apollo17

My Feedback: (9)

I got Bit by the bug last week, It came down to wiping everything out os everything. I got it opening up a pic of a top flite gold edition at-6 I believe.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I just checked and those viruses are still in the UPGRADE section

But I have been assured that "I. T." is working on finding altered code and the source of the hole etc.

For now, just stay away from the "Upgrade" area

aussiesteve

I am wondering if the new owners of RCU are Chinese?

Some of the threats are known to be Chinese
The Quality of the site has fallen dramatically since the takeover
Cost of the use of the site has fallen (no need for credit cards to see advertisements now)
They don't seem to give a toss about trading laws or customer satisfaction

but the biggest pointer?
The New owners also control a large amount of other internet forums (Including some previous competitors to RCU)

Yep - it sure looks to me like another takover ploy

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

These threats appear to be or disguised as being from North Korea

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

So who are the new owners and where are they from?

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

Internet Brands now owns RCU. They bought RCU last summer

http://www.internetbrands.com/

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

Where are they based?

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

CORPORATE HEADQUARTERS

Internet Brands, Inc.
909 North Sepulveda Blvd., 11th Floor
El Segundo, CA 90245

<font class="contact">800-692-2200</font>

aussiesteve

Let me get this right
They bought out RCU quite some months ago,
They are an Internet specialist,
Their website makes no reference to RCU or the other RC related forums they own.
The user friendliness, quality and security of the site has dropped off dramatically since they took over.

Why is there a sense of dread for the future of our beloved forums emerging here?

No updates mentioning the new acquisitions, A savage drop in "useability", Security issues. - all scary stuff for the future of the forums. I can see a return to peopel relying on their local field and local hobby shops being the major source of information.

Then again - there are forums that aren't owned by these people. I guess they will see an increase in advertising revenue.

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

Thank you. I am wondering why this was kept so quiet. Should we be worried?

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I don't know either.

I didn't know about it until they transferred the servers and everything got all screwed up and didn't work.

I still have not met on here any of the IT guys. My contacts are still the same ones as last year and they are old RCU people and are forum management and not IT.

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

Very strange. I guess 'Russian Thunder' needed a new pair of shoes.

proptop

My Feedback: (8)

Is it me or does it seem "funny" that there are almost 38,000 "active users" right now, at 4 AM EST?
That's almost double what has been typical lately for around 4 PM EST.
Where are they "active"? They are not in the Airplanes forums.
Check out the Car section...nope...
Boats...nope...
Where are they? Are they in the Marketplace?

Question...
When it's 4 AM here in N.Y. (and "normal" people here are asleep) what time is it on the other side of the planet?

One more tidbit...
I was visiting that other "Group" just a little while ago and got hammered with pop ups and re-directs...(alerts )

I don't get those while here on RCU though...?

I'm a long way from the ocean, but I think I can smell something fishy...

a1pcfixer

My Feedback: (7)

A bit more snooping about the web came up with this;



"RCUniverse.com was established in 2001. The largest and most active community on the Web for radio control hobbyists, RCU boasts nearly 450,000 registered members and millions of guest users. This robust site is a world-wide leader and offers an unmatched array of tools and services to help users from around the globe. In Novemember 2007, Hearst Corporation and MediaNews Group acquired RCUniverse and its sister company Kaango (see below). Kranitz reacquired RCUniverse in February 2010 and sold it to Internet Brands (NASDAQ: INET) in August, 2010."

a1pcfixer

My Feedback: (7)

proptop,

They may not be shown by usernames if they're not logged on.
Many people 'lurk'.

Airplanes400

My Feedback: (349)

Wow, so RCU was flipped twice last year ... and one of them was in a six month period. Sounds like someone was in it just for the money ... Well, that's typical for any business. I just thought the site was more stable than that. Also, it's strange that since Internet Brands took over, RCU has had virus issues and several crashes. As with most companies that buy existing businesses, once they buy a company, their next step is to "clean house." I guess several people will be getting pink slips in the next few months.

SpinnerRow

I think it is going to get worse though guys. RCU used to run on a software package called vBulletin. It was later upgraded to a software packaged called ASP Playground - which was heavily modified. Internet Brands (the current owner of RCU) owns vBulletin and I'm sure they are wanting to move it back to vBulletin. Since the ASP Playground has been so extensively modified, there will be a lot of holes and IED's for them to tippy toe around if they move it to vBulletin. And if what we have seen here so far with their seeming lack of concern and certainly lack of information it could get real nasty.

