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.

 

[donnied79]

I missed this thread and all the controversy.
I just wanted to say that I had the pleasure to speak with Rob many times, doing business with him and he's always been super-kind. Plus I've never in my life found a CEO available to give me customer-support even for small issues.
So I can't imagine him being disrespectful in a dramatic situation like this.
Please note that my wife is from Morocco, her mother is Muslim and I don't believe in God. So I'm not defending any right-wing position, just the good person I've met.

 

[DN Playbook]

I missed this thread and all the controversy.
I just wanted to say that I had the pleasure to speak with Rob many times, doing business with him and he's always been super-kind. Plus I've never in my life found a CEO available to give me customer-support even for small issues.
So I can't imagine him being disrespectful in a dramatic situation like this.
Please note that my wife is from Morocco, her mother is Muslim and I don't believe in God. So I'm not defending any right-wing position, just the good person I've met.

The short time I met Rob for was a good experience for me as well. Please don't misinterpret this as an attack on the person.

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster, please tell me that that is not a threat.

Well, for starters, I really did delete my Twitter. It was not deleted by Twitter. That could be construed as defamatory as if to imply that I am so rogue that I had to be shown the door. Not true:

In fact, I restored it now so you can check it if you like.

In fact, I was never active there and don't plan to become such anytime soon but I don't want that handle falling into the wrong hands, so I restored it within the 30 day grace period.

As for your comment on DomainGang, it goes like this:

I might have lost your respect, but I can assure you that you do not speak for the industry nor all of humanity. You accuse me of hatemongering, but in fact the hypocrisy of that accusation is pretty obvious.

We are good though. I don't hold grudges. I would still shake your hand in public.

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster, please tell me that that is not a threat.

Of course not. Seriously, my friend, some deep breaths are in order. I have no hostile sentiments towards anyone, even my most vocal opponents, both known and unknown.

 

[johnn]

The damages have been done.
Being a Business person, you should NEVER get involved in Religion or Politics.

The Blood is still bleeding. You are trying to put bandages to cover and stop it. But eventually, there will be a scar.

 

[Haris]

I believe that everyone should respect the right for women (or anyone else for that matter) to Voluntarily wear headscarves, and no one should think any less of them for their choice of fashion. But if it is made Mandatory for Only the Women to wear headscarves, then that is considered a form of discrimination. An article of clothing once forced on a certain group of people can become a symbol of Suppression, Intimidation, and Hate no matter how simple or small it is, a good example is when our Jewish friends were forced to wear armbands.

If there is a law that requires to cover ones head or hair then that law must apply to everyone equally regardless of their gender or race.

All this is off-topic but due to your multiple posts about it I must let you know that in Islam, It is mandatory for men show their ankles, a man who doesn't have a beard is a sinner, and there are many more requirements for both men and women, these are the rules that we must follow. This world is a place of test and we have to obey Allah if we want to live the eternal life in heaven. If there are no rules to be followed and everyone is free to do whatever they want than what would be the difference between being a muslim and being a non-muslim? Women aren't forced to do anything, there are rules that have to be followed by both men and women and millions of women not only cover their head but their face and their body willingly because they want to obey Allah. And just like there are states that would punish you for breaking any law there are punishments for breaking laws in religion too.

 

[Kate]

Probably I am not going to make any friends (again), but I have a problem with the current posturing of Epik as a warrior for free speech.

The way I see it it has never been about free speech. I see a two-fold objective:

1. alt-right propaganda under the guise of free speech, and conspiracy theories in general
   
2. to promote Epik products and services

I know Rob is going to strongly disagree, but 2) is hard to disprove.
To be clear, I welcome and support commercial entities that embrace values and try to make the world a better place. But I have a problem with debasement of values. There is a disconnect what Epik says and what Epik does.

If Epik had chosen to support people who are truly dedicated to free speech, upholding civil liberties and against censorship, etc then I would look at Epik differently today. Epik is the proverbial lost sheep.

