What's going on with Epik and Rob Monster?

[MapleDots]

I'm catching the tail end of this, seems to be some kind of controversy...

https://domaingang.com/domain-news/rob-monster-off-twitter-after-christchurch-massacre-controversy/

Must be something odd to evoke this type of a response from one of our members.

 

[Rob Monster]

On page 28 of this thread, I commented to Wali about the burkhini and the extreme oppression, notably of women, that comes along with Shariah law. He never replied to that post, and that's fine.

For those who think that Shariah cannot come to their country, I think it is worth contemplating recent events, It also worth contemplating what this means for our beloved domain industry.

Allow me to explain:

In my comment to Walid,I referenced no-go zones where non-Muslims are not welcome. They exist and are popping up in different places around the world. Investigative reporter Lauren Southern highlighted one:

I think most rational people will agree that it makes very little sense to allow a minority (e.g. 3% of the population) in any culture to impose a lifestyle standard over the rest. That is tyranny, plain and simple.

The recent events in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand all have a context that can be easily observed. With rising Islamification you will get more censorship.

For context, see this report from Dave Cullen, commenting on insanely Draconian EU Copyright legislation which within 2 years mandates ridiculous content filtering and content licensing requirements:

Incidentally, neither Lauren Southern and Dave Cullen are, to my knowledge, Christian. I am not even sure they profess a faith. They simply advocate for civil liberty, and for that reason I endorse their work.

If the censors have their way, the utility of private ownership of domains will plummet as the cost of use, and also the implied liability, will skyrocket.

If you doubt that stupid EU policy can impact the domain industry, just consider the pain that GDPR brought to the global domain after-market. Multiply that by 100 and you have a sense of what is coming.

And yes, I am rooting for a BREXIT. Unfortunately UK politicians have to listen to their citizens for that to happen. For now, they keep kicking the can hoping they can silence those who advocate for liberty.

Private ownership and use of domains are a form of liberty. And even if the censorship trend cannot be stopped or reversed, it can be slowed long enough for more people to wake up. That's a start.

 

[NameLlama]

What a scary place

The police officer says ATTENDING THERE, talking about the mosque
And then he seems to extend it to not going down that street because she's being aggressive about it
But they walk down the street anyway and are standing across from the mosque Lol

Then she says YOU HAVE SHARIA LAW HERE
Lol

Lol she's walking through it here?

 

[frank-germany]

And yes, I am rooting for a BREXIT. Unfortunately UK politicians have to listen to their citizens for that to happen .

did I get it right you are for a Brexit

( the people of the UK voted for it ... )

so I implement you are anti EU

did I get that right? ( eh.. left ? )

 

[Rob Monster]

What a scary place

I think you are missing the point. Even though Bobby Jindal was not much of a Presidential candidate, he is a non-white, and had a good sound-bite:

"Immigration without assimilation is an invasion."

As stated prior, I welcome anyone to believe what they want, to preserve their cultural norms and their (holy) traditions. However, if those unassimilated norms are imposed on others, we have a problem.

We are starting to see the consequence of non-assimilation play out. Now with the UN-endorsed open border policy approved by 164 nations in December 2018, there is no putting the genie back in the bottle.

Ordo ab Chao. Policymakers understand it.

As for censorship, this is happening at scale on multiple continents through both public privacy, and private deplatforming. It turns the majority into a silent voice so that they can be overcome by the vocal minority.

Censorship is where the line must be drawn.

And domain investors should certainly care about policies that weakens the risk-reward ratio of holding domains.

Censorship is certainly not happening in isolation. Domain price increases, fast-track domain takedown policies are further examples. And as Kevin Murphy, the Australians now want to ban domaining:

http://domainincite.com/24091-australia-likely-to-ban-domaining

For anyone who owns a lot of .COM.AU, that is probably not welcome news. If anyone thinks this cannot happen to their beloved .COMs you are fooling yourself. Despite what some think, this is not about money.

