Oh really??

Just got a message from someone whom spotted this interesting little tidbit on kingsnake.com's Gecko Forum:

Posted by: Boycott at Sat Jun 7 09:17:10 2003 [ Report Abuse ] [ Email Message ]

A message to all in the community.
The herp community and your hobby is in trouble. And your help is needed.
There are certain forum based sites set up around the community ran by unethical breeders. These sites are set up to attack and run competing breeders out of business. Such sites are labeled as “Inquiry” boards. They are disguised as a way to help expose dishonest people in the industry. The truth is, this is a way/tool for breeders to unethically and illegally eliminate their competition. These sites attack well respected and trusted sites such as this one.
This type of behavior gives herpetoculture a bad name, it raises and keeps reptile prices high, and prevents hobbyist from finding appropriate care for their pets. These sites a breeding ground for criminal and fraudulent activity. Posting negative comments on lese sites about other people can have very serious consequences. You could face legal issues and even possibly jail time for posting libelous comments about another person or company. There are other legal and ethical ways to seek justice. One is through the US Justice System. Call your local authorities, file a report. File a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. There are also many governmental groups that govern consumer fraud and protection.
Many times a bad business deal is not intentional. Often time, a respected breeder will try to work the problem out. But often times then not, people are going to these “inquiry” sites and posting about their experience. If the business in question has certain ties or connections with the people running these sites, you may just find the tables turned on you.
So how can you help protect your hobby?
Simple, don’t use them to begin. It’s important to refrain from taking justice into your own hands. You can loose your legal rights and put yourself in legal hot water. Report these sites to your federal and state consumer groups. Provide them with as much information as possible. Boycott the advertisers and supporters of these sites. Let the advertisers and supporters know, your are boycotting them for supporting this type of site. Tell others you know about these sites to boycott. If you have a web page, make a banner boycotting the site and put it on your main page. Also, boycott the regulars that frequent their or that participate in these libelous acts.

Together, we can end the illegal practices of many breeders in the community.

Interesting..... Doesn't that violate their TOS? Too bad they can't post a link to the site(s) being referred to....

I have contacted KS's abuse department about that message, so let's see how long it takes their normally efficient staff to remove it.

IP address of the poster: 203.113.34.239

I'm sure the IP address is irrelevant. The style of writing looks awfully familiar to me, however....

Someone needs to post a message with "check out faun-a-classifieds" right near it and see if they both get deleted at the same time.

It's not irrelevent if it corresponds to someone who has posted here that you could link it back to.. say someone who is the proud former owner of [bleep].com

He just posted and said something about how KS isn't censored.. I almost fell out of my chair. I wish he'd just crawl back into his the hole he came out of, because I might hit my head next time he posts something that funny.


Erin B.

Unbelievable. How completely crooked.

LMAO.

This should be easy to track down. Need an IP....NOPE. Need sophisticated computer equipment...NOPE. Just go to the BOI and look through the scum bags that have been outed this week. 99% sure it's one of them. They did break a pattern though... no mention of a clique at all. That's usually in the excuse why the BOI is a bad place for trash.

The thread just got 'modded' as I was looking at it. I knew it would, too. Just proves our point.

Erin Benner

man that is really sad that is posted on ks site,completely uncalled for "inquiry boards" are a very impt.,,esp. this one!! being it was the first! that i knew of ,,and the only one that has remained honest and does not delete but has all post archived all opinions and voices are there as stated before" give them the rope and they will hang themselves"(keep it up richz),,,,,man ks and jeffb. we all know you are reading this or will eventually,,,in my best bugsbunny voice i say"you do realize this means war!",,,,,,thomas davis T&S reptile farm

Nice piece of propoganda!

If it were not for the BOI boards, people looking to do biz wouldn't know who is "good" and "who will rip you off!"