Finally, when it comes to liberating technology Epik is not offering anything special or revolutionary. Take the VPN service: it's just Openvpn repackaged with a bit of marketing. Epik is a commercial provider and hoster among many others. Not some kind of maverick or disrupter.

People who want to circumvent censorship can for example use Tor, I2P or other platforms and go underground. There is plenty of free software solutions to protect your privacy like PGP that has been available for a very long time.
Freedom-minded individuals have not waited for a savior like Epik.

In fact, the numerous private corporations that have donated to any of those open-source projects have contributed more to freedom and free speech than Epik ever will. The company has made poor decisions due to poor judgment, and needs realignment.

 

[Rob Monster]

Probably I am not going to make any friends (again), but I have a problem with the current posturing of Epik as a warrior for free speech.

The way I see it it has never been about free speech. I see a two-fold objective:

1. alt-right propaganda under the guise of free speech, and conspiracy theories in general
   
2. to promote Epik products and services

I know Rob is going to strongly disagree, but 2) is hard to disprove.
To be clear, I welcome and support commercial entities that embrace values and try to make the world a better place. But I have a problem with debasement of values. There is a disconnect what Epik says and what Epik does.

If Epik had chosen to support people who are truly dedicated to free speech, upholding civil liberties and against censorship, etc then I would look at Epik differently today. Epik is the proverbial lost sheep.

Finally, when it comes to liberating technology Epik is not offering anything special or revolutionary. Take the VPN service: it's just Openvpn repackaged with a bit of marketing. Epik is a commercial provider and hoster among many others. Not some kind of maverick or disrupter.

People who want to circumvent censorship can for example use Tor, I2P or other platforms and go underground. There is plenty of free software solutions to protect your privacy like PGP that has been available for a very long time.
Freedom-minded individuals have not waited for a savior like Epik.

In fact, the numerous private corporations that have donated to any of those open-source projects have contributed more to freedom and free speech than Epik ever will. The company has made poor decisions due to poor judgment, and needs realignment.

For clarity:

- The VPN is mostly free. There is a paid option but the vast majority choose the free option.

- OpenVPN is a best practice used by many VPN providers. It just just a way to assure folks there is no eavesdropping going on.

- Our VPN is really about enabling an alternative way to resolve DNS while also providing complete end-to-end encryption between publisher (powered by BitMitigate) and user (powered by Anonymize).

The rest is your opinion shaped by your bias. I disagree with you but that's fine. I have reached out to you privately in the past and you have been evasively hiding behind some pseudonym. Why?

As for free speech, I am doing my part. I am pretty sure I do more for free speech in a month than you have accomplished in your life. However, open to reviewing your body of work there if you like.

 

[karmaco]

I want to talk about Epik the registrar not Rob for a little bit. They have some features helpful for domainers that nobody else has.

In the performance tab you get estibots valuation for free along with domain authority number and how many Whois searches have been performed on your name in the past 6 months. There are likely other pluses for domainers I haven’t noticed yet.

They offer an $8.49 renewal for NameProers which is lower than most. They offer a free of commission sale venue if the domain is at Epik. They offer instant transfers out if you decide to leave or sell your name. They accept bitcoin payments. They offer loans.

For me, they check almost all the boxes. This is how I decide where to take or leave my names at. Epik the registrar shows me they are one of the most domainer friendly registrars out there. Actions are what matter to me. Not Twitter posts.

This thread has been more enlightening about the people posting in it than about Rob. Carry on with your bashfest and I sincerely hope you are never attacked on the internet like he has been.

 

[DN Playbook]

I want to talk about Epik the registrar not Rob for a little bit. They have some features helpful for domainers that nobody else has.

In the performance tab you get estibots valuation for free along with domain authority number and how many Whois searches have been performed on your name in the past 6 months. There are likely other pluses for domainers I haven’t noticed yet.

They offer an $8.49 renewal for NameProers which is lower than most. They offer a free of commission sale venue if the domain is at Epik. They offer instant transfers out if you decide to leave or sell your name. They accept bitcoin payments. They offer loans.

