Listserv guidelines

By joining and using ABI's Listservs, you agree that you have read and will follow the rules and guidelines set for these peer discussion groups. You also agree to reserve list discussions for topics best suited to the medium.

As with any community, there are guidelines governing behavior on the ABI Listservs. For instance, violating antitrust regulations, libeling others, selling, lobbying and marketing are not permissible. Please take a moment to acquaint yourself with these important guidelines. If you have questions, please contact the list manager. ABI reserves the right to suspend or terminate usage on all lists for members who violate these rules.

Best practices (How to use ABI Listservs)

ABI created and offers the committee Listservs as a free service to members. The purpose of the Listservs is to foster useful discussion of bankruptcy-related topics among ABI members and to provide a means for announcing ABI-related business. Examples of how the ABI Listservs can be used include the following:

  • Discussion of recent court opinions, pending legislation, rules, etc.
  • Questions regarding practice, procedure, precedent, etc.
  • Insight on and discussion of a particular topic, including locating professionals for an assignment.
  • Bankruptcy-related news in the popular and trade press.
  • ABI-related business, such as upcoming programs or new publications.

The rules (How NOT to use ABI Listservs)

No E-mail Harvesting

You are not allowed to harvest e-mails for spam or spam-like purposes, or for any type of "mass-mailing" and/or "bulk e-mail". Since e-mail harvesting violates every possible privacy and community consideration, violations will result in immediate and permanent expulsion from the list.

Personal or contact information of list participants seen on this list is intended solely for the use of this list, and should not be distributed to a third party. For example, if you believe a list participant could benefit from the services offered by a third party, contact that list participant directly with the contact information of the third party.

No Marketing/Advertising

Do not post commercial messages or solicit services. The cyberspace term for this is spamming. Contact people directly with products and services that you believe would help them.

No Lobbying

ABI is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization organized under 501(c)(3). Accordingly, ABI does not advocate policy positions or lobby Congress for legislation. Because of ABI's unique role as a neutral source for reliable information on the state of the law, members of Congress, their staff and the media regularly call on the Institute for bankruptcy-related information. While we encourage those on this list to voice their opinion about pending legislation and other bankruptcy-related topics, direct efforts to influence the legislative process by lobbying listmembers to take an action is not allowed.

Software Sharing

This list is not to be used to share software (this includes fonts which are essentially small software programs). Simple reasons: it's illegal and it's unfair to the people who spend their time creating the software.

Negative Remarks About Other Businesses, Firms, MembersĀ or Public Officials

This list is meant to be productive and helpful. It is not meant to be a forum to discuss political issues or to bash a firm/company you do not like. Please be sure that all posts are positive and do not insult others.

No Jokes/Chain Letters/Junk Mail/Off-Topic Discussions

Please keep your postings on-topic.

Subjects Generating More Heat Than Light

Occasionally, a subject will come up that generates lots of posts because of its controversial nature. If the discussion threatens to overwhelm our mailboxes or becomes nasty, we will ask that those interested in discussing it further take the discussion off the list.

Do not challenge or attack others. The discussions on the lists are meant to stimulate conversation, not to create contention. Let others have their say, just as you may.

Keep Your Posts Short and Trimmed

When replying to a post, quote only the portion absolutely necessary to help the reader understand your response. Delete the rest. If sharing an article, post only a brief excerpt, then provide the URL where those interested may view the rest. On ALL replies, be certain to eliminate all automatically generated footers (DCWW, Yahoo, MSN mail, and others) from the quoted previous post as well as trimming e-mail system headers and extra signature lines.

No Requests for Legal Advice

The Listservs are not intended to provide legal advice. If you are seeking legal advice, consult an attorney in a formal capacity.

All defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive or illegal materials are strictly prohibited. Do not post anything in a listserv message that you would not want the world to see or that you would not want anyone to know came from you.

Disclaimer and legal rules

This list is created by and provided as a service of the American Bankruptcy Institute. ABI accepts no responsibility for the opinions and information posted on this site by others. ABI disclaims all warranties with regard to information posted on this site, whether posted by ABI or any third party; this disclaimer includes all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness. In no event shall ABI be liable for any special, indirect, or consequential damages or any damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data, or profits, arising out of or in connection with the use or performance of any information posted on this site.

Do not post any defamatory, abusive, profane, threatening, offensive, or illegal materials. Do not post any information or other material protected by copyright without the permission of the copyright owner. By posting material, the posting party warrants and represents that he or she owns the copyright with respect to such material or has received permission from the copyright owner. In addition, the posting party grants ABI and users of this list the nonexclusive right and license to display, copy, publish, distribute, transmit, print, and use such information or other material.

Messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate members to arrive at any agreement that either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct intended to illegally restrict free trade. Messages that encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts, or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins, or cost data; market shares, sales territories, or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection, or termination of customers or suppliers.

ABI reserves the right to terminate access to any user who does not abide by these guidelines.

Listserv etiquette

  • If you will be out of the office for a length of time, please unsubscribe yourself from all ABI Listservs. This will ensure that members do not get a large volume of "Out of Office" replies when they post to the list.
  • Include a signature tag on all messages. Include your name, affiliation, location, and e-mail address.
  • State concisely and clearly the specific topic of the comments in the subject line. This allows members to respond more appropriately to your posting and makes it easier for members to search the archives by subject.
  • Include only the relevant portions of the original message in your reply, delete any header information, and put your response before the original posting.
  • Only send a message to the entire list when it contains information that everyone can benefit from.
  • Send messages such as "thanks for the information" or "me, too" to individuals - not to the entire list. Do this by using your e-mail application's forwarding option and typing in or cutting and pasting in the e-mail address of the individual to whom you want to respond.
  • Do not send administrative messages, such as remove me from the list, through the Listserv. Please contact the list manager regarding these types of messages.
  • Warn other list subscribers of lengthy messages either in the subject line or at the beginning of the message body with a line that says "Long Message"
  • You can post by "replying" to someone else's posting. Changing the subject line to the name of your topic let's others know you are beginning a new discussion. Leaving the subject line alone informs others you are responding to a previous post. Note: Remove any existing text from the body of the e-mail before writing your message. The "text chain" of messages can become cluttersome and difficult to read.