39 replies to this topic

[Forty-Two]

I was visiting Casio Kingdom today, and was greeted with the following message:

Casio Kingdom was hacked by [NAME WITHHELD FOR NOW WHILE I SEEK LEGAL ADVICE]

He redirected our domain to his cloned copy of this website.

He cloned the site by copying all files, messages, usernames, PMs and even passwords

Not only did this asshole have the nerve to forward our domain to his, but he also sent an email newsletter to 8000 members of my website telling them about his new website.

I am seeking legal assistance in bringing this asshole to justice for stealing your data and passwords, contact me at matt [at] matpac [dot] co [dot] uk if you want to know more and were affected by this breach.

I wish the best of luck to matt while he deals with this.

[happy]

Didn't Casio Kingdom die and become Casio Scene?

[MicroPro]

Yeah well, I think I know who "cracked" it, too.

Who was the webmaster at casio-kingdom? I haven't heard of Matt Gill before.

[Forty-Two]

I have gotten word from Helder7 that Casio-Scene will be closed perminantly due to Legal problems. He says to contact him if you need any casio-scene project files.

[DJ Omnimaga]

According to the CK page, it looks like Helder did not ask permission before redirecting the domain name and copying the posts to Casio-Scene. Like what happened with TI-Planet after TI-BANK was seemingly shutting down, Helder7 most likely did that for the best of the community, but it probably caused problems with the CK admin.

I have to wonder, though... why would Matt Gill care about what is done with CK when himself didn't even care enough to maintain the site at all in the three years he owned it?

[MicroPro]

He is a kinda tough guy that even didn't look at helder's site to see the amount of activity and some old users there. Copying was done, without permission (although there is no good excuse for it) since the site was technically down in the last months and I even remember topics like where is our admin, where did he go, etc in the CK forums (and admin didn't show up).

Do you think some of us and some of old users of his forum should meet Matt Gill somewhere online and talk to him?

[DJ Omnimaga]

One idea I had in mind was that everyone who wants CasioKingdom, completely fixed, or Casio-Scene back online, send him an e-mail requesting him to either do the former or allow the latter.

From what I remember, Sean Tan sold the site to him in 2009, but the new owner never did anything on the site. It eventually fell apart, the community expecting it to disappear entirely one day. Then one day Helder steps up and bring the stuff back online for everyone, then suddenly the admin screams?

What I might be thinking is that all the guy wants is ad revenue from Google traffic and has no other reason to keep the site working.

Edited by DJ Omnimaga, 28 July 2012 - 10:13 PM.

[DJ Omnimaga]

Sorry for double-posting, but Matt, the current CasioKingdom owner, has posted this on Omnimaga just now (URL above quote):

http://www.omnimaga....57892#msg257892

Ok, I'm Matt from Casio Kingdom.

So I've been getting many emails, some supportive of what happened others angry.
I've read this thread and obviously I've been in contact with Helder about this issue, but I think that it's important that you get my side of things.

I can't go into everything that happened, because too much happened. But I can give you an outline and I can respond to any questions - I would prefer more of the details to be discussed at Casio Kingdom while it's back up.


Ok so from the beginning...
At the time that I bought the website I intended to do more with it (improve the software, design, content etc.) but things got really busy. I mean crazy busy. I moved country, I changed job and we had a baby. My job just kept getting busier and busier. I had no time to manage many of my websites and some died. I didn't realize how dead CK had become until recently - and that is my fault.

Adsense was placed on CK not to make tons of money, but to make test how much money could possibly be made and to help pay back the price I paid for the website - I really don't see anything wrong with that. There is nothing evil in paying for something and hoping to make some money back.

Fast forward to recent events...
So I get an email from Helder (that is going to all 8000 members of CK) that does the following:
1. bad mouths me (saying I was just in it for the money when you don't know my situation)
2. tells everyone that Casio Kingdom has moved to Casio-Scene.com
3. tells people how he has copied all the content from a website that I paid Sean Tan a lot of money for
4. tells people he has copied their passwords and private messages as well

I go to visit Casio Kingdom and see that it now is forwarding to Casio-Scene.com despite me still having ownership of the domain names - so clearly the website was hacked and member data stolen.

All of this was done without my knowledge or consent. If someone had emailed me and wanted to take over the site, partner up, share ideas then that would have been great. But that didn't happen. Imagine how you would feel if you saw that someone had a plan (and carried it out) to hack your website to redirect to a website that they had made? to damage your website after stealing the content? to breach data protection and privacy laws that really are there to protect you?

