A Message to Our Readers

[indra]

How is that?

Because AliEnvy implies that Elvis has has come to an agreement with U2 management to avoid a lawsuit. To me at least, that seems to fit this definition of libel -- "a statement or representation published without just cause and tending to expose another to public contempt."

I haven't heard anything that suggests what AliEnvy posted was anything more than conjecture.

 

[indra]

Cut the crap Dave


You have been enjoying this board for quite a while. So have many many others.


If you think you can "demand" that Elvis provide documents to you here, I think you will find the real world a harsher reality.


I wish everyone would stop and consider the fellowship that exists here outside of the "Edge" posts. It is quite substantial. I would hope my fellow Interferencers would take a deep breath and realize how much they gain by being part of this community, and will continue to do so.

nbcrusader and I don't agree about much, but I mostly agree this time.

My favorite lyricist wrote what I consider an appropriate line for this lovely affair, Interference, and the internet in general: "It's not a religion, it's just a technique."

C'mon, it's just an entertainment website. If you're so furious you can't see straight, ask for your money back (if you are a premium member or made a donation) and leave; if you want to stay, do so, but don't be so blindly accepting of what you read on the internet. What I mean is that you have to decide for yourself, ALWAYS, what to believe and what not to, especially on message boards. Some things you will never know, even if you feel you have the right. Understanding and accepting that makes life so much easier. You can make decisions, but often you will not know absolutely everything.

Did I think it was The Edge posting here? Well, I thought it would be nice if true, but to be honest, I wouldn't have anything to talk to him about...I actually tried to think of what I would ask -- and I came up blank. I was unhappy with his (or whatever it turned out to be) response to Jick (and with many others who posted in response to that post). In fact I was writing a reply to The Edge poster (ripping him a new a**hole, I might add!) at the very time that thread was locked (which led to my "I hate closed threads" rant in zoo confessionals ). At that point I decided to simply ignore all further posts by that person, because whoever it was, I didn't much care for him. So I went back to doing what brought me to this site in the first place -- discussing various topics.

Are there things I dislike about this site? Certainly, just like everything else in life. And there are things I do like. So I weigh the good vs the bad and decide if I want to keep posting or not. So far, I'm still enjoying it (and don't mind paying $12USD per year to be nosy and see profiles. And 'cause I really hate getting a server too busy message, a donation as well!).

I guess what I don't understand is the people who say "I'll never trust you," but keep posting. If you aren't ever going to trust the people running this site, why are you still here? If I don't trust a friend/lover, they are history -- immediately.

Ah, well...I'm just kind of rambling now.

 

[LoveTown]

i thought edge too but it may have been both.

It could have been edge ABEL, it was a long tme ago. It was when I and River left then got banned and you know that was a years ago.

 

[LoveTown]

by the way....

frogbat got banned about that time too...as did Bretig if I recall correctly.

I just wanted to include all those that "fell" during that time.

 

[ultraviolet_j]

I keep reading that multiple people were banned? What for?

 

[LoveTown]

I keep reading that multiple people were banned? What for?

are you talking about 3-4 years ago?

If so, it was a huge mess. Basically some of us got mad over several things, including the fake band postings and left. River pretty much got banned right away, even though he didn't do anything to get banned. Me on the other hand, I got mad, pretty much acted like a troll on here out of spite....and got myself banned. Frogbat got banned for speaking his mind about things on the forum if I recall....others got banned for being friends with us lol.

After about a year, maybe 2 I patched things up with Elvis so to speak because I missed the community here. However River and Frogbat have never returned and never will, they both have a much stronger resolve than I do I guess.

I am tempted to leave again because of the new fake band member postings.....it's just not right. I cancelled my premium membership, and when it runs out next year I will NOT be renewing it. If I suddenly vanish from the site it's because I've been banned again for speaking out on the issue, which won't surprise me. So, there you have it, in as much detail as I can remember.

 

[U2girl]

yes, thank you. i think i speak for all the mods here when i say we had no clue. i still believe elvis that there was no master scheme to fool the entire forum. why would he do that?

I said "mod" in several of my posts over time, I should change that to the staff that were handling the matter - who were named in the start of this thread. ALL of them are responsible.