For me, they check almost all the boxes. This is how I decide where to take or leave my names at. Epik the registrar shows me they are one of the most domainer friendly registrars out there. Actions are what matter to me. Not Twitter posts.

This thread has been more enlightening about the people posting in it than about Rob. Carry on with your bashfest and I sincerely hope you are never attacked on the internet like he has been.

Estibot's valuation is terrible and other registrars provide free valuations as well. The other "feature" points you raise are also available at other registrars. Actions are what we are talking about. And if you choose to see some and ignore others, well that's enlightening as well.

 

[DN Playbook]

This is real:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1524838015591572

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/25/health/mass-shooting-long-term-risk-kids/index.html

This is why this topic is important.

 

[oldtimer]

All this is off-topic but due to your multiple posts about it I must let you know that in Islam, It is mandatory for men show their ankles, a man who doesn't have a beard is a sinner, and there are many more requirements for both men and women, these are the rules that we must follow. This world is a place of test and we have to obey Allah if we want to live the eternal life in heaven. If there are no rules to be followed and everyone is free to do whatever they want than what would be the difference between being a muslim and being a non-muslim? Women aren't forced to do anything, there are rules that have to be followed by both men and women and millions of women not only cover their head but their face and their body willingly because they want to obey Allah. And just like there are states that would punish you for breaking any law there are punishments for breaking laws in religion too.

I believe that we should encourage everyone to act, talk, look, and even think decent at all times and we should do our best to help those who are in need regardless of their race, gender, religion, or nationality. We should not support those who promote inequality, hate, cruelty, greed, lust, abuse, torture, and killing and who want to cause harm to others and the environment. I have the outmost respect for those who have dedicated their lives to help others and I have the least amount of respect for those who want to dominate others through fear and intimidation. I am wise enough not to be fooled by propaganda from any side, I believe that there is good and bad in all sides, we should support the good and challenge the bad whenever and wherever we see it without fear or hesitation.

 

[DN Playbook]

I believe that we should encourage everyone to act, talk, look, and even think decent at all times and we should do our best to help those who are in need regardless of their race, gender, religion, or nationality. We should not support those who promote inequality, hate, cruelty, greed, lust, abuse, torture, and killing and who want to cause harm to others and the environment. I have the outmost respect for those who have dedicated their lives to help others and I have the least amount of respect for those who want to dominate others through fear and intimidation. I am wise enough not to be fooled by propaganda from any side, I believe that there is good and bad in all sides, we should support the good and challenge the bad whenever and wherever we see it without fear or hesitation.

And we should comfort and fully support those who have lost loved ones and been traumatized by mass shootings.

 

[oldtimer]

And we should comfort and fully support those who have lost loved ones and been traumatized by mass shootings.

First off I believe that everyone here as a decent human being feels a certain sorrow any time other human beings are killed in cold blood and I also believe that it’s a matter of decency to be sensitive and sympathetic to the families who have lost loved ones in such situations regardless of who and where they are

 

[DN Playbook]

Got it @oldtimer, just thought it would be good to be specific and identify the issue at hand.

 

[Rob Monster]

I believe that we should encourage everyone to act, talk, look, and even think decent at all times and we should do our best to help those who are in need regardless of their race, gender, religion, or nationality. We should not support those who promote inequality, hate, cruelty, greed, lust, abuse, torture, and killing and who want to cause harm to others and the environment. I have the outmost respect for those who have dedicated their lives to help others and I have the least amount of respect for those who want to dominate others through fear and intimidation. I am wise enough not to be fooled by propaganda from any side, I believe that there is good and bad in all sides, we should support the good and challenge the bad whenever and wherever we see it without fear or hesitation.

@oldtimer - I think those are all sage words.

You mention the topic of propaganda. It is extremely important. It is my deeply-studied conviction that there is an active desire to foment conflict: black vs white, rich vs poor, Judeo-Christian vs. Islam, vegans vs. non-vegans, fat vs. skinny, gay vs. straight, etc. You get the idea and perhaps you agree.

