Digital BW, The Print

A few humble observations from the latest list debacle:

--The list rules are great--they just need to be enforced, swiftly and with
ALL members. I have seen several recent topics that started off providing
worthwhile information quickly disintegrate into childish "did not!"/"did
too!" pissing contests containing no useful information and personal attacks
IMO at least as bad as what Brian was recently guilty of. While Brian was
jumped on immediately, these other discussions dragged on for days.
Certainly creates the impression that the rules vary significantly for list
"insiders" vs. the less vocal majority. Have also noticed a disturbing trend
for a need to get in one last little jab in these "discussions." While good
for your ego, it is not good for the group.
--At the risk of starting another legal discussion among non-lawyers ;-),
free speech does not protect libel. It's one thing to make statements about
your own personal experience with a product, good or bad. It's another to
make sweeping generalizations about a company's products without making sure
you have your facts 100% straight. People here want to make informed
decisions based on facts, not speculation and hearsay passed along until it
appears to be fact.
--It's unfortunate, but it's also not a great idea to include company
signatures, etc., which imply that you are speaking for your company, not
just yourself. May seem to give you more "weight" in discussions in the
short term, but in the long term, it unfortunately leaves you open to what
is now happening to Mike...or worse, should someone get lawsuit-happy.

If everyone followed these few very basic suggestions, there would be half
as many posts with 10x the quality and usefulness...and we would hopefully
be a lot less likely to lose valuable contributors over silly stunts. Again,
just my thoughts.

Doug