Should this be allowed?

[Shishir99]

I am creating this thread to get some answers from the officials and expect opinions from the community.
I knew about this appeal thread: [Appeal] Unban request for account “SportBet.one”.

But a few days ago, I noticed an account SportbetOne in the gambling board, creating new threads and engaging in the conversation. Since their main account was banned, they should not create a new account to participate in the forum except for the ban appeal thread. So, I asked them if they are an official representative.

If I may ask, are you the official representative of Sportbet.one?
If so, you are not allowed to post with multiple accounts in any section except for your ban appeal thread.

I'm not an official rep or employee, just a community ambassador, so I have nothing to do with any official company accounts or ban appeals.

My question is: Is it allowed to create different accounts with brand names and participate in different boards while the brand account is banned?
If so, a brand may create multiple accounts and ask their staff to operate these accounts. Each of them will claim that they are the community ambassadors.

Another problem would be if the mixers start doing it by creating accounts.

I think it is important and should be clarified by the officials.

[SeriouslyGiveaway]

My question is: Is it allowed to create different accounts with brand names and participate in different boards while the brand account is banned?
If so, a brand may create multiple accounts and ask their staff to operate these accounts. Each of them will claim that they are the community ambassadors.

It's allowed if the account is not from the company.
It is not allowed if the account is a company ambassador.
If it is only an account from community, it's surely allowed.
But how to know and identify that account is a community member or a company ambassador or company representative, it's really challenging.

Another problem would be if the mixers start doing it by creating accounts.

Mixers are different because they are banned with advertisements in this forum. No announcement threads, no signature campaigns, no sponsored contests, and either mixer representative, brand ambassador, just forum member are all not allowed to promote any mixers here.

[noorman0]

Here is my previous answer:

-snip-
My question is: Is it allowed to create different accounts with brand names and participate in different boards while the brand account is banned?
If so, a brand may create multiple accounts and ask their staff to operate these accounts. Each of them will claim that they are the community ambassadors.

If the accounts are genuinely controlled by different individuals, it is permitted; however, it is difficult to idenitfy whether a company has actually sent multiple representatives to this forum. Consequently, other accounts will not be banned until there is concrete evidence.

-snip-
Another problem would be if the mixers start doing it by creating accounts.

All advertisements related to mixers will be prohibited, so creating unlimited accounts is pointless for this type of service.

Examples of companies that have been doing this for years include Stake and (iirc)Freebitco. If one of these accounts gets banned, it doesn't automatically mean Stake gets boycotted on this forum. The SportbetOne account will only be considered an attempt to circumvent a ban if it is personally proven that the user also controls the Sportbet.one account.

However, the SportbetOne warrants monitoring to see if he is attempting to impersonate official reps. So far, he hasn't engaged in the conversation on the sportbetone ann thread.

[Upgrade00]

I would want to see the rules applied differently in cases like this. I'm of the opinion that a brand should be allowed to create another account freely if one gets banned due to a personal action from the person behind the account, like if they went to threads in other boards and plagiarized. The ban in this case should be applied to the person behind that account and not the company they were representing.

[LoyceV]

I would want to see the rules applied differently in cases like this. I'm of the opinion that a brand should be allowed to create another account freely if one gets banned due to a personal action from the person behind the account, like if they went to threads in other boards and plagiarized. The ban in this case should be applied to the person behind that account and not the company they were representing.

The forum doesn't know "the person" behind that account. I'd say the company should take full responsibility for their employees: the lack of training is their problem. Even their new account keeps breaking this forum rule:

32. Posting multiple posts in a row (excluding bumps and reserved posts by the thread starter) is not allowed.

It looks like they hired someone for cheap promotions.

[Upgrade00]

The forum doesn't know "the person" behind that account. I'd say the company should take full responsibility for their employees: the lack of training is their problem. Even their new account keeps breaking this forum rule:

In a case of repeated rule breaking a firmer decision can be made against them to prevent a reoccurrence.

In general I think there should be an exception for brands. They're mostly just here to promote their brand and not rank up or earn from the forum, meaning they're less likely to be a nuisance. Mods can use their discretion in different situations. The brands which are acting malicious from their interactions off and on the forum should be handed a permanent ban.

[LoyceV]

In general I think there should be an exception for brands. They're mostly just here to promote their brand and not rank up or earn from the forum, meaning they're less likely to be a nuisance.

They're literally only here to increase their profit

[Upgrade00]

They're literally only here to increase their profit

What I mean by not be a nuisance is they'll not typically do what accounts engage in to rank up.
Plagiarism and spam results from members trying to cheat the system to get merits and enter a signature campaign or make posts easier while in one. A casino chases profits by trying to onboard new players and they usually do that through running signature or review campaigns and contests. This is different from spam we get from regular users.

Spam from brands will show in them runing campaigns with less care for the quality of the content used to promote them.

[IjawMan]

It's allowed if the account is not from the company.

If this was allowed before now it should not be allow further cause it can be misleading to have a causal member pick the exact username of a brand in the community when he or she is not the brand ambassador or rep.

Scammers can come through that window and scam forum members that are not aware of the difference and which identity is real which. There are millions of usernames to chose, why go for a brand's name if you are affiliated to the brand in any way.

[RGBTC]

^^
The forum system does not moderate impersonation; if you encounter a pattern of scams involving usernames that resemble a company's name, you can only create a thread on the scam or reputation board and tag it (DT members will likely get involved there).

[Shishir99]

^^
The forum system does not moderate impersonation; if you encounter a pattern of scams involving usernames that resemble a company's name, you can only create a thread on the scam or reputation board and tag it (DT members will likely get involved there).