 

[TheBaldOne]

Hell's Bells. Brexit has been mentioned. To me, just like the majority of people in the UK that is now a red flag, people are either for it (as I am) or against it (minority but very vocal view) or just fed up with politicians professing one thing to get elected then trying to stop it, which is the view of the greatest majority no matter which way they voted in our referendum, which was the largest democratic mandate ever to occur in my country's history.

I will say quite categorically that no matter what our Prime Minister and the cabal of Remoaners stitch my country up to with the EU - we in the UK will have our independence from the EU. If the EU continue on their present path in wishing to be adversaries of my country then so be it - but considering the EU is falling apart from within I doubt they will be strong enough to take on even a weakened UK.

(You might note my avatar which has been the same for many years now, it is in support of the people of Ukraine, whose majority wish was for freedom for dictatorship supported by a criminalised and bastardised democracy. One of the majority of the peoples most earnest wishes was to join the EU as a free and democratic country, that I wholeheartedly support - their right to decide as a country, just as much as I wholeheartedly support the right of my fellow countrymen and women to decide to leave the EU as a free and democratic country.)

 

[Rob Monster]

so I implement you are anti EU

As context, I think you know I am a Dutch citizen and hold a EU passport. I lived in Frankfurt from 1992-95 just as the EU was coming online and travel often throughout Europe.

I love Europe and was historically an EU optimist.

As for policy, I think the EU is great for free trade and borderless currency. They could have stopped at trade union but became a monetary union knowing that fiscal policy will need to be aligned.

Where things get more complicated is when the EU, comprised of appointed, unelected, delegates begin imposing policies that their own citizens don't support.

As for BREXIT, that is a symptom. The root cause is a creeping form of tyranny that the citizens are starting to reject and for good reason. I think the UK will be better off with a trade deal.

The UK should have followed the Swiss example -- in Europe but not in the EU. Norway is not in the EU either but I don't think that is going quite as well. This meme sums about Switzerland vis-a-vis EU:

Unfortunately, the UK never negotiated a trade deal so now it is all or nothing. When policymakers do something this stupid, it can only be by design. Nobody who rises to that level is that stupid.

I have tremendous empathy for the small business owners who are depending on EU imports. This was an avoidable trainwreck. The UK just kicked the can until April 12. It would be funny if it was not tragic.

 

[Wali Dahot]

On page 28 of this thread, I commented to Wali about the burkhini and the extreme oppression, notably of women, that comes along with Shariah law. He never replied to that post, and that's fine.

I thought people might be tired of reading religious discussion so went silent. Well as I quoted last time, Islam and Sharia consists of two things, Quran and Sunnah. As we know Quran is a book but what is Sunnah? Sunnah is copying Muhammad in both appearance and character. As women cant copy Muhammad, who are they actually copying then? whats Sunnah for them? Read Quran and you will find Noblest of all the women is Mary, the mother of Jesus, as a whole chapter Mariam(Mary) is in her name. A muslimah is as similar in appearance as a Nun as both are following same Mary. So its hypocritical to criticise Muslim women and praise Nuns when both wear similar kind of outfit. As per burkini is concerned, I guess no conservative country like Iran, Saudi, Indonesia or even Pakistan will accept women wearing burkini in public places. Its a product of western muslim women and I dont think west forces them to wear burkini instead of bikini. Its their own choice and so burkini cant be termed as a oppression symbol but burkha surely is as its forced in many places. About increasing no go areas, I cant comment on that as I stated before, I havent moved outside of my country to have a opinion of whats going on their(muslims) mind or what have they went through to reach to this point. I condemn any no go zones, every citizen should be free to roam around their own country.

 

[Rob Monster]

About increasing no go areas, I cant comment on that as I stated before, I havent moved outside of my country to have a opinion of whats going on their(muslims) mind or what have they went through to reach to this point. I condemn any no go zones, every citizen should be free to roam around their own country.

We agree that no-go-zones are a dumb idea. As for changing minds, I know how hard it is convince radicals and hard-liners. I have tried to do that by engaging ANTIFA, SPLC, and guys like Chris Cantwell. We can engage them with ideas and by leading by example. Since you write well, I sincerely hope you are a visible voice in your communities who is advocating for tolerance and peaceful coexistence. And for as long as there is a free internet, you can do it from anywhere.

