Policy Change - 7/19/17 - Please Read

[Admin]

As you may have noticed RLCF was unavailable for approximately 36 hours. This downtime was the direct result of RLC filing a DMCA complaint against the site. Our host completely disabled the server and initially told me that they wouldn't even allow me to get the files off of it. This would have resulted in a near loss of the site as the only backups that I had on hand were almost a year old. I did have backups running but they were attached to the previous hosting account, and when they disabled the server they disabled my access to the backups as well. After some pleading I was able to get them to allow me 24 hours to move the files off of the old server. So here we are, we are on a new server that is actually much better than the old one.  However, I am left with no choice but to ban any RLC content from being uploaded to the site directly. I have removed the gallery feature as it was almost entirely comprised of RLC material. I may re-enable the gallery in the near future but users will not be able to upload any RLC content to it. I hate to have to do this, but as I see it we either lose the whole site or we stop allowing RLC material to be uploaded. That being said, we will still allow embeds and links from other sites, so if you would like to post something here you'll just have to use a third-party host. We will enable direct posting for non-rlc boards in the coming days. As for you premium members I ask that you bear with us. In the near future we will likely add premium member only boards that may have fewer restrictions, but we are still working on a strategy for that.  I respectfully ask that you give us a few days to lick our wounds so that we can figure out a strategy to move forward. This all happened very suddenly and I as well as @StnCld316 have spent many hours over the last few days dealing with this, we came VERY close to losing the site entirely. I appreciate your continued support and I hope that you'll stick with us. This change helps to ensure the long term survival of the site, and I think it will work out in the end. And of course, there are no laws against talking about things, so feel free share your comments, thoughts and ideas.

Thank You,

- A

[Admin]

I will provide updates in a few days.

[CowArt]

First off, a big thank you to @Admin and @StnCld316 for the hard work they put in to salvage the site. It really must have been hours and hours, because I see that not only the gallery is gone, but all over the forum posts have been deleted as well.

Both the gallery and the chatbox were the main assets of RLCF. I posted my observations about the chat 

 in response to another post. In my opinion, that has to be addressed. Without the gallery and with an empty chatbox, RLCF will completely lose its relevance. And that would be a shame, us perverts would be forced to start gathering in the bushes outside someone's window at the risk of being arrested.

[Capeguy]

I will reiterate what @CowArt said and extend my thanks to @Admin and @StnCld316. Having worked in computer groups with large companies for years I understand the total panic when stuff like this happened; although ours were usually of our own making or major equipment failure. It is a cold, cold feeling when you know your customer's data is out there but you can no longer access it. While it is shocking what our Host did, it is probable we should all have seen it coming. In the 18 months I have been on RLC and over a year on RLCF, we have seen numerous other times where RLC jumped in and we found huge numbers of pictures and video clips gone with only links left to where they used to exist. At the same time users who were posting this content were banned by RLC, many in only their first few days on the site. Yet with all that happening and many RLCF users telling others that you will get banned and that RLC will end up getting their stuff removed; many people kept posting this material, most of them being users who were already permanently banned on RLC so they figured they were immune from any retribution. Guess what guys: YOU WERE FUCKING WRONG! And as the last few days have shown, RLC was able to exact retribution and those of you who did, and lets be real here: you really know who you are. put this entire site in jeopardy. Maybe it can be saved, maybe not. The gallery was pretty cool if you wanted to get a perspective of prior life of the long term tenants and apartments but the pictures were a snapshot in time. Posts in the Forums can provide the same insights but using words. So in the long run, with DCMA's lurking over our heads like Damocle's Sword, it would appear verbal accounts will have to suffice.

There are still other great things to do in the Forums, such as those who post about a certain event and post a music video or clip which seems appropriate; just ask @ShakaZulu, the king of sound clips.

I hope those in power here can come up with a plan, and solicit suggestions from the members, on what RLCF should become after its transformation. There are lots of nice, although somewhat perverted, people on here and it would be a shame to see it all go.   

