One of the few firearms forums I put up with seems to be struggling under an ownership dispute. The High Road is a level-headed well moderated forum in which I’ve frequently been able to find usable information from people who know what they’re talking about.
Last night, the forum went down with a message from Derek, which said he would explain the situation when it came back up. As of this morning, he and Oleg have made conflicting statements regarding the circumstances.
Oleg says:
In December 2002, I founded The High Road
forum dedicated to the advancement of responsible gun ownership. Recently, it was discovered that in 2006, the volunteer forum systems administrator, Derek Zeanah of Statesboro, Georgia, changed domain registration to himself. After he was confronted, Derek locked out all other staff from accessing the Web server administration and would not share even backup copies of its content. After failed attempts to peacefully resolve the dispute, it has become necessary for me to initiate a lawsuit against Derek Zeanah for the return of thehighroad.org domain name and the forum database.
I am seeking and would greatly appreciate donations to help with the cost of litigation. You can use Paypal (olegvolk@gmail.com) or send a check to:
Oleg Volk 3112 Chambley Ct Hermitage, TN 37076All donations shall be returned if the lawsuit is ultimately avoided. You can also aid me by re-posting this appeal on your blog, forum or web site. My legal position is already endorsed by almost all of The High Road staff as well as Rich Lucibella, the founder of The Firing Line
UPDATE: Derek’s reaction was to disable The High Road forum all together. He also removed most of the staff who opposed him.
Oleg has not since posted anything on THR, and Derek’s response was:
I’m sorry I had to leave such a vague message while the board was down these last 12 hours. Some legal threats were made, and I thought it prudent to get legal advice before reacting.
For nearly six years THR has operated as a voluntary community. Oleg has been the face of the board. I assembled and provided the engine. While user contributions were appreciated, I hosted the board almost completely at my own expense and preformed the technical work necessary to keep the system available 24 by 7 and ahead of our ever-growing user demand. The moderators kept things on an even keel, and over 75,000 others have contributed to make the board what it now is. I’m very proud of what we’ve become, and I’m committed most of all that the Board remain a place we are all proud of and where we all feel at home.
To my deep regret, during these last few weeks an issue that Oleg and I should have worked out privately has become an increasingly public dispute. I deeply regret this development and apologize for having been unable to work through our differences in a less harmful manner. This is an internal dispute, and should not have gotten out in the open forum to be the distraction it has become.
During this time, I have continued to operate THR on exactly the same basis you have come to expect. My assertion this entire time is that the status quo should be maintained unless THR staff decide otherwise, and that we should use a rational process to evaluate potential changes. Having said that, THR has grown substantially these last few years, and our continued growth makes some kind of change inevitable in order to pay for the increasing resource commitments our growth requires.
As far back as I can remember Oleg and have had the understanding that we were joint owners. A few weeks ago, Oleg changed his mind. I have not. We need to resolve this equitably and between ourselves, but in my view neither of us should be willing to proceed in a manner that politicizes the issue and damages this community.
Last night, someone began to use the THR to solicit members to contribute to a legal fight. I took the board down after another moderator dealt with the posts and alerted me to them. This is a perhaps a harsh measure, but I will act as I am able to preserve this community. The Board may not be used to sabotage the Board, and I will insist on that. There are thousands of users out there who just want to use THR as they always have so they can pursue their interests in peace. We have already had many moderators resign due to the tenor of discussions surrounding this issue, and it is my intention that we prevent similar damage to the forum at large.
During whatever happens, I will make every effort to maintain THR in the manner you have all come to expect. I hope cooler heads can prevail to keep THR something we are all happy with and remain proud of.
I’ve dealt with both men, and I’ve no reason not to trust either, so I really can’t take sides at this point. While I’m glad the forum is up and running, I’m worried that such a dark cloud is hovering over it. I don’t think I’ll be posting until this is resolved.
There’s discussion of the issue on several forums, and one former moderator has chimed in on ar15.com:
Derek has always been trusted with the database and hosting issues. He put his own name on the ownership of the domain for convenience. I don’t believe there was ever any malice aforethought. Rich Lucibella was the owner of record prior to that and transferred it to Derek knowing that he was acting as Oleg’s agent.
A few month ago, Oleg entertained the idea of hosting THR elsewhere and turning the site “for-profit.” Derek didn’t like his compensation offer (as much as $75,000 for past services rendered), so he locked out all other sysadmins and began demoting those with administrative access to the software. He says he did it because he was saving the site from Oleg’s bad decision. It may have been a bad decision, but if Oleg wanted to give the site to stormfront.org, it is his right to do so as owner.
(Be warned: ar15.com is barely moderated at best, and profanity and personal attacks abound.)
I’ll post more as I hear back.