 

[Kate]

Very familiar ramblings here, people with Western passports think they have a natural right to travel and settle wherever they want, but they are quick to deny the same privileges to people who are persecuted or less fortunate than they are. They want soft borders for themselves and hard borders for the others. You know, those people.

No need to even pretend solidarity with your fellow man, just say you are Christian and it's ok.

And to say that Switzerland adopts 0% of EU rules is false. They even had to accept freedom of movement. They are not so happy with the arrangement, which in fact is currently being renegotiated and it's not going so well. Switzerland is having its own kind of Brexit right now, having to choose between two paths: away or closer to Europe.
Norway and Iceland are not in the EU too. But they are subject to a portion of EU law, without having a say on the matter. But sure, they are certainly more independent than the countries that are part of the EU, and actually taking part to the decisions and EU law.

It's just that people are ill-informed. As a result they make bad decisions without thinking about the implications. Brexit for example.

Brexit has damaged the UK much more than the EU. Not just economically, I am talking about the foundations of the Union. NI and Scotland are being dragged out of the EU against their will. At the next referendum Scotland might leave for good. And say goodbye to the UK.
At least it's not a problem between the UK and Europe, it is a problem between the UK and the UK. An identity crisis. To this day, they have no idea of what kind of Brexit they want. But you guys sure have a solution. Keep looking for scapegoats.

 

[Rob Monster]

just say you are Christian and it's ok.

Done.

As for the future of the EU, the check and balance by those who govern is that those who are governed can leave. That is what some want to do, and I support them for holding those who overreach accountable by voting with their feet rather than be a victim of policies that they don't support. It is really not that complicated though you are trying to make it complicated with your citation of minutiae.

The EU can stop being stupid. That will stop BREXIT.

 

[Kate]

Where things get more complicated is when the EU, comprised of appointed, unelected, delegates begin imposing policies that their own citizens don't support.

Unelected... like the House of Lords perhaps ?
Sure, leaving the EU will solve all internal problems. Saying FU to your main trading partner (and ally) seems like a great move forward (to the past).

Perhaps you forgot the EU Parliament though, and if you didn't vote for your MEP it's your fault.

You are not so well informed about the EU and how it works. It's OK, most people are not interested.
But please understand that bad information leads to bad decisions, as exemplified by Brexit without a plan.
Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to intolerance and violence.

 

[Rob Monster]

But please understand that bad information leads to bad decisions, as exemplified by Brexit without a plan.
Ignorance leads to fear, fear leads to intolerance and violence.

You apparently don't read.

I said that the BREXIT without a plan is entirely the fault of the UK's elected officials. They were incompetent for not having trade deals in place. Nobody is that incompetent. They never planned for a BREXIT and I am not even convinced that the people of the UK will even get one. #Tyranny

As for the unelecteds, those are the EU officials who are passing Draconian policies that the people of the EU do not want. The latest Article 11 / 13 (now re-branded as 15 / 17) is a case in point. The unelecteds approve a directive that the electeds would implement, saying that their hands are tied. #Tyranny

Even an establishment hack like Boris agrees:

 

[TheBaldOne]

Brexit has damaged the UK much more than the EU. Not just economically, I am talking about the foundations of the Union. NI and Scotland are being dragged out of the EU against their will. At the next referendum Scotland might leave for good. And say goodbye to the UK.
At least it's not a problem between the UK and Europe, it is a problem between the UK and the UK. An identity crisis. To this day, they have no idea of what kind of Brexit they want. But you guys sure have a solution. Keep looking for scapegoats.

Please do not presume you have knowledge that you do not.

Let me give you a very quick and brief synopsis with regard to two points.

1) The EU referendum was called under the expectation that 'Remain' would win, otherwise David Cameron and indeed our Parliament by a huge majority would not have sanctioned it.

2) The vast majority of MSM, business, politicians, the church, unions, so-called international experts, etc. were all supportive of the Remain campaign.

