We have made some slight tweaks to our rules establishing some differences between advertising and crediting. See the summary below for more details.

OLD RULES:
1.1.5. (Upload, General): No advertisements. Do not advertise other sites or groups in torrent descriptions, torrent directories, torrent file names, or torrent contents. We have no advertising and neither should you. Exceptions: Additional information about an artist, album, or band is acceptable, and is not considered advertising. Also, .nfo files in scene releases are not considered advertising.
1.3.1. (Upload, Scene): Do not add irrelevant credits to your torrent. Your name is credited to the upload; there's no need to add it anywhere else.


CHANGES:
1.1.5. has been simplified.
1.1.5. has been given two subordinate rules: 1.1.5.1. and 1.1.5.2.
1.3.1. (old version) has been merged into 1.1.5.1. as an exception.
1.1.5.1. introduces an additional exception for analog ripper credits (i.e., the ripper's name or alias) in lineage text files, folder names, or optional file tag fields (e.g., "comment" or "ripped by", but never required tag fields). This exception only applies to analog rips.


NEW RULES:
1.1.5.: No advertising or personal credits. Providing artist, album, label, or retailer information is not considered advertising.
1.1.5.1.: Do not advertise sites, groups, or persons in torrent contents (e.g., folder names, file names, or file tags). Exceptions: Untouched scene uploads are exempt from this rule. For analog uploads, ripper credits (i.e., the ripper's name or alias) may be included in a lineage text file, in the folder name, or in an optional file tag field (e.g., "comment" or "ripped by", but never in a required tag field).
1.1.5.2.: Do not advertise sites, groups, or persons in torrent descriptions. Exception: Torrent source information (e.g., a ripper, scene group, or original uploader credit) is allowed in torrent descriptions.


WHY WE MADE THE CHANGES:
Acceptable analog ripper credits (i.e., ripper names or aliases) aren't advertisements. These ripper credits can be very important to analog enthusiasts. In some cases, ripper credits are referenced against official rip and gear lists published by rippers. And because determinations of analog transfer quality can be highly subjective, ripper credits are commonly used as identifiers of transfer reliability.
Ripper credits included within torrent files can be useful for users organizing their files because ripper credits function as convenient sources of lineage information. When included within a torrent, this information is preserved even after a torrent is deleted or trumped.
The old rules made consistent moderation challenging, and sometimes resulted in the elimination of large, healthy swarms. As such, the value of the old rules has been justifiably controversial. The new rules aim to substantially clarify what degree of self-crediting is or isn't acceptable for analog uploads by drawing a clear line separating reasonable self-attribution (crediting) from unreasonable self-promotion (advertising).

What.CD Staff