iPoker Data Mining service spam-banned, unjust?

[Mike Haven]

I'm not going to give an overall policy judgement here, but I did want to say that I was the evil mod who banned "you".

I thought your posts ranked as spam, both because of the name and because of the content of the two or three posts that I read, where you asked people to PM you. Hence my decision.

Incidentally, by way of an example of "how to do it", imo, the proprietors of PokerParadime first PMed me with a copy of their intended post in Software, then agreed that I could repost their PM in the mods' forum. It was decided in there that they could have one "announcement post" in Software, after which they could only add valid and genuine news in that thread, or answer questions by readers in other threads, (as well as join in non-associated discussion, if they wished).

They wanted to include PokerParadime in their thread title, but I asked them not to. They agreed, immediately.

[stigmata]

No problems with you, although I do think it was a rather draconian decision. My problem is with the lack of consistency and reasonable guidelines.

The whole software forum is apparently in breach of your T&Cs.

If PMing the moderator prior to posting is the "way its done" then why doesn't it say that somewhere?

Also, there PokerParadime is a pretty different situation. I was only trying to simply guage the level of demand. I have nothing to spam about at the moment. *If* I had found sufficient demand I would have PM'd a moderator before starting a new thread in the software forum.


Can You:

1) Accept that the T&Cs of the site are entirely inadequate? This leads to confusion for both posters and moderators. Or am I missing something here?
2) Re-instate the iPokerData account or let me re-post, so that I can gauge the level of demand for this service?

[Mike Haven]

I was informing you that I banned your account. I still think that the name and asking readers to PM you in (I think) at least two of three posts was a justifiable reason for the ban. Your complaint is also reasonable, and one of the reasons for ATF's existence.

I did not mean to imply that everyone should necessarily follow PP's method. It was fresh in my mind, and I thought it was a good way for someone like them to proceed.

Perhaps you should PM SamIAm for his opinion? If he chooses to unban your account, I have no problem with that.

[stigmata]

I'm honestly not sure I understand why "asking readers to PM you .... was a justifiable reason for the ban". I simply didn't want to clutter the threads, and my intentions were very obvious.

To clarify, I only made 2 posts, in extremely relevant threads, and clearly had no intention of widespread spamming.

[Mike Haven]

For purposes of full disclosure, these are the two posts by your account "iPokerData":

[ QUOTE ]
I'm considering starting an iPoker Data Mining service, if there is sufficient demand. Please PM me for details.


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm considering it, if there is sufficient demand. Please PM me for details.

[/ QUOTE ]

[tomdemaine]

[ QUOTE ]
For purposes of full disclosure, these are the two posts by your account "iPokerData":

[ QUOTE ]
I'm considering starting an iPoker Data Mining service, if there is sufficient demand. Please PM me for details.


[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm considering it, if there is sufficient demand. Please PM me for details.

[/ QUOTE ]

[/ QUOTE ]

Sounds legit.

[*TT*]

stigmata -

you made the mistake of posting it in the wrong forum. 2+2 has turned a blind eye on this type of one-time only posting in the software forum. In fact many developers use the software forum threads as their defacto tech-support forum.

I think this is a fair trade off, it wouldn't be fair to two plus two's advertisers who put a significant investment in promoting their brands here otherwise.

[SamIAm]

It's always hard to draw the spam/content distinction in the Software forum. It's largely a discussion of for-pay software, so it's tough to deny the authors the ability to answer questions and even make announcements. On the other hand, we definitely don't want spammers interrupting conversations to push their own product.

In the software forum, after personal communication via PM, I've often let authors post a single announcement, under the understanding that it'd be the last un-invited post they ever make on the subject. The PAHud guys are really star examples of this. If somebody says "I found this bug in PAHud." they'll answer pretty quickly with a fix or a work-around. On the other hand, if somebody says "I wonder which HUD I should buy." they stay mum. They essentially only respond when the word "PAHud" is used in the question, and I think it serves the 2+2 community well.

I understand that making these decisions as they come is wishy-washy, but if there was a stated policy that everyone deserves a single post pushing their product, the forum would immediately be over-run with 1st-post spam, pissing off both the 2+2 community and its advertisers.

edit: It'd be convenient if the Software forum could just say "No links or discussion of your own for-profit software. Ever.", but I think it would hurt our discussions. On the other hand, I don't think this rule would hurt other forums nearly as much, so it makes sense to have less tolerance in other forums.

[stigmata]

Sam,

That's a fair analysis of the situation. I don't see why the FAQ can't state "One-time posts of software announcements are allowed with the express permission of admin" or something.

But anyway, your analysis is all well & good, but I was just trying to discover if there was demand for a product! So again, I haven't even reached the stage of potential spam yet.

Anyway, I'm getting [censored] bored of this. Its a really minor issue. I'm clearly within the limits of what others have done. It's ridiculous that I have to go to such lengths over this.

Can you please re-open the account and/or tell me how I am allowed to proceed.

[Phil153]

stigmata,

pretty simple imo. Instead of making a new account called "iPokerData" and asking for PMs, use your regular account and say "are many people interested in this? I'd develop it if enough people want it. Make a post if you're interested"

As it is, mods don't know if you're scamming or trying to sell something via PM while claiming it's still in development.