A Message to Our Readers

[strannix]

Elvis-

I'm pretty new here, just new enough that I've watched a lot of this unfold. You have to understand that as great as your members make this place, this episode leaves me with a bad impression of the people running it. I don't see how it can't.

The fact of the matter is that we were presented with information and told it was confirmed, when in fact it turned out to be false. I don't see that you're taking appropriate responsibility for that. I understand "proof" is hard to come by, but the bottom line is that if you can't confirm something, don't say it is confirmed. Your best guess doesn't cut it when your credibility is on the line.

You and your staff owe the people on this board an apology, because you didn't do your due diligence. It's quite a cut-and-dried issue; you all said "just trust us", and we did, and we got burned.

 

[Elvis]

Just to clarify... is it your position that you are still unsure whether this was the Edge?

At this time we are not positive if it IS or IS NOT The Edge, or anyone else for that matter.

 

[EPandAmerica]

Okay, lets just assume that I'm smarter than the average bear shall we.
Even though the interview had a strange feel to it, I believed it to be given by somone in the U2 camp to someone in the Interference camp.
BUT after the first few The Edge posts I was more than , then when he went OFF on Jick that is when I knew that the person posting as The Edge was not the guitar player in the band U2. You would think that Elvis or any of the people involved in the running of this site would have had a CLUE by then, but no Elvis just said "BRAVO" at the post directed towards J.



*edit to say I am referring to the Band interview.

 

[sixtoe]

Not surprised. Take it from a longtime member: This site pulled the same hoax after ATYCLB was released (one of the reasons I stopped coming to the boards). Got them a lot of new members too.

And I'm sure I'm not the first to suggest that paid memberships probably rose dramatically once "The Edge" started posting.

Hey Elvis, this is your site. You can do whatever you want with it. If people want to keep supporting BS like this with their wallets, so be it.

 

[LuminousTimes]

I never believed for a minute that the edge was posting on interference. First of all, how could he possibly have the time to post 50 plus times. Secondly, his verbage was not even close to the way he talks on the Q&A's that U2.com has sponsored. So, I do not feeled deceived because I never bought it.

HOWEVER, the exclusive interview with the band that you had up this past month. The one that was answered by "u2". If that was an exclusive interview done by Interference, how could your staff not been aware that it was not them? How was the interview conducted that your staff had no idea that it was U2 members they were talking to? How could they have been fooled if they conducted the interview?

If you say that you and your staff had no culpability in this deception, please explain how the band interview and later the edge interview were conducted.

Thanks.

 

[ThatGuy]

We posted the interviews based on the information we had at the time, which was substantial enough for us to not believe otherwise. Again, at this point, what the TRUTH is... is still unsure and remain to be so. The interviews were taken down in good faith - not because we were told to do so.

If I remember correctly, doubts began to surface about the identity of Dalkey Beach before "The Edge" even posted. Since some of us knew weeks ago (including you) that Dalkey Beach and "The Edge" were the same person, why wasn't more scrutiny focused on the identity of this poster? I would suggest that if you did not have unimpeachable evidence that "The Edge" was real it was irresponsible for you to run with it as far as you did. You got a lot of people's hopes up on what you know was disputed evidence, and yes for that I think you do owe the Interference community an apology.

 

[brook]

After speaking with RMP, U2's publicity agency, and conducting our own thorough investigation, we have come to the conclusion that these interviews, and many forum posts, most likely did not come from members of the band.

At this time we are not positive if it IS or IS NOT The Edge, or anyone else for that matter.

If you have statements from U2's management or PR firm that this is not from members of the band (or as you've phrased it here, most likely not) - then you should just suck it up and apologize for allowing this to continue.

To suggest that you did not have doubts or were unaware when so many members of this board, both publicly and privately, were offering valid reasons why there was cause for doubt - and often receiving senior staff's admonitions and thread closures in response - is disingenuous. We all know this isn't The Edge.

While there is certainly a possibility that you were duped like the rest of the folks here, your quick insistence that this was in fact The Edge led everyone to believe that you did your homework. When things started to unravel, those who were willing to point out the obvious were met with silence, (or worse, in the case of a couple of people), and sly responses that they should get a life and stop challenging the powers that be. The fact that this has now blown up completely... followed by these vague retractions and semi-apologies... does nothing to restore anyone's confidence in the management of this site.

You owe your members an apology. It's as simple as that.

 

[U2girl]

Thanks. The fact is, I'm not sure what I can offer an apology for.

How about

- avoiding answers and hiding behind the staff, starting with the interview/Dalkey Beach/Edge identity details
- not checking the identity of The Edge (enough)
- misleading readers by saying repeatedly it WAS him and that things WERE checked
- rejecting any debate by repeatedly closing threads
- attacking those who questioned Edge and saying they were assuming too much

Oh and, I don't buy it ALL the staff were tricked, particularly of interest is (but we'll probably never know) what you and Katey know. Interesting several people, including one ex-mod, did enough research on their own WEEKS ago to find out this was not The Edge.

Nice knowing you.

 

[AvsGirl41]

I can't believe there is still a "may or may not be" argument going on.

