Well, So far the Madison/Middleton area seems to be very clean. I have never seen any signs posted from Herbalife, but I did recently take note about an "independent distributor" car on several instances near the high school in Middleton. It was a gray sedan that looked like either a Ford Taurus or a Mercury Sable with a magnetic logo the read "Lose Weight Now! Ask Me How! Herbalife Indpendent Distributor." I think his prime method of advertising is leaving his vehicle for extended periods of time to act as a "billboard." What are your thoughts on this?

Eric

Paste a CAUSS want add on one of his windows that doesn't block view of traffic, liken to lower right side of back window.
Especially if he's leaving his vehicle on public property for an extended period of time.

GW

You're kidding right?

I'll admit I'm no lover of signs. But I also see why people use them and realize they probably are not going to stop anytime soon. Of course that's no reason for everyone to give up as a lot of the spammers would like to see.

But this just seems outrageous. Can you really validate putting a sticker on someone's car because you "think" they are parking it there for advertsing purposes? Couldn't this also be seen as vandalism? I don't think it's a good idea even as a joke.

Maybe I'm not up on the law but are magnetics illegal on cars? Another thing I thought of. What if the person works at the school or the building they are parking in front of for extended periods of time. Like say maybe 8 hours a day?

Everyone complains that spammers just don't get it. But when replies are made like this I can see why they (spammers) think everyone here has other motives besides the legal ones.

I myself from time to time even start to wonder what the motives are. Does everyone here really just want to get rid of the signs because they are illegal. Or is it really something more than that?

If it is because they are illegal I can stand behind that. But if it is because someone personally does not like the sign(s). I can't get behind that mentallity.

Sorry to have gone on a rant but it really upset me when I read this post. I've never spoke up on this forum before because I've never seen a good reason too (and I'm lazy enough not to want to fill out a registration). But this just got my goat. To think that someone who is highly regarded in this group would reccomend something that could be so blantantly illegal when they are the ones who should be combatting that. I've seen posted a million times "It's illegal so don't do it" when trying to persuade spammers to quit. So why would anyone tell another member of this group to do something illegal? Especially when the illegal activity is in direct response to something that is legal.

Like I mentioned earlier in the post I might not be aware of the legallities of magnetic signs. So if that is the case I apologize in advance.

>Like I mentioned earlier in the post I might not be aware of
>the legallities of magnetic signs. So if that is the case I
>apologize in advance.

I would believe that the magnetic signs are legal as long as they don't break any other laws regarding profanity, truth-in-advertising, and lastly, size - meaning they don't extend the size of the vehicle.

If it can be determined that the offending vehicle is parked in a high visibility public right-of-way and it is not patently obvious that it belongs there (not in front of a house, or a related business), then I would see no harm in leaving a note advising that they are, in effect, abandoning the vehicle and are subject to towing as such - never mind that the advertising is on it. The police are obligated to do the same.

However, if the vehicle is on private property, then there's not much you can do, unless you want to bring it up with the owner of the property. It then becomes their problem and we need to stay out of it.

But I agree with you, Neutral, I think GW's answer could have been a little better thought out.

=======================
Beastie

I stand corrected, thanks for bringing this to my attention -
What I should have stated is to "Leave", not paste a CAUSS calling card or want ad on his window.

Better still - If it's a personal issue, then call the CE office and/or the shopping center or property manager and they will normally have the car towed. Most shopping centers have towing signs placed everywhere in plain site.

The shopping center managers can have the car towed and held for trespassing charges which can get more attention than CAUSS.

There are municipalities in the DFW metro area that will call the violator and give them twenty minutes to remove the offending vehicle or what ever time it takes a CE officer to get to the vehicle.
If it's not moved after thirty minutes, the vehicle is towed and impounded. Most towing companies will not release the vehicle until cleared by the court.

Towing fees, impoundment charges, court cost, attorney fees, trespassing fines and all the other add ons can get real expensive - fast.

However, as we have stated before - Cars parked in shopping centers, whether for sale or advertising is not in the "Scope of CAUSS".

GW

>I stand corrected, thanks for bringing this to my
>attention -
>What I should have stated is to "Leave", not paste a
>CAUSS calling card or want ad on his window.

Ok I feel better about that.

>However, as we have stated before - Cars parked in shopping
>centers, whether for sale or advertising is not in the
>"Scope of CAUSS".

Now I'm confused. Why would I leave a CAUSS calling card or want ad then?

