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.

 

[DU]

The CEO of a major domain registrar takes the time out of his busy days to come to NamePros and do things like offer major discounts on registrations and renewals, buys domain names for EPIK projects from NamePros members, delivers personalized customer service to current EPIK customers, discusses current EPIK projects and future EPIK projects all designed to help domain investors, answers questions and accusations from any and all trolls, some of whom are competitors, at a thread called, "What's going on with EPIK and Rob Monster"and then complain about him, call him names, mock him and criticize him!
How about if you guys go back to the Everyone Welcome's Thread and The Political Thread and spread your hate and propaganda if you don't like what's being discussed here! Thanks!

I have seen very few of the discounts, offers, personalized customer service on this thread and they probably don't belong here anyway. I'm glad that he offers these things everywhere - it's good use of a forum. I'm sure many people here on Namepros post in threads that are relevant and provide things like names for sale, offers for names, and discussions on the latest industry news. This is, after all, a professional forum.

I've seen some mention of future EPIK projects and those belong here - TrustPilot was one [Correction: it is TrustRatings] .. some other domain service another. The idea that these are "designed to help domain investors" is debatable and I view many of them as deluded pipe dreams but they are attempts to make a market move and the domain industry is full of people willing to jump into bed and follow the pied piper with the cheapest domains and the cheapest platforms. It's a bottom line business and people in this industry suffer from fairly low ethical barriers. There are historical lapses in judgment, missed markets, and failures in the Epik back-catalog. It's not unique to them but some of the fan boys for $5 registrations will always let it slide. The main starting topic for this thread - the tweets, the moral character of the CEO of a company is relevant but this thread has meandered on.

Epik is missing an opportunity to actually provide information on products because it's lost in a morass of drivel. Not my loss. It's still more evidence that domainers will jump on whatever cheap registrar comes along regardless of ...well anything.

There is espousing of ideas and a confused defense of free speech. I don't know why people feel the need to defend statements from CEO Rob Monster by thinking that Christianity is directly equatable with "love" and "forgiveness". The righteous believe they are fair, believe they are a positive influence etc.etc. but when you have sold and bought into your own conviction you are preaching a fundamentalist view no matter how you slice it. Every other perspective becomes seemingly radical. You're well within your rights to defend your view and speak your piece;however, it's a very dangerous path when intolerance is allowed to pass because of a misunderstanding of intent. When you close your eyes it's very easy not to see anything wrong. It's also convenient to let things happen. It's the Capitalist/Libertarian way - whatever the fuck is good for me is good for me...I'm sure God will take care of those he wants to take care of.

As is often the case, the best posts in this thread belong to John Berryhill who I sometimes feel is slumming in here for the pure enjoyment of seeing how the masses are so easily swayed:

Slave owners in the United States used to like Africans so much they bought them, but that doesn't really prove much either.

I would recommend people read his posts in most threads as he doesn't mince words and he's very good with them.

But most of that above is irrelevant but it's been a while since I wrote a long post that no one reads so I'll leave it.

Everyone Welcome's Thread and The Political Thread and spread your hate and propaganda

Please find an example where I spread hate or propaganda. You can tell me you hate my post. You can tell me you don't like what I wrote. You lose me and a lot of your argument when you accuse me of something I don't do. I haven't been in the Political Thread for a long long time and my time in there was mostly trying to stamp out some of the rampant racism that existed.

When I was in the Everyone's Welcome Thread I have reported multiple posts that crossed the line - sometimes the mods refused and sometimes they agreed and sometimes I caught slack for reporting people (some people kick and scream when videos of a soldier shooting someone in the head get removed. I feel for the mods here, I really do).

I don't and didn't ever control the content that was over there - I personally found it got extremely sexist and posted less and less as time went on for that reason. Obviously NP moderates content but I do regret being so positive towards "safe for work" pictures of men/women because I didn't realize (stupidly) that this is something that some people obsess over and wouldn't grow out of it. Why grown adult men want to constantly posts semi-naked women all the time is beyond me. Some regular posters also felt the need to spill politics over from other threads which was frustrating.

