Glad you replied, Brad. Regarding the first two paragraphs... Agreed. Absolutely. Easy to see it from that perspective. My words, perhaps too often, can become a brand of cynical satire. And really, I meant nothing more than satire, and just another perspective on the situation, which at the time seemed to have an uncanny resemblance to historical human behavior in the world at large. I likely would have done the same thing, had this been my creation. Alas, it is not, but I do run a business outside of the digital world, and I do indeed have the right to refuse service to anyone. Your actions encompass nothing more than what any owner/operator would do should a patron break the rules established by that owner/operator. I am lucky enough that I can refer difficult people out, or I can let them know they are not a good fit, and someone else could better serve them. Your reasons for confronting and dealing with Cragg were spot on. However, examining the situation is worthy of time for any thinking user here, whether they were directly involved in it or not. It is an open thread, and thankfully, this is a site where a discussion of this nature is poignant. I hope you have grown from the process of considering this and not found it just to be a mere thorn in your side.
"Besides, two things. I provide this service out of my own pocket. My own time, my own dime."
Want help? By donation? PayPal donation? Just ask. I realize that you are not asking for money in the above statement, and while you may never want to add a mandatory cost to the use of GC, I would be happy to donate to your maintenance of the site, or just the annual cost of maintaining the site name, the URL, etc. as an option, not a requirement for use. No one else has to hand over a dime if they don't want to, but asking for help? If you need it, ask. Whether I am around and using the space or not, I'd be happy to know that the space was covered. Shutting it down for lack of funds would be a sad thing indeed. Let us help you before that day arrives. I practice Vipassana meditation and have always appreciated that the Vipassana centers around the world only take money on optional donation. Some meditators give cash, some give their time in the kitchen or wherever. The only reason you should bear one-hundred percent of the burden is if you choose to, but if strapped, you may find a great deal of help waiting to flood your direction. Donation is a good way to go considering that no one need feel the bum or lose the chance to grow, should they be strapped for funds, and this includes you.
"Let me ask you this... Is it ok for a hacker to bring down a website? If you ran a website, would you try to fix the problem or would you just let them do it for however long or much they wanted?"
Again, I concede the point. Indeed, a hacker is always free to bring down a site, but you also have the right to build the fortress. Expecting to eliminate the hackers from existence, not likely, and you know this, but the hacker's attack and the defense of the space is two halves of the same thing in balance, and neither will be free of the other. Cragg gambled. Cragg lost, and I agree that it was not the content as much as it was the rules of the structure that made this an issue at all. Any creation exists in concert with structure. There is not one art form that is not draped on some form of predictable structure. If the leaving of our thoughts must occur within the parameters of this structure you have laid down, then so be it. It is your show, and while we are contributers, we are not the creators, and you are at least due that respect in my opinion... or I am sure to be free to go off and build my own site, and do as I want to there, right? I get it.
"My second point is this. Running a website requires specific skills, attitudes, communication, and thoughts. It's where the rubber hits the road. Driving a car is not the same experience as the building the car. When you have to make choices about other people's fate..."
Brad, it is a brilliant space, and I doubt that anyone that has spent time here would disagree, unless they had decided that they were personally insulted by something they read, which likely happens all the time. There is more unmoderated free speech here on the open spool than just about anywhere else on the net. The old time users know that GC is the best. A great deal of mental dismantling and dissection has taken place on this site since its inception, and the value of that cannot be measured. Topics commonly avoided and designated taboo in public have had a full examination here from time to time. The people who stick around, grow, but granted, they play and post within the structure. All satire and examination aside, you have done a great job of keeping it pure and true to its original purpose, and it is still developing. Your lack of time to moderate it has made it a special place to be sure.
In all fairness to you, I would revise the earlier statement implying that you had not released your creation to the 'wind, sand, and waves of fate', and instead state that you have, to an extent, perhaps the furthest extent feasibly possible. Maybe it is fair to say that you have released the space to as great an extent as to be just short of full on typographical anarchy. You have done that, and the space has never stopped evolving. The use of the site coupled with the ceaseless turning of the message spool is an excellent reflection of all things transitory, including mind, in that GC has never become anything, because it is always in a state of becoming. I love that about this space, appreciate your efforts, and I am glad you continue to maintain it. I hope we can continue to lift the rocks here, in the format you have provided, relatively unmolested, and see what lies under all of our motivations, habits, and reasons for undertaking any course of action, including the actions and subsequent reactions that started this very thread. Thank you.