From Oleg Volk:
At the start of this week, I asked Derek to make the database of armedpolitesociety.com available to my designates for backing it up to other servers. He dragged his feet but promised to make it available on Thursday. That didn’t happen.
When I called him, he said that he was busy. It’s the same claim he made to THR staff. Asked when he would make APS database available, he said: “I talked to a couple of moderators on THR and I think it should be part of the whole settlement with THR. I won’t release it.”
Feel free to publicize this event.
I own armedpolitesociety.com domain name, so I can move the forum. I would prefer to move it with the current content intact. My lawyer will be in contact with his.
I really wanted to believe that there were two sides to this issue. Experience has shown me that disagreements that seem cut-and-dried rarely are, so I was willing to solicit input on the situation from both sides. I tried to keep an open mind and assume that Derek was acting under some aegis of logic or commitment.
I was obviously wrong.
Last week, I received a rather persuasive email from one of Derek Zeanah’s associates telling their side of the story. Derek has still not made any statement defending himself. Parts of the email I received ran contrary to what I’d been told, and on follow-up, I found some of it to be false. According to a banned moderator:
I was not given a warning, I was not contacted in any way to inform me that I had been banned. My banning was not entered in the “Banned Members” thread in the staff lounge (I still have friends on the inside). There was no discussion in the staff lounge like there is before almost every member ban. I didn’t receive an email informing me of the reasons for my ban. All of these are standard procedure for staff when banning a member. As a plankholder and administrator since THR’s inception, to have they guy that amounts to the “tech geek” on staff make unilateral decisions like this is completely intolerable.
At this point, the evidence from founding members and former administrators is unanimous. Derek has no defensible reason for what he’s done, and he is solely responsible for prolonging this whole situation. He’s refused to budge from an intractable position, and now the rightful owners have no choice but to sue to recover what’s rightfully theirs. There’s even talk of criminal charges.
I miss THR, but I won’t be supporting it while the black flag’s being flown. I know some folks have stayed on in the name of preserving as much as possible in the meantime, and I admire them for that. According to Bartholomew Roberts, most have informed Derek that they believe Oleg to be the real owner. Without them, THR in its current form would collapse, and there would be nothing to recover when all this gets settled.
It’s a damn shame to see things come to this, but right is right. Even if he had a claim to THR (which I really doubt), Derek has no rights to the APS forums, and his continued refusal to cooperate only makes things worse. Please consider donating to Oleg’s legal obligations:
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 37076
In case you don’t know what this is about: