Future plans for the board... [Archive]

chen lung

08-02-2007, 01:42 PM

However, I haven't heard of a free forum. I wouldn't mind contributing a bit to it, or re-registering. Some other famous forums relocated to independant providers (DDUK and ADG).

Ezboard is dodgy:

1) Search doesn't work.
2) Dictionay doesn't work.
3) Hideous amount of money to keep it going.
4) Only 20 pages of posts are maintained.
5) Spam-filter is annoying.
6) You aren't notified of PMs/Live Chats.
7) The 2005 attack on Ezboard made us lose posts.

Will any of these be a problem? Most of them won't really be an issue, as they can't be helped, or they're just too niggling.

morgoth

08-02-2007, 07:32 PM

Yeah Beardy I am sure there are easier ways. But that is the best way I know of. I am pretty computer illiterate, and my computer skills only get worse the more I use computers. i can't figure it out:\

Chinatown Kid

08-02-2007, 08:51 PM

If moving means to a better place and format then I'm all for it, especially if we won't have to raise money every 6 months to be free of advertisments. Just keep us informed on what we need as far as setting up our account/username if we move Linn, thanks. ;)

gfanikf

08-02-2007, 10:10 PM

cosign with pretty much everything :)

gimpusmons

08-06-2007, 11:38 PM

Here’s the deal. With the approval of the majority of interested forum members, Kung Fu Cinema (kungfucinema.com) will become the new home of Kung Fu Fandom.

I recently pitched the idea to Linn after seeing that members still had to pay outrageous sums to keep the board free of ad spam. My second reason for hosting KFF is that Kung Fu Cinema has always needed a forum of its own and in consideration to my past admin duties on Kung Fu Fandom and given the quality community of dedicated fu fans here, it just seems natural to merge the two sites. Seeing as how Kung Fu DVD is no more, the timing seems even better for a merger, to insure that the board remains healthy and active with the support of a relevant and active genre site.

What this means for the community is that not a whole lot will change apart from the possible influx of new members. As Linn stated, current members will initially have to register a new account but once that’s done you should be back to normal. The board itself will have a new look to match KFC but that’s about it. Current posts will be transferred to the new board with a small chance that some threads may be lost. Down the road there is the possibility I will make adjustments to the forum structure to meet demand, but I don’t foresee making any controversial changes.

As for my role, I’ll remain the forum’s senior admin but I will not be moderating the forums. The current mods are welcome to continue in their position and we might add a volunteer mod or two as needed.

For anyone interested, I intend to use vBulletin which is widely used, commercial-grade message board software. I think it will end up being viewed as an upgrade, possessing a lot more features and a cleaner interface than ezBoard.

As for a timeline, I am thinking it will take a few weeks minimum to prep. I need to get things set up and whatnot. The actual move will probably go very quickly, but I want to make sure everything is set up properly so the transition goes smoothly.

I welcome additional feedback. You can post in this thread or e-mail me at mpollard@kungfucinema.com (mpollard@kungfucinema.com).

gimpusmons

08-07-2007, 02:36 AM

In reference to an e-mail inquiry I received I want to clarify that no changes will be made to the current forum rules once KFF is hosted by KFC. The prickly topic of bootlegging will rest with moderators and any legitimate copyright holders who seek to protect their assets, not with me. That means I will only step in if a distributor files a legitimate complaint regarding a particular post or thread.

Tosh

08-07-2007, 02:48 AM

Sounds like a great move to me, I'm in. I'll add I hope we can keep the same mods, and keep the site "as is".

oldeschool17

08-07-2007, 07:51 PM

hey that seems like a great idea Mark. Im all for it. Lemme know if theres anything I can do on my end to help

teako170

08-11-2007, 12:54 AM

My concerns regarding this....

First, I've always embraced the fact that KFF was autonomous; not married to a specific domain name.

Websites rise and fall. Domains come and go.

DVDCult came and went.
Shaolinchamber.com - perpetual hiatus...?

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm a fan of Mark's site. KFC has many great reviews and I've been a visitor there for some years. But to play devil's advocate, if that domain would someday disappear, what then of KFF? If its tied into a domain and that domain name ceases....?

