A question concerning ethics


Should business professionals related to the audio field be required to register as such when joining Audiogon or making public posts ? I am talking about those that are involved with manufacturing / marketing / advertising / wholesaling / retailing, etc... audio gear or audio related accessories. After all, if someone is "raving" or "bad-mouthing" a product or product line, i want to know if they are simply a "joe average" end user / consumer or if they have something to gain by promoting or slagging specific products. Would this be out of line in your opinion ?

Obviously, this would be done on the honor system since anybody can make comments with total anonymity and thicken their wallets or take pot-shots at their competition. The fact that MANY that post here have made their affiliations clear only adds credibility to their posts since they were willing to be up-front and honest to begin with. Those that "string along the crowd" can only expect complete distrust once they are found out. I am not going to name names here, but i think that a few of the guilty parties will know who i'm talking about. Sean
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sean
Tom, you bring up a good and simple point that we all probably agree with in theory. Most of the experienced regulars ( read that as meaning "someone that has learned the hard way" ) ALWAYS suggest trying something out for yourself within the confines of your system. Obviously, there is quite a bit of difference amongst systems, operating conditions and even personal likes and dislikes.

Unfortunately, the "try before you buy" option is not always available for various reasons. Some people might live in areas that are not populated with a wide variety of components or dealers, some people rely on buying used and can't really audition before forking over the cash, etc... As such, there is quite a bit of information that people are looking for courtesy of the internet. Our goal here should be to provide the highest level of HONEST opinions that you can find in order to help these people ( myself included ).

Notice that i said "honest". It is fine if someone has contrasting points of view so long as they can express them in an orderly and constructive fashion. After all, we all know how subjective the field of "audiophilia" can be and having different points of view can only help widen the information pool available to us. I think that most of us want to know both the pro's AND con's of any given situation before we get into it.

This thread was NOT to say that dealers, reviewers, manufacturers, sales reps, etc... can't or don't offer some VERY solid and factual information and opinions. Quite the contrary as has been evidenced on more than a few occassions. Having these business professionals / companies recognized and identified for their valiant efforts to help the consumer can only help them in the long run. As such, i can't see any upright business person / audio professional or consumer that buys or sells online being against this type of recognition.

The thing that we are trying to avoid or "regulate" are the wolves in sheeps' clothing i.e. the person doing nothing more than self promotion in hopes of fattening their own wallet. These types of people typically do this REGARDLESS of the quality or specific considerations of the product and could care less about the "victim" of their "crime". You know, the person selling "cough medicine", "rheumatism / arthritis medicine" that is 65% alcohol, 15% water, 10% paint thinner, 5% flavoring, 5% coloring and 100% bullshit. Then there's the guy that can make it rain in drought season for the small fee of $500 or the guy with the best cable or amp under $10,000.

Obviously, this type of "scammer" has been around since the beginning of time and is not limited to the field of audio. Given that such type of people do exist, we simply don't want them to feel "comfortable" HERE. We want to know if this person is sincere and can be trusted on a regular basis or if they might have some outside motivations when expressing specific points of view.

With this in mind, we need to take steps to protect ourselves and other interested parties from these charlatans. Identifying who's who and making everyone register is one small step in the right direction. As far as that goes, while the A-gon feedback system can be put to good use in direct buying / selling situations, it too can be tainted or manipulated to one's benefit. That is, if that person is of a mind to cheat and defraud the public.

A-gon has been aware of this type of scenario and is supposedly working toward correcting it. I know that AA has taken steps to minimize this type of activity in their classifieds section. If Audiogon wants to remain the top site for buying / selling audio gear on the net, they need to set the pace for all the others. This means protecting BOTH the buyers and sellers that make use of this site. Agree or disagree, now's the time to speak your mind. Sean
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Sean, I agree with you completely on this one. I didn't chim in earlier because I don't have any suggestions at the moment. But I might add that I enjoy manufacturers joining in for the pure love of the gear. I can learn here and maybe become a better listener. Heck, I now believe in power cords, a year ago I didn't until I talked with a seller here who when out of his way to help me with my decision. You notice how the very best dealers respect each other and say good things about their gear even if they don't sell it themselves? This makes for trust and respect. Unfortunately, I don't know how to level the playing field....just some thoughts, regards, bluenose
I think that it would make sense to have a code after each person's name like Audio Asylum as there is way too much promotion going on over here......I think it would give a different perspective on some posts as I know I for one don't like much of anything other than what I build, but that can be said of most manufacturers and retailers as well......Time to clean it up a bit......

Bob Crump
TG Audio/CTC Builders/DDR Mfg
I agree with Tomthompson point of view. If you are new to this site it won't take long to figure out the good guys from the bad. If you buy on hype then you unfortunatly get what you deserve. I also agree with Cornfedboy who has been as good a watchdog as he is a poster. Sneaking in the back door is IMO unethical. Sean, if you have proof of this going on then wouldn't it be ethical to point out the culprit or culprits? Once a manufactuer lets members know who he or she is they can be very good contributers. I have found Ken Lyons of Neuance to be one of Audiogon's most respected and knowledgable posters. He is just one example as there are many more. Sean, you say you are not going to name names. I can understand why you would not but if you no for a fact that this is going on, Wouldn't it be benificial for all members to name names?
Brulee- this has been an issue discussed at length before, and there is a fine line between information exchange/shameless self-promotion/exploitation of the medium's anonymity/outright deception. There are legal (read libel/slander) issues as well that Agon has had to deal with as well. I think just about everyone agrees that it would be nice to be able to know any poster's background. As I said before, verification in the problem and Audiogon has been pretty firm about keeping this site from deteriorating into a flaming war. My advise would be that until Agon comes up with an identification code that is easily verifiable (and with hotmail accounts thats pretty hard)if you see someone crossing the line, maybe just send a private email to anyone who might be the target of exploitation. We can watch out for each other and help out the newbie who hasn't caught on to these shameless types.