This really is the most serious crime and what bothers me the most. When someone creates an account with a username and password (and sends PMs) they do not expect that information to be taken without the admin's knowledge or consent and used or viewed. As a website admin I wasn't allowed (and never did) view anyone's PMs or passwords (which were encrypted). Helder used a security flaw in the software and took this data (and even I didn't look at it).

You have to be concerned about this. Your private messages and passwords (which maybe you use on other websites) are yours and you shouldn't be ok with someone coming along and taking them. I'm not ok with it, and I'm not ok with someone going further to redirect my domain name so people typing in my website name go to his clone of my website - how is that ok?

I then sent an email to Helder explaining how serious this is and asked him to take the website down.
His next response to me was a refusal to take the website down followed by:

If you want the new site owners are interested in bought your domains, they will pay a big ammount of money... I talked with they about this.

There is a lot more to this story involving Helder's refusal to see that what he did may have been wrong - and his refusal to take the website down until I contacted his host. I will definitely consider posting more about what happened on Casio Kingdom, when I have fixed the website.

Look I want the website to be a good place for all. There will be a few ads that might pay the cost of hosting/software/upgrades but let's not think that me putting a few ads on the side is me against the community it is the opposite.

Also I have had many people contact me since the email was sent out to 8000 CK members and they are very annoyed that their data has been put at risk and taken without permission.

I'm fighting for their interests and mine. If anyone ever steals from you (like stealing member passwords, that puts you at risk), don't let them get away with it - because it is a serious crime.

I am still busy with life, work and family but I will try to be a better operator of the new CK and welcome any help that anyone wants to offer.

If you have any questions about this then please contact me at the email on the CK homepage (please can you remove my email from this thread because it just leads to spam). I am a fair and reasonable person so all respectful emails will be answered respectfully - and I will try to stop by here again to see if there are any replies.

If there is something good to come from this is that I see how much many of you appreciated Casio Kingdom, I really didn't know that. I will try to do better.

Edited by DJ Omnimaga, 01 August 2012 - 01:49 AM.

[Menno]

Matt has banned me from CK because he can't stand the criticism, every post he does not like he is deleting, i wish he would have been so active three years ago when he left CK to die.

Matt, i know you are reading this, I can still acces CK (an IP ban is very easy to go by) if i see you using my files for upload i guess you will have a huge problem.

And Matt, you are a digrace to the community...

To Helder, if you read this, if you want to setup a new forum, contact me, you can use all my files and I will help you creating knowledgebase articles...

[aapman55]

haha they banned you too? I was (caterpie)

[Menno]

Matt is hilariously childish.. I hope he is happy on his new forum talking to his clone's _O-

I hope Helder7 contacts me so we can revive the old CK community because the new CK will never work with an admin that is only there for the cashflow and delete's posts and members that don't do as he says.

I am even willing to host the site Helder made, i would like to see Matt suiing me :') i hope he has a long breath, because i have

[helder7]

I saw him delete menno and caterpie posts

The badge, is a lack of respect... He is making personal attacks in public. He passed all bounds!

I maybe will left calc community, im now working in other project for other devices. Honestly, I was tired of his attacks.

More info in
http://www.omnimaga....p?topic=14046.0
http://cemetech.net/...p=187550#187550



Note:
Users have the right to request the deletion of your files, if he put them online.

[Menno]

He is showing a real immaturity in the way he acts, for now he hasn't any files to upload so i guess he has lost everything... that is very good.

All of my games are available on UCF and planete casio so in a way CK was not needed anyway, but it is indeed sad to see a community killed by a guy who only thinks about cash flow. CK is dead allready, the only ones posting there without being banned are his own clones

If I where you I would not worry about legal actions, he has nothing and if there is legal action, let me know, I am even willing to travel to portugal to testify in your favour. Matt singlehandedly killed Casiokingdom and is now crying about his cash... what a kid...

[DJ Omnimaga]

Note: The Omnimaga thread is located in a sub-forum that requires 100 posts to be reached. Hopefully it gets moved to an easier-to-access section soon. It was actually done so that most people can discuss it before Matt causes the topic to get locked like the other one a few days before. For the most part, however, it pretty much discusses what is being discussed on Cemetech, but seems to side more with Helder7.

[flyingfisch]

I posted there too. My post was deleted. Apparently, Matt is deleting everyone's post that disagree with him...

[aapman55]

Menno, Matt put up your games in the new download section. But he assigned another account to the programs as author to camouflage it.