I wasn't aware of all the problems w/ ezboard but everything has its pros and cons. The one good thing about ezboard (other than that crazy crash a few years back) is its always there. If a forum becomes difficult to load or to log on to, people will lose interest quickly and move on.

I know some of you here have visited falkor's forum on his domain. Its a great place with loads of quality discussion and photos. Lately though his forum has become difficult to access and I'm sure this has hurt his turnout.

I'm not saying KFF should stay @ ezboard. If Mark can make it work at KFC, then that's great and I'll support the move. I just hope this forum can retain its identity, remain self-governing and is on the web for many years to come.

kungfusamurai

08-11-2007, 08:16 PM

If Kung Fu Cinema were to die, then we'd just find a new home. No big deal.

I'm sure it would be cheaper than over $300 US to keep it ad free.

To be quite honest, I don't mind the ads. I just use programs like Ad Muncher to delete ads anyway.

KFS

teako170

08-11-2007, 08:31 PM

If Kung Fu Cinema were to die, then we'd just find a new home. No big deal. True but how would anyone find it? If the domain ceases, there will be no place to post a link with .... "Hey guys we've moved. Please go here."

But I do agree, $300 is crazy to keep a place ad free.

JustAFan

08-11-2007, 09:02 PM

I don't like ezboard either, so a move would be okay I think.

And, is there a way to send all members an email to let them know where the new board is located?

gimpusmons

08-14-2007, 06:45 PM

This is to address the concern brought up by Teako170.

Kung Fu Cinema isn't going anywhere
Here's the situation. My life revolves around that site and the promotion of martial arts movies. It's my life's work, such as it is. If the site dies its only because I died and even should that happen within the next 40 years, I am making plans to insure that the site either continues without me (my dream) or at least the community is taken care of.

In the very unlikely event that I ever choose to close down KFC prematurely instead of passing it on to someone else, I will do the responsible thing and make sure that the forum community still has a home.

I take the responsibility of hosting this community very seriously because I consider it to be at least at important to the health and well being of martial arts movies, past and present, as the many review and news sites scattered around the web, including my own.

Identity
As to the issue of identity, I intend to keep the name Kung Fu Fandom and let the current moderators continue to oversee the community as they see fit. I hope to be more active in discussion on the boards but will let the community govern itself as it has for years.

The look of the forums will change some but the structure will remain intact. I may eventually add a few sub-forums if it seems appropriate. There will be a single ad banner at the top because KFC is a commercial site and presently my sole source of income. Other then that, it should be business as usual, minus the pressure to pony up money every six months.

Stability
I have had exceptionally reliable service from the same server host for close to six years now. However, I have never hosted a message board on this server. Once the move takes place I will continue to monitor the performance of the new board to make sure that there are no significant slow downs or errors. If there are problems, I'll upgrade my service plan to improve user performance.

Now to address JustAFan...

I will most definitely make sure that everyone knows where to go and when once the move begins. I'll send an e-mail to all current forum members. As I recall, ezBoard has a function for that. Prominent links will also be posted at this location. I intend to leave the old ezBoard site up with a redirect link for a good four to six months to make sure that less active members know where to go. Of course, the old forums will be closed at that time.

Yi Long

08-14-2007, 06:49 PM

Great post Mark, very reassuring and thanks for everything. As many here, I am a fan of your site and it's nice to hear that it will be around for a long long time :) I was pretty scared when there was a long period without any updates, a while ago ;) Glad you're back and motivated :)

gimpusmons

08-14-2007, 07:38 PM

I appreciate the support Yi Long.

A lot of folks were concerned about KFC during that time and rightly so. I regret the periods of inactivity and especially the unanswered e-mails or delayed responses. You know I never really anticipated the level of interest my little site would generate, either among fans or the industry. It has taken me a while to adjust to that level and maintain a healthy balance in my life.

I've been working on getting distractions out of the way and finding my focus. It's been a learning process filled with mistakes. I have a long ways to go to get to where I want the site to be and part of that involves working closer with the internet community.