I would love to know what review and what products Epik provides that have value; however, it seems that it's cheap domains and empty promises for a better future internet.

 

[Rob Monster]

I have seen very few of the discounts, offers, personalized customer service on this thread and they probably don't belong here anyway. I'm glad that he offers these things everywhere - it's good use of a forum. I'm sure many people here on Namepros post in threads that are relevant and provide things like names for sale, offers for names, and discussions on the latest industry news. This is, after all, a professional forum.

I've seen some mention of future EPIK projects and those belong here - TrustPilot was one.. some other domain service another. The idea that these are "designed to help domain investors" is debatable and I view many of them as deluded pipe dreams but they are attempts to make a market move and the domain industry is full of people willing to jump into bed and follow the pied piper with the cheapest domains and the cheapest platforms. It's a bottom line business and people in this industry suffer from fairly low ethical barriers. There are historical lapses in judgment, missed markets, and failures in the Epik back-catalog. It's not unique to them but some of the fan boys for $5 registrations will always let it slide. The main starting topic for this thread - the tweets, the moral character of the CEO of a company is relevant but this thread has meandered on.

Epik is missing an opportunity to actually provide information on products because it's lost in a morass of drivel. Not my loss. It's still more evidence that domainers will jump on whatever cheap registrar comes along regardless of ...well anything.

There is espousing of ideas and a confused defense of free speech. I don't know why people feel the need to defend statements from CEO Rob Monster by thinking that Christianity is directly equatable with "love" and "forgiveness". The righteous believe they are fair, believe they are a positive influence etc.etc. but when you have sold and bought into your own conviction you are preaching a fundamentalist view no matter how you slice it. Every other perspective becomes seemingly radical. You're well within your rights to defend your view and speak your piece;however, it's a very dangerous path when intolerance is allowed to pass because of a misunderstanding of intent. When you close your eyes it's very easy not to see anything wrong. It's also convenient to let things happen. It's the Capitalist/Libertarian way - whatever the f*ck is good for me is good for me...I'm sure God will take care of those he wants to take care of.

As is often the case, the best posts in this thread belong to John Berryhill who I sometimes feel is slumming in here for the pure enjoyment of seeing how the masses are so easily swayed:



I would recommend people read his posts in most threads as he doesn't mince words and he's very good with them.

But most of that above is irrelevant but it's been a while since I wrote a long post that no one reads so I'll leave it.



Please find an example where I spread hate or propaganda. You can tell me you hate my post. You can tell me you don't like what I wrote. You lose me and a lot of your argument when you accuse me of something I don't do. I haven't been in the Political Thread for a long long time and my time in there was mostly trying to stamp out some of the rampant racism that existed.

When I was in the Everyone's Welcome Thread I have reported multiple posts that crossed the line - sometimes the mods refused and sometimes they agreed and sometimes I caught slack for reporting people (some people kick and scream when videos of a soldier shooting someone in the head get removed. I feel for the mods here, I really do).

I don't and didn't ever control the content that was over there - I personally found it got extremely sexist and posted less and less as time went on for that reason. Obviously NP moderates content but I do regret being so positive towards "safe for work" pictures of men/women because I didn't realize (stupidly) that this is something that some people obsess over and wouldn't grow out of it. Why grown adult men want to constantly posts semi-naked women all the time is beyond me. Some regular posters also felt the need to spill politics over from other threads which was frustrating.

I would love to know what review and what products Epik provides that have value; however, it seems that it's cheap domains and empty promises for a better future internet.

Thanks DU. You sound a tad miffed.

TrustRatings.com was a domain bought here on NamePros, and it is actually not fully live yet, but is in fact a useful tool for anyone who does not want to pay TrustPilot $6000 per year.

As for cheap domains, well, I did not really intend to be that cheap, but I did honor the commitment. I have to be a little sharper next time around when being baited by NP members.

