I keep my BFL scammer investigation thread as non-Zerlan and fact-based as I can.  Maybe you  haven't seen the OP, I took some time on it: 

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=136392.0

and will continue to do so.   The entire genesis of my investigation was the initial interaction with Zerlan, so it holds importance in the BFL discussion - for me it was the eye opener.  When writing the abstract I tried to explain that part.  I understand you have similar feelings about BFL and any help you can give me about relevant links would be great.

I fully accept the criticism of initially making this investigation too Josh Zerlan-facing, I am trying to dial it all back to fact-based BFL information.  I have spoken to many CEOs on many topics, some of which I have been a known skeptic on the way in (see:  Dan Fleyshman, youngest CEO of a public company debate me live on DonkDown Radio) and they have all treated me with respect and likewise me to them. 

This is the 1 case outlier for me, getting yelled at on the floor of CES by a CEO when asking about his machines as a known skeptic.  I welcome any additional criticism of my actions in this matter.

obviously too much headache for the mods. 

I'm not a trouble maker, and I think you know that.  I point out scams, and it draws heat.  I respond to the heat, especially borderline libelous personal attacks against me.

If you (gmaxwell, the mods at large) are going to censor a response of mine to a personal insult, then shouldn't you also censor the user throwing around the personal insults?

ok not even sure if this is gonna work:




and seriously, thanks for all the love during the DDoS attack.  Really felt it in the heart.  you guys are special. 

try coming in the front door after a browser close-reopen.

Seems to be fixing it for most ppl. 

WHOA!!  what the??? something just flew by my face... OMG! it was a finger!  damn that mofo was moving fast!!!!

all correct statements IMO.

1)  many users in your system are reporting my posts and "inappropriate"   It is relevant to this point that BFL & Josh have likely used downvoters on reddit, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say they can generate many bitcointalk user actions of any sort.  [ https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=136771.0 ]

2)  Certainly most of Custom Mining posts, if properly moderated, should be deleted.  Yet only mine was.  I could cite many examples of Josh launching personal insults at me in that very thread.  My fact-based post, including the video once again where he insults me on the floor of CES, something clearly he is not interested in seeing again or having other possible pre-order candidates see, is the only thing deleted. 

maybe you are not getting paid.  But I smell a rat.  Josh repeatedly is allowed to launch personal insults not just at me, but basically the entire forum, all customers asking questions, and of course all trolls.  I have been extremely careful not to engage in personal insults.  I stick to the facts, Josh launches insult after insult, and Gmaxwell tells me to cool it.

[edit to add:  take a look at OP's post history:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=61730;sa=showPosts  you only need to check through 2-3 pages to see all the pro-BFL, anti-every other ASIC obviousness, anti-Micon, anti-Tradefortress, pro-everything BFL, even saying "wow i can't believe Josh Zerlan is stalked so much"  i mean, this OP is really, really sticking up for Josh Zerlan  )

this OP is also a blatent mis-quote of me.  the OP, again trying to discredit me, posts as if I was the one that posted JoshZerlan.com link in the BFL thread.  It was not me.  It was another unconnected user.  Then Josh replies to that launching more personal insults at me.  Then I reply to that with the fact-based account of our CES interaction, then mods delete my post and say my tone is unacceptable and my posts repetitive.  

I think it's pretty clear whose side of this debate the mods are taking:  the side of the company buying all the advertising here.  I can only imagine what else is going on between BFL and the mods here.

Zerlan & BFL are pulling strings with bitcointalk mods behind the scenes to silence me, while letting Josh hurl personal insults at me in the BFL thread.  Here is a copy of the PM I just rec'd and my public response:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=139234.0


my reply:


so Josh's tone is acceptable?  I said nothing in the BFL thread until he mentioned me, once again badmouthing me and launching personal attacks.  I reply with facts to attacks.

What is the nature of this?  you can clearly see my conduct is not abusive and his is.  I feel the monies paid by BFL for forum advertising + other factors clouds judgement of bitcointalk owners and mods


------------------------------------------------

A further reply:

dig through Josh's Bitcointalk history:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=8198;sa=showPosts

here is his most recent post:


2nd most recent:


and lastly, the reason why I replied to the BFL thread (which I don't "troll" or over-post in.  I am in all ways inactive in the thread after my initial scam postings, until I see this:


and then a mod deleting my reply, again just a fact-based account of our interaction, then messaging me citing my "hostile tone" after I'm called a neo-nazi

BFL's money has bought and paid for a grip of denial, and it appears to spread all the way to the top.

my reply:


so Josh's tone is acceptable?  I said nothing in the BFL thread until he mentioned me, once again badmouthing me and launching personal attacks.  I reply with facts to attacks.

What is the nature of this?  you can clearly see my conduct is not abusive and his is.  I feel the monies paid by BFL for forum advertising + other factors clouds judgement of bitcointalk owners and mods


------------------------------------------------

A further reply:

dig through Josh's Bitcointalk history:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=8198;sa=showPosts

here is his most recent post:


2nd most recent:


and lastly, the reason why I replied to the BFL thread (which I don't "troll" or over-post in.  I am in all ways inactive in the thread after my initial scam postings, until I see this:


and then a mod deleting my reply, again just a fact-based account of our interaction, then messaging me citing my "hostile tone" after I'm called a neo-nazi

BFL's money has bought and paid for a grip of denial, and it appears to spread all the way to the top.

so Josh's tone is acceptable?  I said nothing in the BFL thread until he mentioned me, once again badmouthing me and launching personal attacks.  I reply with facts to attacks.

