Jim skelton

Jim,

I have attached a bunch of stuff here to this email concerning this. I was told by a member that my moniker had disappeared and they thought I had been banned. This was after I had not been able to log in so I posted a note at WTW wondering if WG had suffered another DOS attack. It was right after this that I was emailed the banning information. Several others confirmed that Koi was available ( first registered under that name but never used it) and that Koimaster was gone. Emails below. Also two other WTW members who are also members at WG confirmed that sig file and avatar were gone.

As per my emails to Bruce and Michael, I changed the IP addresses on my router and the home network.

That allowed to log in for about a minute before redirecting me to “server busy” error message. It also took over 5 minutes to load the page. If I cleared my cache and cleared the cookies, I could look at the forum as a guest. To take it further, I had the engineers here change the IP addresses ( expensive by the way) at the office as a way to test my access. Again I logged in as Koimaster and was redirected. When the IP addresses were restored to original, access was denied in general, even as a guest. My software engineers have suggested a reason but I will leave it there. Michael has stated he will look into it when he returns and that is fine.

From my office network this morning.

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I just received the other day from another forum member who got these from who knows who? I am also concerned that any owner or Mod of WGs would even try to get a forum member banned because of what they post on any other forum. It has a chilling effect and although WG is a “private” site it is pushed on Shopnbc and has many companies affiliated with it because of the Shopnbc connection. It may in fact cross the legal barrier of infringing on free speech regardless of who owns it.

On to other things though. I have included some posts

As I pointed out to both Michael and Bruce, spying on members, regardless of justification is right out of BDWF. Isn’t that why WG was started, to get away from that stuff. Members are

adults, not children although sometimes I wonder about that. Good members are starting to spend less and less time there, moving on to WTW, and other sites. Guido has left for whatever reason and it is members like him that help educate members about watches in general, not just Invicta. The forum has earned the reputation of being either the Invicta forum or the shopnbc forum, not a “THE” watch forum where you go to learn more about watches and collecting.

Kinaed is an example of who people can learn from with his knowledge of Russian watches. And there are others who have similar knowledge of different watch types. I seldom see much movement in those forums and that is too bad. How many know about Stowa, Blancier, Fortis or Marathon? Not many except a small minority. They may know Invicta and that is fine and good for business, just in my opinion, bad for growing in a hobby you may like.

As a post I sent to Bruce makes clear, I do not engage in forum wars and avoid the issue. At WTW I have defended you and others and will continue to.

From a thread about Renato here: http://watchtalkworld.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=tvl&action=display&thread=8064

koimaster Full Member

Re: Renato Limited Editions « Reply #3 Yesterday at 1:54pm »

member is online

At WGs JS responded that all Renato watches are now Limited Production rather then Limited Editions. That is due to the issues from the previous time on Shopnbc.

I did note that Mink self corrected before JS could do it for him.

Link to Post - Back to Top Joined: Mar 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 334 Karma: 12

Your heart was warm and happy

Logged

With the lilt of Irish laughter Every day and in every way Now forever and ever after. boscoe Global Moderator

Re: Renato Limited Editions ÂŤ Reply #4 Yesterday at 1:57pm Âť

member is offline

A firm believer in - and enjoying a personal relationship with - Pugs

Okay, guess they're off the hook... though I heard elsewhere BOTH called them LEs. I am wary of the SNBC slip of the lip syndrome.

That's how Lalo keeps saying Swiss

Joined: Jun 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 4,015 Location: South Florida Karma: 40 [ Exalt | Smite ]

am getting so tired of reading these uninformed but talking like they know it all assholes!!! They are starting to appear like a bad case of crotch rot!! God they are everywhere!!! Whining about the silliest things The stones are not real....Wah!!! is it a real piece of Gibeon Meteorite!!! my pin bent!!! OH how I've been wronged!! I want my momma cause my OTV for 79.00 dollars doesn't feel like a Reserve watch...even though it ain't...not even close...even in my wildest dreams...no matter how bad I want it to be!! Rant Session....OFF! WOW! That felt GOOOOD!!