I still think Elvis and one other member of the staff were in on it (reasons? get the hype going, more visitors, more people paying for premium membership - we know there's a server to be payed for...you name it. incidentally, several premium members got emails offering them two free months of membership for "being supportive" ).
I don't really care WHY or HOW it happened or if it was intentional or not - the fact is it wasn't properly checked and we were mislead.

I shouldn't assume things because I don't have all the info, some might say? I think I'm beyond the point of ever beLIEving the staff/Elvis again.

I will definitely conclude my visits here, because by staying I'd support the administration of the forum in an implicite way. I'd hate to think how those who payed for premium membership during and because of "Edge" posts feel right now.

 

[Party Boy]

Just my two euro's worth......

Have been registered for 4 years (don't be influenced by number of posts made!) and have always used this site as my main source of U2 info (after youtwo.net closed).

I feel a bit of an idiot in believing it was edge as I had one question answered in the Q&A section. However, it will not stop me coming here. Unlike a high number of people, I don't have the closeness to other users, so I guess I can seperate myself somewhat.

However, I do believe members (esp. premium) should not be misled (whether intentionally or not) and that all evidence should come out eventually.

I do also feel sorry for you Elvis, you have the masses baying for blood which is not an enviable position to be in.

At end of day, the last month has been slightly surreal, what with new U2 clips/songs, Edge posting etc. Will be great to get back to the music!

One other point I would like to make - I've no idea how Mods/content editors (I guess, board of directors you could call it!) are elected or made. As this site accepts money from premium members, potentially they should have a say in who is a mod. Some sort of annual election/re-election process to ensure ALL voices are heard?

WIth recent events, I suspect there is a lack of faith and respect which may never be recovered with current mods.

 

[Angela Harlem]

i think my brain is going to explode.

 

[Angela Harlem]

It might be time for a short modern history lesson. Perhaps it might help some to understand a few things on the timeline of events.

Dalkey made his/her appearance and appeared as sometimes is the case, as a troll. I did what I usually do, I ran the standard IP check on this user and found no previous instance of posting with another name. All posts to that date were recent and with the Dalkey nickname only. Amusement turned to mild annoyance when the member began to claim to be someone in the know. We've had this many times on here, so a further search of what is freely available on IP tracking sites showed the IP was from Peoria (sp?) Chicago. I made some snippy claims as such in the forums where the person was posting (mildly bad behaviour really huh for a mod) but by this stage, the topic of who Dalkey was was slowly gathering steam. Elvis contacted me privately off the forum and asked I back off as it seemed that our Dalkey was Don Smith, the sound engineer on the new album. Swallowing my doubts, I told Elvis I'd steer clear of Dalkey in public and let the issue work itself out. He was panicking at the time as I had 'pissed Dalkey off' and may have jeopardised more interviews and scoops. Oops, my bad. At that stage it still mattered not to me that Dalkey was claiming to be whomever.
Dalkey then began posting with another account a while later. This one was now Edge. With official band status and all. Now our Dalkey was Edge. Curious!
In the meantime, my doubts of who this character really was, had grown. The interview which was written (see 'typed') by the respondant, was American. Honour to anyone outside America is spelled with the 'u'. Such a small silly thing. I said elsewhere that the interview itself seemed bogus as as a mod, we watch closely how people write. As a u2 fan, I have done the same with the band unwittingly. The interview itself didnt seem to add up.
Our Dalkey was a busy young guy/girl. Dalkey/Edge emailed and corresponded with many folk off this forum. Which would have been incredibly admirable, had it been the band member we all hoped. Hell, even Don the sound engineer would have been a nice little bonus for those whom he/she communicated with.

