IMPORTANT: Moderators, RSAa, GSAs and upcoming changes to TF.N

In the interest of keeping everyone appraised of a developing situation, i have started this thread. Please do not flame on this thread, please do not complain on this thread, please ask as many questions as you have. I, and probably Krash, will do our best to answer as many of those questions as possible.

Situation: We, at the JKOC and the rest of our Midwest Region, have lost our RSA, Krash. I have pasted the following text from a post HERE

QUOTING:

I?m going to come right out and say what the problem is between the Mod Squad, the Old Folks Home, and an element of site ownership. An element of site ownership has told the entire Mod Squad that we must provide him with our real names and addresses and such by registering at another message board and then passing on our user names there to him through G-S. If we do not, we get demoted. All future moderators will have to provide this information. This may be expanded to cover City Representatives as well.

The Mod Squad and Old Folks Home have two major issues.

1) The security of the information and the purpose behind the information gathering. As everyone is probably well aware, the Mod Squad is about as leaky as the Titanic. This has fostered worries about how secure this information would be, even though it?s being stored elsewhere. No system is perfect, and there is the worry that that information might come out and what might be done with that information. And we?ve yet to be told why we need to give it (though the guess that it is something along the lines of ?if LFL sues, it?s on the shoulders of the moderators?).

2) The way that this has been handled by site ownership. More than anything else, I think that?s what?s at the heart of this. The feeling in the Mod Squad and Old Folks Home is that an element of the site ownership does not care about the message boards and the users and moderators here in any way at all. We as a group have not been provided with reasons why the information is needed; we feel that we?ve been threatened; we feel that we?ve been insulted; and finally we feel that we?ve been ignored.

i posted the following HERE (look for the highlighted post), looking for answers:
www.theforce.net is registered under TF.N LLC, with an address i will call AddrA. It's listed in WHOis info, public domain.

Also listed under AddrA: www.newwookiee.com. This domain is listed on a name server, www.wise-advice.com.

The following domains are also listed on the www.wise-advice.com name server:

• www.toshistation.com
• www.rebelscum.com
• www.collectinghq.net
• www.r2d2central.com

The first three of those addresses are registered to a contact at AddrB. www.r2d2central.com is currently listed as expired and consequently does not list an address.

i checked out www.collectinghq.net. they have affiliate sites listed. among others listed are:

• www.toshistation.com
• www.rebelscum.com
• www.r2d2central.com

now reading the terms of use on www.collectinghq.com item #4:
Any communication or material you transmit to the Site by electronic mail or otherwise, including any data, questions, comments, suggestions, or the like is, and will be treated as, non-confidential and non-proprietary. Anything you transmit or post may be used by CHQ or its affiliates for any purpose, including but not limited to reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast, and posting. Furthermore, CHQ is free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how, or techniques contained in any communication you send to the Site for any purpose whatsoever, including but not limited to developing, manufacturing, and marketing products using such information.

now reading the Privacy Policy at www.collectinghq.com
CHQ gathers two types of information about users:
? Information that users provide through optional, v

 

Okay, here's the deal- it is possibe, possible, as in not certain, the boards are going to be closed. I'm not 100% sure why this would lead to the boards being closed but other FanForce's are setting up alternate message boards. Should TF.N close, we've been invited to join another website, or we can start our own message boards. Brian says that isn't that hard. We can even temporarily set up an EZ Board if we have to, so we have options. However, if the boards do close, the only way to get ahold of the vast majority of FF Cleveland members is going to be by email. IF DAVID DOES NOT HAVE YOUR EMAIL FOR THE NEWSLETTER, OR IF YOU USE A FANFORCE EMAIL, I CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH THAT YOU SHOULD PM AN EMAIL ADDRESS TO HIM AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. This is probably just people running around like chickens with their heads cut off, but should something happen, I would like us to be prepared and I don't want to lose any members in the confusion.

 

I think the Neimodians said it best with

ZIS IS AN OUTRAGE!

POSSIBLE CLOSING?! It's crazy to think that this posssibility could occur over something this trivial. I support all the Mods out there. This is crazy, and you shouldn't have to go through this poodoo.