I am so tired of these a$$ clowns and the stones thing. All they have to do is go read up on it.

As far as I know, Bruce is the one he thinks took a whiz in his Wheaties.

I say blast away. The idiots have been coming out of the woodwork lately.

Pepper however (with the thread of warning about the price on the Sea Wzard) feels you were quite mean to him. I sent him a rather...er...scathing PM earlier this evening about referring to you and hyping things.

Original Message ---------From: "Jim Skelton" <watchguy@comcast.net> To: <snurfers@juno.com> Subject: You are NOT banned Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 14:49:06 -0500 Alain, What is up with you telling everyone that you're banned from WG? I have triple-checked and you are not banned in any way, nor do you have any restricted access. Your avatar and signature files both work, and your profile is accessible by all.

If you log in and get a blank white page that simply says "You have been banned for this reason..." then you are banned. In any other instance where you have any issues logging in, it is not because you are banned. You are only banned if you see the message.

-Jim

I went to the members list and koimaster is gone. In place of that is koi with the pic of you and your wife. Says you've been a member since last year but only showing one post.

Hey Alain, What did they do? Reinstate you as Koi???

membership search for koimaster vBulletin Message Sorry - no matches. Please try some different terms. koi Junior Member

1

Yesterday and this morning koimaster was not showing in the member list. I sent a screen shot to Bruce. Others saw the same thing after I posted a question about it.

I make it a point to go out of my way to stay above the forum wars. if I post something at another site it is again my business. To try to get me banned for it is childish in the opinion of this person.

"The only thing that has come up in relation to your account was a mod who pointed out some of your comments on WTW and we discussed it. No decision was made to ban you and you were not banned."

Michael has promised to look into it when he returns and that is fine. I still recieve "server busy" if using my log-in. I am only able to view the site sometimes if the cache is cleared and cookies deleted.

As to the intell stuff, if this were a nuclear warhead or something I would understand but these forum wars going back and forth are just.......... on all sides. They are just watches.

As to the site, â&#x20AC;&#x153;Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.â&#x20AC;?

Bill Clinton

---------- Original Message ---------From: "STEALTH SAFETY" <Stealthsafety@zoominternet.net> To: "Alain" <barfootin@juno.com> Subject: Re: BAN ON FORUM Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:50:00 -0400 Alain; I honestly do not know what you are referring to. Your account is still active and you have not been banned, with no plans to do so.

As far as out-Forum "intell" is concerned, we are constantly being visited and examined by "shill" members and guests. We do the same just to protect our interests.

If certain Posts and Threads were noted, oh well. They WERE NOT written and Posted by someone using your user-name were they?

Bruce

----- Original Message ----From: Alain To: Stealthsafety@zoominternet.net Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 12:08 PM Subject: Re: BAN ON FORUM

Bruce,

As I told Michael, I changed IP addresses on my router and all the systems at the house. That allowed me to browse as a guest, log-in for a minute and then the "server busy" error message came up again while I was log-in. Again clearing cache and cookies allowed to browse as a guest. At the office the IP address is blocked period. I had one of my software engineers look at it as well as one of the network guys. I have their assesment and I am mulling it over.

Michael informed me that one of your mods did not like what I posted at another site. I have yet to violate the TOS and as I mentioned to him, I am an adult. What I do is my business. Spying on members is straight out of BDWF and inappropriate conduct to say the least. I remember a few short weeks ago a fiasco about an alleged "break-in". The issue of privacy for owners and mods came up numberous times. The same applies to members who frequent other forums. My father used to say " what is good for the goose is good for the gander".

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Strength and wisdom are not opposing values.â&#x20AC;?

Bill Clinton

---------- Original Message ---------From: "STEALTH SAFETY" <Stealthsafety@zoominternet.net> To: "Alain" <barfootin@juno.com> Subject: BAN ON FORUM Date: Fri, 29 May 2009 11:47:10 -0400 Alain: According to what I have looked into, you HAVE NOT been banned from the Forum and still have full access to read and Post.