Alas, Don/Dalkey/Edge was none of these people. I stated I flatly refused to believe it was the case. At that stage, it was mainly my concern for how this could impact on the site which was causing me the most concern. I figured a mistake here could really explode into publicity which Elvis surely did not need or want. Elvis stated again and again he had proof that it was infact Edge. Not willing to share how he knew this, as he had sworn to confidentiality with this now infamous person - we came to a head. It was a stand-off. Me in one corner simmering with my doubts and growing dissatisfaction on how this whole business had grown, and Elvis as usual was 'off somewhere else', not dealing with the major communication issues his team were facing. Certainly NONE of the other mods were aware of this. Sicy as the other admin was in the dark and every single mod knew as much as you all did. They might have known more about my doubts as it was really no secret. The sources for my information were also nothing secret. Emails come with IP addresses as we all know. Things really started adding up to a great big WTF on this whole thing. How Elvis could still be sure this was Edge was beyond me. He had access to the same searches and checks I did. I am no whiz at this internet and certainly cannot do anything remotely funky or clever. Yet I came to a completely opposite conclusion.

Now something else had been slowly building while this was happening. I was really begining to wonder if my days as a mod were probably best to end. Salome had been reaching the same conclusions. I was tired of trying to mop up the fights, the little spotfires of trouble this site has on a daily basis. I dont think I was a great mod for this site as my patience has seemingly virtually disappeared. If I have ever spoken to anyone inappropriately on here, I really am sorry. This was of course no secret to my fellow mods or Elvis. When I am in a bad mood unfortunately the whole world ends up knowing. So there was an issue. Elvis spoke to me on msn one Friday night about it and we made plans to work on team communication. He was implementing something which would be helping greatly in that regard. Elvis and I spoke also that night (night Sydney time) of the issue which arose in the thread in Confessionals. Salome made it for those who dont know (and all this sidetracking IS leading somewhere so bare with me lol) and Elvis found it after it had died down after a few days and made a reply. I reply I wasn't really happy with. Rather than closing it, I deleted the replies so it could be forgotten. The thread died back down. On msn that night, we spoke of it. Rationally and quite amicably. I thought it was cool Elvis understood why it had happened.
I went to bed and woke up Saturday to find Elvis had again replied and seemed intent on making this a big deal. I was also no longer an admin. Despite what had happened not 12 hours earlier, this was NOT what I called opening up communication. And certainly not on something personal. Something UNRELATED in every way to this site. As I was not an admin, I couldn't move the thread to storage, I had to delete it. And I did. All this of course has nothing to do with Dalkey/Edge/Don/Jill. Yet it was still the big issue of the day.
So I my account was disabled a short time later. Salome's was banned completely. By mistake I do believe, (??) but banned nonetheless. So Elvis had done an ace job of cleaning up the thorns in his side which were the 2 mods who were getting really jack of this Edge bullshit. And conveniently as a result of inappropriate postings by this site's owner, now had grounds to do the easiest thing by removing the problem altogether. Better to piss us off (as in 'remove', not the American version of 'annoy') than give answers. And it wasn't only Johan and I who missed the asnwers. Everyone did. The mods, the members, everyone.

Phew problem gone!

Wrong.

It still wasn't Edge no matter how you played it. Dalkey/Edge/ABOY/Don/Jill by this stage was looking like a right arse. And no wonder! Someone made what was at the time a strange comment on how our many named friend seemed either a raving schizophrenic or an emotional teenage girl. How apt, in our 20/20 hindsight. Still, the answers had been there the whole time. Many were asking out loud, not getting answers. I quietly kept looking around as I'm sure many did. PM weeks ago stated they did not believe Edge was posting on the internet, but that is not solid as they surely dont keep tabs on what he does. But it was another nail in the "I dont think so Tim" coffin.

Could Elvis have been fooled? Possibly. He claims to be smart in this area, but he is not infallible. Did he fail this site by looking into every possible avenue? Yes. Certainly. If I was able to find out the truth, why could the owner not do the same thing? I never did find out what Katey knew or how she knew it. Mods and staff rarely interacted. He asked us (when I was still a mod) to trust him. Fair enough. But he never trusted me. I was a liabilty to the site. My negativity went from costing potential interviews with the sound engineer and perhaps one day the band themselves, to being a pain in the arse the owner just didn't want to handle at that stage.

