What's going on with FJ? Mistaken identity?

[razingruth]

I don't know if this is the proper forum for this, so mods please move if it's not.

Two days ago, I received a really screwy email from someone at topmod19943@xxxxx.com. When I tried to respond directly, it appeared that the account had been deleted and the email bounced. Since most of the venom of the email revolves around FreeJinger, I thought maybe I could respond here (especially since the sender claims to be a member of FJ and claims that this has something to do with some issue arising here). Can anyone shed light on this for me?

This is the text of the email I received:

Dear Ruth/Mary/Alecto/Vick/Liar,

It all makes sense now, it does! You start a blog with another known freak who makes profit off her ex-fundy website and the two of you feed back and forth to rake in cash on ads and then you all rise up a need to snark on people just like you! Just how much did you make off of NLQ and now FJ adsense? I want my money back now. I have contacted my local police department and an attorney. You must went to the McMama school of scamming. I was a member of freejinger but you won't get another iPhone from me. What's worse than claiming FJ is going to close because of costs is that you had this blog to and you claimed that you were homeless. I was homeless too and I didn't have a blog. Did you start Freejinger and NLQ just to give this blog more traffic or was it the reversal. You are all connected I just know! Whats worse is your site exists to tear down what is probably a good faith and you had me believing you. How did you believe that no one would pick up on the Arkansas screen shot for your incoporating? You're not homeless or near homeless if you're making that much money every year off of adsense on FJ and NLQ. The amount in your FJpaypal screencap on FJ (link) shows an income more than I make a year on a fixed income. I manage without an iPhone. Your going down.

I am well-and-truly confused! What is going on? I have been away from the computer for a few days and I'm trying to catch up on FJ announcements. But, I do want to clarify a few things that this email suggests:

1. I am not the owner of FJ.

2. I am not the owner of NLQ.

Both of these are easily provable. FJ is owned by Alecto/Lauren and NLQ is owned by Vicky. I believe that both are registered non-profits.

Other than posting on FJ, as part of the community, and having my blog syndicated (for no profit) to NLQ, I have no ties to either. I certainly don't make money off any adsese from either (or from my own blog -for that matter- as I don't have ads on my blog).

3. The Arkansas issue is a stretch! I don't know what screen shot is being referenced; however, I no longer live there.

Can anyone tell me what is going on and if I need to do anything about this?

[contrary]

Sounds like some brilliant SOTDRT graduate thinks you and Alecto are the same person? And that both of you are also Vyckie?

Sorry, Ruth. FJ seems to have lost its collective mind this week, but I honestly would not worry a thing about it.

Did it come through your blog email, or to some personal account that therefore worries you?

[Mustang Sally]

This person seems to think you are Alecto's secret identity. Frankly it sounds delusional and paranoid, and I seriously doubt the police are going to take it seriously. But that is unsettling for sure.

FJ is under an LLC owned by Lauren currently. The ownership of FJ itself is presumably in the process of changing hands, as Lauren has stepped down.

[contrary]

FJ WAS AN INSIDE JOB!

[BravaAmica]

razingruth, I am so so sorry you got sucked in. No, you don't have to do anything about it. I'm sure you've guessed that FJ is in a state of flux right now. If I were you, I'd forget you ever got the email and not worry about it. If you want a rundown of why FJ is in a state of flux, PM Curious.

In a nutshell, Alecto misrepresented the amount of money FJ was making and kept the profits. Some of the mods and admins figured it out and posted account statements on QFS. About 58 pages of drama ensued.

Again, I'm so sorry that happened to you. That must've been shocking to get such an email. I hope things are well with you. Take care!

[pomology]

Some dumbass thinks you're Alecto.

Don't even worry about it.

[ILoveJellybeans]

What is going on, is that Alecto was asking for donations, claiming the forum was in desperate need of donations to pay for the hosting. Later it was found out that the forum was making way more than hosting costed from the ads (over $10000 a year), and she spent the extra money on herself while we were assuming the forum was struggling for money.

Alecto told us that FJ was a registered non profit, but actually it isnt. Its a business she is running and making lots of money from.

Alecto has now stepped down as admin and gave the forum to Curious.

The screenshot was from the FJ paypal account, proving how much money Alecto is making from the forum.

I think they have been mistaken in thinking Alecto, Vicky and you are the same person. I dont know why because the only connection between the three of you is that you all own websites that go against what fundies believe. Maybe its some jealous fundie who has heard about it and is trying to start trouble.

[hoipolloi]

Looks like some SOTDRT idiot fundie decided to get his/her licks in.

Ignore the stupid threats but save the email with all its headers -- that might come in useful sometime! :twisted:

[meda]

Ruth, please read the most recent threads with today's date in the announcements section of snark, that should catch you up. We are working on sorting everything out, but in the meantime it sounds like you were just trolled. You don't need to do anything right now, sorry this has impacted you.

[MamaJunebug]

razingruth, I am so so sorry you got sucked in. No, you don't have to do anything about it. I'm sure you've guessed that FJ is in a state of flux right now. If I were you, I'd forget you ever got the email and not worry about it. If you want a rundown of why FJ is in a state of flux, PM Curious.

In a nutshell, Alecto misrepresented the amount of money FJ was making and kept the profits. Some of the mods and admins figured it out and posted account statements on QFS. About 58 pages of drama ensued.

Again, I'm so sorry that happened to you. That must've been shocking to get such an email. I hope things are well with you. Take care!

