For Entertainment Purposes - Censorship

[Tom Diekwisch]

... just thought you guys might get a kick out of this one...

I'm deleting your thread from the photo.net Site Feedback forum. Thanks for your opinion, but this thread isn't about whether photo.net should have a subscription model or not, so your post isn't on-topic. By the way, you can subscribe -- or not -- it is up to you. Subscription is on the honor system, and if you don't think you participate enough that a subscriptin is called for, that is your decision. But at least have the courtesy not to interfere with the efforts of the site to support itself through a subscription drive.

Brian Mottershead

For clarity, here's your original posting:

SUBJECT: Response to Photo.net Now Accepts Credit Cards / Subscription Drive

BODY: ... makes you appreciate the http://www.largeformatphotography.info/ site even more. I guess with my postings 90% is contribution toward the community and less than 10% discussion/question. Possibly, in all my years at photo.net, I might have asked five questions. I for once would certainly seize to contribute if the deal was increasingly subscription-driven

[Frank Petronio]

Brian and Bob Atkins banned me for life because I questioned why they banned another participant. He even threatened to sic the FBI one me for computer crimes when I re-registered using a new email address. This was after 2000 fairly helpful and polite posts and paying for membership. Apparently a large PN doner asked that Jay be banned, and anyone who protested that he was banned unfairly was also banned.

What's absurd is that it is our posts, images, and banter that made PN the largest forum. But like AOL, they churn and P.O. thousands of members a month...

Likewise, APUG bans you if you criticize Littman, who advertises his cameras on the site.

QT and Rob Galbraith run the best photo forums. No B.S. - all straight shooters. My thanks to them.

[John_4185]

APUG's sysop, Sean, is an odd chap, driven very much by the 'loyalty' of advertisers and big donors, and he is possibly rather desperate: I predict that he will fold and include digital cameras and photography soon enough.

Remember this one, Frank? It got me censored the first time, then he booted me and blocked my whole IP range.



Yeah, that's how I feel about what Kodak is up to. If/when they drain the pension funds just before they collapse, you might feel the same way.

[Tom Diekwisch]

Thanks, folks, that certainly was some sort of a reality check. I am still baffled. I wish there was some sort of a non-PN medium format forum, that's where most of my contributions were. From this forum, and BTW especially from Bob Salomon, but also from others, I have gotten a lot of help since I only started LF maybe a decade ago. Thousand thanks to QT. Now I only can imagine what it might have taken to get the forum back!

[Steve Hamley]

Well, this post is technically off-topic, but I'll add my thanks to QT and crew. It is a nice place.

Steve

[Doug Dolde]

Don't think that Galbraith wouldn't do the same thing. They are ruthless at deleting posts that do not please them.

[Jorge Gasteazoro]

Well, it is not all as cut and dry as Frank and jj put it. I dont know what happened with Frank, but jj was very abusive not only in the general tone of the posts but actually posting words like f***ing, etc, etc when he addressed other members, so I am not surprised he was banned. Now if he was participating in a flame war with any one person, it is understandable, but he seemed to just pick up and insult a wide variety of members. From what I understand the straw that broke the camel's back was a very insulting personal message with cuss words towards another member.

OTOH I do agree that the first time he was blocked for having his Kodak avatar it was unfair and heavy handed, it happens.

As to the Littman advertisement, his is a small footer advertisement that is not really worth that much to the APUG site owner, most likely Frank was asked to chill since the Littman saga has been rehashed in most forums, in fact if I recall correctly Frank has been as recently as last week on the APUG site.....

I too have been banned from PN, I dont care and I dont have a need to publicize it. Frankly I dont miss it. If you are not happy with any site just dont visit it, nobody is forcing you to do it.

To get back on topic, Tom I am not surprised BM does not want you to rock the boat. Dont give it a second thought and move on, PN is really easy to leave by the wayside......

[Frank Petronio]

Galbraith at least states that he runs a tight ship and posts the rules up front. So if you start speculating or trolling, then you get deleted.

For a short period I ran the Underground Leica Forum for disaffected PN Leica forum regulars, all 200 of them. Then I started getting hate email and creepy personal threats. The job of being a moderator is very under-rated, and I can forgive almost everybody but a jerk like Atkins for not being a "perfect" moderator becuase its a sucky job.

[Simon_5884]

What is QT?

[John_4185]

Jorge misses a point, and also has somewhat selective memory. The F*** thing was exactly that, askerisks, not the auto-oblitherated text that APUG creates. If the person didn't get the point, then so be it. It was a rather mean test of humor, but preceeded in plenty by others. Sean was ticked because, as he wrote to me after I wrote to him, that people complained about the picture (above) I used in a Kodak thread, and he found it easier to remove posts than to explain. Those who objected? Of course, they are vested individuals.

Now Jorge, I don't want to get into a contest as to who can be more irascible; suffice to say I would consider you well ahead of me in that regard. You win.