One of my hopes is that in merging with KFF, we can build a stronger fan base that can have an even bigger impact on the dissemination, preservation and continued distribution of classic kung fu, chambara, wuxia, and all the martial arts-related movies we love to talk about.

gfanikf

08-14-2007, 07:44 PM

Mark,

I assume you wont have any issues with my site being linked to for reviews and such in posts I make.

bedhitter

08-14-2007, 08:02 PM

vengeanceofhumanlanterns

08-15-2007, 08:41 AM

If Linn and Mark deem this a good move, and feel secure with the future of it, I'm all for it as well.

JustAFan

08-15-2007, 05:00 PM

i'm against the move. www.kungfucinema.com actively advertises and promotes hkflix's bootlegs inc fareastpirate's boot label panmedia. i thought we were against them? i thought they were hurting the scene? you know the first thing mark is going to do is slap a hkflix banner on the forum adventising panmedia's shaw boots. is that what we want? linn speaks of the evils of panmedia and fareastpirate but now he's moving the forum to some place that makes a commission off the sale of those very same bootlegs!

bedhitter, it's fine that your against the move but when you say 'i thought WE were against them' 1question who is "WE".

There are some who who are against bootlegs and others (like myself) who could really care less and see the argument as hypocrisy.

But, as vengeance said Linn and Mark feel its a good move and thats good enough for me.

oldeschool17

08-15-2007, 11:29 PM

could linn or mark address those concerns from bedhitter?

gimpusmons

08-16-2007, 12:15 AM

Bedhitter,

I appreciate your concern over KFC's association with a seller of PanMedia titles. However, your claim that I'll start slapping PanMedia banners on this forum is absurd.

The full extent of my promotion of PanMedia has been an old review of their release of PETTICAB DRIVER. I also posted some links and hosted a PanMedia banner once when their releases first started appearing several years ago. Those were mistakes in my view and I stopped doing so long ago, once I fully realized what kind of operation PanMedia was running. I haven't done so since and you won't find any other reviews of their DVDs or any other kind of promotion on my site.

Anyone who is familiar with my writing and past tenure on this board as admin should be able to confirm that I am not an active supporter of bootlegging, particularly when it involves the sale of films that are in print or whose copyrights are neither in dispute nor their holders inactive.

I have spoken out against PanMedia and Red Sun and have tried to encourage other independent U.S. distributors to deal in fully licensed films.

Now as to my affiliation with HKFlix, yes, it's possible that in promoting HKFlix I am indirectly profiting from the sale of PanMedia titles. It's kind of hard not to run a commercial DVD review site and not profit from bootleg sales when every DVD retailer in the business peddles them, if not from PanMedia, then from Red Sun, Artsmagic, Ground Zero, Video Asia and other past and present budget distributors. It's not a situation I like but ultimately it's a legal issue between the copyright holders, the distributor and the retailer. I can definitely understand if it bothers you but I'm not going to abandon my relationship with HKFlix or my effort to merge the forum with KFC unless your opinion represents the majority.

I know that HKFlix operates above board with their sales and honors every legal request to cease selling product that violates a specific copyright. So long as the companies that care to protect their assets are able to do so then that's good enough for me.

gimpusmons

08-16-2007, 12:59 AM

Mark,

I assume you wont have any issues with my site being linked to for reviews and such in posts I make.

gfanikf,

Nope. Carry on as usual.

Linn1

08-16-2007, 04:16 AM

could linn or mark address those concerns from bedhitter?

care if "bedhitter" had more than one post on this forum. This thread is directed at contributing members of this forum.

As for HKFlix, I realize Mark has a site to run and HKFlix is the most well known sites on the web selling Hong Kong films, both legal and illegal. At one point, this forum had a banner across it advertising them. My interest in this is to make sure the forum continues and has an anchor with which to attract new members. I want this forum to survive for the fans that have created it. If I have to suck it up and have a banner for HKFlix across the top, I'll do that.

vengeanceofhumanlanterns

08-16-2007, 09:06 AM

As for HKFlix, I realize Mark has a site to run and HKFlix is the most well known sites on the web selling Hong Kong films, both legal and illigal. At one point, this forum had a banner across it advertising them. My interest in this is to make sure the forum continues and has an anchor with which to attract new members. I want this forum to survive for the fans that have created it. If I have to suck it up and have a banner for HKFlix across the top, I'll do that.

