The Loop is an online forum for meeting people, sharing knowledge, and making connections. There's a great deal of freedom for discussion, and just a few rules to keep the group running smoothly.

• Posts should center around important business issues (e.g. business models, industry trends, operational issues), especially where they are related to recent or past topics of Netpreneur events.

• Lurk as long as you like, and when you are ready to participate, please start by introducing yourself to the group, including a brief description of your business, your entrepreneurial ambitions, or how you fit into the "entrepreneurial ecology" (but avoid shameless promotion). Please be sure to include an electronic sig in all of your posts, including your name, company, email address, company URL, and more if you like.

• No flaming allowed. Kindness and consideration for others are prerequisites for list participation. Rudeness will not be tolerated.

• Please do not post specific business opportunities, professional service offerings, advertising or promotional materials, or other forms of solicitation, jobs, items for sale, real estate, etc.

• For security's sake, all Netpreneur groups, including The Loop, are set to block attachments. Please do not attach files of any kind to your posts.

• Do not distribute copyrighted content, such as a published news article, without the permission of the copyright owner. Instead, include a summary and a link to the content.

• If you want to respond to an individual and don't feel your comments are relevant to the whole group, then respond privately to that individual's email address and not to the list address. If you have a post for which you prefer participants respond individually to you directly, off-list, please note that in your message to the group.

• Please do not interpret any feedback you receive as legal advice. Always seek counsel from an experienced attorney on all matters that may require a legal opinion.