Geez!  I cant believe it,  this IS news is out all over the globe, Ive even heard of some sort of "rescue agencies"  what . that means. Personally I dont care one way or the other, I saw this coming but I must admit, its a pinfull embarrasment and I cant for the life of me work out why IS, ever wanted to put themselves in this really low gutter situation.
Worse:  who is ever in future, exclusive or not ever going to trust them?

Your reap what you sow.

Yes, it's really curious to me that they don't seem to have realised just how volatile the reaction would be.

Perhaps they don't realise that there's been a general simmering of discontent amongst long-standing microstockers over the amount of work and skill improvement that many have to put in just to stand still... and how a spell of over-zealous reviewing can render all their effort and time wasted.  However, I'd have thought the response by many to Thinkstock would have given them SOME clue that there is a limit to what many will take.

Having so actively encouraged people to improve and increase production to attain the holy canisters that would increase their royalties (which is surely most people's motivation... more money), they have put years of effort, optimism and a sense of achievement into reverse in one fell swoop.  

To paraphrase Joey from Friends:   They haven't just crossed the line, they've gone so far they can no longer see the line....  The line is a dot to them.

  

Yep!  thats the morbidity of it all!  any future trust is just reduced to zero and the same probably goes for many buyers as well. What a waste.

What has happened:

- We have ALL been lied to into our faces by iStock management.
- We have been given wrong numbers about who would maintain commission levels and who doesn't
- They plan to bring on 3rd party collections - poison to all exclusives (and another slap in the face)
- They "offer" a forth and back discussion without discussing anything.
- Hundreds of families, (even partially) relying on iStock income will suffer financial problems
- Photographers, illustrators, audio artist and videographers are treated differently (why is a photographer's credit worth more than an  illlustrator's credit?)

Feel free to add to the list.

I'm not sure if iStock management is simply so cold blooded or if they have been held a gun to their head from the investment company to "try" to make their financial goals work regardless of any possible consequences about iStock's future.

I wonder who put his/her signature under all this because any sane person would have seen this reaction coming miles away.

Just unbelievable.

No its not unbelievable at all.  Ive been with the Getty-RM since 93 and Ive been through every trick in their books, believe me since a few years back when they got IS, it was only a matter of time before it all crashed but I must admit I would never have guessed this trickery.

I wont believe this is the Admins move, it just smells too much of money but I do believe the Admin has been forced to it or just move on and out of the way.

Then Getty was a closed circle, pre Facebook, pre Twitter. Now the web is all about trending topics. Very different world. They should get that.

IS risks seeming unethical and uncool. Their people should get on top of this quick. They should not let this story build steam over the weekend.

What has happened:

- We have ALL been lied to into our faces by iStock management.
- We have been given wrong numbers about who would maintain commission levels and who doesn't
- They plan to bring on 3rd party collections - poison to all exclusives (and another slap in the face)
- They "offer" a forth and back discussion without discussing anything.
- Hundreds of families, (even partially) relying on iStock income will suffer financial problems
- Photographers, illustrators, audio artist and videographers are treated differently (why is a photographer's credit worth more than an  illlustrator's credit?)

Feel free to add to the list.

I'm not sure if iStock management is simply so cold blooded or if they have been held a gun to their head from the investment company to "try" to make their financial goals work regardless of any possible consequences about iStock's future.

I wonder who put his/her signature under all this because any sane person would have seen this reaction coming miles away.

Just unbelievable.

I don't wonder - they are investment bankers - the owners - they are worse than lawyers - stone harded cold arsses, who only think at one thing: MONEY!

What counts for me is that there is limit and that limit must be known to all of us.
I mean on limit in what I can earn from my images as well what some agency can or can not do.

What is not right is that agency decides terms and conditions for authors where there is no possibility to make any pressure to them not to touch our cut!

15% for author is misery where they are constantly boosting standards sky-high so you always must have high quality results with expensive equipment.

Ok... My caclulation says that I need to upgrade my camera every year and live from stock (which means pay the bills, eat and go to vacation) plus having enough finances to fund my creations (paying for MUA, hairdresser, location, crew, renting additional equipment)... That sounds like there is no more place for hobby shooters and pros will come up as only ones who can follow this but at the end only as small additional part of income!