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]

I don't know what time zone you are in but perhaps you need more rest.

I am in Seattle and slept like a baby last night. As usual.

 

[Rob Monster]

Yes, of course.

On the other hand, my neighbor is black, and married to a white woman. Since the Gab incident, he no longer talks to me. I still wave to him, greet him with a smile. His kids play in our back yard. We are still friends on Facebook but he thinks I have something against him because some liberal media told him that I am this, that and the other. As he whizzed by me this morning while out walking the dogs, I prayed for him.

Quick update on this one.

Providentially, ran into both the neighbor husband and his wife this week. We are all good. It was like nothing ever happened. They actually know the real Rob Monster.

Also, the ANTIFA folks leave me alone too. Only the SPLC is a problem, and that is likely because the author of the Hatewatch article needs to justify his lies. The comments on Dissenter are the real value.

The only thing is that to read the comments, you will need to install the Dissenter.com plug-in.

 

[wormfood]

"However, in light of your decision to be nameless and faceless, I question your intentions, and believe "you" to be unauthentic."
almost everyone on here uses a made-up name, so apparently they are all "unauthentic"....
and epik is supposedly all about privacy.. use our Anonymize service.. but please put your full real name when talking to me on a forum, or I can't take you seriously..
https://techcrunch.com/2012/07/29/s...-real-name-policies-fail-to-improve-comments/

"Most people are not studied on the propaganda tactics developed by the likes or Alinsky, Bernays, and Gramsci. I am."
that's working out real well. still falling prey to the likes of infowars and alt-right charlatans on youtube.

"Most people have not really contemplated the meaning of life, nor did they deeply consider why the Founding Fathers of our nation were dogmatic about civil liberty and natural law. I did."

but I did!
more arrogance. stunning

"There are highly educated people, who embrace atheism, which they have the temerity to not recognize for being a religion."
because atheism is not a religion? is that such a hard concept?
-no creed or form of worship
-no code of doctrine and discipline
-no specific literature for all atheists
-no regular services for all atheists

 

[Kate]

I don't know @Slanted in person but if he left the company as a result of this incident, then clearly Epik has suffered damage greater than a few domain transfers. The brand was tarnished and Epik has alienated people who could have become customers. Epik has burned bridges with the domain community. All that was totally unnecessary.

I saw Joseph was attempting damage control but Rob has made the task impossible. The takeaway of this thread is that it's good to put some distance between yourself and your corporate role.

Yes, upholding certain values like free speech can be good business and a differentiation tool.
But the effort is completely discredited when you use that same free speech to offend existing or potential customers and everyone else. Then you're stepping into the realm of propaganda and away from your core business.

I actually prefer to work with companies that are committed to freedom and civil liberties. Likewise I have ditched companies for not taking a stance when they should have.
But when people hide behind free speech as an excuse to hurt others. Well. Free speech takes a back seat.

 

[Rob Monster]

"

because atheism is not a religion? is that such a hard concept?

Thanks @wormfood.

I don't judge you for believing what you believe, but I call it for what it is. Atheism is a belief system that holds that the universe is the product of randomness. Its adherents hold no accountability to a Creator. Beyond that, and within that, there are some who value the life of an animal higher than a human, etc..

Now, you are right about distinguishing between structured religions and an unstructured belief system. I am not saying there is a creed or unified doctrine for atheism. Yet, there is an essential conviction that the universe is the product of randomness.

That being said, I want to acknowledge that there are many lovely, kind, generous and seemingly selfless atheists so by no means did I intend to judge or critique. However, atheism is a belief system nonetheless and it has core tenets that can and will inform the adherent's life choices.

In case you missed it, I do believe that evolution is nonsense. In fact, I spoke to a popular blogger via Skype for an extended discussion one night this week. It was quite a call as he was completely hammered. Among the various topics covered, he thought that the idea that the theory of evolution is nonsense to be quite hilarious.

Again, for each his own. I absolutely judge nobody. However, please don't kid yourself: Atheism is a belief system. It may be less structured than most religions but that world view very likely will drive all manner of life decisions in relationships, family planning, business, hobbies, philanthropy, etc.

