This board is not intended to be a forum to promote any individual agenda be it from a single person, groups, or commercial or private entity. It is a private community of Ovation enthusiasts from around the world, encompassing a variety of backgrounds, ages, and interests. All opinions and discussions are welcome without fear of censorship, with the only "rule" being to be kind to each other. When said discussions and/or opinions become disruptive and/or repetitive and degenerate into personal agenda, we reserve the right to close threads, remove posts, and ultimately suspend participation.

-------------- Original message --------------
From: "Gregory Smith"

Miles,

I see that you have now banned me from the board. Are you SURE this it the way you want to do this? Ban me because I posted the same type of post as one of the founders? Ban me because I gave out information on Ovations? Ban me because I am a legitimate dealer with a store front operation, and not operating out of my house? Why not let the members decide? Seems that you and Al are the main ones that have ANY issue with me or with the things I have posted.

If this is THE Ovation Fan Club, then why would you NOT welcome ALL dealer participation? What you have here is not THE Ovation Fan Club, but the Marketing Arm of Old Vintage Instruments, using Ovations name to promote NOT your love of Ovation Instruments, but to enrich yourselves using Ovations name to do so.

I would ask that you remove the ban, and allow OPEN participation on the board, or change your terms of service to reflect the TRUE nature of the board. I would hate to see this board go the way of the Hammer board and loose factory support because of something as stupid and childish as the double standard you are promoting here.

Gregory Smith

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From: MilesKB@aol.com [mailto:MilesKB@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 4:21 PM
To: GregoryS@wcc.net
Cc: noahsArk@cox.net; stephent28@yahoo.com; ASCalman@aol.com; MikeA.Stevens@kaman.com; David.Witko@asml.com; edensharvest@msn.com; mtnbikerfred@gmail.com; woodfordm@psns.navy.mil; Mic.Finnerty@kaman.com
Subject: Re: Ovation Fan Club

- Alex has never exploited the members of the Ovation Fan Club to make a buck.

- Alex's responses were a direct result of the anger of someone with the chutzpah to come into our house and exploit a captive audience

- I stated you "bordered" on spam.

SPAM: Spam is flooding the Internet (or message board in this case) with many copies of the same message(not exactly the same, but the same), in an attempt to force the message on people who would not otherwise choose to receive it.

You are getting 1000's of dollars worth of free advertising on the OFC and you know it. Even at 1 penny a hit, it would cost you in excess of $4000 per month for the kind of coverage you get by posting on the OFC.

The free ride is over. Why isn't advertising covered in the TOS? Well it seems at least 4 other Authorized Ovation dealers seem to understand the concept without ever being told.

There was not a problem before you began abusing my goodwill.

Take care

Miles

In a message dated 9/13/2006 1:44:17 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, GregoryS@wcc.net writes:

Miles,

The post has been edited, and noted on the board.

Since I don’t know you or Al personally, I am not in a position to judge either you, or to make comments such as the ones you have made about me. I will say that if the way Al has responded to me on the board is any indication, that “rude” is an understatement. I appreciate all of the hard work you have put into the board, and the fact that because of this hard work, you feel that a double standard is acceptable, even though you are not willing to just come out and say it in the terms of service. If you did that, then I’m sure that the actions you have taken, and the emails you have written would make a LOT more sense to me and to everyone else, including the nice folks at Ovation, who are reading this as well.

One other thing….what is it that I have done that is “borderline spam”? That one really does have me wondering….

Gregory Smith
Sounds of Praise Music

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From: MilesKB@aol.com [mailto:MilesKB@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 2:54 PM
To: GregoryS@wcc.net
Cc: noahsArk@cox.net; stephent28@yahoo.com; ASCalman@aol.com; MikeA.Stevens@kaman.com; David.Witko@asml.com
Subject: Re: Ovation Fan Club


"would you mind telling me, and the others listed here, what it is that I did that is ANY different than Al did? "

- Al posted one guitar that He is having made primarily for the members of the Ovation Fan Club.

- Al is part owner of the site and is entitled to do a little promotion. He does almost NO promotion because that is NOT what the site is about. The ONLY reason he has been FORCED to promote anything is because you are being rude, low class, and indignant with in your passive aggressive attempt to make a few bucks with a captive audience and get away with promoting your business inappropriately.

- You are "constantly" bordering on SPAM and trying to push the limit of what I will allow. Although you rarely actually cross the line, the point of testing the line (e.g. Testing ME) is extremely rude and I've asked you to stop, more than once. And THAT my friend is your BIGGEST error. As you can see, my polite meter has a definite red zone.

I suggest you respond carefully, or your "free ride" will come to an abrupt end.

Miles

In a message dated 9/13/2006 12:36:18 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time, GregoryS@wcc.net writes:

Miles,

Please notice first of all that I am coping Bruce, Tony, Dave and Stephen on this note, as well as my Ovation rep.

Before the action you have requested is taken, would you mind telling me, and the others listed here, what it is that I did that is ANY different than Al did? Why is it, that since, by your own statements to me in our previous e-mails, this is not Al’s private hunting preserve, or words to that effect, is it ok that Al post information about guitars that he has gotten on a special from Ovation, or custom guitars he is having commissioned for his company, but that myself, or any other dealer is not allowed to post this?

I will be HAPPY to go in and edit or delete the post. MORE than happy to, actually. But if that is going to be the case, then the one that Al posted needs to be removed as well.

If this is going to be a fair board, open to all, then that is the fair way to do it. If special privilege is going to be extended to one person, regardless of who they are or their position, then that needs to be stated up front, in the terms of service, not behind the scene and after the fact.

Gregory Smith
Sounds of Praise Music

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From: MilesKB@aol.com [mailto:MilesKB@aol.com]
Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 12:30 PM
To: GregoryS@wcc.net
Subject: Ovation Fan Club



From the Ovation Fan Club, Inc Terms of Service.


"This board is not intended to be a forum to promote any individual agenda be it from a single person, groups, or commercial or private entity."

We've chatted before about this. If you had created a thread with a link to your site with a simple "we have some custom guitars in the works, come check them out" that would be fine, but listing them like you have is not acceptable.

If you would like to write some text similar to above and send it to me, I can edit the existing thread for you, because I'd rather not delete it, just make it conform.

Thanks
Miles