Should CPAPtalk Filter Or Allow The Dental Device PR Spam?

Howdy,

Every week there is a new one of these that says the same thing. I suppose it can be helpful to the newbie looking for alternatives or supplements to CPAP, but for me, its reached the point of spam. Even if that newbie was considering alternatives, I'd rather they get the info from CPAPtalkers who have experienced it first hand. Here's the link:

http://www.24-7pressrelease.com/press-r ... -79537.php

Please let me know, do we set our filters to allow this through?

Johnny

when diagnosed with OSA , i was issued a cpap machine--NOT a mouthpiece. Johnny imho you have been more than patient with the spammers, do what you gotta do.by allowing such trash you in a sense condone it. i see nothing positive or beneficial in allowing such clutter. tim

Mostly, it's good at the nubie that's in De-Nile. It's not in the best interest of people with Sleep Apnea. As for as blocking, I haven't given it much thought, I have a internal block on junk ideas that aren't in my best interest, but I can see the harm posts like that could do. There's more than enough mis-information out there, maybe we shouldn't echo it. Jim

I like THIS forum because of the very limited censorship by the moderators.
Sometimes it gets a bit off topic, but this is what makes it such a fun place.
If one does not like a topic, then avoid it.
This can, however lead to abuses by spamsters and this is another situation.
If those who want to hawk their wares, then let them do their own marketing.
I have often wonder why the aroma person has so much freedom to hawk his product.

One giveaway is a new person registering and then only posting the spam.
It is entirely different than a regular poster to post a link in the context of stimulating discussion.

This product may just be the greatest treatment for OSA or it may just be a huckster trying to sell his wares.
I suspect the latter.

Close call- open or censored?
If it gets too frequent, then ban the poster after writing and invitinhg him/her participate in a discussion.

And who does the 911 office call if they have an emergency?

This is a CPAP forum, and that's its focus. Yet when I first had my diagnosis and began researching, it was helpful to me to read the releases, evaluate them, and see what CPAPers and others had to say on the subject.

Ironically, the press releases themselves convinced me that CPAP was the best way to go.

Personally, I HATE the name of their website.

Den

Johnny......

They are advertising a product......on your website......one on which you spend a bunch of time and money to maintain. You recieve no benefits from the sale of their product.

My greatest teacher gave his students a wonderful "tool" that helps determine what is "right". It's a simple question, "Whose property is involved?"

This website is your property....and the spammer is using your property for his own gain. That's theft....pure and simple.

Block him.

tomjax wrote:
One giveaway is a new person registering and then only posting the spam.
It is entirely different than a regular poster to post a link in the context of stimulating discussion.

This sounds like a fair plan.

Wulfman wrote:Personally, I HATE the name of their website.

Den

Den, I'm w/you.
Maybe it's because I made cpap work for me and,
I consider it an incredible blessing,
I HATE the name, too.

If you have booked passage in a stateroom on De-Nile,
have a great trip. If you hate cpap so much, there are
plenty of ways to find the "alternate" therapies.
I saw PureSleep advertised in an info-mmercial on TV.
Pillars for one, they have a very convincing testimonal video.
Any self-respecting apneaiac, that "hates" or doesn't need
cpap should still be able to google plenty of "alternate" therapies.

I have worked hard to get my therapy to where it is at.
I give thanks everyday for MY cpap therapy and MY new life.
I could not have made this journey, without this forum.

I have great respect and admiration for you and your business and
your generosity in making this forum available.
I want you to be successful.


BLOCK'em, Dano!

maybe a solution would be to create a link and call it either possible spam, or whatever - put the post in there, and folks who want to see it can, and it could also show up on searching, like for osa dental appliance or whatever, but at the same time it won't be in our faces - that would be potentially not censoring, but a little redirecting - i think it might be a good balance...

In true lawyer fashion, I will answer your question with a question:

If you were to spam and "promote" CPAP therapy using equipment available only on cpap.com on a hypothetical dentaldevicetalk.com public forum (created and supported by a device manufacturer), how would you expect them to treat you?

So, a business owner placed an ad in the local paper seeking an experienced, one-armed lawyer.

"Why one arm?" asked a puzzled caller . . . .

"I'm sick and tired of spending good money for advice that's always followed by 'But on the other hand . . . .'"

I think that he wrote his own ticket to be banned when he chose the name for his website, and then posted reference to it here...very unethical in my opinion.

It's not necessarily the topic being a problem, but the intent/method of such postings.....and it being all about the links, and not about what is contributed to THIS community.

I have kneejerk reported several.....and maybe even jeopardized my reporting privledges (!) (I am a spaminator on a nonprofit medical forum....and mostly the mods agree with my assessments as the reporting mechanism allow me to enter some text explaining what is suspect about the post/poster...)

The linked "press release" is advertising. The product hawked is not the answer to "cpap intolerance" that the release discusses. I find it creepy and dangerous regarding how this product is pushed.

I think the topic of dental devices IS covered here.... so it is not as though the topic is being censored..............

I vote for blocking spammers....

Johnny, I think you'd be perfectly just in blocking those posts.

I like the fact that the forum's not censored, but those posts are spam, pure and simple. They're not only advertisements for a product available from a single source (albeit with many store fronts, apparently), but also free advertisements on your dime.

I do like the fact that other sources for all things cpap can be mentioned here, but a site with that particular name is very different. And as others have said, it's the newbie that's targeted. True, if people take some time and read carefully, they can get lots of advice here about how to make their therapy work. But I suspect that lots of folks who are newly diagnosed might not read carefully, and hence might be tempted to spend their money on something that's a gimmick. I can't say for sure that the "dental device" is a gimmick, but given the sleazy methods of advertising the company employs, I sure wouldn't buy one. (I have a feeling I know what H.L. Mencken would say. . . .)

Anyway, I'd vote for filtering the posts. No one deserves a free ride like that, especially not a company with a website of that name.

nath

distribute or post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, or pyramid schemes;



looks to me they violated the terms of use agreement


ban them