'Remove Klez from Big-O-Software' Spam

[slickswanny]

I can see why people are mad at Plasma for what he did and I see why some people don't think that he should be banned. What Plasma did was wrong, but people shouldn't get uptight about it.
Getting a few e-mails a day isn't that bad. If you wanted you could just block the sender and delete the e-mails and you wouldn't have to hear from him again.
Personaly, I don't mind getting an e-mail or two a day if it means that some poor guy out in say, Nebraska finds out that he has a virus and gets rid of it before it kills his computer.
Plasma's actions were wrong, rebellious, and (at most) annoying but I believe that I may have done the same thing in his place. I for one am all for letting Plasma be allowed back.

[Big-O Mark]

I mean, ive posted a lot of helpfull stuff to the boards and i love em too.... but if you guys really feel i should be permenantly banned, then i guess theres not much i can do.

Ryan and I are taking this issue as seriously as we take things around here. Considering the severity of what transpired, it would be inappropriate to quickly decide one way or the other, so we're going to sleep on this one. We'll get back to you (and everyone else who is watching this situation) tomorrow, for sure.[/url]

[Leah-la]

I've been reading this topic for the past couple of days, and I thought I would put in my two cents. Plasma did something wrong. Whether he meant to or not is not the issue. When you do something wrong, you have to deal with the consequences. I didn't appreciate getting the e-mail, only because of the way my hidden e-mail address was obtained. There was a reason it was hidden. If Mark and Ryan want to ban him, then he should just deal with it. I'm sure he is a very nice person, or whatever, but that's no reason for him to be "let off the hook" so to speak. Whatever Mark and Ryan decided is what should be done. Maybe you or he may think that it was inappropriate, but it is what they decided, and it is their forum. If they change their minds, then good for him, but otherwise, his punishment is just what it is, a punishment. And just because he enjoys the forums, doesn't mean that he should be let off, because a punishment isn't supposed to be fun. I see no logic in giving him "lesser" punishment for doing something that was wrong, and done mostly for personal gain. I don't have anything against Plasma, but if you break the rules, you break the rules.
Ok, that was really long winded... I tend to ramble... I just though I'd put in my piece since so many others have, and then leave it alone.

[tone]

i mean no one has any say in this except ryan and mark but i mean you can say things to pursade him and i do think it may have been an honest mistake but you never know

[shawnrobts]

i can see where mark and ryan are coming from with all of this. and many people who have posted in this topic have mixed feelings about it all. but you must still take into consideration that plasma to it upon himself to do all of this and not made any contact with mark or ryan first off to send this email (not to mention, use the "big-o-softare - aim plus" as his own.) making it spamming. true it has his own address in the headers when the message was opened. plasma may have been trying to help all the users of these forums, but he went about it all the wrong way. and i'll support whatever decision mark and ryan make at the end of all this. however, i think we all know that plasma will return, only as a different user, much like he has now.

please note that is my personal opinion and not take as an attack on anyone in these forums or big-o-software in any way

[tone]

wow that was stated awsome that put this whole convo into a new perspective for me

[XMenKMan]

but you must still take into consideration that plasma to it upon himself to do all of this and not made any contact with mark or ryan first off to send this email.

I understand your points and they are all valid, minus this. Make sure before you post you have all the facts. The fact is that 1) He first asked them to send an email - got no reply from them and 2) he posted on the board a few hours before he sent this email out that he was going to do it - got no reply.
While I do understand everything being discussed and everything is valid in some way or another, it is ultimately up to Big-O. But, in his defense, he first asked for something to be done, and then after no response said that he would do it, and got no response. And if all of you read his first post about the subject of Klez on another thread, he was able to give proof that the origin of the virus was coming from a Big-O forum member, which means that something should have been done from the admin level to give warnings or info not via forums but via email so that everyone can read it, and not the people who just chance upon it on the forums.

[harra]

So XMenKMan,

Are you stating that the "Ends justify the means"? That because Mark and Ryan didn't appear to be taking his concerns seriously he needed to take things into his own hands.

I'd like to think Brian got tired of the bombardment of virus-laden e-mails getting sent to his mail-server and he had the knowledge on how to get info to the potential culprit(s) (who were probably innocent victims of the Klez virus themselves) and decided to send the message himself. He used a 'From' name that would get attention.

In this new digital age, with great intelligence comes a greater level or responsibility. People don't take these kinds of actions lightly. Luckily Mark and Ryan are nice people because if this had been a board run by once of the record labels or movie production houses he'd probably have the police (more likely the FBI) knocking on his door. These wonderful (* note * wonderful being sarcastic) laws coming on the books (i.e. DCMA 'Digital Millennium Copyright Act') are making it a lot easier for technologically ignorant people to just throw anyone in jail that they want.

These intelligent youth (youth being anyone who is under 30) need to be careful because vigilante acts (which I view this as being because he took matters into his own hands) won't be taken lightly in the future. The Homeland Security wants to make it real easy to label even the most minor "hacking" a terrorist acts.

[shawnrobts]

The fact is that 1) He first asked them to send an email - got no reply from them and 2) he posted on the board a few hours before he sent this email out that he was going to do it - got no reply.

..this i did not know. if it was already posted earlier in the forum then i'm sorry and must of just skipped over that post. but anyway, thanks for clearing that up for me. this changes how i now see this this (in some way or another.)

[shawnrobts]

wow that was stated awsome that put this whole convo into a new perspective for me

are you being sarcastic? i don't know what i really did special or stated it in any "awesome" way, i just said what was on my mind at the time. and xmenkman already pointed out one thing that i did not know about this deal. which as i said in my last post, has changed some of the ways that i see this. but not too much.

[plasma2002]

i really hate to be an annoyance by bringing this up again, but im just still kinda waiting to see if i will ever be allowed to post again on here.

Im keeping to my punishment and not posting anything anywhere but here, but ive seen a lot of threads i could really post some good stuff into.

I know your pissed at me and stuff, but if there IS a possibility that i might be allowed to post again, then yeah.......

ill still be in here waiting for a decision.



-B

[Big-O Mark]

i really hate to be an annoyance by bringing this up again, but im just still kinda waiting to see if i will ever be allowed to post again on here.

Im keeping to my punishment and not posting anything anywhere but here, but ive seen a lot of threads i could really post some good stuff into.

I know your pissed at me and stuff, but if there IS a possibility that i might be allowed to post again, then yeah.......

ill still be in here waiting for a decision.

Nothing will change my mind that this was a matter for the forums, not a mass mail, and it should never have reached the point of insanity that it did. However, I hate to see a longtime Big-O supporter and forum contributor have to leave in such a fashion.

Your original account has been unbanned, and your new account is now banned (you only need 1, we figured!). We didn't want to delete your second account, as phpBB can be a bit flaky, and Ryan figured it would be "something remniscient of crossing the beams in Ghostbusters."

Welcome back to the Big-O community. I think I speak for all when I say, let us never speak of this again .

[Big-O Ryan]

Sorry it took so long, too, I know we promised you a reply last week - but, you know.. even more eventful than usual around here recently.

You really are welcome back, though, if you still want to hang out here. I just hope that you'll be more thoughtful in the future when your actions directly affect so many people. But, whatever, no hard feelings, and welcome back.