So now there is a revolt. And understandably. You guys give this site a shitload of money. You want a forum where you can be you. You want news and content you can rely on. And most of the time you get just that. The sheer content on this site is insane (in a good way). You make up part of the biggest U2 site on the internet. You have a right to ask. You have a right to know what the 300-400 given premium memberships buy for this site. What the thousands in donations get you. As we can see the latest round of donations got us a much faster site. I'm sure we're all glad of that.

For your $12 a year, you want some truth and honesty. You deserve to get it.

 

[MrsSpringsteen]

Thank you for posting that Angela Harlem

And this is in NO WAY directed at what you posted..I don't pay, but I still want some truth and honesty and believe I am entitled to at least that.

That's all, I agree w/ many of the posts here. no use in saying which ones..

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

Wow.

AH, thank you for posting that.

 

[arw]

Thank you for that post AH. I think something like what you wrote is all we are asking of Elvis to do too but he appears to be too busy.

 

[Lemonboy]

AH that was the most informative post yet.

But a thing I find strange is that in the LS thread Elvis was whining about people only seing one side of the story but when he was asked to tell his side he hid behind the fact that it wasn't a public matter and that he wanted to protect the involved parties.

As I said before in another thread, We have all fucked up sometime and he may very well have been fooled but then admit it!

Spill the beans, end speculation!

 

[martha]

My turn, after 10 pages. Probably everyone else is done with this thread, but I just got to it. The husband coming home after two weeks was slightly more important.

I consider my 12 clams a magazine subscription,and it doesn't bother me to subscribe. I also clearly saw the results of my new server donation, so that doesn't bother me.

What does bother me is the crediblity issue. I don't lie, so I assume others don't either. I was willing to give Joel the benefit of the doubt on the Edge thing being real. Why not? Interference is a huge and fun site, why wouldn't he join up? I defended Joel when others accused him of deception.

Turns out my trust was misplaced. Maybe Joel didn't intentionally deceive us. I doubt if he did, because the stakes were just too high, as we've seen. But the trust is gone. I still like Joel very much, but next time something is the "real thing," I'll be a little more careful, a little more demanding.

As for Katey, she's gone over the line completely. Any fan working for a fan site who claims to have an "in" with the band is obviously suspect. Her position as a staff member should be reconsidered after what has happened. Anything she writes will be suspect and should be examined closely.



Now, I'm going to go over to B&C and see if anyone has anything to say about Sigur Ros.

 

[LuminousTimes]

Thank you so much for finally giving some honest details about the recent events. It is nice to hear some logic in all of Elvis's spinning.

I know you made clear that you could have been banned because of the post deleting and personal issues with Joel but I can see it is quite clear that he didn't like your doubting "edge".

Balls in your court, Elvis, how did you know it was "edge" when you had a mod telling you that Dalkey and "edge" had the same IP address?

 

[AliEnvy]

Thank you for that post AH. I think something like what you wrote is all we are asking of Elvis to do too but he appears to be too busy.

Yes, thank you, AH.

We don't even need that much detail from Elvis, but really, what could he possibly put forward that would have the slightest credibility? And why would he bother? This will all blow over like every other scandal at this site.

But ya gotta wonder why all of a sudden he stopped the fundraising updates pretty much the day the exclusive interview was posted.

Or don't wonder, and don't care, just go about enjoying the site for the everything it offers you and give him money when he asks for it cause otherwise the site you love is in jeopardy.

 

[Angela Harlem]

The IP address issue was a little confusing. Elvis can obviously see the same IP details I could, so this was no secret to him. After the initial posts by me to Dalkey about the IP, both Dalkey and Elvis both said something about remote connections. So that pretty much ended that avenue of proof as naturally any of us could be posting from anywhere. The belief I had about legitimacy was not limited solely to IPs. I do need to clarify this. It began my search, but wasn't the whole of it.

I forgot to mention in the above long winded reply, that a search was also done on some of the actual email addresses. I didn't do this search myself, but completely trust the guy who did it. He said the originating Dalkey email addies were from a Jill Smith in same town in Chicago. Preoria or whatever it is. This question mark was answered by Elvis (when I raised it with him) as being from Jill, the wife of Don as at this stage Dalkey was still only Don, not Edge. He also said the email was tracked back to a girls softball team? Seemed odd lol. But maybe Jill, the wife of Don played sport. So that avenue of proof was also circumstantial, but it still seemed odd. As far as more of this goes, given the recent appearance of the newest character to this play being dsmith, it's probably best not to keep harping about this as I very well might be referring to someone's personal emails. And I dont wish to do that for obvious reasons.

