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Locking of archived cache pages


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A local prolific cacher recently abruptly archived all ~600 of his hides and obviously hadn't had time to pick any/many of them up from the field. All of this cachers hides were non-urban, semi-remote to remote locations which is why they were some of my favourites. When out caching the other day I was in an area where he had hidden some caches. I picked up the containers for several of these on his behalf as well as in the interest of removal of geo-litter from the environment. When I went to log these as finds and to also note on the cache pages that the containers had been removed I was shocked to discover that ALL of the cache pages for this cachers hides had been locked.

 

My question is: is this commonplace? It seems counterintuitive to the encouragement of the removal of these caches from the environment to have them all arbitrarily locked like this. As someone who works for a land manager this doesn't sit well with me.

 

My second question is: is there anyway to get these caches unlocked?

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

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You can't lock a cache page, they have to do it, so it's unlikely they'll get unlocked. Anyway that's the pint of locking the page, so people CAN'T log them. Seems like it wasn't the choice of the CO. Perhaps that person did something to tick off Groundspeak.

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A local prolific cacher recently abruptly archived all ~600 of his hides and obviously hadn't had time to pick any/many of them up from the field. All of this cachers hides were non-urban, semi-remote to remote locations which is why they were some of my favourites. When out caching the other day I was in an area where he had hidden some caches. I picked up the containers for several of these on his behalf as well as in the interest of removal of geo-litter from the environment. When I went to log these as finds and to also note on the cache pages that the containers had been removed I was shocked to discover that ALL of the cache pages for this cachers hides had been locked.

 

My question is: is this commonplace? It seems counterintuitive to the encouragement of the removal of these caches from the environment to have them all arbitrarily locked like this. As someone who works for a land manager this doesn't sit well with me.

 

My second question is: is there anyway to get these caches unlocked?

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

I'm sure Groundspeak locked them for a reason, and it's strange that a prolific cacher would just up and archive all of their listings. Sounds like they had a problem with Groundspeak.

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A local prolific cacher recently abruptly archived all ~600 of his hides and obviously hadn't had time to pick any/many of them up from the field. All of this cachers hides were non-urban, semi-remote to remote locations which is why they were some of my favourites. When out caching the other day I was in an area where he had hidden some caches. I picked up the containers for several of these on his behalf as well as in the interest of removal of geo-litter from the environment. When I went to log these as finds and to also note on the cache pages that the containers had been removed I was shocked to discover that ALL of the cache pages for this cachers hides had been locked.

 

My question is: is this commonplace? It seems counterintuitive to the encouragement of the removal of these caches from the environment to have them all arbitrarily locked like this. As someone who works for a land manager this doesn't sit well with me.

 

My second question is: is there anyway to get these caches unlocked?

 

Thanks in advance for your responses.

 

And just before archiving his own caches he logged finds on (at least some) of them. (I didn't check all 600+)

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My question is: is this commonplace?

No. In my experience, it's very rare. It can only be done by a reviewer or a Lackey, so either the CO has a good reason to ask them to lock (which doesn't seem to be the case here), or Groundspeak has a good reason to lock them unilaterally. Things have to go horribly wrong to have Groundspeak lock all of your caches, so there's certainly much more to the story that hasn't come out in the open.

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As a general rule, archived cache pages are not locked. However, if there are extenuating circumstances involving the Cache Owner OR inappropriate logs by other Cachers (using the cache page as a forum, couch logging, etc.), a page(s) will get locked.

 

Depending on the circumstances, a page can be unlocked after a "cooling off period."

Edited by Greatland Reviewer
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And just before archiving his own caches he logged finds on (at least some) of them. (I didn't check all 600+)

 

Wow, good sleuthing! I wasn't intending on letting the cat out of the bag but apparently this can be figured out anyways.

 

Just curiosity here, but who is the cacher?

 

couloir

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I do not know whether something happened between couloir and Groundspeak, but this cacher is weird anyway. Checked out a few of his archived caches - in every case he logged Found it with text "going" (yep, on his own caches) and then Archive log with text "gone".

 

or maybe something else happened...

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Writing as a player here.

 

It seems counterintuitive to the encouragement of the removal of these caches from the environment to have them all arbitrarily locked like this.

 

There is no encouragement to remove other peoples caches from the environment. The listing on geocaching.com may be archived, but the caches are still the property of the owner. They could be listed on another listing site. Or the owner uses them as private caches. If you remove them without explicit consent from the owner it can be prosecuted as a criminal offense.

 

I also see that the cachelistings in question have been archived just 2.5 months ago. Maybe the owner had not yet the time to collect the caches. In the end it's the owners responsibility to collect the caches.