3) What has become known as 'Project Fear' was instigated by the Government coming out with all kinds of dire warnings what would happen if we as a nation had the nerve to vote to leave. It would result in immediate collapse of our economy, unemployment would rise by 800,000, each household would be worse off by the tune of £4,300, it would lead to World War III (David Cameron the Prime Minister stated this), we would even suffer an epidemic of Super Gonorrhea! And all because of just voting to leave.

Well as it is we have the highest employment record EVER, the number of unemployed is now at a 44 year low, our economy is growing, most household incomes are now rising, I must have missed the nuclear war for that hasn't happened, and as far as I know there has not been a massive outbreak of STD's of any kind.

Now concerning the possible split of the UK with regard to Scotland and Northern Ireland. The referendum was a 'National vote', every single vote being valued equally no matter what part of the United Kingdom it was cast in (and Gibraltar). We were guaranteed that even if the difference was one single vote between the votes cast for each side of the referendum then the majority, even if it was by just that single vote, would decide the matter - and that it was FINAL. (As I say the Government and Parliament expected the Remain side to win.)

As for the split up of the UK well there is a slight problem in your argument there, for both in Scotland and Northern Ireland there has been political parties wanting those nations to leave the UK before the EU referendum even was considered politically. These parties are just trying to manipulate the result to further their own political ends - and it seems that they are not doing so very well according to polls from reputable polling companies.

Might I suggest that you do not just take political commentary from MSM or indeed 'friends' who perhaps profess to 'know what they are talking about', but actually just let us in our own calm way decide our future.

Also, the most popular option for the solution for Brexit is for the UK to leave on WTO rules. Seems sensible to me.

 

[JB Lions]

On page 28 of this thread, I commented to Wali about the burkhini and the extreme oppression, notably of women, that comes along with Shariah law. He never replied to that post, and that's fine.

For those who think that Shariah cannot come to their country, I think it is worth contemplating recent events, It also worth contemplating what this means for our beloved domain industry.

Allow me to explain:

In my comment to Walid,I referenced no-go zones where non-Muslims are not welcome. They exist and are popping up in different places around the world. Investigative reporter Lauren Southern highlighted one:

I think most rational people will agree that it makes very little sense to allow a minority (e.g. 3% of the population) in any culture to impose a lifestyle standard over the rest. That is tyranny, plain and simple.

The recent events in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand all have a context that can be easily observed. With rising Islamification you will get more censorship.

For context, see this report from Dave Cullen, commenting on insanely Draconian EU Copyright legislation which within 2 years mandates ridiculous content filtering and content licensing requirements:

Incidentally, neither Lauren Southern and Dave Cullen are, to my knowledge, Christian. I am not even sure they profess a faith. They simply advocate for civil liberty, and for that reason I endorse their work.

If the censors have their way, the utility of private ownership of domains will plummet as the cost of use, and also the implied liability, will skyrocket.

If you doubt that stupid EU policy can impact the domain industry, just consider the pain that GDPR brought to the global domain after-market. Multiply that by 100 and you have a sense of what is coming.

And yes, I am rooting for a BREXIT. Unfortunately UK politicians have to listen to their citizens for that to happen. For now, they keep kicking the can hoping they can silence those who advocate for liberty.

Private ownership and use of domains are a form of liberty. And even if the censorship trend cannot be stopped or reversed, it can be slowed long enough for more people to wake up. That's a start.

I thought you were going to stick to business? Do you notice other CEO's or their employees getting into political/religious discussions? It's because it's not smart, didn't you lose an employee over this?

This thread was dying down, so you decided to bump it up with some nonsense.

Lauren Southern is not an investigative reporter, she's an anti-Muslim, White Nationalist troll. We've talked about her nonsense in this forum many times - https://www.namepros.com/threads/the-nps-official-usa-political-thread.764342/page-747#post-6618266

In that thread, she is a Canadian going up to British citizens who happen to be Muslim, telling them what British values are supposed to be. NameLlama just went over some of her other nonsense.