I do agree it is WAY out of scope for CAUSS to be dealing with parking offenses. I'd hate to see the day where a post says something like. "The guy stands on the corner of the street everyday with a t-shirt on that has a brand logo. I think he's standing there on purpose for long periods of time to advertise." I know that seems ridiculous, but I've seen stranger things happen.

>
>I do agree it is WAY out of scope for CAUSS to be dealing
>with parking offenses. I'd hate to see the day where a post
>says something like. "The guy stands on the corner of the
>street everyday with a t-shirt on that has a brand logo. I
>think he's standing there on purpose for long periods of
>time to advertise." I know that seems ridiculous, but I've
>seen stranger things happen.

As it turns out in many municipalities, including Dallas, there are ordinances against standing on the street to advertise. Farmers Branch TX does bust people who wear costumes (e.g., dressed like a cow advertising leather furniture) used to advertise. In addition, in some municipalities a vehicle outfitted for advertising cannot be left on the street or even positioned on private property so as to be used primarily for advertising. Obviously, proof becomes an issue in the latter case.

I have called code enforcement to report incidents such as the above. In some cases, they have taken action. In one case, a hugh box truck is used to advertise a pizza restaurant by parking it startegically in their own parking lot. The reason I found this particularly distasteful is because the truck sign is twice as large as the approved permanent sign. It is in an area where permamnet signs are quite small leading to a visually pleasing commercial street (except for the big ugly truck sign.)

Newbie

Newbie (not)

>If it can be determined that the offending vehicle is
>parked in a high visibility public right-of-way and
>it is not patently obvious that it belongs there (not in
>front of a house, or a related business), then I would see
>no harm in leaving a note advising that they are, in effect,
>abandoning the vehicle and are subject to towing as such -
>never mind that the advertising is on it. The police are
>obligated to do the same.

I think this should be left to the police entirely myself. Aside from maybe calling to report the vehicle being abandon.

>But I agree with you, Neutral, I think GW's answer could
>have been a little better thought out.

I think we all put our foot in our mouths once in awhile just to remember how it tastes. Nobody's perfect. I'm just glad GW was man enough to admit his mistake and correct it appropriately. It's funny how one little word can make such a big difference in a statement.

There are three questions that have come up in this thread, which pertain to certain actions of individuals that are not necessarily within the "Scope of CAUSS.

First - The scope of CAUSS is clearly defined in the FAQ's and Guidelines in addition to the Netiquette link.

Which brings up the issue of name-calling. We do not allow for name calling either to or from members of the site nor to or from the folks that post here. Everyone is welcome to his/her say, as long as their post are civil and do not rant and rave on the same question repeatedly as to give the impression of trolling.

Profanity is "Verboten" plain and simple. If our filters miss it, one of the four Administrators will remove and delete. No questions, No discrimination. If it comes from one our members, the two strike rule applies. If it comes from a non-member, two strikes and they're banned.

On the issue of my post and mistake regarding the "pasting of a calling card on a vehicle" in a shopping center parking lot. We all know that the English Language is a play on words, of which, as you so eloquently pointed out. i.e. "The pen is mightier than the sword."

Final point - We all have certain "hang-ups" in addition to signs in the rights to way. However we make every attempt to stay as focused as possible on the Scope of CAUSS, which is bandit signs in the Right of Ways and/or nailed to utility poles. There is no way that CAUSS can be all things to all people. We simply try to keep our local neighborhoods free or trash and litter. This includes fast food wrappers, WalMart and Target plastic shopping bags, plastic soda pop bottles, aluminum beverage containers, and etal.

Personally, I have hangs up about people bringing in worn out junk cars "For Sale" into our neighborhoods and placing then on the vacant areas adjacent to our children's parks and playgrounds. My other hang-up (if you will) is certain ethnic groups coming into the same area on the weekends and strewing all kinds of "flea market" junk and cluttering up the neighborhood with their litter. This in addition to setting up boom boxes that blast marachi music at 100 dB plus.

As a director and officer of our homeowners association, we have developed a very successful method of removing both within a maximum of twenty minutes once the issues are reported. I don't bring those issues to bear on the CAUSS forums.

On the issue of "tpyos" and "misspelings", we give everyone living "heck", but its all done in fun. Grammatical errors are a different matter. We've stated many times in the past that we make every attempt to keep this board from becoming just another usenet cesspool.

Last but not least, we have no way of controlling what maverick personnel do in their spare time, which include the activities of sign sharks. We can only suggest as our "guidelines" so state.

Respectfully.

GW

GW