Absolute power corrupts absolutely.
DMOZ is a good idea, but poorly implemented. Yes, right. The USSR also was a good idea, but poorly implemented. DMOZ is a corrupt idea and that is the reason we are reading stories about corruption within the ODP, not because some bad guys got into DMOZ and hijacked it. The corrupt idea brought about the corrupt culture and the corrupt culture does not tolerate decent editors. A fish is getting rotten from the head, not from the tail.
DMOZ is a small but a very accurate replica of the USSR. In the USSR people had a right for a free medical care, free education and free shelter. In exchange people agreed to relinquish freedom of choice, rule of law, right for a reasonable standard of living and agreed to the rule of the nomenclature. DMOZ is exactly that - a closed old boy’s club with the lack of transparency and public accountability and absolute intolerance to any dissenting opinion. The club run by the nomenclature of meta editors. The stakes are high the public accountability and transparency are low or non existent. Why ? Because it was conceived that way. Free is bad, one has to pay for everything in his or her life and demand quality for his or her money. That is why capitalism is a better alternative to anything else.
Free means ‘not enough for everyone’. Free means ‘no freedom of choice’. Free is an invitation for abuse. Because as long as something is free, someone in the nomenclature has to decide who, when and how much will get of this free stuff. The same applies to DMOZ.
I have been editing since 1999. The stories told on
www.corruptdmozeditor.com are only the tip of the iceberg. Here is an example. The meta editor for my category is Aaron Larson who is a lawyer from Michigan
www.a2lawyer.com . He is particularly keen on eliminating second listings. In his view the company can have only one website and one listing in one category, period. Even if the sites a company has are distinctly different, he will eliminate the second listing. DMOZ does not encourage second sites but does not prohibit them either. So, it the discretion of a meta editor what to do. Well, lets see how Aaron treats his own sites:
Open Directory Sites (1-5 of 5)
1. ExpertLaw - Articles on a variety of legal subjects.
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http://www.expertlaw.com/library/ Society: Law: Legal Information (2)
2. ExpertLaw - Directory of expert witnesses, litigation support services, and private investigators, also providing legal information for experts and attorneys.
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http://www.expertlaw.com/ Society: Law: Services: Directories (1)
3. ExpertLaw - Directory of expert witnesses organized by area of practice and location.
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http://www.expertlaw.com/experts/ Society: Law: Services: Expert Witnesses: Directories (1)
4. ExpertLaw - Find a private investigator or related service, by specialty and location.
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http://www.expertlaw.com/investigators/ Business: Business Services: Fire and Security: Security: Investigation: Directories (1)
5. ExpertLaw Forums - Public discussion forums on a wide range of legal issues.
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http://www.expertlaw.com/forums/ Society: Law: Legal Information: Chats and Forums (1)
Open Directory Sites (1-2 of 2)
1. Aaron Larson - Ann Arbor attorney specializing in civil litigation and appeals, as well as motion drafting services. Includes articles.
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http://www.a2lawyer.com/ Society: Law: Services: Lawyers and Law Firms: Appeals and Writs: North America: United States: Michigan (1)
2. Aaron Larson - Representing clients for civil litigation and appeals, and offering motion drafting and appellate services to attorneys. Articles on a variety of legal subjects.
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http://www.a2lawyer.com/ Regional: North America: United States: Michigan: Localities: A: Ann Arbor: Business and Economy: Legal Services: Attorneys and Law Firms (1)
I am currently editing 7 directories under different names. This is the only way to ensure that when some metascam decides to wipe me out to take in his or her friend, I will not be eliminated. I made a decision to go stealth when a friend of mine run into a problem with another meta editor Oneeye (Paul) who handles even bigger chunk of DMOZ
http://dmoz.org/profiles/oneeye.html and for the argument with him my friend’s login was cancelled.
The Open Directory Project is as ‘open’ as Korean Democratic People’s Republic is a ‘democracy’.
If you are editing multilevel directories with multinational responsibilities as I do, one day you are upto a surprise. You are logging in to your directory and are not able to recognize it. Everything has been changed – website descriptions have been stripped off important keywords, anchor text has been modified and, the last but not the least, one site has been introduced on highest level (continental) with no reason whatsoever. All the changes were made by one of the meta editors and all were made just to disguise the introduction of this new website.
If you are new to DMOZ and do not know how the things are working here, you would write to the meta editor and express your concern. This is a bad move, because you most likely would get a very angry reply saying do not ever touch this website or else. Again, if you are new to DMOZ and do not understand how the things are working her, you might decide to post your concerns in the editors’ forum asking for help. This is even worse move then the first one. This is a serious mutiny in the ranks that ought to be dealt promptly and brutally. Within minutes your login is cancelled and your post in the forum is deleted.
From this point on you are nonexistent to DMOZ. You cannot communicate with DMOZ through
abuse@dmoz.org and
staff@dmoz.org because these addresses only accept correspondence from those who are on the approved list. Your login has been cancelled and you have been removed from the list. You could use their public abuse form, but it does not work (what a surprise). This is the point when you realize you need multiple logins to survive in the rotten place with rotten culture like DMOZ.
