I'd say give it another chance...a 403 error...hmm. Did you try to LOG IN and have this occur? At this time, I've been able to fully access MOFIB as a general member.
I'm thinking back to my RC banning (the subject of yet another recent personal slam by a former, and now reinstated, MOFIB member who opted to slam me on the site and imply that I had nefarious intentions...for those who don't know, it is my side of the story that I was banned from RC after fighting the accusation that I was a commercial fish breeder...the accusation being made by a moderator who himself ran a commercial business and was a RC sponsor...and me, having hardwood floors in my "hatchery" consisting of 4 nanocubes and 2 ten gallon tanks. For the record, what I did, that got me suspended initially, has now become acceptable practice on RC for a fish breeder. I'm still waiting for the apology).
Back to the finer details of PHPBB banning - PHPBB banning blocks by IP, but also a cookie on your machine after you log in. I.e. I could never access the forums on RC following my banning until I cleared out my cookies...but they didn't implement the IP block as far as I can tell. At any rate, you get a permissions message, yes, but I don't think it's a 403 error. IP banning...that COULD come back to the user as a 403 error...perhaps not a legitimate 403 error, but that could be what the software creates.
If you find you cannot get in, and if you trust me with your credentials, I'd be happy to try them out myself to see if you've really been banned, or if this is just a glitch, mistake, internet error or something else. I genuinely believe that this is probably just a server glitch / misspelling of a URL or something. Again, I will strongly suggest that you retry it....I don't believe you've been banned, and sincerely hope that you haven't. I'll simply say however, that some recent private communications suggest that banning users for statements made off MOFIB could become policy, so your concerns are somewhat alarming. I believe if such a policy were instituted, the people responsible for that policy would lose ever last shred of credibility and reputation in the process.
If you really HAVE been banned, well, what else can I say at this point? It would simply represent yet another new low for the people who seized power. When I authored the update to the MOFIB User Agreement (which was approved by the BOD), one of the specific tennents that the moderators and BOD discussed was whether someone's actions outside of MOFIB could be grounds for reprecussions on MOFIB. The absolutely crystal clear resolution to that question was a resounding NO...everyone's membership and participatory privileges on MOFIB could only be determined by actions that occur within MOFIB. There are individuals who are known copyright infringers who are still members allowed to participate. Members who've been banned from other communities were given the full benefit of the doubt, and the only two members who were "banned" under my tenure were banned due to actions within MOFIB, and even then, they were NOT banned, only placed on "Read only" status which simply revokes the user's ability to post publicly and send private messages. In other words, I believed that these individuals, who had proven themselves unable to play by the community rules, should not be further punished by losing their ablity to access the knowledge contained within the site....that goes against the mission of making information as available as possible.
Bookfish, your commentary above should've been allowed to stand even if you had made it on MOFIB, let alone HERE, on a third party website like RDO. (my opinion...I'm all about freedom of speech, especially if such speech is unpopular, even more so when it comes to critiquing leadership that keeps telling the members it serves that democratic elections are "coming"). You are more than entitled to your opinion, and to voice it when and where you feel inclined. Furthermore, some MOFIB members have recently shared similar sentiments ON MOFIB, so it would seem genuinely suspect unless those people have also found their access revoked. I will say, I am glad to see the folks are RDO letting sensitive conversations like this occur. For the betterment of our hobby and industry, such "dirty laundry" such as this MOFIB fiasco should be aired, hopefully so the leadership, volunteers, and memberships of other organizations might learn from the experience and problems.
I'll leave with this commentary - what MOFIB went through appears to be almost the "norm". It's a sad commentary on my fellow hobbyists that stories such as this one are not unique or atypical. I STILL have not ascertained the true motives for this coup, and suspect that they largely fall to personal reasons for personal gains, whether tangible or otherwise. Afterall, even though John broke his fiduciary responsibilites (And the law), putting his promise to Stephen Kennedy over his responsiblity to MOFIB, it was Luis Magnasco who joined with John to illegaly remove me from MOFIB. The reason - he could not "fire his friend". So MOFIB lies in the shambles it is in because friendship and loyalties were put before legal responsibilities and the organization itself. And those are the people who remain in power at this time. This seems to happen almost routinely...I think every aquarium club I've been a member of has at least one such "power grab" in its history. When's the last time such a power grab actually turned out for the BETTER of the organization and the membership? I genuinely believe such people undertake such actions without considering the long term ramifications and responsibilities they are assuming in the processs.
Someone else, in consoling me over this atrocious act, has suggested that ultimately the cream does rise to the top, and in some respects, that could be true. But it seems that the only way is to be a self-driven individual. But it seems that far too often, partnerships with good intentions turn into one-sided efforts, power grabs, ill feelings, feelings of entitlement where there clearly isn't any, and in the end, actions that no reasonable person should inflict upon people they once considered friends and partners. It always seems to circle back to self interests and/or commercial interests. The one thing that was perfectly clear to me, being a relative outsider, is that if the aquarium hobby and industry continues to operate in this fashion, the cause will be lost. Putting the greater goals first is required, but everyone has to do that.
Regarding the sticky business of MOFIB - it is May 17th, 2009. As of today, I am still on the State's real time online database as the registered agent for MOFIB with the state of Illinois - anyone who wishes to verify that as fact need only search the online database themselves to find the record (and again it is REAL TIME). Mark Vera has told me that the documentation for change of registered agent had an error, and was resubmitted to the state on May 8th. In my experience, the State is reasonably quick with this type of stuff...and knowing that this was the one item I conveyed as extremely important to me and my family in the transition of MOFIB from me to him, I am honestly disappointed that it is the ONLY item that has not been resolved, regardless of the reasons...it's been over 6 weeks now. Mark believes this is a non-issue...for me, I believe that it is.
On MOFIB, it was posted that they did finally have a BOD meeting....and we are now all waiting for the minutes from that meeting. I have been doing my very best to stay uninvolved with MOFIB, but given the current status, I may have to start acting unilaterally, contacting the state to see "WTF" is up with MOFIB, and to find out why I am still the registered agent. I may also have to be verifying other things I've been told, seeing as I have my own fiduciary responsibility to the organization I started and incorporated. It is my responsibility to make sure that the legal transition of power was fully accomplished, and as a former BOD member, to verify that the new BOD is living up to it's obligations with the state. Frankly, I shouldn't have to take these steps myself...the new BOD should be far more proactive. They should be just as concerned with the fact that I'm still the registered agent with the state...unless the plan here is to legally screw MOFIB up with the state, forcing the involuntary dissolution of the corporation. Sure, it's a conspiracy theory that some people would see and use to peg me as "paranoid". I'm just simply saying it is one of a million different possibilities, and given the ongoing "trust us" mantra, without any real "satiation", it makes me wonder just what is really going on. Far more likely, it's just that the people involved don't really have the TIME to deal with running an organization like MOFIB, and that could just as easily result in its ultimate demise.
We can only hope that the "trust us" mantra comes true, and that new, fresh leadership with the dedication and conviction to do things right, is elected by the members when the time comes.
140614505-LROR