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We worked on a few old virtuals in Melbourne last year and a few weeks before we were to visit there the CO archived these virtuals because of a large amount of armchair loggers. Since we visited the locations anyway I logged the virtuals on my GPS and tried to log a note on them online using the API (GDAK) from my tablet. The logs couldn't be send and it was then I discovered the listings were locked.

The locking was probably done because people kept posting fake logs and the CO was fed up with that.

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We worked on a few old virtuals in Melbourne last year and a few weeks before we were to visit there the CO archived these virtuals because of a large amount of armchair loggers. Since we visited the locations anyway I logged the virtuals on my GPS and tried to log a note on them online using the API (GDAK) from my tablet. The logs couldn't be send and it was then I discovered the listings were locked.

The locking was probably done because people kept posting fake logs and the CO was fed up with that.

 

I have seen this happen to a number of virtuals. Many years ago there was a list of armchair virtuals that were badly abused. I think many of those ones ended up locked.

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Depending on the circumstances, a page can be unlocked after a "cooling off period."

 

How would one go about getting them unlocked? Could a request to Groundspeak by a local cacher like myself be sufficient, or would it require the CO to ask that his caches not be locked?

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Depending on the circumstances, a page can be unlocked after a "cooling off period."

 

How would one go about getting them unlocked? Could a request to Groundspeak by a local cacher like myself be sufficient, or would it require the CO to ask that his caches not be locked?

I imagine it would have to be the cache owner. It's their listing page after all.

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Writing as a player here.

 

There is no encouragement to remove other peoples caches from the environment. The listing on geocaching.com may be archived, but the caches are still the property of the owner. They could be listed on another listing site. Or the owner uses them as private caches. If you remove them without explicit consent from the owner it can be prosecuted as a criminal offense.

 

I also see that the cachelistings in question have been archived just 2.5 months ago. Maybe the owner had not yet the time to collect the caches. In the end it's the owners responsibility to collect the caches.

 

The CO is supportive of the local caching community assisting in picking up his hides and recycling them as much as it is able to. Keep in mind, all of these caches were hidden in semi-remote to remote, non-urban areas. For example, one of my favourite series of his was titled "60 Peaks" and each one of these caches involved a crazy hike to the top of a mountain. And most of his other 600 caches are similarly "out there". Frankly, he could use any help he can get in retrieving these.

 

 

There is no encouragement to remove other peoples caches from the environment. The listing on geocaching.com may be archived, but the caches are still the property of the owner. They could be listed on another listing site. Or the owner uses them as private caches. If you remove them without explicit consent from the owner it can be prosecuted as a criminal offense.

I have a different viewpoint than this. If a geocache is no longer listed on a listing site (and to be clear, there really are no other listing sites than gc.com where I am), its classification in my mind shifts from that of "geocache" to that of "litter". And, now being litter, in the spirit of CITO and all that, local cachers should be picking that litter up. And if the CO is in agreement this is a no-brainer. To do otherwise is not responsible, and to have these caches Locked which in effect hinders this pick-up from happening is counterproductive. Notes can't even be left on the cache page to indicate to others and to the CO if it's been picked up, still there or any other message.

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It would be interesting to have more info i.e. Cache Owner of at least one of the ones that was locked. Hard to address the question with insufficient information.

His caches that were archived before the "mass-archival" remain unlocked. Must've been mass-locked on a date filter?

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I imagine it would have to be the cache owner. It's their listing page after all.

 

This is what I'm thinking as well...

 

If you legitimately found them and you just want to log the finds, you might try your luck at contacting the reviewer to respectfully explain the situation. Depending on why they are locked, you might be able to log them. No harm in asking.

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In this particular instance, it would be unwise and premature to retrieve the archived cache containers.

 

Leave it to this CO to deal with things and GS. I would just move on and not continue poking around in someone else's business. (Perhaps put the caches on a watchlist or bookmark list.)

 

If they remain archived, then new caches could be submitted. If the containers are viable, then perhaps the CO might grant permission to reuse them.

 

B.

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It would be interesting to have more info i.e. Cache Owner of at least one of the ones that was locked. Hard to address the question with insufficient information.

His caches that were archived before the "mass-archival" remain unlocked. Must've been mass-locked on a date filter?

 

Why don't you just message the CO and ask without spilling his business here in the forum? :unsure:

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If you remove them without explicit consent from the owner it can be prosecuted as a criminal offense.

I have a different viewpoint than this. If a geocache is no longer listed on a listing site (and to be clear, there really are no other listing sites than gc.com where I am), its classification in my mind shifts from that of "geocache" to that of "litter". And, now being litter, in the spirit of CITO and all that, local cachers should be picking that litter up. And if the CO is in agreement this is a no-brainer. To do otherwise is not responsible, and to have these caches Locked which in effect hinders this pick-up from happening is counterproductive. Notes can't even be left on the cache page to indicate to others and to the CO if it's been picked up, still there or any other message.

