General Forum Rules + Company Rep Rules

[anonymous]

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.


� 101. Company Representatives
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.


� 102. Company Representative Identification and General Guidelines
(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: http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showth...hp?t=149789073

(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 asked about by the OP or;
(3) as promotional material in the Company Promotion sub-forum.


(e) There will be a limit of 7 total representatives per company, including one lead rep.

(1) A company will be allowed an exception to this limit if all representatives are also paid employees of the company they represent. Please contact COUNTRYMIKE for details about an exception.


� 201. Discussion of Competing Supplement Companies, Products, Representatives, etc.
(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.



� 202. Discussion of Companies directly competing with BB.com.
(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.

� 301. Usage of the Reputation System.
(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.



� 401. Company Promotion.
(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



� 501. Supplement Science Sub-section.
(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.



� 601. Disciplinary Procedures taken against Company Representatives
(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)


===========================


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

[anonymous]

Please don't post coupon codes or create threads asking for codes. Just make sure you signed up for the discounts HERE and they'll be sent to you if you're the intended recipient.

[anonymous]

Welcome to the Bodybuilding.com Forums

It is our hope that the members of the forums will help each other in providing motivation and information to those looking to reach their fitness goals. To protect our members and the forums, the following rules are effective in all sections. Please take caution in what you post as we make every effort to keep all information posted unless we have specific reason to remove the content. Post at your own risk.

All site disclaimers in the Terms of Use regarding user conduct and handling of submissions apply here as well. http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/disclaim.htm

Bodybuilding.com reserves the right to adjust or edit these rules at any time for any reason. Above all, have fun and good luck in all your fitness goals.


Forum Rules

• All rules apply to posts, private messages, reputation comments, BodySpace comments, signatures, user titles, and user names.
• Report posts or Private Messages that violate forum rules using the Report Button. Report members using either the Report Button or the report feature on their BodySpace.
• Do not quote posts that violate forum rules.
• Treat other users, administrators, and moderators with respect.
• Moderator decisions and actions are not open to public discussion. Contact a moderator or an administrator privately to discuss these issues. Moderator disrespect will not be tolerated.

The following are prohibited:

• Racist, sexist, or bigoted comments or slurs in any form (including images).
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• Sending or requesting sexual images or other information which violates forum rules.
• Abuse of the Reputation system.
• Fake avatars.
• E-fighting, excessive arguing, or harassment of other users.
• Overly long or disruptive images, text or format changes, trolling, or other blatant forum disruption.
• Using "banned" as your user title.
• Signatures over 12 lines in length.
• Linking to sites that violate forum rules.
• Promotion or advertising for direct competitors of bodybuilding.com, or advertising for other sites.
• Posting “spoilers” unless clearly marked in thread title.
• Porn, gore, or nudity, even if drawn or edited, and porn discussion.
• Sexual discussion or explicit or suggestive images of individuals under the age of 18.
• Spam.
• Discussion of illegal activities (United States laws apply). This includes theft, ****philia, rape, incest, murder, etc.
• Discussion of illegal, banned, or controlled substances. This includes but is not limited to: steroids, FDA banned substances, pro-hormones, illegal drugs (United States laws apply), and prescription drugs. If it isn’t a product currently sold on Bodybuilding.com take caution in discussing it.
• Collection of money for individual causes. Donation and charity causes must be approved by an administrator.
• Raids of other sites or sections of these forums.
• Death threats, threats of violence, and advocating or discussing suicide.
• Attempting to distribute or acquire illegal substances.
• Posting personal information. This includes but is not limited to: phone numbers, full names, physical addresses, IP addresses, emails, and social media sites.
• Utilizing multiple accounts to avoid a ban, including a permanent ban. Each user is allowed one active account.
• Posting copyrighted material without permission from the copyright owner. This includes linking to illegal streams, torrent sites, or otherwise providing sources or methods of copyright infringement.
• Attempting to circumvent forum rules (or censors), or assisting or encouraging others to do so.
  
  

Violation of any of these rules or the Terms of Use are subject to corrective action, up to and including permanent removal from the forums.

F.A.Q

How do I dispute a ban or file a complaint against a moderator?
-Ban disputes can be done either through the moderator who issued the ban or through forum_admin@bodybuilding.com. Due to the large number of ban disputes we get daily, please follow the following steps prior to disputing ban and keep all disputes professional and courteous.
Step 1: Read the forum rules. If you do not think you posted content that violated forum rules proceed to step 2.
Step 2: Contact the moderator who issued the ban through the email address that will provided in your ban message. If the moderator will not lift the ban and you still feel that you have not violated forum rules proceed to step 3.
Step 3: Contact the forum admin at forum_admin@bodybuilding.com. Please provide a reason you do not feel the ban is warranted.

Each ban reason should include a moderator email address to contact the moderator for dispute. All complaints against moderators need to be sent to forum_admin@bodybuilding.com. It is rare that a ban will be overturned.


How do I close my account?
-If you would like to have your account deactivated and removed from public viewing please contact customer service at 1-866-236-8417 or through email at service@bodybuilding.com. Once we have verified information on the account we can get the account deactivated.


How do I change my username?
-Username changes are no longer allowed. If you have a specific reason why a username change is necessary, contact the forum admin.


How do I get posts or threads removed?
-This is a very time and resource consuming activity. By signing up for an account, you agree to the terms of use that state users post "at your own risk". We are under no obligation to remove any content and will only consider removal requests of specific posts that violate forum rules. So take caution in what you post as it may be up for a long time. If you have a specific reason to remove content please contact a moderator or the forum admin to discuss removal.


What do I do if a member is harassing me?
-If you are being overly harassed by another member of the forums please contact a moderator to discuss the issue or simply report the member for abuse. You can also add that person to your ignore list through your User CP under “edit ignore list”.


How do I contact a moderator?
-A current list of moderators and contact information can be found at http://forum.bodybuilding.com/showgroups.php.


How do I become a Moderator?
-The minimum requirements are: member for more than one year, no bans, no multiple accounts, over the age of 21, no trolls.
-If you meet the minimum requirements, contact a moderator for more details.


A Note on Thread Size and Content:
-Threads will be closed between 8,000 and 9,000 posts. If the thread is going to be restarted: make a new thread; post a link to the new thread in the current thread; contact a moderator, using the PM system or Report button, to close it.
-Threads that receive multiple complaints about breaking the rules will be shut down by the moderators and will not be allowed to be restarted (and thus blacklisted from the forums). All forum rules and Terms of Service apply to chat threads.

[Synapsin]

FYI, discussing other vendors is not allowed, even if they sell products bb.com does not carry.