Text 17515, 96 rader
Skriven 2014-08-07 17:29:14 av Lee Lofaso (2:203/2)
  Kommentar till text 17458 av Nicholas Boel (1:154/701)
Ärende: fidonet.org
===================
Hello Nicholas,

 LL>> That means, if your theory is correct, this "bulk" of moderators
 LL>> consisted of, at most, two Z1 moderators, one of whom is Ross Cassell,
 LL>> who updates the MEMORIES echo with moderator's permission.

 NB> As an outsider looking in on this conversation, from what I've noticed.. I
 NB> use the echolist for one echo, MYSTIC. Ben Ritchie uses it, Mark Lewis
uses
 NB> it, Scott Little (Z3) uses it, Rudi Timmermans uses it (Z2). After that,
 NB> there's plenty more. That is just off the top of my head.

The idea of an elist/echolist that moderators could freely elist
and/or update and echo is a noble one.  I am not questioning Thom's
motives for having created and maintained the elist/echolist that
so many moderators have used, as I myself have done so.

However, a small handful of individuals have abused the elist/echolist
for their own nefarious purposes.  And that makes not only Thom LaCosta
look bad, but all of fidonet.

Ross Cassell continues to abuse the elist/echolist by naming himself
as moderator of the FIDONEWS, even though Björn Felten is, and has been,
the editor/moderator of the FIDONEWS for years.

Bill Kochman is another individual who has abused the elist/echolist,
using the fake name of Jeff Snyder and Todd Cochran's node.

There are other examples that come to mind, but you get the picture.

 NB> I use it as a form of advertisement. That is all. Someone chose to take
over
 NB> the reigns after Thom disappeared. He was thanked for that and helped out
 NB> in the process, from what I can recall. Noone else stepped up to the task.

Thom is a genuine nice guy, or seems to be.  I do not believe he
intended his elist/echolist program to be misused/abused, but people
are people and will do what they do.

 NB> I don't see it as a power struggle of any kind, just a way to advertise
your
 NB> echo and at the very least let it be known that it's there.

There is potential for abuse, abuse has occurred, and abuse continues
to this very day.  It may be only a small handful of individuals who do
this, but all it takes is one rotten apple to stink up a barrel.

 NB> From what I've seen, the Z1 backbone keeper doesn't use the echolist,

The "Z1 backbone keeper" would be Ross Cassell.  I have already noted
one of the ways in which he is presently abusing the elist/echolist.

 NB> but instead just looks at echos in general and gets rid of them if they're
 NB> not active in 6(ish) months.

Pure unadulterated censorship.

 NB> Except for the few instances of people trying to erect their e-peen and
 NB> hijack an echo by using the echolist that noone uses as the end-all-be-all
 NB> registration process for having a carried echo..

The #1 hijacker being Ross Cassell, using the FIDONEWS echotag in
order to keep certain individuals from being able to participate
in the FIDONEWS echo.  How did he manage that?  By threatening to
blackmail sysops into submission.  He wanted to blackmail every
sysop in fidonet, but some sysops outside of zone 1 refused to be
bullied so little ol' Ross had to limit his activities to sysops
in zone 1 (who always made themselves so very easy to control).

Ross Cassell's implied threat was - sysops who allowed certain named
individuals (Ed Koon revealed who those individuals are in a message
to ALL on his local board) to have access to the FIDONEWS echo, Ross
Cassell would cut their (sysops) feed.  As such, if a fidonet sysop
wanted to carry the FIDONEWS echo on his/system, he/she had no choice
by to comply with Ross Cassell's demand.

Ross Cassell had the full support of Janis Kracht to do whatever the
hell he wanted.  After all, Ross Cassell is part of the NAB Troika that
has been so active in disrupting the FIDONEWS (and all of fidonet) the
past few years.

 NB> Why is this a big deal again?

There are those of us in fidonet who believe in FREEDOM.
And these freedom riders of fidonet drive fidogods nuts.

 NB> Or are we just finding another reason to argue in this echo (which seems
to
 NB> rotate subjects every year or so, lol)?

Argue?  Me?  I never argue.  Not with myself, anyway.  :)

--Lee

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