I have some free time so I think I'm going to try to figure out what happened in these recent threads:

The Facts

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=103799

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....hreadid=103776

https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....&pagenumber=18

The first thread talks about APS (Peter Luxon with APS) being banned by Godzilla (Kyle with StrictlyZ and admin who recently made this site functional.) There is some discussion as to Peter knowing why he was banned and some issues relating to APS requesting $5000 (or some part thereof) for a display at SEMA.

The second thread talks about ZxRage leaving for a claim of censorship. There are some interesting details posted from an email. The email claims a conflict between MRC Motorsports and StrictlyZ regarding sale of APS kits. The impression was that ZxRage was sending PMs with offers on behalf of MRC Motorsports to people interested in the APS kit. ZxRage contends he was not advertising for MRC Motorsports. Ultimately, ZxRage is unbanned by Kyle and/or Victor. ZxRage disgusted by what happened, writes his final thread and leaves.

A very good point is made that this is a private site and that leaving is always an option if the site isn't for you.

The last thread confirms that Peter with APS has departed from this forum.

The Issues

Was APS properly banned? Was ZxRage properly banned?

The Analysis

Starting with the easier one, ZxRage was not properly banned as evident by his unbanning. However, in hindsight, MRC Motorsports simply should have paid for sponorship like all the other sponsors on this forum. If they're not a sponsor, this is a private site and sales can be controlled for the benefit of the site and for forum members. ZxRage needs to reconsider his departure because the action that was taken wasn't personal, it was the typical business of protecting sponsor and forum interests that ultimately resolved in his favor.

The discussion about $5k for SEMA displays is irrelevent. That is an internal matter between APS and their distributors. I'm not exactly sure why APS was banned. Kyle was intentionally unclear on this point. I thought I read somewhere that APS might have been supporting one of the non-sponsoring vendors, perhaps MRC Motorsports in this case. But, that's not clear either. There isn't enough information to decide whether APS's banning was proper. What is important is that APS was a big contributor to the forum. The loss of information from a direct manufacturer is substantial particularily to interested forum members. Further clarification should be made about this because it makes no sense to have to go to other forums to get information from this vendor if the banning was something that wasn't necessary.

My impression is that the banning of APS had to do with a conflict between forum/sponsor interests and non-sponsor vendors. I suspect APS tried to support a non-sponsor vendor. APS needs to understand that this is a private forum, that it is free and ultimately serves to benefit forum members. And, that forum members will support the current admins and moderators as long as the forum is used for our benefit. In short, we support the idea of sponsorship for this forum, it benefits the forum, the sponsors, the forum members and the administrator. Consequently, if APS is standing behind a non-sponsor vendor, that approach will not be supported by forum members. If that is in fact the dispute, something should be worked out because, as much as we want your presence and information, if forced to pick, we value the forum first. Try to make up please, we want you here.

 

very well put, but i do have to say that you do contradict yourself a couple times in your post. in the second to last paragraph you say that ther is not enough evidence for you to decide if APS was supporting a non-sponsored vendor, but your last paragraph says the complete opposite. I am not trying to cause any problem at all just asking for a bit of clarification. I agree that the loss of a manufacturer as for information is a big loss for the board in general, but they cannot control who they do business with. i would have liked to read the first two threads but it seems that they have both been removed. that is a pity because now the forum members can't make up their own minds as to how they feel about the threads. thing is anytime someone does make any comment about a sponsor or a vendor, it is immediately deleted or locked. honestly that is not the way to do business at all. the second time is you say it is a private site, but the information is free. you can't have it both ways. you are not protecting the forum members by removing anything not sponsor related or giving a negative feedback about a current sponsors practices, you are hurting them. IMO the only ones that benefit from sponsors is the owner of the board because it offsets the out of pocket costs for running a site like this and the sponsors themselves because they get to monopolize on the market, even though a majority of the sponsors are on other sites as well. the thing is, this is supposed to be a community of Z car enthusiasts, to share our love and knowledge for the car we own, not bicker about who is making more money or who is selling what. by limiting the members access to this knowledge makes it seem this board should be the only exclusive one out there, which that is not the case. I hope this post did not come across as being combative or to cause problems. that is not my intention. it is just to show that there may be some problems on the board and since i cannot speak for every member on this forum (no one can 100%) i can only speak for myself and i can say that i am dissappointed that all of this had to happen in the first place

 

Hey Z04, the whole thing comes together here: https://my350z.com/forum/showthread....14#post1200714

Turns out Peter simply didn't want to pay the sponsorship fee. And, I believe the analysis regarding ZxRage remains the same.

I was bored and had sometime on my hands so, that's the only reason I even started the thread. Looks to me like everything is working okay as far as the forum is concerned. Thanks for your reply.

 

you must have had some time on your hands.

i like how you put this all together, very unbias amd very open it seems.

now, just asking, what made you decide to compile all this into what we have now? did any of these incidents affect you? do you work or volunteer time to my350z.com? whether or not he/she/whatever was banned should play no role in your life. simply put, these ppl were banned for a specific reason.

i guess what i am trying to imply, but may not be able to, is shouldn't this be left alone? i dont see how this is the business or concern of you or any other members that weren't directly affected or connected to these incidents.

however, i could be wrong. maybe this does affect you. still i dont see why you would wanna post the reasoning behind banning anyone. think for one sec everyone that has been banned from my350z.com. should we post for all of them or for any in the future???

see where im heading....

**** is done and over with. can't change the past, all you can do is make the best out of the present and learn from your past.

now this might make you even more upset if you are already. and if your not, i salute you. but i just wrote the following just to be an *** really. it wasn't meant to make you mad, although it might have. i was just seeing how open you were to the opinions of others and whether i was successful in making you think about this in a different way.

hope you understand. if not, o well.

john

btw: i too had a lot of time on my hands.

 

It did affect anyone that deals (wanting info, etc.) with forced induction and/or APS parts. BTW, I believe he is back on the boards now.

 

its not my business, but could you clarify to this could affect or already has affected ppl going FI?

thanks
john

 

Peter has listed more about his products on here than on his site. He was clarifying people with wrong APS info. What's to justify? It's always helpful to have someone who knows a certain brand backwards and forwards, especially when you are dealing with people spending 10k on a turbo kit, it's not something you want to hope for, it's something you want to know. BTW, he is unbanned now I believe, i've seen him post on his name a few times lately, so this topic can die.