I'm behind Linn on anything as to assuring the survival of this forum as well. If anything negative or diminshing should arise with any given move, we can always move the forum to another destination. There's really no major concern here. If, in the end any given move turned negative and all resorts were exhausted, we could always go back to ezboard if it were an absolute last resort. It's just important to give very early notification of any moves so that members will have no problem remembering the new address. I'm sure it will all work out in the end.

are if "bedhitter" had more than one post on this forum. This thread is directed at contributing members of this forum.
Good point.

Though the set up of the new forum is of valid concern. I'm sure this issue will be handled responsibly.

gimpusmons

08-16-2007, 04:08 PM

I plan to schedule the move in mid September, after I have had time to prep the new location. I'll continue to post here and coordinate with Linn to make sure that everyone knows what is going on.

oldeschool17

08-16-2007, 09:41 PM

cool. hope everything works out smoothly

kungfusamurai

08-18-2007, 02:50 AM

vengeanceofhumanlanterns

08-18-2007, 07:28 AM

So if we move to Mark's website, will you keep up Kung Fu Fandom, but as a 'read only' board (i.e. posting messages will be disabled)? Is it possible to do that and not have to worry about EZBoard 86'ing the whole thing?

Are you smoking dope? ;)

oldeschool17

08-18-2007, 10:35 AM

Mark Pollard writes on a reply on PAGE 1:
I intend to leave the old ezBoard site up with a redirect link for a good four to six months to make sure that less active members know where to go. Of course, the old forums will be closed at that time.

pressureworld

08-18-2007, 02:08 PM

long as it's free im for it

rederror

08-23-2007, 07:45 AM

Sounds like a winner!

Agent Orange

08-23-2007, 12:53 PM

Thanks linn and mark, you guys have really good ideas. it would give us a place to get all the latest news and give
us a chance to visit your site more. i dont ever visit your
site but it is the most thorough. do you still do reviews
and can you make a place to let the fans make reviews of films you neccesarrily wont or even have.

VonHumboldtFleischer

08-23-2007, 01:27 PM

So...

We can't use the board to trade copies of films released by HKL or Celestial with other fans in a non-commercial transaction, but the board's new home will be at a site which features a search engine for hkflix.com, who sell equally illegal bootlegs released by Red Sun and Panmedia at a huge profit.

And this isn't hypocritical because...?

JustAFan

08-23-2007, 07:23 PM

We can't use the board to trade copies of films released by HKL or Celestial with other fans in a non-commercial transaction, but the board's new home will be at a site which features a search engine for hkflix.com, who sell equally illegal bootlegs released by Red Sun and Panmedia at a huge profit.

Let it GO.

And this isn't hypocritical because...?

It is, but most don't care.

VonHumboldtFleischer

08-24-2007, 03:01 PM

I don't know that it's true that "most don't care". And didn't you just criticise someone on the previous page for presuming to speak for everyone?

Believe me, I realise that this topic has been discussed to within an inch of its life. And while the status quo was maintained, I was quite happy to go along with the existing policy. However, significant changes are underway which will considerably change the relationship between this board and HKFlix, who make God-knows-how-much money out of selling illegal bootlegs.

Mark said:

"I know that HKFlix operates above board with their sales and honors every legal request to cease selling product that violates a specific copyright."

And that's fair enough. So how's about this, mods: I'll stop trading every copyrighted title the very minute the legal representatives of the copyright holders get in touch with me and tell me to stop.

Deal?

Agent Orange

08-24-2007, 03:46 PM

trolls

VonHumboldtFleischer

08-24-2007, 03:57 PM

You've been a member for less than two weeks and just posted a one-word message.

Sure, I'm the troll here.

Agent Orange

08-24-2007, 07:20 PM

i wasnt talking about but if you feel guilty ok i accept. why you keep questioning the moderators
and sight owner decisions like they did something bad? run for congress, study law get to know
your rights in court and Really go after redsun and whoever else if it's so important and dear near
the heart for you.

www.hg.org/schools.html (http://www.hg.org/schools.html)

JustAFan

08-24-2007, 10:58 PM

I didn't critique anyone, just saying they didn't speak for me.

As far as the issue of 'boots', it's been an issue talk'd about for years on this board and from those i'm saying most don't care. Most will never mean all.

