Kevin, Two potential down-sides of limiting the forum to IPC membership only are - 1 - Not all contributors/forum members are IPC members. We share a diverse background. Mine is Hybrid Microelectronics and Materials, but I can still offer comment at times - hopefully received as a comment of some value. I subscribe because there is also something to learn many times. I'm not an IPC member - but I definitely keep up with LeadFree, TechNet and FlipChip [before it withered away] 2 - Being gainfully under-employed, like Steve Gregory, was recently 'blessed with' - neither of us currently are with a company, let alone one that is an IPC member. Surely, one would not wish to take this away from us.... It is my belief that the suppliers represented/participating on these forums are pretty up-right and honest. Now then, that is not the group you may be experiencing. Would it be fare to weed out the forum membership list if they just lurked in the shadows and never contributed? That may take care a few of the unscrupulous ones, but it would also take out any aspiring students, or people new in the field, or the people just intent on LEARNING from a diverse group of people with a LOT of experience to share... and those just too bashful to say anything. Don't have a good suggestion Kevin. As a compliment, you are perceived as a good candidate for whatever they are selling - so maybe treat it as a compliment [then put the suckers on your junk mail list !!!] Steve C :-) -----Original Message----- From: TechNet [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Glidden, Kevin Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 10:28 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: [TN] membership limitations to Technet While I highly value the all-inclusive nature of this forum, it is perhaps an exploitable feature as well. I continuously receive emails from people offering services with whom I have had no previous interactions, and I often assume (perhaps incorrectly?) that our contact information and email addresses are being mined from the forum by those who join simply to generate contact lists. Would limiting Technet membership to those from domains whose companies are IPC members, or requiring entering of an IPC membership number to register destroy the all-inclusive nature, or improve the quality? Does anyone else share these observations? Thoughts? --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 ----------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------- Technet Mail List provided as a service by IPC using LISTSERV 15.0 To unsubscribe, send a message to [log in to unmask] with following text in the BODY (NOT the subject field): SIGNOFF Technet To temporarily halt or (re-start) delivery of Technet send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet NOMAIL or (MAIL) To receive ONE mailing per day of all the posts: send e-mail to [log in to unmask]: SET Technet Digest Search the archives of previous posts at: http://listserv.ipc.org/archives Please visit IPC web site http://www.ipc.org/contentpage.asp?Pageid=4.3.16 for additional information, or contact Keach Sasamori at [log in to unmask] or 847-615-7100 ext.2815 -----------------------------------------------------