Idratherbeinthewoods Status?

[+ricann]

I was going to do some of idratherbeinthewoods caches this weekend but they have all been disabled and he is listed as a "Banned Premium Member". Does anyone know the scoop.

 

ricann

[Earthdog Patrick]

where is he listed as a banned premium member?

[+wifireman]

where is he listed as a banned premium member?

Its on his GC.com Profile

 

Hope everything is OK. I too was planning on hitting his caches. I had them staked out allready till I seen this.

 

smokey

[Electric Mouse]

The reasons for banning a person are really between them and Groundspeak. Generally a ban would happen because of serious terms of service violtaitons. I do not know why this person was banned and for privacy reasons I doubt Groundspeak would comment on it. I suppose you could try to contact the person if you want to discuss it with them or have concerns about the caches.

[Der Fallschirmschatzjägern]

Perhaps they were upset that his profile is one large advertisement for another company in direct competition with Geocaching.com.

[+Blue Grass Tom]

I thought that many of his posts showed thought in his caches, but I can shed some light, perhaps, based on personal experience. I was the first cacher permitted to place caches in Mines of Spain State Park. I had previously been permitted to hide in others, too. Upon placement I was "flamed" by a particularly vicious email from the cacher in question - so vicious, that I questioned if he thought he owned the park. He was a member of the "Friends of the park" but I didn't think that justified it. Apparently, some overzealous cacher had dug up an area where I had placed part of a multicache in plain sight, and he took offense at that. I later had some trouble with the ranger, too, but I had filled out the park permits correctly as I had with other parks, and still have two caches there. I would definitely recommend the park in June and July for great raspberries! Also, the Catfish Trail will test you calves with about 700+ steps up and down! Just some background - don't know what precipitated, but perhaps it was a similar angry post to someone else? I wish him well at the other site, which seems to let recommending cachers control those whom they sponsor. Who knows?

BGT

[+BlueDeuce]

I know idratherbeinthewoods from the trails and have met-up for bug swappings. And yes obviously something happened, I just don't think speculation really serves any purpose here.

[+Peacecamp1]

I don't know the guy but I did find this

 

Unknown Cache

Ringneck Ridge

by idratherbeinthewoods

 

June 18 by idratherbeinthewoods (146 found)

gone to terracaching.com

[view this log on a separate page]

 

June 18 by idratherbeinthewoods (146 found)

going to www.terracaching.com

[view this log on a separate page]

[Timber Hawk]

If his caches are banned does this mean they can be adopted or someone else place a new one in that location? His caches and locations were usually well thought out and in great locations. I would hate to see them not used.

 

Is being "banned" Permanent or more of a probation?

 

Does this stop someone from rejoining under a new name?

[+BlueDeuce]

His caches are/were cross-listed at the other site so he still has active caches in those locations.

Edited December 14, 2005 by BlueDeuce

[+Renegade Knight]

If his caches are banned does this mean they can be adopted or someone else place a new one in that location? His caches and locations were usually well thought out and in great locations. I would hate to see them not used.

 

Is being "banned" Permanent or more of a probation?

 

Does this stop someone from rejoining under a new name?

Not that long ago Jeremy asked about bringing back a banned member. I don't know the outcome. However it gives the impression that banning when it happens is meant to be permanent (for that account) and it would take a special circumstance to unban an account.

 

Some banned members have creaed new accounts. In turn some of those have been banned and some have been told they will be watched closely.

[+Renegade Knight]

The reasons for banning a person are really between them and Groundspeak....

If the reasons are of no consequence for other cachers I can buy into this. Where other cachers may come to harm, duress, or otherwise actually learn what not to do to keep from being banned (were the line is, is important so you know when not to cross it) then I do not at all agree.

 

The catch 22 is that we as cachers can't know and are stuck trusting those who make the decision, who of course isn't really known either.

[+BlueDeuce]

I can't believe that gc.com would be 'quiet' when it comes to anything concerning cacher safety or even just improperly placed caches. Of course they may choose to address the issue quietly and contacting only those who need to be involved.

 

Here in Iowa, the local group and even just select individuals can be called upon to assist, like in such things as recovery. And local approvers know this, since we've been called on to assist before.

 

As for what it takes to get banned, I don't think there too many new things you could do that people need to know about.

[Electric Mouse]

If his caches are banned does this mean they can be adopted or someone else place a new one in that location? His caches and locations were usually well thought out and in great locations. I would hate to see them not used.

 

Is being "banned" Permanent or more of a probation?

 

Does this stop someone from rejoining under a new name?