 

Agreed. First, good luck prosecuting something like that. "Um, I hid a Tupperware box on someone else's property and someone else took it. Can you go arrest them?"

 

The number of muggles/cache thieves would outnumber the drug dealers in jail if we started seeing prosecutions...

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<...>

 

I have a different viewpoint than this. If a geocache is no longer listed on a listing site (and to be clear, there really are no other listing sites than gc.com where I am),

<...>

 

Do you have a different Internet where you live?

 

Geolitter fits perfect on those sites where most of their traditionals were already rejected here.

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<...>

 

I have a different viewpoint than this. If a geocache is no longer listed on a listing site (and to be clear, there really are no other listing sites than gc.com where I am),

<...>

 

Do you have a different Internet where you live?

 

There's no need to be insulting.

 

There is another cache listing site that covers where he is, but the nearest caches listed are about 3.5 hours away.

 

 

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<...>

 

I have a different viewpoint than this. If a geocache is no longer listed on a listing site (and to be clear, there really are no other listing sites than gc.com where I am),

<...>

 

Do you have a different Internet where you live?

 

There's no need to be insulting.

 

There is another cache listing site that covers where he is, but the nearest caches listed are about 3.5 hours away.

 

I have to agree with you and the OP. That other listing service only has 1680 (per todays count) active listings in all of North America, and most of them are virtuals and other than traditionals.

 

They are only small pockets of resistance to the Frog. :laughing:

 

If I want virtuals, I have Waymarking. B)

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<...>

 

I have a different viewpoint than this. If a geocache is no longer listed on a listing site (and to be clear, there really are no other listing sites than gc.com where I am),

<...>

 

Do you have a different Internet where you live?

 

There's no need to be insulting.

 

There is another cache listing site that covers where he is, but the nearest caches listed are about 3.5 hours away.

 

Well, I didn't intend to come off as insulting. Sorry if it read that way. Just trying to be glib. </humble>

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<...>

 

I have a different viewpoint than this. If a geocache is no longer listed on a listing site (and to be clear, there really are no other listing sites than gc.com where I am),

<...>

 

Do you have a different Internet where you live?

 

There's no need to be insulting.

 

There is another cache listing site that covers where he is, but the nearest caches listed are about 3.5 hours away.

 

I'm failing to see any insult in that response. Sarcasm? Sure. Insult? Nope.

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I imagine it would have to be the cache owner. It's their listing page after all.

 

Who specifically at Groundspeak can the CO ask to have his caches unlocked?

 

I think I have probably found the answer to my own question. He probably should use the "Email Us" portal?

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I imagine it would have to be the cache owner. It's their listing page after all.

 

Who specifically at Groundspeak can the CO ask to have his caches unlocked?

 

I think I have probably found the answer to my own question. He probably should use the "Email Us" portal?

Correct:

 

http://support.Groundspeak.com/index.php?pg=request

 

The only time I wouldn't use the above, would be if there's a specific thread of ongoing conversation. The "email us" goes to a general inbox, and is triaged to the appropriate department/Lackey that would handle the question/concern.

 

If there has been some previous discussion between the cache owner and Groundspeak, there's a pretty good chance that someone was already assigned to the task, and was entered in the internal tracking/audit system. These conversations are assigned a tracking number in order to keep track of things. I would stick to the original conversation and reference the original tracking number, so that the conversation can pick up where it left off, rather than having to repeat everything again.

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Who specifically at Groundspeak can the CO ask to have his caches unlocked?

 

Why are you so interested is someone else's affairs?

It's not like I'm interested in someone else's affairs: it's more like I'm interested in facilitating the removal of geo-litter from the woods. Shouldn't that be the goal here?

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It's not like I'm interested in someone else's affairs: it's more like I'm interested in facilitating the removal of geo-litter from the woods.
And... somehow unlocking his now-archived caches will facilitate the removal of geo-litter from the woods?

 

How?

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Writing as a player here.

 

It seems counterintuitive to the encouragement of the removal of these caches from the environment to have them all arbitrarily locked like this.

 

There is no encouragement to remove other peoples caches from the environment. The listing on geocaching.com may be archived, but the caches are still the property of the owner. They could be listed on another listing site. Or the owner uses them as private caches. If you remove them without explicit consent from the owner it can be prosecuted as a criminal offense.

 

I also see that the cachelistings in question have been archived just 2.5 months ago. Maybe the owner had not yet the time to collect the caches. In the end it's the owners responsibility to collect the caches.

 

A criminal offense? That may be a bit much.

 

Prisoner: "Hey, what are you in here for?"

New Prisoner: "I got caught picking up geocaches."