I agree John Berryhill is a smart guy. I don't always agree with him, and his biases might differ from mine, but I do think his instincts are good, and usually he does not give bum steers. Others not so much.

 

[frank-germany]

I also have had a change of heart on the topic of "hate speech". I used to parrot the party line of "free speech is speech that you hate". I have actually changed my position on that topic slightly.

There is actual hate speech. It is speech that is actually empowered and rooted in actual hate. I have seen it first-hand from all sides. There are ANTIFA people who do it regularly and there are also poop-posting idiots who do it.

This morning I made the rare action of banning 2 sites from Epik from a customer whose content was so outrageously inflammatory that their obvious intent was not to educate, edify or engage but entirely to inflame, provoke and annoy certain minorities.

The free speech hardliners might read this and say that I was being a "cuck", however, I think I am beginning to get a more refined sense for where and how to draw the line, and also when to allow a line-crosser to once again use Epik services.

@Rob Monster

did you change your attitute towards giving every body a forum
no matter what the have to tell the world

in order to protect "free speech" ???

---



the founder of 8chan deeply regrets to have founded 8chan in 2016

protected under the cloak of "free speech"
several mass murders have happened meanwhile

and its obvious to him that they have radicalised themselves at 8chan

his intention was to create a completely anonymously operating "free speech" forum


but he created a monster
as he thinks by now



intention is one thing
ideas are one thing
but what happens next?
the outcome might be something completely different

you still host videos of holocaust deniers on epiks servers

https://us.tv/videos/watch/f641bb2e-ec14-46b0-b8fd-aed32ab7fb73

https://us.tv/videos/watch/38aee161-3d0b-409d-947e-2450bcd1cce1

https://us.tv/videos/watch/7d035577-50d3-4068-89fe-0175ec6fa827



german

https://www.golem.de/news/fredrick-brennan-ich-bereue-es-8chan-gegruendet-zu-haben-1910-144475.html

english:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=https://www.golem.de/news/fredrick-brennan-ich-bereue-es-8chan-gegruendet-zu-haben-1910-144475.html

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster

did you change your attitute towards giving every body a forum
no matter what the have to tell the world

in order to protect "free speech" ???

---



the founder of 8chan deeply regrets to have founded 8chan in 2016

protected under the cloak of "free speech"
several mass murders have happened meanwhile

and its obvious to him that they have radicalised themselves at 8chan

his intention was to create a completely anonymously operating "free speech" forum


but he created a monster
as he thinks by now



intention is one thing
ideas are one thing
but what happens next?
the outcome might be something completely different

you still host videos of holocaust deniers on epiks servers

https://us.tv/videos/watch/f641bb2e-ec14-46b0-b8fd-aed32ab7fb73

https://us.tv/videos/watch/38aee161-3d0b-409d-947e-2450bcd1cce1

https://us.tv/videos/watch/7d035577-50d3-4068-89fe-0175ec6fa827



german

https://www.golem.de/news/fredrick-brennan-ich-bereue-es-8chan-gegruendet-zu-haben-1910-144475.html

english:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&tl=en&u=https://www.golem.de/news/fredrick-brennan-ich-bereue-es-8chan-gegruendet-zu-haben-1910-144475.html

Frank,

For a guy who swears off this thread, you sure do come back a lot. Welcome back.

To answer your question, I don't have a problem with people having alternate analyses of topics whether that be science, history, or whatever.

Where I would have an issue, and where folks are free to report ToS violations is if there is evidence of a hateful call to action, i.e. incitement to violence or illegal action under US law.

As for 8 Chan, due to their inadequate moderation capacity, we did direct them to not host with us.

Where my position has evolved is that I believe that while most speech is indeed lawful, there is indeed speech that is animated by persons who are misanthropic and such speech we may not empower.

The challenge with User-Generated content is to have adequate moderation capacity to review abuse reports as they come in and remove content that violates ToS.

 

[frank-germany]

.. I don't have a problem with people having alternate analyses of topics whether that be science, history, or whatever.