What is the nature of this?  you can clearly see my conduct is not abusive and his is.  I feel the monies paid by BFL for forum advertising + other factors clouds judgement of bitcointalk owners and mods

SwC is very lucky to have players that are smart and give us valuable criticism.  Our userbase started with only Freemoney sitting alone on the site waiting for bitcoin enthusiasts to play.  That kind of determination is what attracted me in the first place.  The love I personally felt from our userbase makes me understand it's time to go HAM on this project, blowing it up as much as possible.   The android app dropping very soon will help.

We love you back.  Another 100 to the fastest finger:

try close / re-opening browser.  that fixed it for most.  if it works, try and ship this code in for free 100 chips:

1)  Seems to be back.  There may be intermittent connectivity issues in next few hours while some other-other next shit cooks in DNS land.

2)  Mad #respeck to Freemoney.  His hard work is why we have bitcoin online poker (mostly) every day.

3)  tytytytytyty for the support of our players in this thread and across our social media outlets.  You guys rock.  You guys are what makes Seals the cool little "poker club" type of community that it feels like today.  Watching you all come back and chatting in the main lobby warms my heart.

4)  there are still some issues being worked out, game server time, freeroll dates, some random images that are not game-facing...  We'll get it worked out.   


edit to add:  *** if anyone has an outstanding deposit they feel has not credited their account please msg admin@SwC with details

you will of course be compensated & never cheated at Seals.  All coins are safe and we'll make it right as we've done for the past 1.5+ yrs.

Android app was connecting.

Got a freeling that flee is close.

we all keep working

#nosleeptillbitcoin

no product to ship, but will still spend endlessly on pre-orders that at this point are false advertising.   They plainly advertise a rating for hardware that hasn't been tested and they don't have in possession.  IMO it is irresponsible to host BFL pre-order ads at this point:

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=137470.msg1472423#msg1472423



Josh's entire post history is riddled with personal insults, seemly randomly thrown around:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?action=profile;u=8198;sa=showPosts 



If you are playing along at home, remember Josh's Lolz timeline at the the end of this wall of text after his CES didn't quite go as planned:

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/announcements/692-bfl-asic-status.html

and here in this massive thread (lots and lots of ppl with pre-orders!) Josh has to pop in every few days to pretend like something is in motion:

https://forums.butterflylabs.com/bfl-forum-miscellaneous/690-13-jan-2013-asic-update-discussion-thread.html

Sometimes I can't believe you are even a real.  It's guys like you that make me think I'm in a Truman Show-like setup.  I mean the level of denial on how badly I'm currently destroying you is so palpable.  The hard core bitcointalk readers can feel your desperation through each post.   With each random personal insult you hurl at me and others on this board you seem less and less like the CEO of a real company and more and more like a scammer.

Is this how a CEO handles a skeptic on the floor of CES when asked about his hardware?  http://youtu.be/UlWrmIqGs3Y?t=2m36s

ranking for your name and exposing you and your company as a scam will be my response to your continued childish displays.

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=josh+zerlan

Most CEOs of medium-sized businesses would not choose to spend their days trolling me.  [ 11 days ago the CEO of Butterfly labs was trolling a bet thread between me, mrb, and sgtspike:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=135914.0;all ]

Full Josh Zerlan / BFL scammer investigation thread:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=136392.0

and Josh / BFL likely downvoted the r/bitcoin reddit of his outburst [ http://youtu.be/UlWrmIqGs3Y?t=2m36s ]:  https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=136771.0 

You are playing great today Josh. 

Freemoney is one of the most amazing humans I have ever had the pleasure to work with. 

He is extremely talented and has proved time and time again his fairness and dedication to maximum customer service and zero shadiness.

Trust me, he is back there doing all he can right now, and I personally thank him for his efforts both past and present.  I ask for patience while he takes the time to fix this issue the right way.  You know no one wants it back up more than him.

I am in contact with Freemoney and the rest of Seal Team 6 including our Host company.   Freemoney, as usual, has 100% immersed himself in handling this situation as safely and quickly as possible, with safely first and foremost.

we have locked down our servers and will be going very slow to make sure everything is in order before we turn it back on.

A guess that should be considered "Micon's Guess" for a timeframe as honestly and I can estimate in my head is ~ 6 hrs.  If it takes 12 hrs I won't be shocked.  If it takes more than 24 hours I will be shocked.

This is my honest opinion of the timeframe with all the information I have at this time.

I agree with MrKnowITall in that we should have been more prepared.  This attack will make us stronger for the next one but I agree we need to be proactive and thinking multiple steps ahead as we are quickly becoming a nice target.  I full accept your criticism of Seals as valid on not being prepared for this and vow to make site security stronger.

I will also state that SealsWithClubs will never pay ransoms.  I personally believe no BTC site should ever do so if ever unfortunate enough to be in a similar situation.  We must never give in and always fight and help each other.  If another BTC site that I have respect for comes under DDoS attack I will share all information we learned from this experience privately as not to make public sensitive information that could aid future attackers.