I don't know if this is allowed, because he wrote this thing so it is his propertyZjonbelz wrote:Can somebody copy and past this message here ...
Ok here it come:
Giro wrote: A few words about the defacing the site is being put through at the moment.
How I created the site
I created Eurobilltracker 6 years ago : I created the look & feel, I created the code, I created the database, I bought the domain name and I hosted the service.
From the start, I made it a "user-generated content" site like youtube, myspace, etc : people helped moderate, answer support requests, helped locate cities, etc. From the start, I gave it the focus on statistics that it still has today.
That is why, the site came out the clear winner among the 7 euro bill tracking sites that opened at the start of 2002. The spirit of the site has lived on since then.
Anssi and Marko volunteer to help
A few years down the road, Anssi J. (Avij) offered to host the website on a server he owned and operated. I accepted under those terms because he was already an active member of the community and had thus gained my trust. Anssi made sure the servers ran, corrected bugs here and there, answered emails, etc.
Fast-forward to 2005, Marko S. (Nerzhul), the creator of EBT Tool, wanted to contribute to the code to add even more stats to the site.
Anssi asked for my permission, I agreed.
From then on, things went downward
* I discovered that I was not being consulted for additional features, changes to the site design and the database
* A parallel governance that did not include me or the channels I had created, was put in place that focused around Anssi and Marko
* upgrades I wanted to make to the site were being dismissed as not important or problematic (especially a much needed redesign)
* I was to follow unspecified rules some of which were never explained even when I asked.
To put it simply : they could do without me.
But what really got to me was to have an upgrade I made to Babel removed without discussion : it was then I really realized that Anssi and Marko acted as though they embodied the site and owned it.
Safegarding Eurobilltracker
From then on, my focus has been on safeguarding the site from them and the way to do so was to simply move the site to new hosting while providing exactly the same service to everyone with absolutely no changes. The switch was made on Dec 24th with links to the forum and the WAP site unchanged, the passwords to the administration sections were changed so I could monitor the site the first day. I notified Marko and Anssi and asked for information to complete the switch cleanly.
The next day, the forum was hijacked to a new domain owned by Anssi, eurobilltracker was running on another domain owned by Anssi and an incensed message was posted by Marko to the Annoucement board, calling for people to deface the site. This is a called a coup d’état since the rightfull owner of the Forum domain has now totally lost control.
Anssi and Marko call for defacing the site
So people have been creative at defacing the site but with no real damage : changing their countries, adding comments to bills, changing the names, adding fake bills, fake cities, etc. I have implemented a restrained response: first cleaning the mess, then blocking some keywords and finally blocking accounts. Unfortunately this is continuing so I am now banning computers. I will continue to do so as long as this is necessary, "user-generated content" is a double-edged sword ! One day I’ll post the screen shots and we’ll all laugh at how childish it was.
A new beginning
I lay no claim to the WAP site and I lay no claim to the Forum. I am appalled at the tactics used by these people. Eurobilltracker will survive as it has when it faced similar attacks from disgruntled competitors in 2002. I look forward to adding features in the upcoming months.
I will simply end with a question. Do you want to give your time to a site run by people who:
* openly violate someone’s intellectual property (my site design)
* steal someone’s property (site database)
* knowingly violating the license of software they use (Babel is GPL and they did not contribute their changes back)
* have no respect for people who create things from scratch
* portray people they don’t know as "greedy businessmen"
* advocate defacing another site and do so themselves
I am a man of peace, if you have been duped to attack Eurobilltracker by these people; stop and I'll restore your access to the site. Let's keep this site a fun place for everyone.
If you disagree with these tactics, let people know.
Philippe Girolami
Creator of Eurobilltracker
2007-12-26