As for the comments made about my de-admining etc being resultant from the Edge thing, I suppose that matter still isn't exactly clear. I did recieve an email a while after it happened which gave no real answer in my view. I heard from a 3rd party (and I genuinely cannot recall who it was) stating that the reason for my account removal was "abuse of admin privileges". If the abuse was based on my deleting Elvis's replies, then that is frankly a load of shit. The only thing which makes those deletings different is the posts were made by Elvis. Mods delete crap all the time. Another possible privilege abuse might have been the tracks I left all through the admin cp. Obviously I used the Interference database for some of my researching and if there was something shady going on, then it wouldn't be welcomed. This is now bordering on speculation and I do want to keep to facts that I can prove or accounts which have been stated to me by either entirely trustworthy folk (seems an oxymoron now lol) or by the senior staff at this site.
I know there is still information missing in this story, and I do want to fill in the rest. Some of what is left is based on nothing more than educated guesses. I do hope the whole story unfolds very soon though.

 

[Lemonboy]

Hmmm Dalkeygate unwinds more and more.....

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

Have the accounts for Dalkey and The Edge been banned?

 

[Elvis]

Have the accounts for Dalkey and The Edge been banned?

Yes, as well as 2 others that are related. I have also banned the IP address, as of last night. Of course, banning an IP or account is not an absolute solution.

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

true. thanks for answering my question.

 

[Elvis]

true. thanks for answering my question.

Also, just want to add... that I have a few other ways to determine who someone is (as far as being related to other accounts) if they do rejoin under another name - although this is not information that just 'pops' up to alert me, it's something I have to go looking for. Despite what some people think, I don't sit here behind the 'curtain' and monitor each and everything that goes on here.. not even close.

On another more u2 friendly note... I just read http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=99370 Ahhh.. Zoo Station and Elec Co - how nice would that be?

 

[ThatGuy]

I'd like Elvis to explain how someone he "knew" to be Don from Chicago (or possibly his wife) could suddenly transform into a member of U2. And when did he know AllBecauseOfYou was also Don/Dalkey/The Edge/Jill? Was it before or after they had a nice chat in EYKIW?

This whole affair is shameful. As I've been saying from the beginning, transparency really is the best policy here. The fact that Elvis won't or can't be totally honest with the members of Interference speaks volumes.

 

[bathiu]

OK Elvis... after all this... How do you want us to believe that all those (present and future) "Exclusive interviews" are real?

Did you (or anyone else) met those people in person, or was it (like with "the edge") only made with internet (e-mails, PMs...etc)?


...and BTW I'm one of those that wanted to become a Premium Member because of The Edge posting... lucky for me, I wanted to make it from January... and now I wont do it!

 

[Elvis]

I'd like Elvis to explain how someone he "knew" to be Don from Chicago (or possibly his wife) could suddenly transform into a member of U2. And when did he know AllBecauseOfYou was also Don/Dalkey/The Edge/Jill? Was it before or after they had a nice chat in EYKIW?

This whole affair is shameful. As I've been saying from the beginning, transparency really is the best policy here. The fact that Elvis won't or can't be totally honest with the members of Interference speaks volumes.

At this point, I apparently 'knew' nothing, and I'm not sure what to believe or not to believe. I've seen so many conflicting things in dealing with all of this that (to qoute Angela) my head is going to explode.

The name on the email 'Don and Jill Smith' was just that, a name on an email header, but that same person (whomever it was) was constantly changing that field to all sorts of things, including some that were obviously not real names.

In the end, the only thing we KNOW for sure (fact) is what this persons IP address(es) are/were. No one can state anything else as fact, or fiction, including myself w/o based on things that transpire over the Internet. We could sit here and argue about what 'edge' said, or didnt say, but ultimately there will be no way of proving if its true or not. Even if everything 'he' said was eventually proven as true, one could still assume that this 'person' had some sort of inside info, or even was a good guesser.

