# Would this cross any line with respect to commercial use?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-cross-any-line-with-respect-to-commercial-use/406844>\
**Category:** About This Message Board\
**Created:** [June 5, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-cross-any-line-with-respect-to-commercial-use/406844 "2007-06-05T14:51:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [June 5, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-cross-any-line-with-respect-to-commercial-use/406844/1 "2007-06-05T14:51:30Z")

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There is a paid service I am looking to obtain (probably by hiring a telecommuting freelancer) and I would honestly be interested in input from SDMB users regarding whether they’ve had good or bad experiences with this type of service, how I should go about looking for a person or company to provide it, what kind of time/fee expectations are realistic, and so on. Living in Egypt is very isolating in this particular situation, so I really do welcome general advice.

However, it is quite likely that there are individual members of the SDMB who would be well-qualified to offer this service themselves, and might jump at the chance to do so. So, even if I am careful to keep my question general, anything I post could easily be taken as a “help wanted” soliciation of sorts. (And the only reason this would bother me is if it were breaking the SDMB rules; otherwise, sure, I’d love to hear from Dopers who I could potentially hire.)

So, can I post my question, or would it break the rules? I can’t find anything to explicitly forbid this, but it seems pretty obvious we ought not to be posting “help wanted” ads.

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**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-cross-any-line-with-respect-to-commercial-use/406844/2 "2007-06-06T00:42:37Z")

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I’ll give you an OK on this… although you don’t say what the service is. If it’s illegal in the US, I withdraw my permission 😉 When you post your request, please indicate that you asked for (and received) advance permission.

Good luck.

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**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\
**Post date:** [June 6, 2007, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-this-cross-any-line-with-respect-to-commercial-use/406844/3 "2007-06-06T06:38:55Z")

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Thanks. I was purposefully vague about the service I’m seeking because naming it in my query would have been the equivalent of writing the actual post. But, it’s just formatting monster documents – for example, a 233-page, 9 mb nightmare with tons of boxes, figures and tables that needs to be put into a tempate, headers standardized, etc. etc. Not illegal at all!

I’ll post in IMHO since I’m really looking for people’s opinions and ideas about outsourcing their WP needs.

Again, thanks.