Do I have rants, raves or pet peeve?

Oh hell yeah! I've got a pile of them actually. Bet you do too. This week I want to mention one you've heard me on before ...

Folks who don't follow Terms of Use agreements.

You may see it called Terms of Service (TOS) or rules or guidelines or any one of a number of things. It's the agreement you make with the owner of the site, program or service. So there's no mistakes, let me start by making it clear I'm talking about ALL kinds of TOS agreements. Those you make with your sponsors. Those you make when you submit to a links list. The agreements you make with free host or counter services. And yes, even those you make with various chat boards.

Whenever the submit button implies, "I agree to this or that ..." then that's what I'm talking about. For the sake of clarity, I'll lump them together here when I say 'the service' but don't forget it applies to them all.

Maybe it's me, but I honestly think this one is generally a no-brainer. When you submit/agree it's no less binding (and sometimes more so) than an email or a handshake directly with the owner. They've stated what is and is not allowed for their service and you've MADE THE CHOICE to agree.

I stress 'made the choice' because when/if you don't like the terms, you can choose not to use the service. You not only can make that choice, if the Terms are something you disagree with, you *should* opt not to use that service. That's how you cast your vote on how things should work.

Now, no-one wants to be called a cheater but basically, when you violate a TOS agreement you are, by definition, a cheater. Of course you are. Why wouldn't you be? You agreed to stay within certain boundaries and then you didn't. You cheated and damn sure shouldn't get all ruffled when you get called on it publicly.

You may not be a bad person and what you did may not generally be thought bad. But if you agreed not to do it (regardless of how stupid is was) and then did it, you're a cheater. What really pulls my chain is that the problem is so widespread.

Many of today's 'webmasters' (and I use that term loosely these days) take it for granted when they agree to a TOS that they'll be breaking their word at the first opportunity. As some of you know, I started a little TGP so I'd better understand what they're all about. I mention it only because this has given me a lot more immediate exposure to how widespread the problem is.

Here's an example of what I'm saying ... I was exchanging email with one of the submitters last week. In passing I mentioned he seemed to submit with a lot of different email addresses and IP's.

Neither was against my 'terms' so he had no reason to come up with one of those excuses that we all hear so often. He matter-of-factly said that some of the TGP's he uses only allow one submission per webmaster per day so he uses lots of IP's so he can submit lots of galleries. He seemed like a nice enough fellow but now I know without a doubt he's a cheater.

Just as I know it about anyone else who (knowingly) violates a TOS. Read the freakin terms and if you can't follow them, don't hit the freakin submit button. It's just that simple. If you decide later you can't play by the rules you agreed to, stop using that service. To do less is to say your agreements aren't crap and who wants to do business with someone who's agreements have no value?

Ok, enough for this week. More rants in the weeks to come.

'till next time ...

be well

- Khan