Internet Brands, security flaw, vBulletin, xss Hide

I was tutoring this weekend and I helped an 11th grade high school student with US History.  He pointed out to me that history is useless, but I retorted that if we never learn from history, history has a tendency to repeat itself. That gave me reason to pause as I thought how that very logic applies to our scenario. Internet Brands did this once to us, what’s not to say they will do it again?

Let’s face the truth. I got my credit card bill last week, and it’s simply highway robbery. I cringed at the fact I had to pay just to do an upgrade. Sure $130.00 doesn’t seem much, but when you combine the fact that our license was suppose to be worth $160.00 (or $180.00 for others), we’re still paying more than $235.00 for a brand new license! What Internet Brands is making us pay is simply highway robbery. I don’t know how else to put it.

I don’t see ANY reason at all to justify existing license holders paying more. Essentially we’re being told to just pony up money for a brand new license. Forget what Internet Brands has told you; it’s merely a ploy, a cover. It’s purely marketing. Rip off all the marketing, and you’ll see is that we’re paying for a brand new license.

As existing Legacy vBulletin license holders, we’re treated as second rate citizens. We’re not important to them. Our wallets are more important to them. What’s not to say this is to happen again when vBulletin 5 arrives on the horizon?

We’re stuck holding a useless, absolutely pointless license vBulletin 3 license. After our license expires per-se, no more updates.  No more security patches. Once vBulletin 4 goes into full swing, vBulletin 3 citizens are treated as the scorn of the earth. Internet Brands manipulated us using fear tactics so that we’d buy licenses.

I really sympathize with those who bought vBulletin licenses really late in the game before vBulletin 4 was announced. Anyone who bought a license merely hours or days before vBulletin 4 got announced feel the real wrath. They bought a license only to have it invalidated and ripped from their hands minutes later.

Yet when they protest that they’ve been scammed, they’re told to upgrade to the latest vBulletin 4 License by paying even more? Any more protests, and you have threads closed. Has anyone checked out Pre-Sales recently? There are several threads in which customers point out that they don’t treat customers well.

Has anyone at Internet Brands done the math? We’re paying MORE for upgrading to a vBulletin 4 license than brand new vBulletin 4 license holders. Where’s the justice? Where’s the respect? More importantly, where’s the loyalty to your existing customer base that made vBulletin so successful? If they’re treating customers like this, as a shareholder, stakeholder or investors I’d wonder how Internet Brands may very well treat me in the future.

Let’s face it. vBulletin 3 license holders have been screwed over. If history has anything to say, it’s that it’s going to happen again.

Internet Brands, vBulletin Hide

Today marked a gloomy event for investors in IB.

IB currently does not pay dividends to its investors, and their low share pricing is an obvious reflection of the distasteful reactions of vBulletin Customers.

deuterium, (formerly ct2k7) as we gather, posted in our infamous Licensed Customer Feedback section, you know… the hidden from potential customer … area, in the thread, pertaining the original article by The Register about the share falling.

Floris replied moments later, refering to deuterium by his first name, explaining that this was common ( or realistic) with the release of the Q3 2009 financial results.

In some cases this was true, but obviously, a drop of nearly 12% was something out of the ordinary. It was nearly enough to warrant its little space on Yahoo!’s Biggest Losers page.

Those using the Google finance page to track the shares will have noticed the amount of publicity Internet Brands is gaining from its treatment of its customers, something which is personally thought to be a major role in this, as investors see what’s going on behind closed doors.

IB, Internet Brands, shares, vBulletin Hide

There’s one thing you could appreciate when reading business journals, magazines, and text books: they show you three outcomes, the right way, the wrong way, and the ugly. And boy, it’s starting to get ugly, and it’s not only coming from customers, but from observers outside in the business world.

Internet Brands officially today became a case study on how not to do things. The question now is “How will history look back at Internet Brands?” Will they be looked as a company who made resolutions and gestures to resolve matters with their customer base? Or will they end up as dust in the wind, shunned, and labeled as pariahs?

But do read the case study.

Fair Use Excerpt:

Software licensing can be a tough business. But if you’re able to build a great product and acquire customers, it can be a rewarding business. The founders of Jelsoft, the company behind the popular vBulletin message board software, know that first hand.