[Menno]

I have noticed he did that, i have asked him to take them offline

strange that someone so angry about his site being hacked puts someone elses files online as if someone else made them

seems like stealing to me...

Edited by Menno, 19 August 2012 - 12:15 PM.

[DJ Omnimaga]

I think it's more an act of revenge against you for siding with Helder7. This is really sad, really.

I think Casiocalc.org should add a word filter on casiokingdom.org (loose match) to break every link leading there, so he gets even less traffic and his site gets forgotten once he gets inactive and abandons it again.

EDIT: Also how do you download files from CK anyway? I can't find download links anywhere...

Edited by DJ Omnimaga, 19 August 2012 - 03:07 PM.

[Forty-Two]

I posted there too. My post was deleted. Apparently, Matt is deleting everyone's post that disagree with him...

Sounds like a certain communist country of the cold war era.

I think Casiocalc.org should add a word filter on casiokingdom.org (loose match) to break every link leading there, so he gets even less traffic and his site gets forgotten once he gets inactive and abandons it again.

Seconded. I think we should wait for an opinion from 2072 and Micro before we anything though.

[DJ Omnimaga]

By the way Menno did the author name change occurs before you ask the removal of the files? Or was it after? If it was before, it could be intentional due to a bug in his software. No matter what, however, if he refuses to take your files down after you asked him to, then it's just wrong of him.

[Menno]

The last post before i was banned for having another opinion then his was about my files and how I did not want him to upload them to CK ever again.

After that I was banned for life...

The renaming of the author was not unintentional

If there is one criminal in the casio scene it is MattCK himself, I am sure of that now. Stealing software and accusing others of hacking his site, he is a realy sad person... I feel pitty for the people around him... such a sad character I have never met before

[DJ Omnimaga]

Thanks for the information. It's really sad indeed.

I noticed my account is still there and I don't plan to post under that ownership. All I did on CK yesterday was updating my profile and removing any post I have there. If it wasn't for the fact that they were all in response to the anti-Kucalc/UCF drama that would be better be forgotten, I would ask Helder to move them on his own site instead.

Edited by DJ Omnimaga, 19 August 2012 - 04:37 PM.

[helder7]

The renaming of the author was not unintentional

If there is one criminal in the casio scene it is MattCK himself, I am sure of that now. Stealing software and accusing others of hacking his site, he is a realy sad person...

This fake user only host Menno works - http://tinyurl.com/fudgestickle

[Menno]

He asked me via email to explain which files, so i did...

Now wait and see if he takes them offline...

[flyingfisch]

...

anti-Kucalc/UCF drama
...

What was that about and when did it happen?


EDIT:

http://www.casioking...loning-mess/15/

Hmm... I guess the kitchen got to hot for him...

[DJ Omnimaga]

There were long-going disputes between Kucalc and some CK members, partially due to CK members getting banned from Casiocalc in 2007-09. Most of those disputes went on behind the scenes, but in 2009 there were multiple episodes of negative things said about Kucalc and Casiocalc in their back on CK in public, which had echoes in the TI community because most TI guys always thought that stuff never happened in the Casio community and similar disputes in the TI community almost completely destroyed the latter the year before. There were bad things happening on both sides, but the fact only the public bashing against Kucalc went public caused so much fuss because he had a large following in the TI community, so people including myself thought that people on CK just flat-out tried to start site wars for absolute no valid reason like the TI-Files vs Ticalc.org incident.

Regardless, that's the past, though, and I'm betting a lot of people have moved on from those incidents anyway.

Edited by DJ Omnimaga, 19 August 2012 - 07:34 PM.

[Menno]

I got a reply from Matt, i will not post the email here, but it seems there was a mix up after all.

The files are not offline as far as i can tell but they are linked to my account again.

I'm off to work now so I will not have time to elaborate more and get into things, i will keep you updated in this topic

[casiokingdom]

Hi everyone,

It’s been a while!

First off, it’s good to see some guys from the past. I’m glad some of you are still active in the community. I’ve obviously moved on from calculator programming for a long time now, but I still get nostalgic coming back here.

I know a lot has happened since I sold CasioKingdom.org and left the Casio community, and I feel like I can perhaps give some clarity on recent matters.

