Tom, well put first of all,

Second:
I am sorry to keep this thread alive, but I must respond to the list on
this. After reading all of the replies on this subject, it seems to me that
it is ok to post some (commercial) things, but not others.  To the
academically inclined, it seems ok to post items related to new books
(commercial advertising), but not related to shell collecting trips.  I take
exception to this line.  I personally AM interested in this subject as well,
which is one of the reasons I subscribe to the list in the first place-so I
can be provided with, and subjected to, as much shell related data as
possible. Having a short message with a link to a site with shell trips (or
other items of interest) is welcome. As welcome as a message that has a link
to someone's museum site in their address line (Commercial advertising, none
the less) the note saves me time, and I need that.

While I certainly do not want to be inundated with spam advertising, there
has been no objection in the past to postings (from commercial vendors) that
say "check out my new site" or similar.  Where do we draw the line?  Who
gets to draw it?  If some people get to advertise written material, then
others should be able to plug their site as well.

We need to be responsible adults who can choose to read, consume, or discard
the messages we find. I don't read every piece of mail either. And I am not
insulted by messages that of no interest. I came here because of my love for
shells and shell collecting.

Period.

Feel free to contact me at the address below

///////////////////////////////////////////////
James I. Movich
Long Beach, CA
[log in to unmask]

-----Original Message-----
From: Conchologists of America List [mailto:[log in to unmask]]On
Behalf Of Thomas E. Eichhorst
Sent: Friday, March 03, 2000 9:24 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Controversy

The rules are very short and easy to understand.  Check out:

http://museum.nhm.uga.edu/CONCH-L/CONCH-Lrules.html

Or if you want a condensed version:

1. NO Commercial Advertising (Very Important!!!)
2. NO Big Files or 'Attached' Files (won't let you do it anyway)
3. NO Off-Topic Postings (uh huh)
4. NO Flaming (even if I do get a chuckle out of most like this)

Thankfully, Amy doesn't act like an overbearing cop and lets the list
self-police itself as much as is possible.  Every now and again she has had
to step in, but most infractions are inadvertent.  In my view a notice of
something like a new book or special event is not the same as commercial
advertising.  It's a slippery slope but we seem to have held to a pretty
reasonable standard for the past few years.  In fact, the only real hassles
have been an occasional missive that tends to be a bit of a flamer.  As I
understand it the commercial ban has as much to do with the institution that
hosts Conch-L (free of charge).  We are graciously hosted by Georgia Museum
of Natural History (GMNH) and their rules as well as Georgia law specifiy
that a public service type site such as Conch-L is not allowed commercial
advertising.  So some of the rules are "let's be nice" types and others are
legal requirements.

Now, let's get back to shells.

Thomas Eichhorst
4528 Quartz Dr. N.E.
Rio Rancho, NM 87124-4908
USA