To be honest GL can probably paint a clearer picture of what happened with the funding and split

@The Psyentist 561768 wrote:

I think it was all to do with funding mate. Unfortunately I don’t think we were getting enough subscriptions to maintain and expand the site. The Doc made a gamble and accepted funding from Google under the conditions they could riddle the place with adverts (now it’s not as bad as it was at first). But then they also wanted us to start censoring some of the content, predominantly the sex and drug forums. This pissed off a few people as we were being belated for behaviour some users had been doing for years without issue. Hence some people left.

But the Doc has pretty much sorted things out now so things are slowly returning to normal.

@The Psyentist 561769 wrote:

To be honest GL can probably paint a clearer picture of what happened with the funding and split

This was prompted by Googles advertisers and funders plus changes in the way Internet resources globally are being owned/run.

Basically the whole lot is being transferred from the USA to some middle aged and older folk who are mostly some “random Chinamen” a bit like my Dad, a combination of Dutch and Germans who actually still go to church, added to the middle class elders of various other countries/faith groups. They are also the people who actually pay for it all and/or keep it working as even in countries where there are loads of permanent jobs available the younger generations do not want to do such things as haul heavy accus, deal with kilometres of cables or a customer with a legitimate complaint (rather than stealing their personal data and trying to use it to defraud them or even threaten them).

Consider that the meeting to decide the future of the Internet is being held in Singapore. But all this lot are not as harsh or strict as they might seem. They just want it to be like the 1970s/1980s again but without so many nonces and violent criminals around (and there were a shit ton of them compared to today).

Everyone is still allowed a fair amount of booze/drugs/cigarettes/porn or similar vices, and freedom of communication but they want it to at least look like there is some age control of access to certain content, and the national Communications Ministry decides what signals can go through which country and whether to block or intercept them, rather than the Americans doing it because they can or it benefits their businesses. All that has happened is no different from how most countries only allow “adult topics” in broadcasting on a certain time or on a certain channel, and because of this only a smaller section of advertisers/investors are attracted to working with these channels, and a bit like how the old PTT operated (in many nations they are having to renationalise at least part of the telecoms network to provide broadband especially in rural areas, although many European nations didn’t privatise the entire lot to start with).

All the previous content is still there and the worst that happens in some countries is a PAYG sim on a mobile device may show an age warning on .org until you have provided valid age ID to the mobile company (in line with the domestic legislation).

yoyo Spazhaz good to have you back 🙂

@Spazhazzard 561781 wrote:

Awww shit son, got an ear infection. Operation Spazhazzard Psych-a-thon might have to be postponed!

Ah feck, hope it’s not a bad one mate. Get well soon, but you never know, 2C-E may just turn out to be a permanent cure for any auditory based problem. Only one way to find out…..

I pitty da fool

@The Psyentist 561919 wrote:

pitiful fool.

Sounds meaningless if you chant that out loud quickly, repeatedly. Doubt anyone’s tragic enough to do that besides me though.