Where I would have an issue, and where folks are free to report ToS violations is if there is evidence of a hateful call to action, i.e. incitement to violence or illegal action under US law..

holocaust denial is a several crime in germany
- for a good reason

unlawful content
only relates to US law ?

 

[TCK]

Where I would have an issue, and where folks are free to report ToS violations is if there is evidence of a hateful call to action, i.e. incitement to violence or illegal action under US law.

If you are bound only by US law then you should not make the content available in jurisdictions where laws are broken outside of the US. Holocaust denial is offensive pretty much in most of Europe. @frank-germany would know if it is also against the law.

 

[Rob Monster]

If you are bound only by US law then you should not make the content available in jurisdictions where laws are broken outside of the US. Holocaust denial is offensive pretty much in most of Europe. @frank-germany would know if it is also against the law.

The terms of service explains the governing law though a more comprehensive ToS is being drafted.

As for blocking certain users, we'll check with @Taylor Ervin about the ability to place geo restrictions on certain videos based on detected IP of the point of access. There is a way to do it.

For the moment, the service is entirely free. We envision a future state where videos channels can sell subscriptions and take donations to their audience.

 

[frank-germany]

The terms of service explains the governing law though a more comprehensive ToS is being drafted.

As for blocking certain users, we'll check with @Taylor Ervin about the ability to place geo restrictions on certain videos based on detected IP of the point of access. There is a way to do it.

For the moment, the service is entirely free. We envision a future state where videos channels can sell subscriptions and take donations to their audience.

@Rob Monster

for the records:

you want a geo-restriction for a holocaust denier video
but you want to allow it to stay on epik

 

[Rob Monster]

@Rob Monster

for the records:

you want a geo-restriction for a holocaust denier video
but you want to allow it to stay on epik

I am personally not a Holocaust denier.

One of my absolute favorite Bible teachers is an old Dutch woman named Corrie Ten Boom. She is the main character in the classic Holocaust documentary called "The Hiding Place".

This is my favorite teaching by her:

https://us.tv/videos/watch/3ffa9288-9df6-4ee6-a8d5-ac4536112a0b

So, I am personally not a Holocaust denier in the least.

However, to quote Voltaire:

You see how that works?

That is free speech with personal accountability.

However, I do draw a line, and in particular it comes down to the intent of the heart. If someone's intent is discernibly mendacious or misanthropic, I absolutely and a priori reserve the right to not serve.

And while I appreciate your fanatic intolerance, it does not concern me all that much because I am reasonably capable of forming my own opinion. And while I would happily would count you as a friend and happy client, I accept that I cannot please everyone and can live with that. Why? Because:

 

[frank-germany]

to refresh your memory:

https://liberatingtheholocaust.weebly.com/photo-gallery.html

http://handbill.us/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Yom-Kippur-Buchenwald-atheism.png

 

[frank-germany]

And while I appreciate your fanatic intolerance, it does not concern me all that much because I am reasonably capable of forming my own opinion. And while I would happily would count you as a friend and happy client, I accept that I cannot please everyone and can live with that...

"fanatic intolerance" ?

I guess I 'm not fanatic at all -in any regards

to me its a matter of very bad taste

to support
the spitting on humans
who suffered incredible pain

 

[Rob Monster]

"fanatic intolerance" ?

I guess I 'm not fanatic at all -in any regards

to me its a matter of very bad taste

to support
the spitting on humans
who suffered incredible pain

Nobody should debate whether there has been genocide. The evidence of genocide is overwhelming throughout history.

From the perspective of lawful free speech, there is some debate about specific facts about specific genocides. The question on the table is who decides history and for how long. For example Wikipedia has become highly weaponized and is no longer a reliable authority. Yet in the consumer's eye, it is as reliable as Encyclopedia Britannica was some decades earlier.

As for your apparent "intolerance", it seems to be towards the allowance of competing views about who did what to who. You are of course not alone there. However, in no way should anyone doubt that there were genocidal death camps around World War II.