Just do a search on her here. She goes to places to start stuff up, while recording and then selectively edits it. This is what she does for a living.

"Ms Southern turned up to an event for survivors of sexual assault carrying a sign that said: "There is no rape culture in the West." She also wrote a book called Barbarians: How Baby Boomers, Immigrants and Islam Screwed my Generation.

Mr Molyneux subscribes to a conspiracy theory about a white genocide and claims that violence is caused by how women treat children."

https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/nati...molyneux-and-lauren-southern-anger-nz-muslims

 

[carob]

Might I suggest that you do not just take political commentary from MSM or indeed 'friends' who perhaps profess to 'know what they are talking about', but actually just let us in our own calm way decide our future.

Presumably Rob Monster and anyone else outside the UK should not comment on Brexit?

There has been documented a considerable level of fraud and interference with the Brexit vote - that should concern anyone who wants the procedures of democracy to be sound, and needs to be investigated.

 

[Kate]

I said that the BREXIT without a plan is entirely the fault of the UK's elected officials. They were incompetent for not having trade deals in place.

It's not just about trade deals. And trade deals are always going to be less advantageous than membership of the common market. They take years of tough negotiations. Years.

When the UK will have to negotiate trade deals with nation like Japan, you can be sure it will not with the same leverage as the whole EU block. But the hardcore brexiters are claiming they are going to get a better deal by going it alone, good luck with that. Not likely.

Anyway, I just wanted to dispel the myth that you can be outside the EU and enjoy all of the advantages, without the constraints, and without being subject to EU law whatsoever. That doesn't exist. Not even Switzerland. Somebody who points to Switzerland or Norway does not know what he's talking about.

As for the unelecteds, those are the EU officials who are passing Draconian policies that the people of the EU do not want. The latest Article 11 / 13 (now re-branded as 15 / 17) is a case in point. The unelecteds approve a directive that the electeds would implement, saying that their hands are tied.

Voted by the EU Parliament. To the best of my knowledge it is not an unelected entity. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[TheBaldOne]

Presumably Rob Monster and anyone else outside the UK should not comment on Brexit?

There has been documented a considerable level of fraud and interference with the Brexit vote - that should concern anyone who wants the procedures of democracy to be sound, and needs to be investigated.

Any body can discuss the matter, that is free speech after all, but do not just be spoon fed the ridiculous claims by the 'establishment'.

As for the fraud one might question why our 'Electoral Commission' is stuffed full of Remoaners, indeed members have canvased for Remain and continue to do so. Then we can also look at the fact that when the findings of this 'Commission' have gone to court they have been found to be against natural justice, an example being when they advised the Leave campaign supporter he was doing everything right then after 3 investigations and without giving the defendant access to the details against him found him guilty of having committed an offence!

As for the investigations by so-called 'investigative journalists' they have made great headlines - but what doesn't make great headlines (because the MSM do not wish to publise it) is that the accusations have later had to be withdrawn as they have been found to be lies or deceit.

Finally, to go back to the Electoral Commission, strange isn't it that they refuse to investigate the Remain campaign even when evidence of law breaking is given to them by members of our own Parliament.

 

[Rob Monster]

This thread was dying down, so you decided to bump it up with some nonsense.

Well, I was busy working during the week so finally got around to catching up with this thread.

As for Joseph, the arrangement he and I have had there has been a win-win. Epik benefited from his talents, particularly while I was focused on DigitalTown, and before we added Nick Lim and Sufyan Alani. Joseph was not forced out but was mindful of his personal brand, probably has less thick skin than I do and is perhaps more comfortable with living under communism, shariah, or tyranny than I am.

As for the business, just FYI, less than 500 domains have transferred out since March 1. It is immaterial and entirely in line with normal activity as people sell domains. We have had more transfers in during the last 3 days than transfers out in the last 30 days. So perhaps you will explain to me how standing for principles and value is bad for business? The fact is that people value authenticity. It used to be a thing.

 

[carob]

Rob posted this? I had not seen that. Where did it appear? Twitter?

