Is cinema-obscura really down?

[sclerozo]

I was luck to have received an invite to join cinema-obscura and I can't access the site? Is it experiencing technical difficulties?

Can any of you access it?

[Grind$oFine]

It's really down, this has happened before, so I assume it'll be up within a couple days? Maybe even tonight...

[rb1401]

It's still down now. A bit worrying this time as it has been longer than usual. Went off around the same time as demonoid who I also use. It's not been a good week!

[Regavebe]

Crying shame, I never even managed to get an account there.

[pro267]

Cinema-Obscura is down due to financial difficulties. To make a long story short, the hosting service wants more money, and therefore pulled the plug. It is unknown when it will be up again.

[Grind$oFine]

It was said that they hope to have news out to users tomorrow, but who knows. I've been using KG lately but it's much harder to seed with a lot more movies that sound interesting to me. That = terrible combination.

[CaptainHank]

I'm a CO member and logged on here in the hopes that someone would have some news on what's going on... Damn... sorry to hear that. Last I heard things financially were ok as far as hosting fees and that went. I'm sure many users would and have helped them out with that. I hope it's back up soon. Good to find this place though as last time I didn't have a clue where to look for info.

[thebazzla]

yes same here love co and i agree i hope it comes back soon

[pola negri]

Same here!

I deeply hope that it wil go on.

Ask for donations, I'm here!

[briggs99]

:rolleyes:I joined here today in the hope of finding out what has happened to cinema-obscura. So the news is not that good. I have donated in the past to keep the site going as its the only site i use for really good movies that i would never have seen.Anyway hope that they are up again soon.

[hangemhigh]

yes, co good site

[pola negri]

Hey briggs99, I joined here for the same reasons.

I really appreciate that i find here some people which suffer from the same lack of stuff.

But to be honest, its not very efficient.

Nobody knows whats going wrong here. No "official" obscura member is here.

That the shutdown it for financial reasons (that's at least my interpreation of the comments here) its just a rumor.

No solutions anywhere.

I think we should team up and either collect some millions, or write a petition to the chinese goverment (wasn't it china where the server stands?).

Cinema-Obscura is (I'm unable to write "was") the best movie site in the whole net. So we really should do something!

[Grind$oFine]

I don't know if I'd call it the best site, but I'm definitely missing it right now.

I wish there was any statement about whether or not it's coming back or not...
sites aren't usually down this long without some sort of explanation along the way.
If it's a server problem, they can always switch, it usually doesn't take THIS long. :(

[pro267]

There may be some updates on the status of the site, shortly after the 8th.
Keep your fingers crossed.

[tisse]

It was a good tracker, really hope it will be back soon.

[thebazzla]

i miss this site it had all kind of material on it and i owe getting on it to a certain person in this thread

[bamesah]

I hope it will come back soon, i used it a lot

[Grind$oFine]

Latest "news"... I don't know the true source...



UPDATE from Cinema-Obscura:

The host is actually NOT strong-arming them for more cash. They are temporarily down due to some paperwork troubles with Chinese bureaucracy (They're hosted in China). They are expecting the servers to go up sometime within the next 24 hours, at which point they will pursue a long-term solution to their paperwork problems.


it was posted in OiNK's forum 17 hours ago... so maybe it wil be back soon?

[thebazzla]

thanks for the information grind hope they come back soon

[pola negri]

Bureaucracy in China?!

It's a strange world.

(More then 24 hours past, so it MUST be another rumour.)

[Grind$oFine]

Does anyone know exactly how long they've been down?

[ccl0]

Does anyone know exactly how long they've been down?

it went offline sometime in late sept....

this has happened a couple times this year already. i think at one point it was offline for over a month.


hopefully it'll be back like before.

[pro267]

The situation is a little but more difficult this time, it involves paperwork, permits and money.
The good news is that this great place is expected to be back up by the end of the month.

As a side note, I just want to say that every member that likes CO should really think about donating as much as he/she can. I don't want to write the heartbreaking story about how this site is being financed, all I'm gonna say is that if ever a site owner was worthy of your help then this is the case.

[pola negri]

As i said: Im ready to DONATE. Just tell me where and when!

