no licenses for websites containing "any" adult content ?

I'm not Juan. And I am not trying to start any sort of fight, defend either side, or whatever. But if Juan finds certain topics to be immoral, he does have a right to not offer licenses to sites that discuss those topics. Maybe it's not wise, and maybe it is. It would certainly make more conservative people happy.

There are webhosts that don't permit adult websites on their servers...it's really his call. Maybe he will change his mind or make an exception for your site though. I dunno.

Originally Posted by Bad Bunny

I'm not Juan. And I am not trying to start any sort of fight, defend either side, or whatever. But if Juan finds certain topics to be immoral, he does have a right to not offer licenses to sites that discuss those topics. Maybe it's not wise, and maybe it is. It would certainly make more conservative people happy.

There are webhosts that don't permit adult websites on their servers...it's really his call. Maybe he will change his mind or make an exception for your site though. I dunno.

I understand that Juan can do whatever he wants. I know how capitalism works. I just think, maybe?, that in his overzealousness to be a legitimate business, he has "unnecessarily" excluded hoards of potential customers. That is why I am trying to appeal to Juan personally. I am obviously not saying that he "must" do anything. Because it is totally his prerogative. I just want him to understand, that my website is really not pornography - in the general sense of the term. There are no naked midgits on my site. It's a retail outlet.

I mean, one way or the other I will seek out, enact, and benefit from SEO techniques. I just wanted to support Juan's product as it seems like an excellent product.

Like I said though...I am not telling Juan which way to go. I just really hope he will reconsider, or possibly even open a dialogue about it.

Yeah, mine has more than that, and it doesn't look like I will be getting a chance to bloody my knuckles trying to find something wrong with it.

Originally Posted by berberber

perhaps your bord is not big enough to be a tester ? and thats the reason ?

No. I didn't apply for a tester license. I posted a thread about it on another forum and Juan responded and informed me of that. Like I said, I have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BAD to say about Juan. And even if I did, I sure wouldn't do it here as that would not be right at all. I just really want to support his product and utilize it. That's all. I don't think where vbseo is used should reflect poorly on him or his product. But I am also fully aware that it is his prerogative. I would have to be stupid to barge in here and make demands. That is not what I am doing at all. I just HOPE that he will at least reconsider the scope of his usage terms, that's all. The reason I posted this publicly in the first place, is that many people may not know and it may affect that as well...

I am not a troublemaker, I am a legitimate business person...

The decision to exclude "adult" content is often difficult and controversial.

Certainly, there is a distinction between hardcore pornography, and websites that are simply geared towards tasteful, consenting adults. Some of the greatest works of art in existence have "nekkid ladies" in them . Nevertheless, rather than trying to ascertain which is which in every situation, implementing a blanket "no adult content" policy is fairly common.

We had a similar situation on my website. It's focused on hot rods, and we've occasionally had "pinup girl" pictures posted on the site. These are common "car culture" semi-clad females, posing with automobiles. We had to draw a line in the sand, and say: "no nudity allowed". We did this not because we had a specific issue with "pinup girl" art, but because we knew it was a sliding scale, and if we didn't put our foot down, we would end up as another common "Hot-Chicks-and-Hot-Cars" website, with little or no valuable tech content.

Keep in mind that there is huge profit to be made in the adult industry, and a decision by vBSEO to avoid the industry means that they will probably be sacrificing profits in an effort to focus on professionalism. I don't see it as a "judgement" against your website or your niche, just a tough decision that many webmasters are often faced with.

Originally Posted by Jonathan

I don't see it as a "judgement" against your website or your niche, just a tough decision that many webmasters are often faced with.

I totally agree with you. I am just trying to open a dialogue about it with Juan. I don't take this personal at all.

A branding free option for vBSEO could solve vBSEO being related to Adult content.

Originally Posted by MindBuster

A branding free option for vBSEO could solve vBSEO being related to Adult content.

EXACTLY !!! Great idea !!! It's definitely worth discussing...

Juan has the final say here...hopefully he will pop into this thread and chat about it.

You might have some luck trying to re-define what constitutes "adult" content. It's that thin grey line that makes a lot of webmasters uneasy.

Also, the Free Expression Policy Project is a solid resource for issues like this: http://www.fepproject.org/ . It's run by Marjorie Heins, a lawyer/author. I read a couple of her books earlier this year when I was researching online censorship. Sex, Sin, and Blasphemy was a good introduction, and I thought her most recent book Not in Front of the Children was very in-depth and thought provoking, and not too legalese-ish, especially considering it's somewhat of a legal history. Free Expression Policy Project also has a good sex/censorship fact sheet at this link: http://www.fepproject.org/factsheets...ensorship.html .

Originally Posted by Juan Muriente

Hi everyone,

I wanted to post a quick followup to let you know that I have been paying close attention to this discussion and you are not being ignored.

Actually, we have been actively discussing the issue as a team, backstage. Your concerns are definitely something I take very seriously.

At the moment, we feel that our "Acceptable Usage Policy" needs to be given more detail in order to eliminate gray areas. Jonathan suggested a good resource in the "Free Expression Policy Project". If anyone else has any suggested resources to help us update the EULA, please provide them in this thread and we will take a look.

Juan

P.S. Katrina, I sent you a PM early with a more detailed explanation of why your forums were not approved for a vBSEO license.

Hello Juan. Thank you for following up. I see no private message. As far as I can tell, I don't even see a prompt to read and/or send private messages on this forum. I have them enabled in my user cp. Any ideas?

Thanks,
Katrina

Katrina. First of all, a private message is intended to be private. Second of all, your message is a little different than the one I have in my email. Yeah, I get the first draft sent to my email by default since I posted in this thread.

You said early you wouldn't attack Juan in the thread, yet I have a hard time believing you right now. MoralSEO. hmmm

Whatever Juan's decisions are based on, he gave you his final decision. The way you are going after him and beating this dead horse is a little unbecoming. Use a different SEO product for your adult website. I don't feel Juan has to clarify anything more than he has, and I have no idea why he would. I really hope you asked if you could publicly display the private message he sent you. That is just bad form. Even if he had, I would make it clear that permission had been granted to make the message public.