I got an email from KA, here are the pertinent excerpts:
Hey Mahtek, happy that the cancer is gone!
I finally found out what's going on at Hostgator. It all makes sense
now. It seems they shut their server down to modify it. In the process
of shutting it down, lots of spam got in. but the reason they took it
off line and made everyone on it change servers was they were adding
Google to it. Of course no one there would say anything about that for
the last two months while I was trying to get ODC transferred - with
constant excuses as to what was taking so long. I found out yesterday
when I tried to log in and had to log in with my Google ID. I don't have
a Google ID. I called and asked about this, and they let me know that is
why the new server fees were lower. The adds would help pay for the
sites.
For the last ten years I did my best, turning down offers from anyone to
keep ODC free of adds. I'm not about to let they plaster adds all over a
site I own, especially for Google's benefit, so I shut it down. If
someone else wants to deal with having adds and being tracked, they can
do that. Call me stubborn, but Not Me. They can go fuck themselves with
a splintered broomstick.
Looking at my situation, I'm retiring soon in June, Sue is needing more
attention as is other home things, and ODC did what I set out to do -
give people a viable alternative from TDF. There are other decent forums
out there now, so ODC is no longer needed, IMO. It has been a good run,
but the run's over. I got too many other things going on to rebuild it.
IF it comes back, it will be someone else.
So there you have it. ODC is gone and is not coming back.
