Charitable Offers

[Weregoose]

A member asked: "Would it be in violation of rule #5 to offer a free Ti-86 manual on the UTI forum?"

The rules state: "You must not advertise, sell stuff, or Spam! If you do, your account will be removed and you will be banned!"

This asks if it is acceptable for someone to use United-TI as a medium for giving away an item such as a calculator manual, but with no money involved. What I'm feeling is that it does violate the rules, and that it would be better if he sold it on eBay. Knowing that the person whom asked me this is already a trusted member of the community puts my mind at ease, yet—hypothetically—it would be unfair if we criticized the next guy who joined the forums and did the same thing if we let our current member "get away" with it. Then again, being so rigid may ruin the breath-easy atmosphere that we have going for us. Express your thoughts on this, please.

[NETWizz]

He could give it away much like a free prize to whomever requests it. If it is free as in no money exchanges place, and he does not offer it with intent of making money off of United-TI but instead supports the community,

In this case, he is doing this with the intent of supporting the community instead of the intent of exploiting the community for personal gain; therefore, it is okay with me. It would not really be an advertisement, nor would it be selling stuff, nor would it be spam (provided it is a legitamate offer).

I.e. if he offers a book, it must be free and he must go through with it. I am also okay if he charges for shipping reinversement, but he may not charge full shipping and handling. i.e. if it costs $5 to ship it, he cannot request $15 for S & H, but he can charge $5. Still, I would prefer shipping not be charged at all. The person who recieves stuff from United-TI should as a matter of case not have to pay a single cent at least when dealing directly with the UTI-STAFF. This is up to the poster in this case. He also needs to post that he got permission from UTI to post it, but that it is independant and we are not controlling it.,

last but not least, he needs a fair way to decide who gets the book before he makes the post. I.e. if he is going to run his own little contest. I.e. the first person to make a script that makes a letter movable on the screen via getkey to pickup 0's and count them then say you win after 10 wins or something.

Basically, he has to come up with a fair method to a ward it. It can be a contest, first request for it.. whatever he chooses, but it must be fair in that it must be equal oportunity. That being said, UTI-STAFF cannot win prizes. If you can see this forum, you are not eligible; hence, I cannot accept this book. That is the only rule on contests. Other than that, equal opportunity must be made available to all registered members (not guests or those not interested in validating their email).

[Weregoose]

Thank you. I will send him a message with those requirements and then close this thread.