Well, I know that the forum does not moderate impersonation, and we are not talking about impersonation here. We are talking about ban evasion here. This is why the topic is in Meta. If it were about impersonation, I would have created it in the reputation board. Companies are finding more and more ways to promote their businesses online. I am sure they will spend money and resources to keep their presence on this forum.

My only question is: Since mixers are banned on this forum, what if a mixer company decides to create accounts like xxxmixers.com, xxxmixers.net, etc., and just participates in the discussion? What would the forum officials do in this case? Probably a question for theymos!

[DYING_S0UL]

My only question is: Since mixers are banned on this forum, what if a mixer company decides to create accounts like xxxmixers.com, xxxmixers.net, etc., and just participates in the discussion? What would the forum officials do in this case? Probably a question for theymos!

Yup, this is a theymos level question. At the end of the day, he is the one setting the rules.

From my point of view, anyone can choose any username here. No problem in that. But when the username obviously pointing towards a mixer platform, say "xyzRandomMixer.io" (as you mentioned), this changes the whole story. Even if the user doesn't utter a single word regarding any mixer, he is still promoting (though indirectly) just by simply posting just anything.

Now I'm just curious what admin has to say on this. This whole mixer restriction rule still sometimes makes me wonder what TO DO what NOT TO. I mean the rules keeps evolving, as we saw with OMNI. There he introduced some new changes to the rules. I guess we can never have any definate rules or boundary to this, there will be gray areas and from time to time, we have to adjust the rules add/modify etc.

[hd49728]

My only question is: Since mixers are banned on this forum, what if a mixer company decides to create accounts like xxxmixers.com, xxxmixers.net, etc., and just participates in the discussion? What would the forum officials do in this case? Probably a question for theymos!

Yup, this is a theymos level question. At the end of the day, he is the one setting the rules.

From my point of view, anyone can choose any username here. No problem in that. But when the username obviously pointing towards a mixer platform, say "xyzRandomMixer.io" (as you mentioned), this changes the whole story. Even if the user doesn't utter a single word regarding any mixer, he is still promoting (though indirectly) just by simply posting just anything.

Is it clear enough in Mixer restrictions thread already?

Username is part of a user profile fields so if username is about a name of a mixer, it's not allowed. Maybe it has been a long time since that Mixer restrictions announcement, so you forgot about terms of restrictions.

It's not sustainable to have those sorts of services operating here. Therefore, there are some restrictions on mixers:

 - Forum accounts that are obviously run by mixers are not allowed.
 - Mixer announcement threads are not allowed.
 - In signatures and other profile fields, you're not allowed to write the name of a mixer or link to a site which is a mixer or is obviously* owned by a mixer.
 - In posts, you're not allowed to accept payment to write the name of a mixer or link to a site which is a mixer or is obviously* owned by a mixer.

[DYING_S0UL]

Is it clear enough in Mixer restrictions thread already?

Username is part of a user profile fields so if username is about a name of a mixer, it's not allowed. Maybe it has been a long time since that Mixer restrictions announcement, so you forgot about terms of restrictions.

It's not sustainable to have those sorts of services operating here. Therefore, there are some restrictions on mixers:

 - Forum accounts that are obviously run by mixers are not allowed.
 - Mixer announcement threads are not allowed.
 - In signatures and other profile fields, you're not allowed to write the name of a mixer or link to a site which is a mixer or is obviously* owned by a mixer.
 - In posts, you're not allowed to accept payment to write the name of a mixer or link to a site which is a mixer or is obviously* owned by a mixer.

Uh, profile fields! This is interesting. TBH, I never imagined it to be that way.

Up until now, my only understanding was,
Profile Fields Meant = Forum Profile Information (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=YourUID;sa=forumProfile) = (Avatar, Personal Text, Location, ICQ, AIM, MSN and etc that we see there, things we can change).

Changing username was not part of that deal. But again, username itself is part of the whole profile identity.

So I guess, this makes sense! 

[RGBTC]

My only question is: Since mixers are banned on this forum, what if a mixer company decides to create accounts like xxxmixers.com, xxxmixers.net, etc., and just participates in the discussion? What would the forum officials do in this case? Probably a question for theymos!

theymos has already answered to the OP of "Mixer restrictions" thread . Let me highlight a point:

- In signatures and other profile fields, you're not allowed to write the name of a mixer or link to a site which is a mixer or is obviously* owned by a mixer.

That doesn't refers the account is owned by Mixer; it refers to the name/link itself.

From my perspective, a username still falls into the category of a profile bio. The difference is that it isn't a self-changeable field like on social media platforms, unless they'll purchase a premium membership in the past or request a name change to the admin. Choosing a username that resembles a URL is clearly intended to promote that specific service.

[KingsDen]

I would want to see the rules applied differently in cases like this. I'm of the opinion that a brand should be allowed to create another account freely if one gets banned due to a personal action from the person behind the account, like if they went to threads in other boards and plagiarized. The ban in this case should be applied to the person behind that account and not the company they were representing.

It might show inconsistency. You know why?, if a ban is shown to an account, that ban is applied to the owner of the account and not the account itself. This should also be the case for projects

I understand your idea of a careless staff committing something that will affect the whole brand. If a project is to hire someone to handle their account, they should do that with a competent person.

However, this is a project we are talking about, I believe this type of issue can be solved on case by case situations.

Another problem would be if the mixers start doing it by creating accounts.

The mixer example is not a perfect one because mixers do not promote here.