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background the first: notes - if you hate backgrounds just go to the photo!
1: This isn't about Fratching or CS.
2: Obfuscation is a bit of a point here though, since it somewhat pertains to what happened in this story. Over at CS, I tend to use either generic terms like "my last store" or firefly references, so I'll stick with firefly for this. So if you have an idea of what sites I'm talking about, please don't name them by their real names.
Background the second - a background
This is my BF's story actually. He does photography as a hobby and is on several websites. One of them - "Ariel" - has specific guidelines about behavior. Some of which is similar to the rules here, such as no harassment etc - except that they're more prone to have harassment, and they have groups that meet so it's possible to actually know other members in regular life. (for good or for bad).
Cast:
BF: my boyfriend
J1: Jerk 1
J2: Jerk 2
And some final notes. I've met J1 myself twice. I had nothing against him exactly, except perhaps a bit of ego... but from what I know about Ariel & photogs, it's not unusual to have er, "strong egos". and all three in the cast are photogs.
(my bf chuckled over that description heh)
I'll start with what my BF did wrong - he posted photos to his personal page that he didn't take. And the captions he took from the original page. So it looked as if he'd taken the photos. And yes, he knows now that it wasn't the best option. (he just nodded)
He also did it on another site "Persephone" but had them in a specific folder for "concepts", labeled them as "not mine" ... as in things he wanted to try doing with photos.
This wasn't really a problem at either site, even though it wasn't in accordance with their rules. The photos remained up for over a year without issue.
End background. Main story.These are the droids This is the photo you are looking for
So what went wrong? Why the title about "self-appointed mods, overreaction, & taking it to other boards"
One day Jerk2 went looking at my BF's personal page and the photos posted. He questioned about one of them, accusing it of being stolen. My BF replied that he hadn't edited it (meaning it was found as is).
And then we went out.
Jerk1 and Jerk2 (J1 & J2), and other people ... blue the F up! FOURTY comments in 4 hours? And that was just the ones that happened while we were out. The comments continued on through the evening until about 11PM. Seriously? I think my BF wanted to reply to them at first, but he couldn't; the area we were in had a crappy connection that pretty much only allowed his phone to get email. So he could see every comment from the email that was generated, but he couldn't access Ariel to reply.
And... I suspect his silence egged them on too - although that's really a personal issue on their part. They don't own him and NONE of them were mods. It's a forum, not life-and-death emergencies.
Although J2 started the attack, it was J1 that became the ringleader and took over. He started by questioning my BF and DEMANDING a reply via IM to "discuss the charges." Then he amended the ultimatum with a 3-day deadline.
Oh but that's not all. J1 had already decided he was guilty anyway. He searched for any photo my BF posted - if he found it online elsewhere it was "stolen" and if he didn't find it elsewhere it ... must still be stolen. For one photo in particular, J1 asked my BF "so what's the models name then?" (funny actually cos my bf's comments from last year where he named her (Kaylee), and what it was like to shoot her... were still on the page).
But again, by this point J1 had already decided "guilty!"
Also, notably... with the photo of Kaylee and of another "i-can't-find-it-online!" photo... I've seen the prints. Yes. Prints. They were taken with a FILM camera, not a digital. (I don't know about Kaylee but the other photo I know was in either large-format or medium format)
My BF joked, "Hey why can't I find the XF data on these photos! they must be stolen! O yeah it's film!"
But back to the comments. The straw that broke the camel's back was when J1 posted "Here's his photo over at Persephone! <link>" and bridged the Ariel-attacks to another site.
Next thing he knew he was getting mod messages at Persephone. Including the message that "normally you would be banned for this" ... cos 2 of the images he'd posted were not his, but they were in a folder specifically marked as "concept" with the heading "not mine". If he wanted to do that he could only post links, and hope the image stayed where he linked to it.
I think the only reasons they didn't ban him were... this was the FIRST time anyone bitched about this with him. And he's been there for almost a decade. And, I know this from my own website - you can tell when traffic is being generated from a hot-link. So they KNOW it was coming from Ariel.
Anyway, this is what pissed him off the most I think.
First off - they publicly bitched about him over "issues" vs taking it to moderators. They grilled him, even called him names, acted like he owed them answers.
Second - J1 started a photog blog about him about "how to be blacklisted" as if that was really going to happen
Let's just say... my bf is networked a bit more than J1 could ever dream about. He's worked with playboy models and bigger name photographers who think more highly of him than J1 & J2 do.
Third - J1 tried taking it to another site. He tried getting my BF fucked over on other sites.
after that my BF pretty much said "fuck ariel". He emailed the mods, reported the posts and for the most part the reply was about photo copyrights and ignoring people. Although the first mod who wrote back named J1 and pretty much agreed that J1 was a bit of a dramabitch.
Still my BF had had enough and deleted his account. He got one email back from them, trying to stress the point about copyrights. He wrote back to state that ... "it's not the copyright complaints I have issues with - it's about the attacks and the attempts to mess with my non-ariel life" etc. Since then they've been silent.
And the bs at Persephone is over too.
Lastly... He just had a photo meet with another site/group. Eh, I'll call it "Haven" (again with the firefly!). He considered bringing one of his film cameras along because J2 was also suppose to show. But he decided it wasn't worth the hassle of carting a medium format camera around, even if it was to prove a point. Yes he does have "normal" 35mm but he also has medium & large format too. (he's a geek!) So he just stuck with one of the digital cameras.
But it turned out it didn't matter anyway. J2 didn't show up. And my BF had a great time, took great shots. I can only wonder if... the guy hosting the photo meet did his own blacklisting. But that's just me wondering - my bf didn't bother asking and just spent his time having fun taking photos.