To address your questions:

 

Many of the caches are currently, and fairly recently, disabled. At some point they will likely be disabled long enough to be viewed as stale and could be archived. An archived cache does not hold a location, so yes, another one could be put there if the old one was archived. A disabled cache holds the location though within .1 mile (528 feet).

 

With adoption, I think the caches might be listed on another site, so I think adoptions would not be appropriate. If someone wishes to place a cache in one of the areas the best thing would be to get .1 mile from the disabled cache, or write to Iowa Admin first about the possibilty of archiving the disabled listing. But since I think these are likely listed elsewhere, getting a bit away from the other cache makes the most sense. Getting .1 mile away is often pretty easy.

 

Being banned is normally permanent, although I suppose Groundspeak might listen to a sincere plea to be re-activated. I can't speak for them there though. A person might also try to join under a new name. That is frowned on though and would likely get caught. What would happen then would be a Groundspeak decision made under the circumstances. Again, I can't speak for them on that one and I imagine it could vary in individual cases.

[Electric Mouse]

The reasons for banning a person are really between them and Groundspeak....

If the reasons are of no consequence for other cachers I can buy into this. Where other cachers may come to harm, duress, or otherwise actually learn what not to do to keep from being banned (were the line is, is important so you know when not to cross it) then I do not at all agree.

 

The catch 22 is that we as cachers can't know and are stuck trusting those who make the decision, who of course isn't really known either.

I was refering in general to the fact that for privacy reasons, Groundspeak would not be likely to respond publically with reasons why a person was banned. I would assume that if another person was unknowingly placed in harm that they would be privately notified. I am not privy to that information though.

 

For what not to do to avoid being banned, the terms of use have a list of prohibited items. If a person is unsure whether their behavior could cause a ban, an email to the contact address could be the best way to address it. Generally though it is common sense. Don't harrass or threaten people, don't scrape the site for data etc.

 

For what it is worth, of bans that I know any details on, I have never seen one done without serious consideration of the situation.

[Electric Mouse]

Whew! OK one more post!

 

As a response to this thread in general, I am fine with it so far, but I worry that if it turns into a gossip type thing that simply theorizes about a person who is unable to come here and respond, that it becomes inappropriate. Although banned, the person deserves the same respect as others, and the forum guidelines require a level of respect. I am not suggesting that it has been bad so far, but to avoid issues, I suggest sticking to discussion of the caches, or generally what could cause a ban, who would be notified etc, and not instances or theories of why this particular person was banned.

[horhay_p]

For those inquiring minds…

 

I believe that the banning of Idratherbeinthewoods stemmed at least in part from a disagreement between himself and another member (let’s call him Member_X). To sum up the situation, he was mad because Member_X brought it to the attention of an approver (let’s call him Approver_Y) that the <a cache name edited by moderator> was still active despite the container no longer being present. People had continued logging their finds on line (a regular cache listing acting like a virtual cache). Below is the original text from the<cach name edited> log (with *’s substituted for the expletives and the other parties’ names changed to protect the innocent). Obviously, Idratherbeinthewoods' log has since been removed from the site.

 

<references leading to other cachers not involved in this discussion removed by moderator>

 

Note that this is not the first time that Idratherbeinthewoods had a disagreement with Member_X.

 

A few days after his <cache name edited> posting, all of Idratherbeinthewoods’ caches were archieved and it appears that he was banned from geocaching.com. He made a feable attempt to get back in the game under an alias identity "I'm back in the saddle again".

I'm back in the saddle again profile

 

Interestingly, all but 3 of “I’m back in the saddle again”’s 40 finds were geocaches once owned by Idratherbeinthewoods in an attempt to build up his points before he was caught.

 

On TerraCaching.com he has two identities/accounts, "Idratherbeinthewoods" and "My name is Earl". So far, he has transferred 7 of his geocaches to terracaches.

 

I can't believe he got banned just for posting that log in encrypted text (although the rules mention foul language as a bannable violation). Perhaps his log was followed by similarly harsh email messages to the other parties involved to escalate the situation. It's really too bad because I think that Idratherbeinthewoods really loved geocaching despite his disagreements with the establishment.

 

I would take this as a warning to us all not to get the geocaching gods mad at you.

 

horhay_p

Edited December 19, 2005 by Electric Mouse

[+BlueDeuce]

suggest sticking to discussion of the caches, or generally what could cause a ban, who would be notified etc, and not instances or theories of why this particular person was banned.

Yeah me too, especially if it's coming from a sock puppet.

[Electric Mouse]

I am locking this one now per my previous post.