I agree with you on the side of hypocrisy, but guess what???
I don't care who trades what and what they buy from whom. I've been a member of this board for a few years and it's because of my love for the genre that I will continue to be. This site is run great and thats what matters most.

Also, Mark's site is a great site, and once again, I could give less than a Sh** about what sites he affiliates with to help keep the site open.

To anyone who has a problem with the hkflix banners on his site, cut him a check to help keep these sites running and then maybe, maybe he'll take the banners down for you.

As far as trades and the like, let it go and don't lose sleep over it. It's not worth name calling or throwing a tantrum about.

VonHumboldtFleischer

08-25-2007, 01:22 AM

I was referring to this:

bedhitter, it's fine that your against the move but when you say 'i thought WE were against them' 1question who is "WE".

And guess what else? I don't particularly care that you don't care. I have no idea who you are, and you certainly don't speak for everybody. So you don't give a s**t. That's great. I applaud your indifference. It's way awesome. I was mostly addressing the mods, hoping for some kind of explanation that would take the nasty stink of hypocrisy out of all this. Apparently that won't be forthcoming.

Trust me, I've been around long enough to see this issue argued to death. I'm probably as tired of it as you are, and if it weren't for this proposed move, I'd never have brought it up. I'm not throwing a tantrum and I haven't called anyone names so far, I'm just looking for some kind of reason to keep coming back here.

JustAFan

08-25-2007, 10:14 AM

I'm not arguing but read that quotation again, I never spoke for anyone other than myself until I said that most don't care about the 'boots' debate.

We both agree that it's hypocrisy and I hope that you don't leave this fantastic site because of something as silly as the pointless boots debate. I'm sure you didn't join this site, because of a stance on bootleg movies. I could be wrong, but i'm right.

The mods could give an explanation, but they don't owe one.

You've said you don't care that I don't care, which should mean you don't care what I have to say, follow that feeling and don't respond to what i've said.

gimpusmons

08-28-2007, 12:44 AM

Agent Orange,

I am going to try an implement a feature where forum posts will appear on the front page of KFC. If its possible, I may also link main KFC review pages to the forum in such a way that forum users can post and rate the movies in addition to the editor's review. Basically, I'm hoping to give forum users the option to interact with KFC and get their thoughts and views seen by a wider audience. That in turn will undoubtedly bring even more interest and discussion to the community and ultimately the genre.

Agent Orange

08-29-2007, 02:29 AM

I had one more idea, actually two but i forget one of them. Is it possible that you could implement a feature
where we could upload the occasional photos we post via the forum. This way if we wanted to look back
say 6 months or a post 3 months old we could still see the images whomever posted and not the red box
indication the image hosting expired.

Oh yes i remember the other thing. Just something you might want to think about. This is kind of a new
idea but i will throw it out there. A lot of times we talk about movies and occasionaly post links to trailers
and things of this nature - im not a member of many forums so i wouldnt know but how does the idea
sound to include the coding to post an embeded video from Youtube on it. For example you would see
the video with the ''press play'' arrow. This way it would make the forum more exciting in my opinion.
The videos and imagery are great visuals and really would keep everyone coming back.

Im glad you run a tight ship at Kung Fu Cinema you must be proud of that site. Im glad you invest so
much time to make it look so great. Unlike that complete, cheap miser, faggot WEBPIMP at shawscope
who doesnt give a @#%$ about anything and steals photo's as if they were his under his numerous bullshit
account names on that forum.

Chia Ling AKA Judy Lee

08-29-2007, 11:52 AM

I'm not really sure when it became en vogue to argue indifference as a virtue?

It's a very pertinent issue. Traders are not allowed to trade legitimate prints yet the forum is soon to be effectively sponsored by unscrupulous profiteering from these same prints. The anti-boot sentiments on the forum would no longer be tenable, and forum participation would be a moral endorsement the bootlegging.

There thus seems to be only two ways to go with this new alliance, either KFC discontinues it's alliance with HKFlix or the board allows the free trade of any films and regular contributors and moderators would have no credibility when arguing against boots.

I would be interested to know what any interested parties have to say about this.