Having built arguably the best message board software out there, they sold Jelsoft to Internet Brands in 2007 for an undisclosed amount. And two years later, Internet Brands is facing a violent customer revolt over a new product and new licensing terms.

Bite the hand that feeds you Internet Brands, and that body who controls the hand will fight back, tooth and nail.

vBulletin Hide

I’ve been watching from the sidelines as the Internet Brands PR machine have been spinning and spinning everything possible. We saw the launch of vBulletin 4.0 Alpha.. I mean Beta (heck, it feels like an early Alpha) on vBulletin.com.

But between last week’s announcement, and this week, I wanted to know what have you decided as a license holder. I’ve seen it all on the last few weeks, but Internet Brands spins it that they’re achieving record sales. Yet the question I want to ask to everyone is Who what have you honestly decided? Stay? Moved to IPB? MyBB maybe? Or another solution?

Let’s try to quantify the number of who has actually decided to stay or move on from Internet Brands and vBulletin. Leave a comment and let the world know whether you decided to stay or not, and why.

vBulletin Hide

Ever since Internet Brands bought Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd in 2007, the activity of James has been dwindling.James has not posted or even logged into the vBulletin forums (no last activity recorded) since January of this year. In April of this year, one member sifted through some documents from the Companies House, suggesting that James had quit his role. vBulletin Staff insisted that James “was very much with us” prior to closing the thread.

Right now, the support staff are bearing the backlash from the customers, but where is James? Is it true that he has retired completely from Jelsoft?

There are many question unanswered, and Internet Brands wants them to remain unaswered.

Internet Brands, James Limm, vBulletin Hide

Before I start anything, let me welcome you. Welcome to vBtruth.com.

I want to share with you a bit of who I am. I’m a current vBulletin license holder for seven plus years now. Over these last seven years, I’ve had the pleasure to work with some of the greatest community people. You might know some of the name: John Percival, Chen (Firefly), DirectPixel, Alfarin, Scott MacVicar, Mike Sullivan, Kier Darby, Steve Machol, Onimua, Xiphoid, Sinecure, and so forth. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting a few vBulletin owners in my lifetime, and some have become friends over the years outside of the vBulletin community

Needless to say, I’ve been here a while. But if you need a reference point, I’ve been with the vBulletin family since version 2.2.x series.

I’ve decided enough is enough, and that I can no longer keep my silence. Ultimately, I’ve decided that I need to put my thoughts out here with fellow vBulletin owners where censorship is out of the reach of Internet Brands and that I can post my thoughts without fears of reprocussions.

I will be the first person to admit that I probably should have spoken up sooner after the acquisition of Jelsoft and vBulletin. All the signs were there. Simply put, the acquisition is considered a defining moment, a crucial moment in the history of what vBulletin is. It’s a point where vBulletin will either succeed or fail.

Thus far, nothing presented has instilled any confidence whatsoever, and is further compounded by the sudden and unexpected resignation of many developers who use to work on vBulletin and other significant actions that have completely undermined the confidence of all license holders.

As you’ve probably figured out, I’ve seen many things during my time here with vBulletin. The changing of Project Managers. The new team members. The new faces of Jelsoft and Internet Brands. But for the moment, I want to shine a light on vBulletin 4, and what a complete and utter mess it is.

Simply put to the investors and stakeholders of Internet Brands, You should be asking questions, and asking the HARD questions. The questions shouldn’t be will I get a return on my investment, but rather are your actions maximizing my return in the best possible way? I would argue no.

It is my opinion that Internet Brands is trying to rapidly increase revenue and maximize return, however, they are going about this in a way that has certainly rubbed customers the wrong way. Certainly the bottom line is important, but the reality is that in the attempt to add more value and cash into your investments is going to leave a negative return on your investment. I will explain more and let you do the math and draw conclusions.

Internet Brands no longer has the favor of customers. Certain decisions and their outcomes have shaken the community one too many times. The goodwill has been burned through. Trust and Loyalty has been thrown out the window. Years have been invested in order to build up a solid repuitation and brand, and it has taken Internet Brands a few months to destroy it and leave many of its most loyal customers frazzled, concerned, upset, and uncertain.

Are you frazzled like me? I hope you’ll stick around and air out your dirty laundry with us.

P.S. Special Thanks to a few vBulletin friends who stepped up to provide hosting and domains. We’re rather grateful they’re sticking out their necks a bit to provide some space for us.

vBulletin Hide