I've said it before - Piss people off long enough and they will go away and leave your newly acquired site an empty shell with pissed off advertisers. I've seen it done already when a very large automotive site I was part of got bought and after months of problems, someone formed a new site, changed the name slightly and every bailed to the new site. The old problematic site is still there but all of the advertisers jumped with the user base. It won't be there for long.

SpinnerRow

A lot of good it will do but I emailed Joe Rosenblum who is the CTO of Internet Brands, Inc. I guess a few email addresses, so hopefully one gets through.

[email protected]
[email protected]

SpinnerRow

Based on what I've seen so far. That will be a good thing.

mgrande11

When I try to check my PM's my antivirus detects malware and deletes some file and then goes into a virus scan.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

The virus is gone from the upgrade section this morning

ram3500-RCU

My Feedback: (221)

Perhaps the "universe" is too big for us hobbyists to manage. Maybe it is time for "RC World".

a1pcfixer

My Feedback: (7)

Now they're in this area!
3 out of the 4 are.

Check your NoScript.

w8ye

My Feedback: (16)

I'm not seeing anything but I may be on a different server?

captinjohn

<div id="header"><div style="float: left"></div><div style="padding-bottom: 20px; padding-left: 20px; padding-right: 20px; float: right; padding-top: 20px"><div id="qm0" class="qmmc qmsh" rl="1" fl="1" sh="1" ch="1" qmpure="1" style="z-index: 11; zoom: 1">HomeCompany<div rl="1" fl="1" sh="1" ch="1" style="z-index: 21">Our StoryManagement Team</div>Our Brands<div rl="1" fl="1" sh="1" ch="1" style="z-index: 21">AutomotiveCareersHealthHomeLicensingMoneyShoppingTravel</div>Work With UsContact Us</div><! Create Menu Settings: (Menu ID, Is Vertical, Show Timer, Hide Timer, On Click ('all' or 'lev2'), Right to Left, Horizontal Subs, Flush Left, Flush Top) >&lt;script type="text/javascript">qm_create(0,false,0,500,false,true,tru e,true,false);</script&gt;</div></div><! body container start ><div id="body_container"><div id="inner_gallery_container"><div class="header_content"><h3>Management</h3>We are passionate about empowering consumers, delivering outstanding results to clients and shareholders, and inspiring employees to operate and innovate at their best.
</div></div><div id="template_container"><! start template_container ><div id="template_left_container"><div class="template_details"><font class="small"><font style="font-size: 1.25em">Robert N. Brisco</font>
Chief Executive Officer

</font>Bob Brisco is a pioneer in Internet media. He has been Chief Executive Officer, President, and Director of Internet Brands since 1999. Under his leadership, Internet Brands has developed into a highly successful Internet media company, attracting more than 58 million unique visitors per month. Brisco has led the formation and growth of the company, including its listing on NASDAQ in 2007 (NASDAQ: INET).

Prior to Internet Brands, Brisco was president of Universal Studios Hollywood and CityWalk, one of the largest entertainment destinations in the world, hosting more than 10 million visitors per year. Previously, Brisco was Senior Vice President at The Los Angeles Times, responsible for over $1 billion of annual revenue. He oversaw all of The Times' new media operations, directed the launch of LATimes.com, and was a founding board member of Classified Ventures.

Brisco was a consultant with McKinsey &amp; Co. and the Boston Consulting Group. He has an M.B.A. from University of California at Los Angeles and an economics and journalism degree (summa cum laude) from University of Southern California.

You can read <font color="#454f57">Mr. Brisco's Blog</font> at: <font color="#454f57">http://www.bbrisco.com</font>

<font class="small"><font style="font-size: 1.25em">
Scott A. Friedman</font>
Chief Financial Officer</font>

<font class="black">Scott Friedman is responsible for the controllership, operational accounting, finance, planning and treasury functions for Internet Brands.

Prior to joining Internet Brands in August 2008, Friedman served as the Chief Financial Officer of WPT Enterprises, Inc., an entertainment and consumer products company, where he was responsible for the company's financial, human resources, information systems and administrative operations. At WPT Enterprises, Friedman oversaw the development of the company's long-term strategic plans, annual budgets, quarterly forecasts and investor relations strategy. In addition, Friedman oversaw all treasury and tax functions for the company, including cash forecasting and management, federal and state tax planning and compliance, and international tax structuring for operations in China, Israel and several European countries.

Friedman has extensive experience in finance and accounting and working with Internet and new media companies. Before joining WPT Enterprises, Inc., Friedman was Controller at Sony Picture Digital, and previously served in various accounting and financial capacities at The Walt Disney Company.