Admittedly, there are some issues of concern regarding activity on other Forums, which we can discuss in E-Mails or on the phone. But as of yet, there have been no actions taken against your account.

Bruce

watchcollector1968 New Member

Re: Banned from Watch Geeks? ÂŤ Reply #2 Yesterday at 6:18am Âť

member is offline

I dont see your avatar there...your sig line is there although the photo is a link instead of the actual photo. I would not think you are banned as under your name in the posts you are still listed as a senior member.

Joined: Nov 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 42 Karma: 1

Look man...I don't know who is doing what here...and I am to the point that I don't care to be honest with you. I have quadruple checked your account and there is nothing wrong with it.

Check the screen shots.

I suspect my IP addresses are the issue with your system. It happens with my home IP and office IP. Ron (barnbuilder) had the same issue according to him.

If you were banned, you would get a message stating so. If you would like, I can put a ban on your account so that you can see what I am talking about. When you hit the site it clearly tells you via a message on your screen that you are banned. If that is not now the case (as it appears from looking at your account), then I don't know what to tell you.

Why don't you tell me what it is that you are seeing and let me see if I can help you before you go to other forums and tell people that you are banned here when that is not the case. As a matter of fact, I would love to have whoever it is that told you that you were banned grow a set and step up to the plate and tell me that you are banned. The only thing that has come up in relation to your account was a mod who pointed out some of your comments on WTW and we discussed it.

No decision was made to ban you and you were not banned. If someone is telling you otherwise, then let's get those comments out in the light of day and see who is saying what.

Michael

I did not tell people at other forums I was banned. My post is attached. It was a question after a day of being denied access to the site. I also wondered if you had suffered another DOS attack which was posted earlier in the day by me.

If your mods are going to spy on forum members, it is no better than BDWF. They did the same thing. You know me well enough by now that I will be straight up about this. WG is rapidly getting the rep of not only an outlet of shopnbc, but of another BDWF where no dissent is allowed. I see posts like

that at several forums and at first I thought nothing of it but because of recent events (not only the forum being open) those posts are becoming a louder, more pronounced. What I or others post at other forums is our business. It does not violate the TOS as far as I can tell. But to have a Mod or anyone else run to daddy and tattle tale that so and so said this elsewhere is insulting to members at any forum. I have had many longtime members who stuck it out during your last problem sending me emails or PMs about it, wondering what is going on.

Yes your forum is tied to shop & Invicta indirectly and that is fine. No one really cares except it is treated like a state secret. It has become an issue only because of closed threads and some of the terse comments by some. No one cares Michael, Period.

Every time

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Topic: Banned from Watch Geeks? (Read 67 times) koimaster Full Member

Banned from Watch Geeks? ÂŤ Thread Started Yesterday at 1:34am Âť

member is offline

interesting. If I clear my cookies and go as a guest, no problem getting around the forum. If I log in, it takes forever to get anywhere, my sig file photo is down as is my avatar.

Joined: Mar 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 317 Karma: 13

bruce,

as far as I know, I have made it clear at watch talk forums that I will NOT bash WG. I say the same things there I say at WGs. Although I do like the fuzzy rabbit thing. I consider that an inside joke. If I chose to take shots at WG rather than stay above that as best I can, I would do so.

Thus far I have not.

A lot of the long time WG members have noticed the recent changes including locking down threads and probably of more importance, of some attacking me directly. I do not really care as I am a big boy, but it does concern me when I get several private messages asking me why an owner or mod is attacking me. I know michael posted enforcing the TOS recently but it rankled many many members who helped WG become the forum it is. You all saw how WG members reacted when the Cool kids issue was revealed. Perhaps trusting the members to police themselves, which they seem to de well might help tamp down concerns.