 

[Rob Monster]

I don't know
I actually prefer to work with companies that are committed to freedom and civil liberties. Likewise I have ditched companies for not taking a stance when they should have. But when people hide behind free speech as an excuse to hurt others. Well. Free speech takes a back seat.

Just so you know, Epik would welcome your business.

As for me aspiring to "hurt others", if in your heart you really think that, I am not sure I can help you. One thing is certain and that is that I am the friendliest "Monster" you will probably ever meet. I should not have taken the SPLC bait when they tried to tag Epik as an accomplice in a horrific act. And I apologized for that.

 

[Rob Monster]

What is Rob's role at Epik?

Their site says he is CEO and President: https://www.epik.com/about/
You can see pictures of the staff there - what do they think of his public non-business activities?

And what do the Epik investors think? Epik Holdings Inc are seeking investors:
https://gab.com/epik/posts/43282539


Is Rob the majority shareholder/owner at Epik or do others control it? That probably determines who he answers to.

@carob - I am coming back to your request for information here.

So briefly:

- I own about 80% of the voting shares. It is all common stock. We have done a lot with relatively little outside capital. Along the way, I have had many opportunities to "cram down" our minority shareholders. Such an act would not pass the "do unto others" test so I have not done that which I believe they appreciate.

- There are 2 Board directors, including me. We did have a 3rd Director but he dropped out when the Huffington Post interviewed him. They also interviewed Braden Pollock who is more media-savvy and was probably less overwhelmed by agenda-driven reporters. He has hung in there, which I appreciate.

- In the last few months, we have started a Board-authorized private placement valuing all of Epik at a rather modest $10 million. The raise authorizes raising another $2.5 million, which is partly subscribed so far. I remain hopeful to fill that round in the coming weeks.

- We also also did an acquisition of BitMitigate in February which I believe was a very wise move and for which the total consideration was very reasonable. The addition of Nick Lim as CTO is a very exciting development which I believe will bear much fruit.

- Just prior to this PR interest in Epik, I was in contact with a number of industry luminaries about coming on board as value-added capital. It is actually my sincere goal that Epik be owned by the industry and that we have diverse governance. I hope to get there soon!

As for my role at Epik, I have been doing this for about 10 years. However, for about 3 years, I was relatively less active as I was also working on DigitalTown. In September I felt called to once again focus full time again on Epik. At the time, I really was not expecting to find myself in a global debate on civil liberty.

Looking ahead, if I thought there was a competent acquirer or a capable successor, I would certainly consider stepping aside. That said, I am 51 years old, and in good health, so I will do my best to carry the torch for as long as makes sense. Anyone interested is welcome to message me privately.

 

[frank-germany]

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.

how many domains do you control as a registrar?

what percentage of that is 500 less?

 

[Rob Monster]

how many domains do you control as a registrar?

what percentage of that is 500 less?

As of today, 777,292 domains under management, of which 364,104 directly on our accreditations. We are small but people know that our retention rate is rather high.

 

[frank-germany]

Most people have not really contemplated the meaning of life,

well, I did.

Most people conflate knowledge and wisdom as if they are the same. There are highly educated people, who embrace atheism, which they have the temerity to not recognize for being a religion. I don't.

not to believe the same nonsense as you do
doesn't make someone an atheist.

temerity = well I first had to look for the meaning..
I think it's pretty hefty term to use in this context.

Not to believe in a man-like creator person
doesn't make somebody atheist

And not to believe in a God at all
doesn't mean necessarily to follow a religion.

And to follow a religiously believe as an atheist
as you like to put it
doesn't make people being the same breed as you are.

 

[frank-germany]

I saw Joseph was attempting damage control but Rob has made the task impossible. The takeaway of this thread is that it's good to put some distance between yourself and your corporate role.
.

It was obvious that Joseph tried in a very sophisticated way to save the a** of epik as a company

Cudos

I didn't like his style
as I think it was purposely distracting.

But I respect that fact that he did it.

@Rob Monster
looks like you didn't understand /respect/value it.

 

[frank-germany]

As of today, 777,292 domains under management, of which 364,104 directly on our accreditations. We are small but people know that our retention rate is rather high.

what is the difference of "under management" and "accreditations" ?

 

[Rob Monster]

what is the difference of "under management" and "accreditations" ?

