Supplement Company Rep Rules
The following rules are specific to Company Representatives. As with any member of the forum, Company Representatives are also to adhere to the General Rules of the forums.
[B]� 101. Company Representatives[/B]
a) Definition.- A Company Representative is defined as a registered member of BB.com who posts in furtherance of or on behalf of a supplement company, who receives compensation by way of payment (whether wages and/or product) by said company regardless of that company being carried in the Bodybuilding.com store or not. Only companies carried in the Bodybuilding.com store will be allowed to have Company Representatives market or advertise their products on the Bodybuilding.com forums.
(b) Company Representatives include but are not limited to; owners, product formulators, researchers, sales, sponsored athletes, employees and compensated general members posting on behalf and in furtherance of a supplement company.
[B]� 102. Company Representative Identification and General Guidelines[/B]
(a) A Company Representative (as defined in section 101(a)) must list the company and position (as defined in section 101(b)) they represent in their signature. The company name and position must be clearly stated and leave no ambiguity as to which company is being represented by the BB.com member.
(b) Company Representative’s shall inform (by post, pm, email or other media) a moderator and shall be listed in The Official Company Directory which is located in the Company Promotion sub-forum of the general Supplements Forum: [url]http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=149789073[/url]
(c) Company Representatives may post in threads in furtherance of their company or product only when
(1) as a substantive product consultation for a user asking for a product recommendation (in this case, the rep must provide relevant knowledge on the product and why they are recommending it);
(2) a product of the Company Representative's company is specifically mentioned or;
(3) as promotional material in the Company Promotion sub-forum.
[B]� 201. Discussion of Competing Supplement Companies, Products, Representatives, etc.[/B]
(a) In general. - A Company Representative may not post negatively about a competing company nor recommend their company's products as an alternative to a competitor’s. For purposes of this paragraph this includes but is not limited to:-
(1) products
(2) Company Representatives
(3) actions or instances taken by Company Representatives which occur in other venues not associated with BB.com
(4) research, testing, published writings, gossip, etc.
(b) Limitation on discussion of particular ingredients, compounds, etc. -
(1) In General. – Paragraph (a) shall not apply to general discussion of specific ingredients for purposes of education by Company Representatives, however
(2) Specific formulas sold by competing companies may not be negatively discussed.
(c) Company Promotional Threads.- For purposes of this paragraph a Company Representative may not post in a competing company’s thread with intent to criticize, derail, discredit or draw attention away from the competing company’s products. Attempts to draw attention away from the competing company’s products include recommending one’s own product in place of another’s.
[B]� 202. Discussion of Companies directly competing with BB.com.[/B]
(a) General Rule.- Company Representatives may not discuss (positively or negatively) companies which compete directly with BB.com. Discussion includes but is not limited to;
(1) specifically naming a competing company
(2) posting direct links to a competing company’s website
(3) using slang or cryptic terminology to refer to a competing company.
(4) posting specific sales, promotions or other events in reference to a competing company.
(5) posting information or links to a 3rd party which contain information to a competing company.
(b) Application
Paragraph (a) shall apply to
(i) posts/threads started in the forum
(ii) Personal Messages (PM)
(iii) information listed in a Company Representative’s signature, location, or BodySpace profile.
[B]� 301. Usage of the Reputation System.[/B]
(a) General Rule.- No Company Representative shall be allowed to give negative reputation to any other member of the forum regardless of whether or not said member is a Company Representative.
(b) Special Instances. – For purposes of subsection (a), Company Representatives shall not be allowed to entice or persuade any member to give negative reputation to another member. Company Representatives shall not encourage “neg trains,” “neg rep groups,” or other instances attempting to bypass subsection (a) of section 303.
[B]� 401. Company Promotion.[/B]
(a) General Rule.- Company Representatives shall post material in promotion of their company in the Company Promotion sub- section.
(b) Material for promotional purposes refers to:-
(i) information relating to new product releases
(ii) contests, promotions, giveaways offering product or services
(iii) information related to research
(iv) discounts, special offers, donations
[B]� 501. Supplement Science Sub-section.[/B]
(a) General Rule.- Company Representatives may not post material in furtherance or in promotion of their company's product or a competing company's product within the Supplement Science Section.
(b)Exception.- Subsection (a) shall not apply to posts/ threads made by Company Representatives in the Supplement Science sub-section if-
(1) such posts/threads are for general informational/educational purposes, or
(2) such posts/threads are in response to general inquiries for informational/educational purposes.
[B]� 601. Disciplinary Procedures taken against Company Representatives[/B]
(a) In general.- This section outlines general procedures taken against Company Representatives who violate the Company Representative Rules
(b) The form or specific action taken in response to a Company Representative as listed in subsection (c), (d) and (e) of this section is within the responding moderator’s discretion. Factors weighed by the responding moderator include but are not limited to,
(i) severity of the offense
(ii) past behavior, history of the Company Representative in violation.
(c) Infractions. – Infractions shall be given as the first disciplinary act in response to a violation of the following sections,
(i) 102(a), (c)
(ii) 201(a), (c)
(iii) 202(a)
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Repeated violations of the above listed sub-sections will result in more severe disciplinary action being taken against the offending Company Representative.
(d) Adjustments made to reputation. – A negative adjustment to a Company Representative’s reputation may be taken in response to a violation or abuse of section 301(a), (b).
(e) Temporary bans. – Temporary bans shall be given to Company Representatives who are found to be in abuse of the Company Representative rules. The length of the ban shall be within the discretion of the moderator, taking action under subsection (b) of this section.
(f) Permanent bans.- A permanent ban shall be given to a Company Representative found to be in such egregious abuse of the Company Representative Rules that the presence of the offending Company Representative is no longer welcome on the BB.com forums. A permanent ban shall be considered only after a Company Representative has received multiple past bans.
**PLEASE NO CHANGES TO THE "DEFINITION" SECTION