When I sold Casio Kingdom back in 2009, I was getting tired of managing the website and didn’t have the time to do a major upgrade to the website software (i.e. the terribly security-flawed phpNuke CMS). The website was constantly getting hacked, but myself and our loyal members still stuck around and kept the website growing. I was proud to see it become one of the most active Casio websites at the time. But to walk away completely from Casio calculators, I knew that I would have to get rid of the site so as not to distract me any longer. While it may have been unwise for me to have sold the website, it was a viable option at the time. I didn’t receive much for the website, but every bit counts when you are a poor university student. I’m sure many of you understand what I mean!

Unfortunately, the new admin Matt was too busy to manage CK and left it neglected much to mine and many members’ disappointment. I watched the website slowly decline in activity. Finally it was hacked and access to the forums ceased. CK quickly spiraled downward. I am very sorry to have seen this, and it made me regret my decision to sell CK. I apologise to all past members of CK.

I noticed here on the UCF (casiocalc.org), members were concerned about the state of CK and were making steps to backup CK’s download database. I believe that was a smart idea since the downloads belonged to members anyway and it was a shame to see everyone’s hard-work go to waste.

Helder was keen to bring CK back to its former glory, so contacted me in 2011 with regards to taking over CK from me. He didn’t know at the time that I had sold the site to Matt over 2 years earlier. He then asked for a backup of CK’s database/files which I had from before I sold the site. However, I DID NOT give any files to Helder. As much as I didn’t agree with the current dead state of CK, I wasn’t sure what legal implications that would have since I had sold the site to Matt. That’s all I heard from Helder at the time.

Later on I was surprised that Helder had managed to clone the CK database. I have no idea how he got the database and I do suspect some form of hacking to be involved. Considering the many security flaws in phpNuke, I imagine it to be quite easy to gain access to these files. I read that Helder is claiming to have gotten the backup from a former admin/mod of CK. I believe this to be a lie since only I ever had access to the database backups.

I’m not saying who is right or wrong here. There are clearly two sides to the story. However, hacking a website and redirecting a domain name is clearly illegal. I understand Helder did what he thought was best for the Casio community (and I respect him for that), but he went about it the wrong way. The outcome was inevitable. I was in fact VERY surprised when CasioKingdom.org suddenly redirected to Casio-Scene.

So, Matt, if you do read this: I hope you put more effort into CK now and start listening to the members. Your members are the key to your forum/website. Without them, CK would be nothing. Personal attacks (even as a joke) do not help promote a community. It’s good to see you finally upgraded the software of CK, and it’s looking good so far. I hope the work of CK and it’s members continues on.

It’s also interesting to see the TI community taking an interest in these recent events. It was always good to see the two communities trying to work together. However, for it’s sad to read certain negative opinions about the CK community of past. At its peak, we had a great core group of moderators and loyal members who promoted the friendly spirit of CK. As with any forum, there are always incidents that force admins/mods to take action, but I can assure you that it was never unreasonable. The internet often causes conflicts but it’s usually due to misunderstandings.

Ok, that’s my contribution. Once again: hi to everyone from my past days on the UCF and CK. I hope you are all keeping well and having success in whatever you are doing.

Regards,

Sean Tan
aka. founder & ex-admin of CasioKingdom.org

[helder7]

The problem is solved since yesterday. In the end we reached an "agreement." (finally)

It's not worth creating more wars or conflicts!

Now is thinking ahead.

[flyingfisch]

The problem is solved since yesterday. In the end we reached an "agreement." (finally)

It's not worth creating more wars or conflicts!

Now is thinking ahead.

Excellent.

...

I’m not saying who is right or wrong here. There are clearly two sides to the story. However, hacking a website and redirecting a domain name is clearly illegal. I understand Helder did what he thought was best for the Casio community (and I respect him for that), but he went about it the wrong way. The outcome was inevitable. I was in fact VERY surprised when CasioKingdom.org suddenly redirected to Casio-Scene.

So, Matt, if you do read this: I hope you put more effort into CK now and start listening to the members. Your members are the key to your forum/website. Without them, CK would be nothing. Personal attacks (even as a joke) do not help promote a community. It’s good to see you finally upgraded the software of CK, and it’s looking good so far. I hope the work of CK and it’s members continues on.

It’s also interesting to see the TI community taking an interest in these recent events. It was always good to see the two communities trying to work together. However, for it’s sad to read certain negative opinions about the CK community of past. At its peak, we had a great core group of moderators and loyal members who promoted the friendly spirit of CK. As with any forum, there are always incidents that force admins/mods to take action, but I can assure you that it was never unreasonable. The internet often causes conflicts but it’s usually due to misunderstandings.