We integrate some trusted resellers and also we have customers who manage their domains from Epik before they transfer, e.g. DNS, forwarding and hosting do not require that we are the registrar.

Since you use Epik currently you probably realized that you can manage non-Epik domains for free from within the Epik control panel.

 

[JB Lions]

So how do you read charts like this:

Domain Count (November 2018)
Epik Inc. - 401,249
https://features.icann.org/compliance/registrars-list

You say you have 364,104 now? That would be a drop, or are they different numbers? Is that the Domain Count number, the 364,104?

 

[frank-germany]

We integrate some trusted resellers and also we have customers who manage their domains from Epik before they transfer, e.g. DNS, forwarding and hosting do not require that we are the registrar.

Since you use Epik currently you probably realized that you can manage non-Epik domains for free from within the Epik control panel.

yes thats what I thought it is
the external domains are not under epiks control
at least not mine

so you control 364,104 domains
and lost 500 since the new zealand post
and you feel like your are not affected?

you will more domains

 

[frank-germany]

So how do you read charts like this:

Domain Count (November 2018)
Epik Inc. - 401,249
https://features.icann.org/compliance/registrars-list

You say you have 364,104 now? That would be a drop, or are they different numbers? Is that the Domain Count number, the 364,104?

 

[JB Lions]

Show attachment 114242

I didn't really care until the numbers were posted, now I'm curious:

As of today, 777,292 domains under management, of which 364,104 directly on our accreditations. We are small but people know that our retention rate is rather high.

Today
777,292 - domains under management
364,104 - directly on our accreditations

what were those same numbers in November 2018?

For anybody, is this the best site for registrar count - https://features.icann.org/compliance/registrars-list
Seems the latest is November 2018.

Or is there something better, I want to have the best/current in my bookmarks.

Thanks

 

[Rob Monster]

So how do you read charts like this:

Domain Count (November 2018)
Epik Inc. - 401,249
https://features.icann.org/compliance/registrars-list

You say you have 364,104 now? That would be a drop, or are they different numbers? Is that the Domain Count number, the 364,104?

The number you quoted is from November 2018:

We dropped a lot of new TLDs. However, retention rate is very high. The typical pattern of transfers out versus in is overwhelmingly in favor of transfers in.

Also, a registrar should expect some transfers out as folks sell domains, and sometimes sell entire portfolios or groups of domains.

For anyone who was hoping for a customer defection as a result of the "PR Disaster", I am sorry to disappoint you but that never happened.

On the other hand, I know we were a finalist for ALPNames, and we did not get that business so it is possible that ICANN considered that even though we are in full compliance and on good terms with ICANN.

My guess is that CentralNic paid for the privilege but ICANN has not confirmed that. I am not sure how else anyone justifies giving that business to Moniker of all places.

 

[Rob Monster]

Mr Molyneux subscribes to a conspiracy theory about a white genocide.

I am not a follower of Stefan Molyneux. Since you mention him, he did a segment on the UN Global Compact on Migration before it was ratified by 164 UN member nations in December 2018 in Marrkech:

From what I know, Stefan is an atheist.

Mike Cernovich is another one who subscribes to the conspiracy you reference. Cernovich is better known for exposing biased media. I know about him because he said he is bringing all of his domains to Epik.

Incidentally, here is Cernovich's new movie "Hoaxed", running on a US.TV domain, running on uncensorable IPFS:

https://hoaxed.us.tv/

The Covington Catholic incident is just the latest high profile example of why discernment is needed when consuming mainstream media. That incident happened after Hoaxed was aired.

As for Us.Tv, it is not exactly a YouTube-killer. However, an IPFS file can be created anonymously without a specific host and played without tracking. You just need a IPFS gateway.

As stated prior, Epik's technology is non-partisan and is available to all voices who wish to be heard, regardless of whether they are at imminent risk of being censored.

 

[dna]

Doesn't this mean you can get around all copyright law by anonymously turning copyright
material into IPFS files and then hot-linking to the copyrighted IPFS material?
And as you would also be using bandwidth and memory from a server that was not your
own, you could also store a ton of data. Why couldn't you use IPFS to make your own
server farm using other peoples servers?