conduct themselves in this manner will be warned. If the action does not cease, the Administration has the right to ban them for a period of time, if not indefinitely.