On Mon, 17 Oct 1994 11:51:01 -0600, Pat Letendre wrote:
>It is my belief that the list should not be used for overt or direct
>business purposes.  My questions are as follows:
>1.Am I in-line with what other owners allow for their lists?
 
That depends on the list.  Owners are pretty much free to establish
whatever guidelines they want.  This is NOT a Burger King--anyone who wants
it their way is free to start their own list (and some have).
 
>3.One recent request to which I said "no"-was I justified? The CEO of a
>major company wanted to write individual members asking for their input
>into research and development of new products by his firm.
 
IMHO (and it IS only MY opinion), I don't believe polite requests for
access to expertise is at all illegitimate.  I believe it more appropriate
to post a request for input and let list subscribers make their own
decisions.  The CEO should recognize that many professionals don't give
expertise away to business--he's likely to get a better response if an
honorarium is offered.
 
>4.A current request-do you think it constitutes using the list to do
>business? A reporter(former lab technologist) plans to create a commercial
>newsletter(supported by advertising from diagnostic companies).She wants to
>contact members of the list and use their input to write editorials and
>columns about their experiences with specific reagents and kits.I would
>like to accomodate her but do not want to set precedents (or double
>standards).
 
I believe it's more appropriate to post requests for experience to the list
and let subscribers volunteer.  It probably wouldn't be a bad idea however
to post an occasional reminder to the list about how to set subscriptions
to "conceal."  That feature is designed to protect anyone who would
consider being contacted directly an invasion of privacy.
 
It seems to me that most Internet users are adults and we needn't be a
bunch of "mother hens" protecting them from the cruel world.  On the other
hand, you have a right to protect your list from extraneous traffic.  It
might be worth setting up a separate list for those wishing to participate
in product development, commercial information services, and the like.
 
Have you asked the subscribers to your list what they think about these issues?
 
/s Murphy A. Sewall <[log in to unmask]> (203) 486-2489 voice
   Professor of Marketing                          (203) 486-5246 fax