 

I agree, it is crazy to think the boards would close over this. The only scenerio I can think of where that would happen is if the owners said, "I don't need this grief" and chucked the whole thing. I doubt the boards are going to close, unless there's stuff going on we don't know about.

 

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO The boards can not close! I will have no life!

 

Life will go on, David.

I would be sad to see TFN go.
But we will still all be together. They can't take that away from us.

 

The following Mods have been demoted:

Darth Sapient
sideshow212
stinrab
Mr.Neck
Protege-of-Thrawn
Rogue1-and-a-half
Jeff 42
Obi-Dawn Kenobi
VoidDancer
HawkNC


The following mods have voluntarily resigned:

jp-30
Krash
Morgaine
Katya_Jade
MaidenLumpe
Sebulba-X

 

Ah so this is what you were talking about. I stand with you guys. Brian find us a new home.

 

Yeah, last night was not a good night for me/us/SW fans across the world!

After a very difficult personal choice, I volunteered to resign as RSA...because I think what TFN is doing is wrong! You guys (and this silly board) have been a part of my life for the last 2 years. I've come here to chat, get together with friends, and even escape the pain of what possibly has been the worst time of my life!

So when they said...register or be demoted, they forgot something: Fanforces aren't about "power" or "titles" or even the ability to "control" who has access to what. Obi-Wan (ANH) described "the force" as an energy field created by all living things...it surrounds us, it penetrates us, it binds the galaxy together!

That's what a FanFORCE is...the energy and enthusiasm of SW fans sharing their love of SW with others, both locally and across the world. TFN forgot that, but we haven't!

The Jedi Knights of Cleveland will find a new home...and we'll find all of our "friends" across Ohio and the Midwest region to form a FORCE of FANS the universe has never seen!

 

From Philip Wise:

"I'm starting this topic so what it will be clear what happened to some forum mods yesterday and why.

The site theforce.net and the forums are owned by me and Josh Griffin. We have a contract with IGN where they provide hosting in exchange for allowing them control of the advertising. Neither I, nor Josh, or the entity TF.N LLC earns any money from IGN for this. IGN does pay some expenses directly related to running the site and occasionally we are compensated for affiliate advertising, such as from All Posters.

Last week I asked for each of the volunteer mods to provide me their name and mailing address. Many mods complied, some however did not. Concerns where raised about the reason for the request and some were concerned with privacy issues. Though I addressed these issues, some still did accept them.

Those that were either fearful of my having the information or worried about the security of their name and address being in our files enough, refused to provide the information.

Those people are no longer moderating for the forum. This is the list of demotions:

sideshow212 ID: 619313
DarthSapient ID: 423901
Protege-of-Thrawn ID: 339825
Mr.Neck or Yarael Poof ID: 239660
stinrab ID: 226005
Rogue1-and-a-half ID: 285985
Jeff_42 ID: 223819
Obi-Dawn Kenobi ID: 238022
VoidDancer ID: 627023

Contrary to some opinions I've read, I value the work volunteers do very much. This is not my way of thanking them or casting their efforts aside as unimportant.

Unfortunately, as much as I care about their work, I care more about the future of the forum, the tf.n staff, and our relationship with Lucasfilm, than I care about those

who are fearful of my having their contact info. It's a fact that some people who participate in forums anonymously, including moderators, can and do feel more free to

say and do things they would otherwise not do if they were known. In the end, I am confident the forum mods will be more comfortable with each other than they are now.

Based on some hate mail I've received as a result of this, it looks as though there might have been mods among us you might not want around your family. People that say these kinds of things have no business pretending to be decent people and every reason to fear disclosing their name and address.

Thanks for reading.... Philip"


But he still hasnt said WHY.
Does anybody have an archive of this board?

 

The following Mods have been demoted:

Bria

The following mods have voluntarily resigned:

Morgaine

Kristina and Julia?! Dear God what is this world coming to?! (But why do a few still have their colors if they have been demoted? ?)

darth-sinister was talking to me about this the other night. This is crazy. He doesn't like this either.