[mr.mystery]

no

[NiftyPipecock]

I miss CO. :( I'll donate when it gets back up.

[ccl0]

The situation is a little but more difficult this time, it involves paperwork, permits and money.
The good news is that this great place is expected to be back up by the end of the month.

As a side note, I just want to say that every member that likes CO should really think about donating as much as he/she can. I don't want to write the heartbreaking story about how this site is being financed, all I'm gonna say is that if ever a site owner was worthy of your help then this is the case.


this is really great news! every time it went offline in the past i would cringe a little and wonder if it would ever be back up again :cry:

thats actually what led me to this site.. hoping to find some clue as to what happened and if it was possibly gone for good

[pro267]

If anyone wants to donate or receive updated news about CO, PM me and I'll direct you to a location where all the relevant information is available.

[sclerozo]

IT IS BACK ONLINE!!! Now have to find my invite from last month.

[pbjabba]

We are back online, see you around.

[lubu]

yep its back online...

[pitters]

What's the new URL?

I'm assuming there must be one, since the home page http://www.cinema-obscura.com/ has a message as follows:

We are closed.

Cinema Obscura's server is colocated in a data center in China, and the site was registered with the Chinese government (all web sites hosted in China have to be registered by a Chinese citizen). My mother-in-law's name was on the registration. Due to all this, we had to impose a strict rule against criticizing our host country's government. Unfortunately, our Moderators couldn't quite remember to enforce that rule all the time, and I was unable to check every post out for myself as I have a life. Furthermore, the usual percentage of fools and asshats who show up at every site with forums were present, and they had a tendency to use the rule against criticizing the Chinese as a weapon against me personally, which put both the site and my mother-in-law at risk of being in violation of the law.

I've been running CO for three years now, and on top of the problems with the rule against criticizing the Chinese, I'm just sick and tired of the usual lame bullshit that the bad apples hand me. There's just a certain percentage of users who will always try to test the limits of any rule, and who will stir shit up for no good reason (or for personal reasons), and they ultimately wore me down. Their needling, tantrums, and inevitable lame comparisons between me and my staff and Hitler and the Nazis -- via e-mail, PM, on IRC, and elsewhere -- became more than tiresome. Whenever I banned one of them, I'd be inundated with other users demanding an explanation for the ban and wanting to argue about it. After three years of relatively patient and easygoing administration, I just can't and won't be bothered with explaining and/or debating such things.

There is currently an effort to resurrect CO in progress. They'll be hosting the server somewhere outside of China, which will eliminate many of the problems. For now at least, I won't be involved with the administration of the site; although I get a lot of love and support from the overwhelming majority of our users, the few who simply can't be pleased and want to make an issue out of everything have worn my patience down to a raw nub. Frankly, I don't like being in charge of anything outside my own home, and stepping down is a huge relief to me even as I mourn the loss of the world's greatest obscure film community.

Cheers!

MOTIS ([email protected])

[Eargasm]

[quote]even as I mourn the loss of the world's greatest obscure film community./quote]

KG is closing too? :cry:

[pro267]

I, for one, really hope CO will return in some sort or another.
It had a much more "homier" feeling to it than other sites with similar content, if you know what I mean.

[JoJoKiller]

I can only agree with you there. i find myself sitting on the computer, not noing waht to do.
I Hope thy will somehow manage to get back online!

GoGo CO!

JoJo

[Nartub]

* Now talking in #cinemaobscura
* Topic is 'We are closed, goodbye and good luck. / http://cinemaobscura.proboards35.com/ For an explanation, see Wdolphin's posts. PS dont panic - and be patient ;)'

[hangemhigh]

wasn't shutting down the forum an option instead of the whole site?:huh:

[ElGatonPirata]

Dunno if you already know but cinema-obscura seems to be back up with a different name, secret-cinema.net .

Cumps.

[0Ri0N]

Ty for info guys!
WB CO! :)

[internazionale 1908]

seems good news Maddix

[JROQuinn]

thanks for the info

[Catcher]

pitters, just bumped a one year old thread and you guys didn't even notice?

[JROQuinn]

pitters, just bumped a one year old thread and you guys didn't even notice?

ummm for your info the site has been down & just recently came back online.

& why open a new thread?