I should think the fact that "The Edge" hasn't posted since the questioning arose, despite pleas from the believers, says it all.

 

[Tip Top Prince]

Now there will be still and are those who questions if this Edge is the real thing, much in the same way that you cant be sure who Elvis is or who I am you just have to perhaps to take that leap of faith. You can believe or not believe that’s really up to each of you. I would not put my reputation on the line nor any of this staff if I was not sure..

Unbelievable - the whole thing.

1. When are you going to FULLY disclose exactly what happened, what correspondence there was and any other pertinent information?

2. Seeing as how you don't seem to want to do question 1, how about this: What "checking" have you done now, that you didn't do earlier. In other words, why were you all certain before, and now you are not? Seems to me like the only thing that has changed is the post in the Don't Expect Suggest forum, from the same IP as "The Edge".

 

[Doozer61]

At this time we are not positive if it IS or IS NOT The Edge, or anyone else for that matter.

And still, a month later, you are vague.

 

[LuminousTimes]

I really, really wanna know how the Exclusive Interview with U2 was conducted that your staff thought it was U2. You said that U2 took time out of their busy schedules to talk to your staff.

How could this interview been conducted where they were sure it was U2 but it was not?

Why would you even at the time said the answers were from "U2" instead of a specific member or members?

Sounds kind of hinky to me.

 

[doctorwho]

On @U2, the person known as D. Smith posted:

The only thing more I can offer them is yes it was my teenager and the interaction...was started because she posted under "Dalkey" on
that forum and tried come off in her posts as if she knew
something..leading a persistant member of the Interference "staff" to
email her. The convincing part is conjecture. They may have known all
along that this wasnt Edge or may have been
really fooled, thats up to them. She answered all correspondence "Kind Regards" no name
Thats all that I can offer. If you enjoy that website keep enjoying it. If you dont, I dont know what to tell you. I know nothing about the website in question.
This will be my last post on this matter. I have to go about the business of raising a family, paying bills, working and getting on with life. U2 fans, enjoy the new album. They are a terrific rock and roll band and I enjoy their music myself.

D. Smith claims that this was her daughter.

Didn't Angela Harlem post that Dalkey was a girl from the Chicago area based on her IP?! Didn't Angela's claims cause problems? And now we have the admission that Dalkey and "Edge" are the same person.

It seems that Angela Harlem was right all along, if one believes D. Smith.

Hmmm...

 

[sabine U2]

We are sorry that any of this has happened, and how it has transpired. We said in our 'message', "Despite accusations, no persons from this staff was or are involved in any misrepresentation or deception on the forums or in interviews", and that's the truth. If this was a hoax, which at this time we are unable to confirm or deny, we were just as fooled as anyone else in the end.
Joel

the refusal of any of the site staff/management to stand up and be accountable for this is truly astounding. it's very convenient to just say that you were fooled just like everyone else.

how many premium memberships did interference get during the past month?

 

[U2SavesTheWorld]

On @U2, the person known as D. Smith posted:

D. Smith claims that this was her daughter.

Didn't Angela Harlem post that Dalkey was a girl from the Chicago area based on her IP?! Didn't Angela's claims cause problems? And now we have the admission that Dalkey and "Edge" are the same person.

It seems that Angela Harlem was right all along, if one believes D. Smith.

Hmmm...

I don't have to believe D. Smith. I believe Angela.

Why didn't anyone else?

 

[brook]

Originally posted by doctorwho
It seems that Angela Harlem was right all along, if one believes D. Smith.

Which begs the question. If it was so obvious to Angela Harlem, why was it such a surprise to everyone else?

 

[dsmith2904]

Unless Elvis obtained something from us based on what he knew to be false, I'm not sure he owes us an apology.

Thank you for that. As Elvis said, a lot of what we based our belief that we were dealing with the band and The Edge came out of private conversations between them and members of our staff. Honestly, yes, we probably should have done more but it is always easy to say "coulda, shoulda, woulda" in hindsight. It is also easy to say those things when you weren't directly involved.

At this point I think we've offered all that we can. The truth of the matter is we did not deliberately try to mislead anyone. It is your choice to believe us or not, as it is also your choice to remain a member of this forum or not. I hope that people wouldn't give up this community over this but it seems like that's what's going to happen in some cases.

 

[Seabird]

Wait a minute, I'm lost

How come if these posts had ip's from Chicago that nobody guessed it wasn't Edge right off the bat? That's a little bit hard to swallow.

I join those who feel embarrassed by posting personal messages to an imposter.

 

[Roland of Gilead]

Wow! I feel really hurt. I don't know if I should be a part of this fan community. I put my trust in the people running this place.
I don't for one second believe that this was intentional by ANY staffer here, but I feel that, nonetheless, there obviously was a lack of responsibility on behalf of the staff to fully ensure and protect its members from a hoax. As a premium member, I feel it is owed to me that this site shows responsibility and more importantly ACCOUNTABILITY when posting interviews and supporting certain posters as legitimate. As a donater, well, that is a separate story all together.
What can be done? I don't think anything can. The removal of the Band Forum is an answer enough. The rest is time I guess. A hole in my heart, a bitter taste in my mouth, a brusied pride for being played a sucker once too many times. I have enough problems in life. This place is supposed to be my cigar where I can forget about my problems and enjoy what it has to offer. There are problems here. Right now, I am embarassed to be a member here. I hope this is a short term feeling.