Mr Dragula

08-29-2007, 04:56 PM

I'm sure if said traders were willing to tote the bill for a banner linking to off-site trading elsewhere above the home page, the KFC management would be happy to oblige.

gimpusmons

09-09-2007, 01:09 AM

Agent Orange,

I like your image idea. The only hitch is that it requires additional space for hosting and additional bandwidth for downloading, especially with lots of high res images. I'll keep the idea in mind though. New multimedia solutions are openng up on the net all the time.

I can say with regard to embedded video that the new forum will definitely support it. So users will be able to post vids from Youtube abd other video sharing sites directly into their posts with the appropriate script.

remo

09-09-2007, 10:59 AM

So at a time where we've finally got American companies like DD stepping up to the plate and releasing legit Shaw DVDs, (http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.540536/qx/details.htm) the new home of this board has a prominent standing link to a site that also actively sells shoddily produced bootlegs of the exact same products? (http://www.hkflix.com/xq/asp/filmID.536260/qx/details.htm) Gee, I can't see any moral dilemma there at all... especially with DD trying to decide if sales of the current titles even merit releasing all the Shaws they have. Way to encourage those legit sales when the boots are $5 cheaper.

Will we be able to sell used PanMedia discs in the new forum? If not, why not?

Linn1

09-09-2007, 12:59 PM

the mods (and myself) are currently talking as to what to do, as I agree, it is at odds with current polices.

Marquis de Falcon

09-11-2007, 08:23 PM

i think the option to upload images using the forum is a good idea no more unsightly red-boxes. i hate those things plus you would have some great content. just pull a maximum upload on everyone. 450kb 2 times or something...

peringaten

09-12-2007, 11:37 AM

i think the option to upload images using the forum is a good idea That's because you suggested it. Also: villain.

gimpusmons

09-17-2007, 12:35 PM

I have an easier solution if the current plan is causing too much division. I can leave KFF alone and create a message board for KFC readers that anyone here is welcome to participate in. It saves me money and effort and those here who have an issue with KFC's affiliation with HKFlix don't have to feel like they are being forced to support it.

I still believe that the advantages of rolling KFF into KFC outweight the disadvantages for both sites but ultimately its the call of this community. KFC will have a message board by the end of the year regardless. I'd like it to be Kung Fu Fandom because I believe this is still one of the better communities on the web for kung fu movie discussion. Also, it deserves a better home than ezBoard.

vengeanceofhumanlanterns

09-17-2007, 07:26 PM

Well as I see it. If we move to KFC and are linked to HKflix our current policies will no longer exist anyway, nor will anyone's current problem with them. Far too much has been made out of this issue of boots in the first place. Regardless of the (potential) harm it's supposedly caused, the fact remains, if it weren't for boots in the first place, very few (if any) of us would be here (on this board) right now. It's incontrovertible, BOOTS PRESERVED THIS GENRE, and it's highly likely that Celestial may not have even decided to release these shaw films remastered if they weren't aware of the demand for them as boots throughout the last twenty years, period.

HKflix is an excellent online store for this genre, whose team by the way go far out of their way to educate familiarized consumers to this genre with extra information pertaining to their DVD releases ie:noting all the extras in a given film etc. on Shaw remasters, boots, an all.

Well, that's how I feel about that issue. Anyhow, I stand behind Linn and Mark with whatever their decision may be, afterall they've been the prime managers of this board for the last few years now and they've done a fine job of it, especially in the tolerance department, which is way more than I can say for myself or some others here.

Chia Ling AKA Judy Lee

09-18-2007, 06:49 AM

That's a fine idea gimpusmons. Provided the forum doesn't have any anti-trading rules, such as refusing the blatant trading of HKL and Celestials etc. then that's fine. We wouldn't want people to get confused and think the forum was supportive of legit releases or the long term viability of the genre.

monwobobbo

09-19-2007, 10:16 AM

damn more boot controversy. i'm guessing i'm not the only one growing tired of this subject. without boots we wouldn't have all of the choices we now have. unfortuneately because we have all these choices a limited fan base only has so much cash to go around. it seems to be a vicious circle where everyone may lose in the long run. but still... i don't want to end up like anime fans who pay thru the nose for everything.