Oy! O.o
1: This isn't about Fratching or CS.
2: Obfuscation is a bit of a point here though, since it somewhat pertains to what happened in this story. Over at CS, I tend to use either generic terms like "my last store" or firefly references, so I'll stick with firefly for this. So if you have an idea of what sites I'm talking about, please don't name them by their real names.
Background the second - a background
This is my BF's story actually. He does photography as a hobby and is on several websites. One of them - "Ariel" - has specific guidelines about behavior. Some of which is similar to the rules here, such as no harassment etc - except that they're more prone to have harassment, and they have groups that meet so it's possible to actually know other members in regular life. (for good or for bad).
Cast:
BF: my boyfriend
J1: Jerk 1
J2: Jerk 2
And some final notes. I've met J1 myself twice. I had nothing against him exactly, except perhaps a bit of ego... but from what I know about Ariel & photogs, it's not unusual to have er, "strong egos". and all three in the cast are photogs.
(my bf chuckled over that description heh)
I'll start with what my BF did wrong - he posted photos to his personal page that he didn't take. And the captions he took from the original page. So it looked as if he'd taken the photos. And yes, he knows now that it wasn't the best option. (he just nodded)
He also did it on another site "Persephone" but had them in a specific folder for "concepts", labeled them as "not mine" ... as in things he wanted to try doing with photos.
This wasn't really a problem at either site, even though it wasn't in accordance with their rules. The photos remained up for over a year without issue.
End background. Main story.
So what went wrong? Why the title about "self-appointed mods, overreaction, & taking it to other boards"
One day Jerk2 went looking at my BF's personal page and the photos posted. He questioned about one of them, accusing it of being stolen. My BF replied that he hadn't edited it (meaning it was found as is).
And then we went out.
Jerk1 and Jerk2 (J1 & J2), and other people ... blue the F up! FOURTY comments in 4 hours? And that was just the ones that happened while we were out. The comments continued on through the evening until about 11PM. Seriously? I think my BF wanted to reply to them at first, but he couldn't; the area we were in had a crappy connection that pretty much only allowed his phone to get email. So he could see every comment from the email that was generated, but he couldn't access Ariel to reply.
And... I suspect his silence egged them on too - although that's really a personal issue on their part. They don't own him and NONE of them were mods. It's a forum, not life-and-death emergencies.
Although J2 started the attack, it was J1 that became the ringleader and took over. He started by questioning my BF and DEMANDING a reply via IM to "discuss the charges." Then he amended the ultimatum with a 3-day deadline.
Oh but that's not all. J1 had already decided he was guilty anyway. He searched for any photo my BF posted - if he found it online elsewhere it was "stolen" and if he didn't find it elsewhere it ... must still be stolen. For one photo in particular, J1 asked my BF "so what's the models name then?" (funny actually cos my bf's comments from last year where he named her (Kaylee), and what it was like to shoot her... were still on the page).
But again, by this point J1 had already decided "guilty!"
Also, notably... with the photo of Kaylee and of another "i-can't-find-it-online!" photo... I've seen the prints. Yes. Prints. They were taken with a FILM camera, not a digital. (I don't know about Kaylee but the other photo I know was in either large-format or medium format)
My BF joked, "Hey why can't I find the XF data on these photos! they must be stolen! O yeah it's film!"
But back to the comments. The straw that broke the camel's back was when J1 posted "Here's his photo over at Persephone! <link>" and bridged the Ariel-attacks to another site.
Next thing he knew he was getting mod messages at Persephone. Including the message that "normally you would be banned for this" ... cos 2 of the images he'd posted were not his, but they were in a folder specifically marked as "concept" with the heading "not mine". If he wanted to do that he could only post links, and hope the image stayed where he linked to it.
I think the only reasons they didn't ban him were... this was the FIRST time anyone bitched about this with him. And he's been there for almost a decade. And, I know this from my own website - you can tell when traffic is being generated from a hot-link. So they KNOW it was coming from Ariel.
Anyway, this is what pissed him off the most I think.
First off - they publicly bitched about him over "issues" vs taking it to moderators. They grilled him, even called him names, acted like he owed them answers.
Second - J1 started a photog blog about him about "how to be blacklisted" as if that was really going to happen
Let's just say... my bf is networked a bit more than J1 could ever dream about. He's worked with playboy models and bigger name photographers who think more highly of him than J1 & J2 do.Third - J1 tried taking it to another site. He tried getting my BF fucked over on other sites.
after that my BF pretty much said "fuck ariel". He emailed the mods, reported the posts and for the most part the reply was about photo copyrights and ignoring people. Although the first mod who wrote back named J1 and pretty much agreed that J1 was a bit of a dramabitch.
Still my BF had had enough and deleted his account. He got one email back from them, trying to stress the point about copyrights. He wrote back to state that ... "it's not the copyright complaints I have issues with - it's about the attacks and the attempts to mess with my non-ariel life" etc. Since then they've been silent.
And the bs at Persephone is over too.
Lastly... He just had a photo meet with another site/group. Eh, I'll call it "Haven" (again with the firefly!). He considered bringing one of his film cameras along because J2 was also suppose to show. But he decided it wasn't worth the hassle of carting a medium format camera around, even if it was to prove a point. Yes he does have "normal" 35mm but he also has medium & large format too. (he's a geek!) So he just stuck with one of the digital cameras.
But it turned out it didn't matter anyway. J2 didn't show up. And my BF had a great time, took great shots. I can only wonder if... the guy hosting the photo meet did his own blacklisting. But that's just me wondering - my bf didn't bother asking and just spent his time having fun taking photos.
Oy! O.o
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