[cyberleader]

what we need is a dedicated place to upload pictures,as most other sites take down pics n videos,as not everyone is online at the same time its not fair for them to click and only find dead links,maybe the tech crew could find a way of doing this that does not break the rules.and keeps everyone smiling.

[CowArt]

33 minutes ago, cyberleader said:

what we need is a dedicated place to upload pictures,as most other sites take down pics n videos,as not everyone is online at the same time its not fair for them to click and only find dead links,maybe the tech crew could find a way of doing this that does not break the rules.and keeps everyone smiling.

Good plan, but not at this moment. Healey's first law of holes: "If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging". The owner/staff of this website has to come up with a plan to stay relevant in the niche of voyeur discussion boards. RLC will probably keep a close eye on RLCF for now, if the focus now lies on a workaround for the gallery, the revival of RLCF will be very short lived.

[Capeguy]

1 hour ago, cyberleader said:

what we need is a dedicated place to upload pictures,as most other sites take down pics n videos,as not everyone is online at the same time its not fair for them to click and only find dead links,maybe the tech crew could find a way of doing this that does not break the rules.and keeps everyone smiling.

I can never figure out why so many assume we have a right to upload pics and videos which are expressly copyrighted by another site which prohibits the act. Most free porn sites (e.g. XVIDEOS.COM, PORNHUB.COM and so on) have millions of copyrighted material; some of which are the promo versions which appear to be made available from the owning site. They also have lots of material which is dumped on by users who have no right to do so. The originating sites probably feel so overwhelmed they do not use DCMA's, seeing it as a lost cause. RLC obviously feels they want to protect their property so constantly trying to circumvent that will end up with one result: RLCF will cease to exist. If that is what people want then keep doing what you have been and it will be a self-fulfilling prophecy when it happens. Personally I have never posted an RLC pic or video and I never will because I do not want to be banned but make it my own choice whether to keep RLC or dump it and because it is illegal.

[Admin]

 

5 hours ago, CowArt said:

First off, a big thank you to @Admin and @StnCld316 for the hard work they put in to salvage the site. It really must have been hours and hours, because I see that not only the gallery is gone, but all over the forum posts have been deleted as well.

Both the gallery and the chatbox were the main assets of RLCF. I posted my observations about the chat 

 in response to another post. In my opinion, that has to be addressed. Without the gallery and with an empty chatbox, RLCF will completely lose its relevance. And that would be a shame, us perverts would be forced to start gathering in the bushes outside someone's window at the risk of being arrested.

What do you mean empty chat box? There was no action taken against the chat box.  The gallery will come back but we won't be allowing direct uploads of RLC content.  As to the deleted posts they are being restored we are just removing images that have been uploaded to the server. As for posting pictures, you still have the ability to post content you just need to use a third party host like Postimage.org or Imgur.  On a side note, I have removed the guest viewing restrictions from the site; which I think had a very detrimental effect on things. People would come to the site, hit the six page limit and then leave (the analytics data makes this very clear). With the restriction gone hopefully traffic will pick back up. 

[Admin]

3 hours ago, cyberleader said:

what we need is a dedicated place to upload pictures,as most other sites take down pics n videos,as not everyone is online at the same time its not fair for them to click and only find dead links,maybe the tech crew could find a way of doing this that does not break the rules.and keeps everyone smiling.

We plan on making third-party hot-linking/embedding easier and more intuitive. 

[Admin]

I think the new normal will be that people will make better use of third-party hosts and content will start coming back. However, the content on the third party hosts won't last as long, so you'll have to check back more frequently to catch things before they are taken down. I think we will also see an increase in traffic and hopefully more participation now that the guest view limits are removed. But who knows? I've certainly been wrong before. 