Monitoring Rob's personal political views as expressed on Twitter or anywhere else has never been part of my job description. Now that it is a matter of public discussion and affects the Epik brand, I will need to review them.

I object strongly to such propaganda, which is false, offensive, and divisive.

I think that may help us to understand your decision to leave Epik, and your not making further comment. Thanks for your very informative and thoughtful posts, and best of luck to you.

 

[JB Lions]

As for the business, just FYI, less than 500 domains have transferred out since March 1. It is immaterial and entirely in line with normal activity as people sell domains. We have had more transfers in during the last 3 days than transfers out in the last 30 days. So perhaps you will explain to me how standing for principles and value is bad for business? The fact is that people value authenticity. It used to be a thing.

Well, most people transfer when it's time to transfer, not a few months in.

We can agree to disagree if it's a good look for you to repost stuff from anti-Muslim, White Nationalist trolls. She's worked with these groups:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Identitaires#G.C3.A9n.C3.A9ration_Identitaire

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Identitarian_movement#In_Europe

She has a book literally called - Barbarians: How Baby Boomers, Immigrants, and Islam Screwed My Generation

Every thing I said about her is true.

Joseph was not forced out but was mindful of his personal brand, probably has less thick skin than I do and is perhaps more comfortable with living under communism, shariah, or tyranny than I am.

Wow. Most people don't talk about their former employees like that, especially one that was putting in some work for you here.

 

[NameLlama]

Rob Monster said: ↑ Joseph was not forced out but was mindful of his personal brand, probably has less thick skin than I do and is perhaps more comfortable with living under communism, shariah, or tyranny than I am.
Wow. Most people don't talk about their former employees like that, especially one that was putting in some work for you here.

 

[carob]

I read this entire twitter thread: https://twitter.com/MollyOShah/status/1064559963744419840

And I can't help but think that people are being played on all sides.

And now I am starting to feel like we are, too.

Thanks for posting that, there is some interesting info embedded there, particularly messages from Rob Monster.

Has Rob Monster at times had an admin role on Gab? Look at this from that thread:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Dsc4fL9W0AEfMg6.jpg

And this: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DsbA1FuXoAIkAzg.jpg Rob says "I bet my own reputation on my decision to serve as Gab's registrar."

 

[rh2000]

Rob Monster said: ↑ Joseph was not forced out but was mindful of his personal brand, probably has less thick skin than I do and is perhaps more comfortable with living under communism, shariah, or tyranny than I am.
Wow. Most people don't talk about their former employees like that, especially one that was putting in some work for you here.

Wow! He left the company. I guess it is only so much covering up you can do for a person.

 

[ben pedri]

I'm not really up on news,or looking into what rob did or did not do ,I don't know if where talking politics or whatever I here people fighting what each other all day long about I love trump I hate trump,So honestly I'm not up on any news usually ,But as for domaining and that's what were here for ,hes the only one who stepped up.When ALPNAMES.com defaulted and my domains and other domainers started deleting,and got icann to move because they were lax about everything ,now the issue if being resolved,again I don't know at all about the situation ,but everyone screws up in life ,sometimes big sometime not. But as for this business and helping people hes been there for everyone.

 

[carob]

That is awful stuff. I wouldn't want to show it to anyone, but it is relevant to what follows in this postShow attachment 113878

Now let's have a look at the Epik.com Tos for domain registrants, including the above gab.com
https://www.epik.com/registration.php



Show attachment 113881

So what action will Epik take?

Will my post about Homeless Domains become topical sooner than expected?

Three full days later that horrific gab content is still there, not removed, not moderated.

Three full days later Epik's Tos prohibiting various forms of speech remain in place and unchanged as far as I know. So if Rob is involved in Gab, or even an admin there, why no action at Gab if Epik won't act?

Saying it is all down to a forum site or its admin will only be a way to excuse it a limited number of times for anyone minded to do that - see this post about moderation of User Generated Content:
https://www.namepros.com/threads/so...er-or-suspension.1107245/page-24#post-7170583