What free speech makes possible is to expose the manipulation. Citizen journalism adds context. Here is a recent example:

This particular video references TR.news, which is registered at Epik. We'll keep them online, not because they are promoting hate, but because they are enabling dialog and because they are forcing accountability in a climate where propaganda wishes to prevent dialog.

I have experienced propaganda personally when I was naive enough to be interviewed by the likes of the Huffington Post or by the SPLC, including off the record. These folks are extremely opportunistic in assembling a persona and a narrative. The name "Rob Monster" as villain is admittedly too perfect.

My very sincere hope for everyone, including at NamePros, is that folks will find a way to see through the polarity, and will figure out how to love each other and return to embracing tolerance. I believe it is the only final antidote to the polarization we are seeing unfold. I try to find common ground.

The fact is that the world has seen wars and conflicts for thousands of years. There are never any winners when there is loss of life. As such, I hope never to see my children drafted into a war, nor do I wish this for anyone else's children.

Finally, if anyone's holy writ says it is ok to kill, rape or steal ANYONE in 2019, then you should perhaps critically consider your holy writ.

 

[JB Lions]

You mention the topic of propaganda. It is extremely important. It is my deeply-studied conviction that there is an active desire to foment conflict: black vs white, rich vs poor, Judeo-Christian vs. Islam, vegans vs. non-vegans, fat vs. skinny, gay vs. straight, etc. You get the idea and perhaps you agree..

Ok, again, this is where I don't get your posts, since you've never explained it.

How does that match with this - https://www.namepros.com/threads/so...er-or-suspension.1107245/page-18#post-7032144

Why would you repost that? That does exactly that, forment conflict. Or the tweet to that 8chan image, about Jews controlling everything that was deleted after I pointed it out? What you've posted here many times, doesn't match the other stuff you've reposted/tweeted.

 

[Rob Monster]

Ok, again, this is where I don't get your posts, since you've never explained it.

How does that match with this - https://www.namepros.com/threads/so...er-or-suspension.1107245/page-18#post-7032144

Why would you repost that? That does exactly that, forment conflict. Or the tweet to that 8chan image, about Jews controlling everything that was deleted after I pointed it out?

I did not know the original source of the image about media concentration. I don't use either of the Chans. We are not their registrar either. That was not where I found it. As I recall, I saw it in a Tweet.

I don't think there is any debate about media concentration in major western markets. Part of the reason why propaganda can occur is because of the media's ability to control the narrative. I object to that.

As for the other graphic, true Christianity is love. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of the crusades, we can do that but a true Christian would not force their faith on another. Ever. It is free will and nothing more.

If you want to read something enlightening about the Catholic Church, read "50 Years in the Church of Rome" by Charles Chiniquy. He was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln.

 

[JB Lions]

I did not know the original source of the image about media concentration. I don't use either of the Chans. We are not their registrar either. That was not where I found it. As I recall, I saw it in a Tweet.

I don't think there is any debate about media concentration in major western markets. Part of the reason why propaganda can occur is because of the media's ability to control the narrative. I object to that.

As for the other graphic, true Christianity is love. If you want to go down the rabbit hole of the crusades, we can do that but a true Christian would not force their faith on another. Ever. It is free will and nothing more.

If you want to read something enlightening about the Catholic Church, read 50 years in Rome by Charles Chiniquy. He was a contemporary of Abraham Lincoln.

That graphic was putting Christianity in a good light, Islam in a bad. And rabbit hole? Slanted himself got into it, same stuff I pointed out. You literally had people having to choose between becoming Christian or getting their head chopped off. So yes, another way Christianity was spread was by violence and threat of death. The graphic below plays into that rhetoric of Islam is evil, watch out for Muslims etc. This is the type of stuff that forments conflict, distrust.

 

[DN Playbook]

@Rob Monster

Why o why do you insist on posting stuff like this?