Ok, that’s my contribution. Once again: hi to everyone from my past days on the UCF and CK. I hope you are all keeping well and having success in whatever you are doing.

Regards,

Sean Tan
aka. founder & ex-admin of CasioKingdom.org

Great to see you again, Sean.

Thank you for clearing this up for us. I was wondering what the true story was and I think your post is the most un-biased (and probably most truthful) post yet. I hope things make a turn for the better in the near future.

[critor]

The problem is solved since yesterday. In the end we reached an "agreement." (finally)

It's not worth creating more wars or conflicts!

Now is thinking ahead.

By respect for all members who have supported you, I think you should have said a little more than that.
What are the terms of the agreement?

Are you still going to be active in calculator communities and if yes, how ?

Edited by critor, 20 August 2012 - 02:40 PM.

[flyingfisch]

I think Critor has a point there....

[helder7]

The agreement with matt is:

I can open another forum/site, with another name/domain, with posts of 2012 only and files uploaded by members (and delete all content from ck). I think it's a good agreement. And without further legal wars or something.

I was and am still thinking about it better, still have not taken any final decision. I'm torn between opening or not opening a new site, continue or not continue with casio calculators. It is not an easy subject, and I will have to think better, without pressure.

Im also working in other projects, and my time is not enough for everything. I confess I'm a bit lost my motivation after all this, after I have been humbled with badges with text "Helder santos Sucks" (I asked to be removed and not yet), and other situations.

Maybe change platform is a good idea. I learned a lot about calculators in last months, at first I did not know anything about C# language, and now I have the basic knowledge. Calculators with monochrome screen, are losing popularity...

Who wants to criticize me, can do it. I do not censure anyone. I will understand them as critical not only against me but also against the hard work of all former CS members.

I miss the glory days of CS, possibly not return in the future. In 3 months only a new and dedicated community developed about 30 add-ins (vs 2/3 made in the last 3 years). Now some of these programmers ceased activity with the end of site.

I appreciate all the support I have received especially from planet-casio and omnimaga, exceeded much my expectations! I want to thank once again to all who contributed to the old site, with time, programs,help to other members, and also to members who helped me make the idea of a universal wiki a reality!
...

I think the rumors and speculation about this matter should end, since it is solved.

Helder7

Edited by helder7, 20 August 2012 - 03:35 PM.

[DJ Omnimaga]

I'm glad an agreement was reached and that Matt has removed the hate badges and stopped any form of bashing on his site. Although you helped saving CK the wrong way (which I understand was for the best of the community as it was thought that CK would disappear entirely), It's no help for the community if the new admin of CK goes on an all-out war against Helder supporters and certainly won't attract new members to his site.

I hope, however, that you reconsider leaving Helder7. Hopefully if in the future you have some free time you can maybe put the files back online (the CS ones) or have someone else manage the site. I also hope that the legal actions taken against Helder7 for Casio-Scene will not be an excuse for the many site admins out there to not bother maintaining their site in the future, knowing that people will not back it up elsewhere in fear of getting a C&D, and that it won't result in more sites vanishing in the future due to lack of care.

[MicroPro]

Hi everyone,

It’s been a while!

...

Hi there. Your post was informative. Thanks.

So, Matt, if you do read this: I hope you put more effort into CK now and start listening to the members. Your members are the key to your forum/website. Without them, CK would be nothing. Personal attacks (even as a joke) do not help promote a community. ...

I miss the glory days of CS, possibly not return in the future. In 3 months only a new and dedicated community developed about 30 add-ins (vs 2/3 made in the last 3 years). Now some of these programmers ceased activity with the end of site.

You sure were very successful and motivated the programmers. Because of this, I also think:

you reconsider leaving Helder7. Hopefully if in the future you have some free time you can maybe put the files back online (the CS ones) or have someone else manage the site

... and make future community remember the glory.

Calculators with monochrome screen, are losing popularity...

For me they are more precious and cuter than any 2²⁴ color touch screen TFT LCD.

[flyingfisch]

I love my monochrome calc. i think lots of people (and programmers) feel the same way. It's like the difference between a 2012 Corvette and a '67 Stingray. Each is fun in its own right.

[Forty-Two]

At least this is being fixed:

[flyingfisch]

At least this is being fixed:

Hey! I thought we were talking about Casio Calcs!

[somebody1234]

It doesn't look like Matt Gill or anyone in Casio Kingdom has been very active since 2012.

[flyingfisch]

No, they haven't, and the site is full of spam posts. However, if you look hard, you will fine some useful ones.