I am still banned from forums & sitemail... any other ban'ees in a similar spot? Whats the record for these sorts of things (other than permanent ban, of course).

Still banned too. I expect mine is permanent. I'm still ticked about not being able to check sitemail though. I'm considering contacting support about that. Could really care less about posting on the forums.

Hey jbarber, did you get banned from the iStock forums yet?

Wow. It's getting even worse over at iStock with the censoring. And look who the new user/forum moderator is that snipped the links for the "Setting the Table" search. "iStock Collections"?

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=262721&page=1

In my opinion, all big corps should be banned - there is something inherently wrong with that institution. They cause too much damage.

I couldn't agree more. You ARE wise.

All jokes aside, if the campaign attributed quotes and names to the models, I believe that would be a breach of the licensing agreement. If the images are just there, mingled with text, I think that usage is okay. I did not feel like watching the clip however, but if you see a clear breach, I suggest you contact compliance enforcement at the various agencies. It would be kinda fun seeing some of these politicos get their asses handed to them, though it's not like they are unfamiliar with breaking the law. Most of them seem pretty adept at it. And don't care.

Wow. What a load of total BS. I'm sure that is the answer that I'll get too (even though I made a mere 10 or so posts that were pretty general in nature and not nearly as bad as many that I've seen). Looks like a "stock" answer. Frankly, I could care less about the forums at this point, but I would like access to my sitemail.

Has anyone who has been banned been reinstated yet? If not, are you getting sitemails? If so, have you been able to get access to them by contacted customer service?

Hey, but we wouldn't want someone of such importance to have to rough it out while under such unsustainable financial strain and have to suffer the indigity of economy class, would we?

http://twitter.com/kkthompson"Thank you travel gods for last minute upgrades to business class on oversees flights. Go #aircanada
9:05 PM Sep 25th via Twitter for iPhone "

Sheer arrogance, IMO.

Next he'll be tweeting about saving a few million on his new $10million condo. LOL

Quote from: caspixel on September 29, 2010, 15:00

Wow. It certainly is a seachange at iStock, with the contributors now saying the prices are too expensive. Fascinating.

http://www.istockphoto.com/forum_messages.php?threadid=255972

Remember tnat 1-2-3 credits was unbearable for you, and that you asked scores (if not hundreds) of times that these prices were reduced (an so, potographer's earnings)

Wrong all around again. And quite an exaggeration. You have a vivid imagination, I see. Of course, you won't back up anything you say so, as usual, you lack any kind of credibility.

So basically, iStock found a way to "throw a bone" to contributors without actually giving away anything.

Can I get a Woo-Yay? No?

Quote from: pet_chia on September 29, 2010, 09:32

Several of you replied to my recent post, saying in effect that istock appears to be simply too incompetent in their decisions to be evolving in an intelligent and productive way.  There may be something in that   

It's certainly possible that they are screwing this up.  In my previous experience as an employee of large companies I saw this happen several times, and there is one major cause of this.  Once a company reaches a certain size and complexity the average employee can no longer hear what the customers and suppliers are saying.  Instead they only hear the noise of their internal organization.  Survival and career growth in a large company depend on satisfying the bureaucracy and especially the management, whereas if you stick up for the customer or supplier you are branded by the powers that be as "not a team player".

This tends to happen in companies which have a dominant market position, because for a while they will be shielded from the consequences of their incompetence.  Customers and suppliers will keep dealing with them for some time after things go bad, for lack of alternatives.  By the time management notice that the company is stumbling badly it is often too late.  Even recognizing the problem clearly does no good if there is too much internal corporate inertia to turn the ship around.  Recognizing mistakes requires one to admit having made the mistake, losing face and taking a blow to one's *internal* *corporate* reputation.

Now that I review this in my mind and look back at the last three weeks of shock, anger, confusion and frustration, I see some evidence that this is going on at Getty/IS.  For one thing, if IS represents only a relatively small part of Getty then the consequences of screwing up IS will not be as noticeable to Getty management as they would have been to the management of IS alone if they were still an independent company.  They can point to overall company results or to overall industry trends or economic factors and make excuses while the ship sinks and some other smaller and more nimble company passes them.  "The ship isn't listing because of a hole in its side, it's just that all those damned passengers raced over to one side to look at the iceberg."  LOL

This is all just speculation of course ... now if you'll excuse me I have some images to send to scout 

I agreed with your earlier post, I thought it was a concise and balanced perspective. but this one.....you've gone down the same road as the friendly neighbourhood naysayers--. your 'facts' aren't facts at all and your comments are skewed to kowtow to the point of view of the majority here. you seem to have quite a bit of business sense, so it's disappointing to see your latest post.

Disappointing to you, because it differs from your opinion. It could be that the majority are right. That's probably another reason why it's so disappointing to you. Frankly, as someone who seemed so anti-establishment in the past, "& then...", I'm quite surprised you keep sticking up for "the man".

Quote from: pet_chia on September 28, 2010, 20:40

...Crowd is out, elite is in.

I might have agreed with this statement, except that I think iStock missed their chance to really go elite and corner the market. Late last year they had some of the elite independent artists (Andres being one of them) reconsidering exclusivity after the prices for exclusive files were increased while non-exclusive file prices did not see the same increase. iStock had the elite independents coming back to the table to give the crown another look, and then they lit the table on fire with this pay cut.

Just imagine what things might look like today if iStock had, at some point this year, raised exclusive rates 5% across the board. Or offered a Black Diamond rate of 45%. They could have even moved forward with the non-exclusive rate cut. Drop all independents down to 15%, and offer a pretty sweet exclusive deal with a rate increase. Maybe guys like Andres would be exclusive today. What if more top tier independents were enticed by the deal and were sold on a higher rate? Maybe Yuri would be exclusive, Ron, Lisa, etc. iStock might have been on the verge of major market dominance by just sweetening the deal a bit more. And we all know they could have done it and that 55-60% profit is sustainable.

Instead, any chance of the most sought-after independent talent ever becoming exclusive is gone, and some people are actually reverting from exclusive back to independent. Makes you wonder if the folks at HQ will ever be looking back on 2010 as the year that could have been. 

Haha. They should have considered hiring you a consultant.