Ultimately I believe that the overwhelming evidence of evil is ultimately what also provides validation of the duality of good and evil. The Hebrew word is this one:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?&strongs=H1847&t=KJV

Da'ath

It first appears in Genesis 2:9.

However, it also appears in many other places. It is actually not "knowledge" of subjects of calculus and history. I believe it is much more specifically the knowledge, or discernment, of good and evil.

That is why Hosea tells us:

People are not being destroyed because they did not learn calculus well. They are being destroyed because they can't discern between good and evil.

If the censors have their way, it will become progressively harder to develop the ability to discern between good and evil.

 

[frank-germany]

Nobody should debate whether there has been genocide. The evidence of genocide is overwhelming throughout history.

From the perspective of lawful free speech, there is some debate about specific facts about specific genocides. The question on the table is who decides history and for how long. For example Wikipedia has become highly weaponized and is no longer a reliable authority. Yet in the consumer's eye, it is as reliable as Encyclopedia Britannica was some decades earlier.

As for your apparent "intolerance", it seems to be towards the allowance of competing views about who did what to who. You are of course not alone there. However, in no way should anyone doubt that there were genocidal death camps around World War II.

Ultimately I believe that the overwhelming evidence of evil is ultimately what also provides validation of the duality of good and evil. The Hebrew word is this one:

https://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?&strongs=H1847&t=KJV

Da'ath

It first appears in Genesis 2:9.

However, it also appears in many other places. It is actually not "knowledge" of subjects of calculus and history. I believe it is much more specifically the knowledge, or discernment, of good and evil.

That is why Hosea tells us:

Show attachment 132569

People are not being destroyed because they did not learn calculus well. They are being destroyed because they can't discern between good and evil.

If the censors have their way, it will become progressively harder to develop the ability to discern between good and evil.

personally I don't care about your bible posts
I didn't read them


I support the idea of "free speech"

but here we have 2 different rights:

1) their right to think
whatever they think, I don't care.
1b ) their right to publish their ideas,
1c) on a server/platform of their own, I don't mind

2) your -epiks- right to give a platform to whom you like


But I see no need for you
-in order to comply with the idea of free speech-
have to force yourself to publish their ideas

there is no need.
they can organize a public platform themselves
and if they can't so what


but on your platform
this poison it is mingled in between harmless stuff

you are supporting them
that's no doubt

 

[Rob Monster]

personally I don't care about your bible posts
I didn't read them


I support the idea of "free speech"

but here we have 2 different rights:

1) their right to think
whatever they think, I don't care.
1b ) their right to publish their ideas,
1c) on a server/platform of their own, I don't mind

2) your -epiks- right to give a platform to whom you like


But I see no need for you
-in order to comply with the idea of free speech-
have to force yourself to publish their ideas

there is no need.
they can organize a public platform themselves
and if they can't so what


but on your platform
this poison it is mingled in between harmless stuff

you are supporting them
that's no doubt

Thanks Frank.

The issue is who decides what is "poison" and what is "harmless". Documentaries that present competing views of history are probably less harmful than tranny porn, yet both exist on the public internet for persons of all ages to discover and share. If everyone listened to you, I imagine we could have an Orwellian Dystopia in no time at all. Fortunately for the rest of us who have a mature capacity for active discernment, you don't get to make the rules. Nevertheless, you can criticize and rebuke, and indeed many do exactly that without contemplating the larger issue and predictable consequence of unmitigated censorship.

 

[TCK]

Documentaries that present competing views of history are probably less harmful than tranny porn, yet both exist on the public internet for persons of all ages to discover and share.

So you are saying that holocaust denial and tranny porn will co-exist online and there is nothing we can do about either and both deserve to have a voice. BTW, I had to look up tranny porn on Google. Do you allow that on your platforms?

 

[Rob Monster]

So you are saying that holocaust denial and tranny porn will co-exist online and there is nothing we can do about either and both deserve to have a voice. BTW, I had to look up tranny porn on Google. Do you allow that on your platforms?