(I'm so far behind) - What is QFS?

razingruth, take a deep breath, sweety. I'm confused too, but it looks like things will be all right. Anybody sane knows you aren't involved here other than a poster.

[Jencendiary]

(I'm so far behind) - What is QFS?

Quiver Full of Snark

[lilith]

Conspiracy theories seem to be the in thing at the moment, but that one is even loopier than average.

[OnceModestTwiceShy]

Oh holy hell. I'm sorry you got dragged into this, Ruth. I don't think anyone except the nutty author of that email thinks you and Alecto have anything to do with each other.

[razingruth]

I asked this in a mod thread, but I'm curious so I'll ask it here...

With regard to "owning" content:

So, certain aspects of my life story, I've shared here on FreeJinger. Does this mean that, in trying to write my book, the content of my posts now belong to Alecto or her LLC? Because, it seems like if she truly copyrighted FJ, I could be screwed and risk copyright violation by putting any of it in print.

[SoybeanQueen]

And may I suggest to the sender of that email - if you're on a fixed income and/or possibly homeless, perhaps paying an attorney to "take down" some random on the internet is not the best use of your funds?

[StarrieEyedKat]

I asked this in a mod thread, but I'm curious so I'll ask it here...

With regard to "owning" content:

So, certain aspects of my life story, I've shared here on FreeJinger. Does this mean that, in trying to write my book, the content of my posts now belong to Alecto or her LLC? Because, it seems like if she truly copyrighted FJ, I could be screwed and risk copyright violation by putting any of it in print.

Meda answers here - http://freejinger.org/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=14768&view=unread#p462442

[Dysfundamental]

I asked this in a mod thread, but I'm curious so I'll ask it here...

With regard to "owning" content:

So, certain aspects of my life story, I've shared here on FreeJinger. Does this mean that, in trying to write my book, the content of my posts now belong to Alecto or her LLC? Because, it seems like if she truly copyrighted FJ, I could be screwed and risk copyright violation by putting any of it in print.

No. You own your "life rights" unless you sell them. Nobody else can preempt your right to describe your own life.

Cutting and pasting, word-for-word, posts you made here and nowhere else and including them in your book might conceivably be argued to infringe on FJ's intellectual property rights, but I doubt you were planning to do that anyway.

And I hope you won't delete your account or posts, but of course it's your choice. I wish you all the best.

[SoybeanQueen]

I asked this in a mod thread, but I'm curious so I'll ask it here...

With regard to "owning" content:

So, certain aspects of my life story, I've shared here on FreeJinger. Does this mean that, in trying to write my book, the content of my posts now belong to Alecto or her LLC? Because, it seems like if she truly copyrighted FJ, I could be screwed and risk copyright violation by putting any of it in print.

Not an attorney, just had to take media law and copyright classes in college, so take this for what it's worth (2 cents at best)-

She doesn't own your story. Even if she did manage to fight you in court over the content of your posts here, the solution to that would be writing your story in different words than what you used here. Does that make sense? She might technically own the copyright on the exact thing you said here, but that in no way stops you from telling your story again in a different way. She doesn't own your details.

I would be awfully surprised if someone who quit a different job to exist on about $12k per year from FJ has the cash stores necessary to sue you over the FJ posts she tricked you into giving her, though. She opens herself up to countersuits based on her trickery in that case, so it likely wouldn't be worth her while.

[frumper-rump]

I am so sorry you got sucked into the crazy like that. That email is scary, but hopefully its just somebody who is out to try and cause more trouble for the group and doesn't mean you any harm, personally. I am glad your stories are protected as your property- I think your book will be a good thing. Hopefully, some who are stuck in patriarchy will get their hands on a copy and see that there is a way out.

[razingruth]

@Starry Eyed Cat- Thanks. I just replied on that thread. This whole thing is just so strange, isn't it? I was reading the original email I posted and thinking, "what the heck is going on?" and now the truth is almost stranger than any fictional explanation I could've come up with. I really appreciate all of the work the freejinger mods are putting into this.

[SouthCarolinaGirl79]

That is just horrible and scary, Razing Ruth. Someone's brain, or lack there of, was running overtime on conspiracy theories. I would vote it was Zsu since she has been cranking out some good ones lately. :mrgreen:

Edited to remove an extra smiley icon that I didn't realize I typed.

[SoSoNosy]

But Zsu's grammar and punctuation are better than that person's. The emailer isn't totally literate.

[SouthCarolinaGirl79]

But Zsu's grammar and punctuation are better than that person's. The emailer isn't totally literate.

I was only joking. Nowhere in email was the government blamed, so I knew it couldn't be her.

[thoughtful]

I was only joking. Nowhere in email was the government blamed, so I knew it couldn't be her.

SouthCarolinaGirl79k, you have now won the Internetz for the second time today.

ETA -- so sorry to hear you're being harrassed via email, razingruth. Someone is really flailing.

[GiggleOfGirls]

I'm so sorry that you've been dragged into this mess too :?

Good grief... whoever sent that e-mail is really reaching and barely literate :doh: Hopefully they're at least telling the truth about being on a fixed income. If that's actually the case, then they can't really do much to bother you at least. I doubt that the police would take them seriously.

And I've never commented on your blog or anything, but I have read it all and follow your story and I'm very grateful that you've chosen to share so much! I have friends who are interested in ATI/Gothard and it's been very helpful to me to learn more about what they're getting into and to be able to address some of their "talking points" more effectively when they come up.