In any case, even if this ever ended up being even an ounce true (that edge was involved)... I hardly doubt that the real Edge would say on TV or radio "That interview for Interference.com, it was real." He mentioned Interference once before on national radio back in 2000, but if it ever happened again... again I hardly doubt that's what he'd ever say.

In hindsight, to qoute my favorite band... 'everything you know is wrong', real, fake, and inbetween. I've read so many things that arent true about me, the staff, and the site here that I really wonder where people even get/make up this stuff that it's making me ill, literally.

I've already said it, but I'll say it again... if this was a hoax, we got hoaxed too. We fucked up, we brought that fuckup to all of you, and the decision or lack of, was a fuckup.

And still, I'm not sure what to believe.

One other thing, while I did have my own reasons aside from anything to do with 'edge' for removing Angela and Salome, I would like to say that I'm sorry with how everything happened, and how hastily I acted - that doesnt however mean that my decision ultimately would not have been the same. I'm not sure if I said that prior or not, or in public or not.... but I just wanted to make that clear.

Joel

 

[ThatGuy]

OK Elvis... after all this... How do you want us to believe that all those (present and future) "Exclusive interviews" are real?

I've heard that the questions in the BP Fallon interview were actually answered in e-mail by an arthritic housecat in New Jersey. Apparently the housecat shared a name with Brian Eno's cat, so the staff assumed that it was actually BP Fallon.



The "BP Fallon" some people saw at the recent fan gathering was a cleverly designed marionette.

 

[Elvis]

I've heard that the questions in the BP Fallon interview were actually answered in e-mail by an arthritic housecat in New Jersey. Apparently the housecat shared a name with Brian Eno's cat, so the staff assumed that it was actually BP Fallon.



The "BP Fallon" some people saw at the recent fan gathering was a cleverly designed marionette.

LOL

 

[ThatGuy]

At this point, I apparently 'knew' nothing, and I'm not sure what to believe or not to believe. I've seen so many conflicting things in dealing with all of this that (to qoute Angela) my head is going to explode.

The name on the email 'Don and Jill Smith' was just that, a name on an email header, but that same person (whomever it was) was constantly changing that field to all sorts of things, including some that were obviously not real names.

In the end, the only thing we KNOW for sure (fact) is what this persons IP address(es) are/were. No one can state anything else as fact, or fiction, including myself w/o based on things that transpire over the Internet. We could sit here and argue about what 'edge' said, or didnt say, but ultimately there will be no way of proving if its true or not. Even if everything 'he' said was eventually proven as true, one could still assume that this 'person' had some sort of inside info, or even was a good guesser.

In any case, even if this ever ended up being even an ounce true (that edge was involved)... I hardly doubt that the real Edge would say on TV or radio "That interview for Interference.com, it was real." He mentioned Interference once before on national radio back in 2000, but if it ever happened again... again I hardly doubt that's what he'd ever say.

In hindsight, to qoute my favorite band... 'everything you know is wrong', real, fake, and inbetween. I've read so many things that arent true about me, the staff, and the site here that I really wonder where people even get/make up this stuff that it's making me ill, literally.

I've already said it, but I'll say it again... if this was a hoax, we got hoaxed too. We fucked up, we brought that fuckup to all of you, and the decision or lack of, was a fuckup.

And still, I'm not sure what to believe.

One other thing, while I did have my own reasons aside from anything to do with 'edge' for removing Angela and Salome, I would like to say that I'm sorry with how everything happened, and how hastily I acted - that doesnt however mean that my decision ultimately would not have been the same. I'm not sure if I said that prior or not, or in public or not.... but I just wanted to make that clear.

Joel

So it was just a case of gross incompetence, then? I'm honestly not trying to be mean when I ask that. I would just think that after the earlier unpleasant situation with fake band members posting you would have checked more thoroughly before jumping headfirst into this.

 

[u2bonogirl]

wow, i really defended whoever the fucker was that was acting like edge.
i told people to stop being so negative and doubting.
normally im not a trusting person
and now that i was
im a total fucker