Mr Dragula

09-20-2007, 12:16 AM

It'll be a shame to miss out an the opportunity of a Vbulletin upgrade over petty bootlegging squabbles.

I personally don't really care whether or not people trade dvdrs, nor do I really see the need to post lists in the open either. Pm's work wonders, and with vbullentin it wouldn't be such a chore to navigate through them. ;)

In the end, the people who are going to buy boots over the genuine article are going to do so regardless. The best recourse in said situation is through education, making known of the harmful after effects of buying from scavenger outfits, there really isn't much more you can do.

Marquis de Falcon

09-20-2007, 01:15 AM

does it look like this will happen around october? mods? mark?

Tosh

09-20-2007, 11:10 AM

I personally don't really care whether or not people trade dvdrs, nor do I really see the need to post lists in the open either. Pm's work wonders, and with vbullentin it wouldn't be such a chore to navigate through them.

Yeah it was my understanding that you just had to go under the radar with it, it wasn't against the rules here, so I don't see the big deal with all this, I never realized this was a trading forum first, I usually go there to see what revolving soap opera is going on when I'm bored. Some little rat probably got his panties in a wad and wrote the companies, so the mods hands are tied.

I'll cosign with what Vengence had to say, I come here to talk about movies. Peringaten you crack me up.

Linn1

09-20-2007, 03:21 PM

the new forum will have new rules. If fans want to trade bootlegs of legal dvds, that's they're business. We are long past the point where bootlegs have to prop up the genre. We're also past the point of being anything like anime, because anime is popular, kung fu will never be at that point again IMO. The reason why this board doesn't allow trading or selling of copies of legit release has NOTHING to do with fans trading among themselves, and everything to do with companies who own these films emailing and threatening legal action because an idiot is posting their entire catalog on this forum for $2 each. Just to be clear, if we get emails from companies about the same on this new forum, we'll have to shut it down again, HKFlix or no. If it's a choice between a couple of fans hurting because they can't get their bootlegs, and the forum being shut down and the owners being sued, there's no choice really.

gimpusmons

09-21-2007, 04:09 AM

Linn nailed it.

My concern is in seeing that the interests of active, legitimate distributors with money to lose from the sale of bootlegs are served whether through Kung Fu Cinema or Kung Fu Fandom. At the same time, KFC is a commercial venture and as host to KFF it is my responsibility to protect my own interests, modest though they may be. As a result, any complaint from a legit copyright holder against a forum post or user will be carefully weighed and acted upon in a manner that best serves the forum, its host and the "claimant."

That said, the sale of independent and unlicensed classic kung fu movies on home video is too pervasive and central to the continued existence of the genre for any single web site operator, forum administrator or moderator to actively police or sort through when considering posts or sponsorship without the case-by-case assistance of an entity whose licensed property is at stake. And all of those entities, if any really cared about this niche market, already know that.

Honestly, I could not have reviewed half of the old school movies that I have were it not for this secondary market. Have I ever had a distributor lobby a complaint? Yes, a couple of times over very particular issues related to new, modern releases like HERO and in each case I took prompt, appropriate action when necessary in support of the legal copyright holder and the issue was quickly resolved.

There is going to be a disclaimer and revised set of rules on the new forums that will clearly state our position and no further argument need be raised because you all will know where we stand. In fact, I'm going to discuss with the mods about the formation of a "volcano" type thread or forum where all the continued bitching about issues like this that will never be resolved in some people's minds can be dumped. (This statement is directed at no one in particular.) I feel confident that the vast majority of forum users will be satisfied with the status of the trading/advertising policy and would rather not see continued drama over it.

Another thing, KFF will no longer be in the shadows, if it ever was. I work directly with legit distribs on KFC and I will personally invite all of them to participate in the discussion on the forums or to at least view it. If they see something they don't like, we'll deal with it. But until that time, I would expect all users to exercise good judgment about their trading habits on the forums and respect the final policies agreed upon by the moderators and community majority.

As for the present status of the merger/move I am pushing it forward to next month due to a recent real-life move that has occupied a good portion of my time this month. I'll be setting up and testing the new forums in October and will make another announcement at that time when we're ready to make the move. I also want to give Linn and the mods a chance to familiarize themselves with the new board while we go over any final changes.