Sponsor Rules

[Ed Blown Vert]

1. Agreement

A. Sponsorship Privileges -- In exchange for payment of Sponsorship fees, Sponsor shall be granted the following privileges:

I. Placement of a small banner ad in the forum banner, which will rotate with other banners randomly upon page load and will be visible on all pages/views.

II. There will be a limited number of premium fixed (non-rotating) banner locations available for vendors to purchase for enhanced exposure. These positions will be available at greater expense than the standard rotating banner locations. Due to space limitations, this will be extremely limited and on a first come, first served basis.

III. Sponsors will have their message board account placed in a “Sponsor” user group which will show under their username in posts.

IV. Advertisers shall receive posting privileges in the Sponsor Sales & Group Purchases forum.

B. Additional Privileges -- No rights or privileges—express or implied—shall be conveyed on Sponsors except where noted above.

2. Sponsors, Non-Sponsor Vendor, and Member Posting Rules

A. Sponsors -- Sponsoring vendors may post sales, group purchases, and other special deals and product announcements in the Sponsor Sales & Group Purchases forum.

B. Non-advertising Vendors -- Non-advertising vendors may not post in the Vendor Sales & Group Purchases forum. Any posts made by non-advertising vendors shall be deleted. If the occurrence is repeated, moderators shall use own judgment as to what constitutes abuse and appropriate actions shall be taken at Moderators’ discretion.

C. Members -- Individual Members may also post in the Group Purchases Request forum to request a GP from a Sponsor. Individual members posting to notify users of sales or group purchases by non-advertising Sponsors shall not be allowed and Moderators may edit or delete posts of such nature. The Sponsor Sales & Group Purchases forum is a special privilege granted to Sponsors and posting deals from non-Sponsoring vendors would compromise the value of the forum.

D. Additional rules for Sponsors -- Both Sponsoring and non-Sponsoring vendors may post freely in any and all other forums on LS1.com, with the following conditions:

I. Sponsor/company name must be clearly stated in either forums username or in signature. Members have the right to know vendors’ potential biases when viewing posts made by vendors.

II. Blatant “sales pitches” are strongly discouraged outside of the Sponsor Sale & Group Purchase forum. Individual Moderators shall, at their discretion, edit or remove such posts by advertising and non-advertising vendors alike. Simple posts outside of the GP forum notifying users of a new product part are to be allowed by non-Sponsor vendors, as long as special pricing is not promoted for LS1.com users (as this violates Sponsor’s privilege to offer such promotions).

3. Expectations of Sponsors

A. Protection -- Sponsors shall receive no insulation, protection, or immunity from criticism by members. Sponsor’s privileges are explained in Part 1 above. Sponsors are responsible for defending themselves in instances where allegations of poor customer service or inferior products are involved. Forum moderators will not delete or edit posts to protect Sponsors. Sponsors shall make no assumptions or expectations that posts involving links to or discussion of non-Sponsors parts will be censored (remember, you are paying for exposure, not exclusivity).

B. Inter-Sponsor Conflict -- Sponsor to Sponsor conflict, whether involving two or more Sponsors, two or more non-Sponsors, or some combination thereof, shall be treated by moderators no differently than individual member to member conflict. Sponsors are expected to work out issues and differences with an appropriate level of decency and maturity commensurate with the overall image of LS1.com. Any vendors exceeding acceptable limits may have posts deleted or edited and LS1.com reserves the right to ban Sponsors from the site that abuse their posting privileges.

C. Member—Sponsor Conflict -- In instances where issues or conflict is present involving an Sponsor and an individual member or members, Sponsors shall conduct themselves under the same expectations as in Part 3, Section B, and shall maintain a respectful and civil attitude toward the member(s) (remember, these are your customers, and many potential customers read and see how you behave).

D. Sponsor Suspension/Banning -- If, for any reason a Sponsor’s posting privileges should need to be suspended. Their banner ad will be removed from the rotation and a pro-rated amount of their advertising fee may be refunded based on the time remaining for which they have paid.

4. Expectations of Individual Members with regard to Sponsor Issues and Conflicts

A. Member—Sponsor Conflict -- In instances where issues and/or conflict is present between or among member(s) and an Sponsor, members shall be expected to conduct themselves with maturity, civility, and observe proper respect for Sponsors (remember, Sponsors are individual persons as well) And facts, not opinions will be posted.

B. Rights to Post about Other Sponsors -- Members have the right to post regarding non-advertising Sponsors, including notices or information regarding new products or services in the tech and general forums (we all have the right to consumer choice). Members may not post notices of sales or group purchases of non-Sponsor in the Sponsor Sales & Group Purchases forum, as this compromises the value of the forum to the Sponsor. Members wishing to post notices about specials or deals from non-Sponsors should place such posts in the forum most appropriate for the product in question (e.g. a shock sale should be put in the Suspension & Chassis forum or a camshaft group purchase in the Engine Tech forum) and when it doesn’t conflict with a current Sponsor Sale.

Note: Sponsors cannot be Moderators, nor can Moderators be Sponsors. If a current Moderator wishes to become a Sponsor, he or she will no longer be eligible to hold a Moderator position, the opposite is also true.

These guidelines are subject to change without notice

The following rules and guidelines will be observed for Advertisers, Members, and other Vendors. Thanks.