[toolmaker123]

16 minutes ago, Admin said:

I think the new normal will be that people will make better use of third-party hosts and content will start coming back. However, the content on the third party hosts won't last as long, so you'll have to check back more frequently to catch things before they are taken down. I think we will also see an increase in traffic and hopefully more participation now that the guest view limits are removed. But who knows? I've certainly been wrong before. 

You do what you can; change what needs changing and stick with what works best. Some are not going to like those changes, but that's a case of Mind over Matter. We don't Mind and  they don't Matter!

I've always  hoped for a more active participation. The freeloaders that come and 'collect' from others hard work doesn't seem fair to them. I've said this from my beginning with RealLifeCamFan.com.

  Some have been sharing through third party host with videos and pictures through PM. We've done very well staying under the radar.

[Harry1949]

I want to join in thanking Admin and StnCld for their work in restoring the site, especially as I had renewed my Premium Membership the day before it went down!    I won't even to pretend to understand much of the conversation above but I concur on the danger of public posting of material that is copy righted by RLC.  Anyone doing so is simply being dumb.  I enjoy the Chat Room most of all, though I do wish folks would keep their complaints briefer or post the more negative comments in the appropriate areas.  Thank you to the many who have befriended me over the last year as I have learned how to do things on here. 

[APACHE 2020]

Estoy con el mismo pensamiento el foro no debe morir jamas y completamente de acuerdo con todas las cosas antes dichas y debo agregar qué mientras existan personas que opinen este gran foro NUNCA MORIRA fuerza muchachos y recuerden que la unión hace la fuerza

[CowArt]

1 hour ago, Admin said:

 

What do you mean empty chat box? There was no action taken against the chat box.  The gallery will come back but we won't be allowing direct uploads of RLC content.  As to the deleted posts they are being restored we are just removing images that have been uploaded to the server. As for posting pictures, you still have the ability to post content you just need to use a third party host like Postimage.org or Imgur.  On a side note, I have removed the guest viewing restrictions from the site; which I think had a very detrimental effect on things. People would come to the site, hit the six page limit and then leave (the analytics data makes this very clear). With the restriction gone hopefully traffic will pick back up. 

I know that, but have you actually looked at the chatbox recently? And I mean really looked at the chatting, not just checking if it was still there and functioning? And looked at it say a year ago? I estimate the number of individual active chatters dropped about 75% since then. Back then you had to be quick to be able to read your own post without having to scroll up for it, and there were people on the chatbox 24/7. Now there are hours on end with no posts at all. What I believe are the reasons for that are in the post I referred to in my initial post here, and several users, myself included, expressed their concerns about the chatbox in numerous posts in the Anger Board.

No, the DMCA thing does not affect the chatbox, but the chatbox was pretty much allowed to kill itself in the last couple of months. RLCF had four assets:

1. The gallery: That's gone now. Any attempts of restoring that will put the whole website at risk again. You can't hide behind third party hosts, RLCF will still be publicly facilitating the exchange of copyrighted material. Google the "King Kong defense" and give the guys over at the PirateBay a call how that worked out for them.
2. The chatbox: Not dead yet, but certainly not as alive and kicking as it once was.
3. The forums: Dead since RLC started banning users who posted pictures. The most active threads have nothing to do with RLC, that are the Camarads and the VHTV threads, and a couple more that are just some random joking around.
4. The messenger system: A lot goes on in there, but does that need to be on RLCF? All you need RLCF for is to meet people to have a PM conversation with, once the initial contact is made, you can move that conversation anywhere you like.

The reason I brought up the chatbox is because you yourself asked to " share your comments, thoughts and ideas". If we're trying to fix things here, in my opinion we should at least make an effort to fix everything that is still fixable, not patch one thing up, go on our merry ways and in six months sit and wonder where it all went wrong.

[Harry1949]

Admin, I want to endorse CowArt's comments above.  Even in the 9 or 10 months I have been on Chat, I have noticed that fewer appear and only for very short periods of time.  Granted different time zones present their own hurdles but we seemed to have gotten around that in the past.