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MPIBA Event Code of Conduct & Anti-Trust Guidelines
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Event Code of Conduct:
The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association is an organization inclusive of all peoples and many types of members. As such, we take safety, observance of event rules, and anti-harassment very seriously.
All participants at MPIBA events (both official event offerings and related social events) are asked to adhere to MPIBA’s code of conduct, as described below. This includes booksellers, librarians, exhibitors, presenters, guests, sponsors, volunteers, and all affiliated attendees.
- Do not remove books or other items from the Exhibit Hall without permission.
- Treat others’ personal property and the event venue (site and materials) with care.
- Refrain from offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, age, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, ethnicity, religious affiliation, and political affiliation.
- Refrain from deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, sustained disruption of talks or other events.
- Avoid unwelcome photography or recording.
- Avoid unwelcome physical contact or sexual attention.
- No weapons are allowed.
- MPIBA is committed to freedom of speech and expression, however, prurient sexual imagery or language should not be a primary emphasis during presentations or when promoting products for distribution or sale, and the use of discriminatory language may be permissible, but only in the context of respectful discussion about associated topics.
If you are being harassed, observe someone else being harassed or not complying with these rules, please notify MPIBA event organizers immediately. We will be happy to assist with immediate intervention or escort and, when necessary, by contacting venue security or local law enforcement.
Participants asked to cease any of the above described behaviors are expected to comply immediately and may be expelled from an MPIBA event, without refund, at the discretion of the organizers. Disregard for the Code of Conduct may also result in having MPIBA membership and future participation privileges revoked.
We value your attendance and your well-being.
Anti-Trust Guidelines
When MPIBA member booksellers are in a room together (virtual or otherwise) they are, by definition, competitors. This means that under the law, they are prohibited from discussing certain things.
Specifically:
- There can be no discussions of price or pricing policies. Competitors are never allowed to agree on the price at which merchandise is sold, or discounts at which merchandise is offered. All discussions of price and pricing policies are strictly off-limits.
- There can be no discussion of boycotts. Competitors cannot agree to cease doing business with any supplier for any reason. Nor can competitors agree to urge consumers to boycott a third competitor. It’s collusion, and is strictly prohibited.
- There can be no discussion of dividing up a market. For example, if there are two booksellers in one city, they cannot agree that one will market only to consumers in one part of town, while the other markets only to customers in another part of town. This is also collusion and is prohibited.
All three of these prohibitions come to us via the Sherman Antitrust Act, which carries treble damages and jail time. All three are per se violations, which means it only has to be proved that you engaged in the activity—whether or not there was intent to harm, or actual harm caused—for you to be guilty of violating the law.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row row_type=”row” use_row_as_full_screen_section=”no” type=”full_width” text_align=”left” background_animation=”none” css_animation=””][vc_column][vc_empty_space height=”64px”][/vc_column][/vc_row]