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Writing as a player here.

 

It seems counterintuitive to the encouragement of the removal of these caches from the environment to have them all arbitrarily locked like this.

 

There is no encouragement to remove other peoples caches from the environment. The listing on geocaching.com may be archived, but the caches are still the property of the owner. They could be listed on another listing site. Or the owner uses them as private caches. If you remove them without explicit consent from the owner it can be prosecuted as a criminal offense.

 

I also see that the cachelistings in question have been archived just 2.5 months ago. Maybe the owner had not yet the time to collect the caches. In the end it's the owners responsibility to collect the caches.

 

A criminal offense? That may be a bit much.

 

Prisoner: "Hey, what are you in here for?"

New Prisoner: "I got caught picking up geocaches."

 

No, actually, it has happened.

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Writing as a player here.

 

It seems counterintuitive to the encouragement of the removal of these caches from the environment to have them all arbitrarily locked like this.

 

There is no encouragement to remove other peoples caches from the environment. The listing on geocaching.com may be archived, but the caches are still the property of the owner. They could be listed on another listing site. Or the owner uses them as private caches. If you remove them without explicit consent from the owner it can be prosecuted as a criminal offense.

 

I also see that the cachelistings in question have been archived just 2.5 months ago. Maybe the owner had not yet the time to collect the caches. In the end it's the owners responsibility to collect the caches.

 

A criminal offense? That may be a bit much.

 

Prisoner: "Hey, what are you in here for?"

New Prisoner: "I got caught picking up geocaches."

 

No, actually, it has happened.

 

Prison time for cache theft? I stand corrected then.

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It's not like I'm interested in someone else's affairs: it's more like I'm interested in facilitating the removal of geo-litter from the woods.
And... somehow unlocking his now-archived caches will facilitate the removal of geo-litter from the woods?

 

How?

My guess.

 

Find the cache, log the find, remove geo-litter.

 

Can't log the find if it's locked.

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It's not like I'm interested in someone else's affairs: it's more like I'm interested in facilitating the removal of geo-litter from the woods.
And... somehow unlocking his now-archived caches will facilitate the removal of geo-litter from the woods?

 

How?

My guess.

 

Find the cache, log the find, remove geo-litter.

 

Can't log the find if it's locked.

 

But you can remove it when it's locked. Why would (un)locking make any difference to removing a container?

Caches go missing all the time, no matter if a listing is locked or not. And BTW, don't take what isn't yours even if you consider it geolitter.

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It's not like I'm interested in someone else's affairs: it's more like I'm interested in facilitating the removal of geo-litter from the woods.
And... somehow unlocking his now-archived caches will facilitate the removal of geo-litter from the woods?

 

How?

My guess.

 

Find the cache, log the find, remove geo-litter.

 

Can't log the find if it's locked.

 

Why would (un)locking make any difference to removing a container?

Caches go missing all the time, no matter if a listing is locked or not.

 

So one can declare their Geo-Hero status on the cache page? In other words, if I pick up the trash I want some sort of reward? I can see no other reason that the OP is concerned. <_<

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It's not like I'm interested in someone else's affairs: it's more like I'm interested in facilitating the removal of geo-litter from the woods.
And... somehow unlocking his now-archived caches will facilitate the removal of geo-litter from the woods?

 

How?

My guess.

 

Find the cache, log the find, remove geo-litter.

 

Can't log the find if it's locked.

 

Why would (un)locking make any difference to removing a container?

Caches go missing all the time, no matter if a listing is locked or not.

 

So one can declare their Geo-Hero status on the cache page? In other words, if I pick up the trash I want some sort of reward? I can see no other reason that the OP is concerned. <_<

 

Of course they get a reward!

A smiley when they log the find as they pick it up.

No smiley, no incentive to pick the cache up to help the CO get all his caches.

After all, the concern over geolitter only goes so far! :rolleyes:

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It's not like I'm interested in someone else's affairs: it's more like I'm interested in facilitating the removal of geo-litter from the woods.
And... somehow unlocking his now-archived caches will facilitate the removal of geo-litter from the woods?

 

How?

My guess.

 

Find the cache, log the find, remove geo-litter.

 

Can't log the find if it's locked.

 

Why would (un)locking make any difference to removing a container?

Caches go missing all the time, no matter if a listing is locked or not.

 

So one can declare their Geo-Hero status on the cache page? In other words, if I pick up the trash I want some sort of reward? I can see no other reason that the OP is concerned. <_<

 

Of course they get a reward!

A smiley when they log the find as they pick it up.

No smiley, no incentive to pick the cache up to help the CO get all his caches.

After all, the concern over geolitter only goes so far! :rolleyes:

 

Yeah, it's clear what the OP's agenda was now. :( How embarrassing. :anicute:

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