Disallowed Bid Request Posting Policy

Below are the types of bid request types that are not allowed on Rent A Coder .  If you cannot abide by the site posting policy, then please do not place bid requests on this site. Violators of the site bid request posting policy may be warned or have their accounts banned, depending on the severity of the offense.    While we attempt to catch all violations, it is impossible to catch 100%.  If you see a violation please help the site by reporting it.      Please note that we reserve the right to disallow posting of bid requests that fall into new disallowed categories not yet on this list.

Disallowed Programs:

• Spam (e)Mailer/ Spamming program
  Any programs used to send or post unsolicited messages are not allowed. This includes (but is not limited to) email spammers, chat room spammers, bulk messenger spammers, blog spammers and bulletin board spammers.
   
• Spam Harvester
  Any program used to gather mass # of email addresses, fax #s, physical address, IM addresses, etc. from web sites, newsgroups or other public information sources.
   
• Scumware/malware/stealthware
  Any programs that hide on the user's machine without their knowledge are not allowed. Typical product of this kind secretly monitor actions and report them to a central server, or pop up intrusive ads over a web browser (or at any time).
   
• Virus
  Any program that infects machines and can spread from machine to machine are not allowed. This range from just taking up space (harmless) to deleting files and wiping out computer systems (dangerous). Persons requesting virus bid requests will be reported to the proper law enforcement authorities.
   
• Trojan:
  Any program that disguises itself as something else (it may act like a game or other program), but underneath it is really a virus, key-logger, or other similar sort of program, is not allowed.  Persons requesting a trojan will be reported to the proper law enforcement authorities.
   
• Key-logger:
  Any program that logs keystrokes that the user is typing without their knowledge is not allowed.  These can be used to steal a person's password or other private information and usually form the basis for one of the other types of 'bad' programs.
   
• Cracker:
  Any program that tries different combinations of letters and #s (or other algorithm) to "crack" a password is not allowed. Additionally, any program that attempts to break any copyright protection is against the Digital Millenium copyright Act and not allowed
   
• Exploit/Hack:
  Any project that encourages discovery or use of an exploit or hack to gain unauthorized access to another system is against United States law and not allowed.
   
• Proxy abusers:
  Programs that attempt to cloak their true identities using proxies and attempt to fool another site or program into thinking that the program's outputs (HTTP, Chat, IM, etc.) are coming from multiple real legitimate users, when in fact they actually come from a single user.
   
• Clones of this site:
  We realize imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but this type of flattery is not allowed.  This includes clones of sites that are competitors, or work on a service that would be a competitor.
   
• Postings Requiring Terms of Service (TOS) Violations of Other Sites:
  Any project which requires violating the TOS of another site is not allowed. For example, Google does not allow submitting automated queries of any kind to it's search engine in their terms of service. So any project asking to automate Google searches is not allowed. Rent A Coder can't presume to know the TOS conditions of all sites on the Internet, so if you are a site owner and see a bid request violating your TOS, then please send a link to your TOS along with the bid request URL so it can be removed.
   
• Final grade projects.:
  Any project which would determine a final grade in an academic class (high school or university) is not allowed. This includes test taking, quiz taking, and the writing of final and thesis papers. However, research assistance for use by a student on such papers, as well as tutoring for both classes and homework is allowed.
   
• Certain types of adult material:
  Any project involving pornographic material that is either non-consensual or involving minors is not allowed. Projects involving other types of adult material are allowed. However, to protect site users who may be offended, these other types of projects must be preceded with the following: "WARNING: This posting involves adult/pornographic material. If you are offended by such material then please STOP and DO NOT CONTINUE READING."
   
• Non specific bid requests:
  Any project that isn't specific as to what it is asking for. This includes (but of course is not limited to):
  • Bid requests that say essentially "I will buy any software that you've created",
  • Bid requests that are so vague or open-ended that a coder cannot place a legitimate or accurate bid on them
  • Bid requests that do not establish concrete enough goals and/or cannot be arbitrated on, if a dispute arose
  These projects can frustrate coders who may find it difficult or impossible to bid, and may also expose at one or more of the parties involved (yourself, the coder and/or us) to a liability problem should arbitration be required, as there would be no way to compare what was actually asked for with what was delivered.
  
  Note: we now have a new type of bid request that allows this type of posting. Please see the Bulletin Board Auction Info page for more details.

Disallowed Other

• Asking for work in advance from all coders before escrowing any funds to a "chosen" coder
  This is not allowed as it does not guarantee that all coders who do the work will be paid.  (In a logo design situation, mockups of the final logo are not allowed, because that is essentially asking for the work in advance. However, asking for a watermarked, low resolution mockup is allowed.)
   
• Non work related
  Any non project specific related bid request, such as just attempting to contact someone, test bids, etc.
   
• Profit Sharing "Opportunities" and Pro-Bono work
  Rent a coder is a marketplace, not a discussion board. Bid requests that do not include monetary compensation are not allowed. 
   
• Copyright and other legal violations
  Any project that violates copyright or other law is not allowed.  This includes posting a bid request asking a coder to "Please send me the code for the project you just did for person XYZ".  This is a violation of the copyright the original buyer purchased and is not allowed.
   
• Postings in non-English
  While we have plans to expand Rent A Coder to other languages in the future, we currently do not have the expertise to be able to handle disputes and arbitrations over projects in non-English languages. For this reason, only English projects are currently allowed.
   
• Job postings for permanent positions / hourly work
  These types of postings are not allowed as normal bid request postings. However, they can be posted as a Bulletin Board Auction for a small charge to the Buyer. Please see the above link for more details.
   
• Postings that link to an offsite requirements document
  These types of postings are not allowed in case a dispute arises and Rent A Coder must interpret the contract. Allowing them would allow the contract to potentially be accidently deleted or to be changed without the full knowledge of the other party. For these reasons, it is not allowed.
   
• Quick questions/ quick advice
  Rent a Coder hosts auctions that involve bidding, escrowing of funds while the work is completed and then later acceptance of the deliverables by the buyer. Since quick questions/ quick advice don't work that way, and do not allow us to receive any compensation, they are not allowed to be posted as normal auctions. However they can be posted as a Bulletin Board Auction for a small charge to the Buyer. Another alternative for technical questions is to post these (for free) on the "Ask A Pro" section of our sister site: http://www.planet-source-code.com.
   
• Inappropriate content
  Any content which Rent a coder deems inappropriate (including unprofessional or racist language) is not allowed. Additionally, posting personally identifiable information about a 3rd party (for example, name, email address, phone #, etc.) or Rent a Coder without their permission is not allowed.
   
• Unarbitratable (misc.)
  Any project which is unarbitratable (for example, where deliverables cannot be uploaded to the site to definitively prove delivery or not) is not allowed (unless posted as a Bulletin Board Auction).