SrElsewhere

Colonel Flatulence doesn't have any friends.

What then - THEY steal it?

Nuisance is the legal term.

It predates your story by at least five years, 2007, when a Silicon Valley engineer revealed that a backbone line had been spliced and all traffic was passing to government machines.

That revelation also inspired an outraged public backlash of 'meh.'

Like so many things, they only seem expensive until you try to make your own.

It's an important life skill, being able to plant a thought in the mind of another and in a way that is likely to be accepted.

It crossed my mind since my last writing that, in the 80s, I got a money back guarantee for any counter-surveillance equipment purchased that didn't reveal surveillance equipment in a Fortune 100 facility. It was that pervasive back then. And my perception is that morals and business ethics have not improved in the interim. Far from it.

Good luck and thanks for the valuable, respectful input.

Points well made and taken, thanks. No hostility perceived at all.

Reasonable minds can differ and frequently do. And it could be that people may think my suggestion is unrealistic or even silly.

There's no shortage of miscreants out there who just like to mess with things, thrown wrenches into spokes, etc. And these types could well be behind the daily local issues.

But here's an important point, and no offense intended. Corporations are like The Terminator. But instead of getting Sarah Connor, they purse profits. And regardless of CEO intelligence or accumen, every Fortune 500 company has a department that deals in these areas. They all have their skunk works and use them. It's been this way for centuries. A primer: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_espionage

So whether they're operating here atm or not, there is nothing paranoid about assuming they are. If they're not, they will be. It's what they do.

Thanks for the input. :)

Every account they lose hits them in the pocketbook. The bigger the fediverse gets, the more adherents, the greater the momentum it will have and the harder it will be to stop.

Nipping it in the bud is the best, easiest, and least expensive place to nip it.

The downvotes suggest their operatives are reading the comments.

~~~~Shamelessly stolen~~~~ Rescued from that other site.

You've done the right thing. It will live a much better life here.

I wonder if the owners of deddit, fb, tweetster, et al, might think it financially worthwhile to cause disruption in the fediverse, and even its ultimate failure.

I have an ethical conundrum. There were a couple subs I liked. I didn't like spaz' off-putting move. But when I learned of deddit's treatment of a mod, I'd seen enough.

I moved here and setup a landing place for the members of one sub to land. It was not 'my' sub. I didn't start or mod it. But I wanted it to continue. Not much has happened with it. And the founder, whom I DMed, hasn't come over afaik.

Another sub I liked was still dark when I left, and can't find any indication of it restarting elsewhere.

I don't want to step on toes or steal anybody's sub or the credit due. I also don't want those groups to die.

What's The Right Thing to DO?

I left, deleted my account and any comments of value. The place is dead to me. It's incomprehensible why people are still there being butthurt about it. They haven't been kidnapped. There's no guy at the door with a gun who's suggesting they not leave.

There's nothing new, no surprises. Abusive people, who treat others poorly (spoiler!), will abuse and treat people poorly. Why hang with that?

It's like they're addicted to the free buffet. But the only thing being served lately is shit sandwiches.

Well... bon apetit ya diehards.