 

I wonder if this has anything to do with one huge media conspiracy. I'm not even kidding. We've come to a point where Political Correctness has become RIDICULOUS. First Howard Stern was taken off the air in some parts of the country by the FCC, now this. BEWARE THE MEDIA!!! Jon's phrase is "Death to the cows!" I'm adopting that... DEATH TO THE COWS! DEATH TO THE MEDIA!

As a side note, as Don has advised us to take precautions for a worst case scenario, I advise everyone to get at least one of the 3 big instant messenger programs: AOL Instant Messenger, MSN Messenger, or Yahoo! Messenger. I have all 3, and you can reach me at oldskoolESP on AIM and Yahoo! and oldskoolESP@hotmail.com for MSN Messenger. Being that I have all 3, I can contact the majority of the people here in one form or another. If you'd like to get other people's screen names (I'm sure they won't mind if I give them to you if you've been a regular here but just haven't done the instant messaging thing) I can help people contact one another.

 

VIVA LA REVOLUCION!!!!!

 

Actually Bria has been re-instated because she is underage and as such is not obligated to give out her personal info by law. Also the demoted/resigned ppl might be getting VIP status according to Josh Griffin. But who cares. Lets go somewhere where we can set our own rules and stuff. And not have to rely on the "generosity" of others.

 

I haven't heard anything about giving people VIP status, but 2 mods have been reinstated because they are under 18.


Still no word why this information was demanded.

 

Actually Bria has been re-instated because she is underage and as such is not obligated to give out her personal info by law.

What age is that? 25? (I don't know.) Bria is 22.

 

Someone was posting that she was only 16. See how easily things get twisted?

 

That's a great example, Bret. I think the whole "The boards are closing" panic is along the same lines. The owners still should have been more forthcoming about why they wanted this information, and demoting anyone who didn't comply was a bad idea, but I doubt the boards are in any danger of being closed.

 

Someone was posting that she was only 16.

That Bria is 16 or someone else you are talking about? It says it right in her profile how old she is.

I think strawbary is the other mod that got reinstated (because she was on the list that B first posted), but I don't know how old she is.

The owners should tell everyone what is going on, it is not fair that everyone is in the dark.

 

This is just absolute madness. It's as if our rights and freedoms are slowly starting to be imposed upon by others, starting with things like this. This just ain't right...

 

Will, I agree to an extent. But we have to be very careful how we throw around the word "rights."

Remember, this is a privately-owned, public forum. Meaning the public can read, write, post, discuss, whatever, about all things Star Wars and some thing not. However, there are Terms of Service that we agree to each and every time we post.

Long story short, we do have the right to maintain our privacy in the matter regarding our own personal information. But the owners of the site have the right to ask for that same personal information. I take issue with the fact that they just demanded it and then wouldn't give an easily-understood, straight-forward reason as to why it was being requested.

This is in fact Phil's pool, we can either play by his rules, or find another cooling off spot.

-b-

 

Meh...add my name to the "voluntarily resigned".

 

I think Brian raised a good point. Regardless of how we feel about what went down...this forum still belongs to the people at TF.N! And everytime we post, we are submitting ourselves to the TOS. It's ok to voice disagreement, but on this board we are all subject to their rules.

I wonder if this has anything to do with one huge media conspiracy.
Firt of all Eric...making wild accusations like that (most of that post needs to be edited, and if I was still the mod...would be) will accomplish nothing but fan the flames on an already explosive situation! None of us (including myself) like the way things went down. However, we don't need to make the few RSAs left (Darth Jurist is probably watching out for us) have to work that much harder!

 

I was talking to RamDac last nite and said this. While I dont agree with how things went down, I think things are getting blown out of proportion. Yes I support Krash's and Sebulba-X's right to privacy. I dont think I would just give it out either. Especially with the current circumstances. I thinks things will blow over and things will be almost back to normal. However I think this incident has soured ppl's taste for these boards, including mine. That is why I am suggesting that we find a new home. Somewhere we can manage on our own, with our own rules. And not be at the mercy of someone else's rules and TOS.

 

Last night Zahn's words ran in my head:
We're all playing in his driveway. If he decides to back up over our toys we can't really complain.

As Brian said, we are allowed to play here. Most of us (other than the mods/CR/RSA/GSA) don't really contribute anything to the people who own this forum.