Didn’t get to check my usual blog roll for a couple of days, and Scott’s Male Feet and Edging blog had some problems! He explains:
“I apologize for my rather abrupt previous message about this blog going away, but I needed to get the word out quickly to as many of you guys as possible. I have gotten to know many of you, through your comments and emails, over the past few years and I would hate to lose contact with any of you. I had to go out-of-town today so I only had minutes to get something posted.
First off, trust me, I do not want this blog to go away! Unfortunately, I am stuck with finding a new home for it. Here is the whole story guys…
Basically someone spotted one of their pics which, unknown to me, came from his FlickR account. This was just an innocent pic of a person sitting on a bench with one of his sandals off, showing the top of his foot. Because this picture made the rounds in several of the foot related email groups, it was assumed to be in the public domain. Obviously, it was not. Unfortunately, the tone of this man’s initial letter was extremely nasty and threatening, giving me 48 hours to remove it before he takes further action. Luckily I was online when he sent his email so I immediately removed his pic and sent him a confirmation within minutes. I explained that the image was assumed to be in the public domain and it was an honest mistake. He sent an immediate reply in a much nicer tone, and even thanked for my prompt response. Under normal circumstances everything should have been fine at that point. Unfortunately, in addition to sending me his initial message, he also informed the blogger complaint desk about the incident.
24 hours later, well after his photo had been removed and we both parted on friendly terms, blogger finally got around to looking at his initial comment and handled it in typical blogger style – they simply deleted the Picasa albums that contain most of my blog pictures and deactivated the gmail account that I use to access the blog. If you look back at anything I posted over a month ago, all of the pictures are gone. Additionally, I cannot upload any new ones! Thousands of images were wiped out without even following up on the incident. Argh! Luckily I had a second email account tied to this blog so that I could at least add these 2 messages. I can do little else though.
I am a very caring and understanding person. If anything, I have designed my blog to meet the needs of my visitors. I value every blog visitor’s input, and if there is ever anything I can do to make my blog a better place to visit I am always more than happy to oblige. I value intelligent comments and opinions, good or bad.
I learned a long time ago that you can move mountains with intelligent conversation and by placing a little faith and trust in other people. Approaching others in a threatening and defensive manner rarely results in a proper resolution to any problem. This entire matter could have been resolved with a simple request – “Please remove this picture” – rather than resorting to the nasty tone and mean tactics this person used. As a result of one little person’s negative attitude I have lost 2 years of hard work. It has been a real punch in the gut for me and I am still trying to catch my breath.”
Fortunately, he has already created a new blog here, and I have already updated my blogroll link.
As for me, I have no plans of taking down either of my blogs, but as you can see, sometimes it is beyond our control! If anything happens, I’ll try to post info on my various profiles at Recon, GearFetish, and MaleFeetLover. And you can always catch the latest google blog info here. Sadly, it’s not looking promising, guys. While I have backed up my blog at times, I may look into an alternative host just as a back up.