As for Us.Tv, this is actually an application, where we also happen to operate the virtual TLD. There is some last work to do to link the Us.Tv TLD services to the application service. This way you can register a Us.Tv and immediately have a platform that makes it operationally useful as a configurable video site.

As for porn, in general, we don't host it. There are specialty hosts that do that. From time to time we find that a BitMitigate customer is using CDN services for adult content but we definitely don't go looking for it. I am guessing our (free) VPN customers also use it to access porn. Their connection is encrypted so who knows.

 

[frank-germany]

Thanks Frank.

The issue is who decides what is "poison" and what is "harmless". .

go taste it
guess you will know the difference soon

 

[Rob Monster]

go taste it
guess you will know the difference soon

Actually, I have tasted the difference.

I sometimes talk to Founders and CEOs of sites that are under pressure, perhaps because they might also attract misanthropes. The founders/CEOs who decline a phone call or video call with me, are usually the ones that might be up to no good. That is one of many clues.

As noted elsewhere, I think there is a dividing line between "hateful people engaging in speech" and "people engaging in speech that others hate". For me, it comes down to whether (1) the content is lawful, and (2) whether the person enabling speech is animated by hateful intentions.

Free speech without personal accountability is a liability to all. They are like drunk drivers. If the site operator is not in his right mind, or capable of being highly unpredictable vis-a-vis enforcing Terms of Service, we are likely not their registrar, host, DDoS mitigators, CDN provider or SSL issuer.

Would my life be easier if I just followed the directive of people who are vocally intolerant? Sure. But that would mean abdicating on a founding principle of the US Republic. It would also mean eternal regret for having failed to empower people to ask questions and seek answers. See Daniel 12:4 for context.

Hope that helps.

 

[frank-germany]

Actually, I have tasted the difference.

I sometimes talk to Founders and CEOs of sites that are under pressure, perhaps because they might also attract misanthropes. The founders/CEOs who decline a phone call or video call with me, are usually the ones that might be up to no good. That is one of many clues.

As noted elsewhere, I think there is a dividing line between "hateful people engaging in speech" and "people engaging in speech that others hate". For me, it comes down to whether (1) the content is lawful, and (2) whether the person enabling speech is animated by hateful intentions.

Free speech without personal accountability is a liability to all. They are like drunk drivers. If the site operator is not in his right mind, or capable of being highly unpredictable vis-a-vis enforcing Terms of Service, we are likely not their registrar, host, DDoS mitigators, CDN provider or SSL issuer.

Would my life be easier if I just followed the directive of people who are vocally intolerant? Sure. But that would mean abdicating on a founding principle of the US Republic. It would also mean eternal regret for having failed to empower people to ask questions and seek answers. See Daniel 12:4 for context.

Hope that helps.

yeah
Daniel knows it ll ...

"If there is a God, he will have to beg for my forgiveness."
- from an inmate scratched into the wood of the concentration camp -

 

[oldtimer]

The ultimate question is do people have the right to be racist, and how far are they allowed to go to oppress, suppress, and eliminate those that they don’t like or agree with.

This goes beyond the freedom of speech as the person who is racist doesn’t have to say even one word to hurt others, all he or she has to do is to get in to some position of power and influence in the society and then inject his or her poison into people's lives without anyone noticing.

Was your job application put in the trash or filed somewhere out of sight so that it could be ignored even though you were perfectly qualified for a certain position, was your home loan application denied because someone didn’t want you to live in a certain neighborhood, was your application for assistance denied because someone wanted to cut down on the competition and monopolize the limited resources that were available only for their own kind of people, was your insurance claim denied perhaps for the same reasons. Has someone at the top decided that you would never get promoted to higher positions because those had already been reserved for people of their own race. And finally did someone throw your whole race under the bus and let you all get slaughtered, whether it happened during the Holocaust or whether it’s happening to some people as we speak it’s all because of Hate manifested in political, racial, religious, and gender prejudice and intolerance.

IMO