 

[ThatGuy]

The whole thread at @U2 is pretty good, actually.

http://forum.atu2.com/forum.src?Action=Posts&Subject=1814&Topic=28&SubjStart=

 

[ramblin rose]

As far as Dalkey goes, this person also posts at the atu2 forum under a different name.

After going back to read of all this persons posts at that forum they also came off as someone who seemed to know more than the average fan.

In fact, there is a thread at the atu2 forum that asks "does Edge also post here" and the funny thing is that one of the members answers that it could be one of two people, one of the people named is our Dalkey (with their atu2 forum name).

Needless to say this person also hasn't posted at that forum in over a week.

As far as the rest of this mess, I really don't know what to say. I thought the owner and content staff of Interference were a little more responsible and professional. I'm sorry to say that I think I was wrong.

Just about a week ago I PM'd Katey with some concerns I had regarding Dalkey; what I had found out; and was less than impressed with the response I received.

Needless to same I am extremely disappointed with the way this whole fiasco was and is still being handled.

 

[ABEL]

At this time we are not positive if it IS or IS NOT The Edge, or anyone else for that matter.

i'm sure someone knows...it can't be that hard to find out if no one here knows.

 

[strannix]

Honestly, yes, we probably should have done more but it is always easy to say "coulda, shoulda, woulda" in hindsight. It is also easy to say those things when you weren't directly involved.

I find this offensive. How dare you? Instead of coming clean and explaining how this happened, you imply that we shouldn't question because we're not "directly involved"?

 

[Tomer]

elvis

are you sure you arent the edge (again)?

 

[LuminousTimes]

I really, really wanna know how the Exclusive Interview with U2 was conducted that your staff thought it was U2. You said that U2 took time out of their busy schedules to talk to your staff.

How could this interview been conducted where they were sure it was U2 but it was not?

Why would you even at the time said the answers were from "U2" instead of a specific member or members?

Will someone on the staff kindly address these issues. It would help clear up how you could have been mislead.

 

[ThatGuy]

I find this offensive. How dare you? Instead of coming clean and explaining how this happened, you imply that we shouldn't question because we're not "directly involved"?

Actually, she's right. It is fairly easy for me to say that Elvis should not have gone ahead with the "band interview" or "The Edge''s" posts unless he had solid unimpeachable evidence that it was, in fact, The Edge. Unfortunately for her it also would have been easy for Elvis to actually do that very thing. Especially since he has in the past posted as The Edge himself.

 

[Katey]

My sincere deep apologies. I know the senior staff feel the same way and we DO apologize for what has occured. We fully deserve your frusteration and anger for our part .

 

[dsmith2904]

I find this offensive. How dare you? Instead of coming clean and explaining how this happened, you imply that we shouldn't question because we're not "directly involved"?

I am sorry that you found my statement offensive. Everyone has a right to question, to speak their minds, etc., my only problem is with people who weren't involved in the initial and subsequent contacts between this person and our staff saying we should have done this or that. We did what we thought was best at the time. In hindsight, we now see that was not enough.

 

[Laura M]

Wow. I never expected this to happen.

Elvis, you're always a bit sketchy on giving the real facts on something. You just avoid questions, you never seem to give any real answers.

I never believed this Edge stuff to begin with. I felt sorry for the folk who did believe it. Why would the Edge start posting here at a time when that band must be really really busy. All of a sudden there were interviews and then Edge staretd posting. It also happened when there was a banner up about voting this place as the best website (was there a cash prize?) and when you claimed you needed money for the new server. How convenient.

I bet some folk who thought the edge was posting forked out loot for a prem membership. I feel sorry for the people who have put money towards this place. I really think they are being milked for everything you can get from them Elvis. For someone who seems to know how to glean so much information from the internet and knows how to run a forum of this size I'm sure it wasn't that hard to tell if this was really the Edge or not.

 

[Pearl]

The only thing more I can offer them is yes it was my teenager and the interaction...was started because she posted under "Dalkey" on
that forum and tried come off in her posts as if she knew
something..leading a persistant member of the Interference "staff" to
email her. The convincing part is conjecture. They may have known all
along that this wasnt Edge or may have been
really fooled, thats up to them. She answered all correspondence "Kind Regards" no name
Thats all that I can offer. If you enjoy that website keep enjoying it. If you dont, I dont know what to tell you. I know nothing about the website in question.
This will be my last post on this matter. I have to go about the business of raising a family, paying bills, working and getting on with life. U2 fans, enjoy the new album. They are a terrific rock and roll band and I enjoy their music myself.

I find this hard to believe. Your teenager was playing a prank? Your pathetic teenager who has no life spent a month fooling hundreds if not thousands of fans into believing that she was their favorite guitarist? And why, because she got sick of her parents always blasting U2 and she wanted to get even?

I'm not buying this.