As to a PM I sent to Brad about my invoices, I have customs invoices from the last several years from both Renato & Invicta which I will not make public. It would resolve where Renato is made but that would only cause major issues at numerous forums and with members. Many of those members I know and I will not cause them grief although if Daniel once again claims on air to have his watches "swiss Made", I will fax him and his attorney the customs documents just to keep them honest. I will not let people get ripped off by any vendor regardless of venue. That would include Shop, JTV or an AD. If you want to call, 503-569-9258

Alain

I posted a shipping invoice from Customs showing items from China for both Invicta and Renato. Opened a can of worms. I am not certain if it is due to the large influx of members (many of them not true collectors but fans) or because of the recent "break-in" issues as they were called, but more members there are asking harder questions and more threads seem to be locked down. Perhaps my perception is wrong but I have had PMs asking me the same questions about it.

I think that perhaps that site has grown to the point where it may not be as much fun for ownership as before. Who can say?

Yesterday at 1:30pm, foghorn wrote: Careful Koi!!

The kEWl KiDz will spank you over there for what you say over here.

If you are "not of the body,you must be absorbed" ( I think that's from a Star Trek eoisode)

So I have heard and read recently. I am also considered by many to be a voice of reason and clarity on issues. So, damned if I do and damned if I don't. I am not going to change for anyone. I am also not going to take shots at WGs nor any other forum. I find that kind of stuff to be unneeded. Just starts forums wars which are a waste of time.

Maybe fun in ways, but still a waste of time. « Last Edit: Yesterday at 11:32am by koimaster »

Re: Invictas Swiss factory. Do they have one? « Reply #14 Yesterday at 6:14pm »

Yesterday at 5:06pm, boscoe wrote:

Jim Skelton is in a bad position since his bread-and-butter is earned by the watch companies that participate there. He can not tolerate too much negative commentary since it could hurt his job. His partners, who are his pals, look out for his business interests, too, as friends should.

I would agree with that assessment.

Yesterday at 5:06pm, boscoe wrote:

You are going to get banned over there, koi. Tread lightly.

Hard to do. I have big feet Banning me would solve some problems for them I suppose. Do you know something I don't But I am seldom there anyway. I post here, lurk at Purist and spend time on political forums where I REALLY kick butt.

Author

koimaster Full Member member is online

Topic: Banned from Watch Geeks? (Read 35 times) Banned from Watch Geeks? « Thread Started Today at 1:34am »

interesting. If I clear my cookies and go as a guest, no problem getting around the forum. If I log in, it takes forever to get anywhere, my sig file photo is down as is my avatar.

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Joined: Mar 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 317 Karma: 13 gman New Member member is offline

Your heart was warm and happy With the lilt of Irish laughter Every day and in every way Now forever and ever after.

Re: Banned from Watch Geeks? « Reply #1 Today at 5:43am »

They don't ban people there for speaking their mind do they?

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Re: Banned from Watch Geeks? « Reply #2 Today at 6:18am »

Joined: Apr 2009 Gender: Male Posts: 42 Karma: 1 [ Exalt | Smite ]

I dont see your avatar there...your sig line is there although the photo is a link instead of the actual photo. I would not think you are banned as under your name in the posts you are still listed as a senior member.

Today at 1:34am, koimaster wrote: interesting. If I clear my cookies and go as a guest, no problem getting around the forum.

If I log in, it takes forever to get anywhere, my sig file photo is down as is my avatar.

I take a licking and keep on ticking.

watchcollector1968 New Member member is offline

Re: Banned from Watch Geeks? « Reply #2 Today at 6:18am »

I dont see your avatar there...your sig line is there although the photo is a link instead of the actual photo. I would not think you are banned as under your name in the posts

you are still listed as a senior member.

Today at 1:34am, koimaster wrote: interesting. If I clear my cookies and go as a guest, no problem getting around the forum. If I log in, it takes forever to get anywhere, my sig file photo is down as is my avatar.

Joined: Nov 2008 Gender: Male Posts: 42 Karma: 1 [ Exalt | Smite ] Re: Eyal Lalo Comic Book ÂŤ Reply #1 on May 12, 2009, 2:41pm Âť