Friedman was a Certified Public Accountant in Virginia while at Arthur Andersen, and holds Bachelor of Accountancy from George Washington University.


</font><font class="small"><font style="font-size: 1.25em">Chuck Hoover</font>
Chief Marketing Officer</font><font class="black">

Chuck Hoover oversees Internet Brands' marketing including online and offline advertising, consumer and product research, acquisition and retention strategies, and PR. He is also responsible for Internet Brands' business development initiatives to create relationships with strategic partners and oversees advertising sales.

Hoover joined Internet Brands in December 1999 from Homestore.com, operator of the nation's largest real estate websites. At Homestore he was responsible for consumer marketing including management of distribution partnerships with top portals and product development. Prior to Homestore, Hoover was Vice President of Marketing for PeopleLink, the first company incubated by Idealab and the leader in providing business-to-business community services.

Previously, Hoover worked at The Los Angeles Times in the Marketing and New Business Development group developing new advertising products for major retailers and entertainment companies, including the acquisition of Hollywood.com. Hoover received an M.B.A. from Stanford University and a B.A. in economics Phi Beta Kappa from Occidental College.


</font><font class="small"><font style="font-size: 1.25em">Lisa Morita</font>
Chief Operating Officer</font><font class="black">

Lisa Morita oversees the company's day-to-day operations including sales, customer service, pricing, and product and business strategy for the Automotive and Home Divisions.

Prior to joining Internet Brands in March 2007, Morita was Senior Vice President of Customer and Content Solutions at Yahoo! Search Marketing, where she was responsible for leading the customer and editorial operations that supported online advertisers who spent billions of dollars in search marketing. She led the customer operations team through the successful migration of its hundreds of thousands of online advertisers onto an entirely new platform, "Project Panama." Morita joined GoTo.com in 2001 and scaled the operation during its rapid growth as Overture Services.

Morita has extensive marketing and general management experience in companies ranging from early stage to Fortune 500 companies. She was Senior Vice President of Marketing at eMind, LLC, where she was part of the team that grew the start-up company into a leading provider of eLearning solutions. Previously, Morita was Vice President of Advertising and Marketing at The Los Angeles Times, responsible for retail ad sales and marketing. She began her career at Carnation Company/Nestle USA in brand management running brands including the most profitable in the division.

Morita received an M.B.A. from Stanford University and earned a B.A. from Occidental College.</font>


<font class="small"><font style="font-size: 1.25em">Joe Rosenblum</font>
Chief Technology Officer

</font><font class="black">As Chief Technology Officer, Joe Rosenblum oversees information technology, creative services, development and architecture for Internet Brands. Rosenblum has overseen all areas of technology development for Internet Brands since 2006, when he joined the company as Vice President of Technology Development.

Prior to joining Internet Brands, Rosenblum served as Engineering Manager, Portal Applications at EarthLink, Inc., an Internet service provider, where he managed a team of software engineers through all aspects of development for EarthLink Search and myEarthLink. As a staff engineer at EarthLink, he architected and oversaw implementation of "Private Labeling" of the EarthLink Personal Start Page for MCI. Rosenblum started at EarthLink Search in September 2002 as senior software engineer.

Previously, Rosenblum served as a software engineer and technical lead at Epinions.com, Inc., an Internet company for consumer reviews and price information. Rosenblum has both a B.A. and a master's degree from Stanford University.</font>

<font class="small"><font style="font-size: 1.25em">
B. Lynn Walsh</font>
Executive Vice President, Corporate Development and General Counsel
</font><font class="black">
Lynn Walsh is responsible for structuring and negotiating acquisitions and strategic partnerships and oversees all human resource, legal, and regulatory aspects of Internet Brands' business.

Prior to joining Internet Brands in 2000, Walsh was a partner in the Technology group at Alston &amp; Bird LLP in Atlanta, Georgia, where she specialized in public and private offerings of securities, mergers and acquisitions and corporate finance.

Previously, Walsh was a partner at Hunton &amp; Williams in Atlanta. She received her B.A. from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from Wayne State University Law School.</font>


<font class="small"><font style="font-size: 1.25em">Gregory T. Perrier</font>
CEO &amp; President, Autodata Solutions Company</font><font class="black">

As President and Chief Executive Officer since 1993, Greg Perrier has built Autodata Solutions into one of North America's largest software and services boutiques focused on the automotive industry. The company, which Internet Brands acquired in mid-1999, serves every manufacturer in North America from Acura to Volvo through its diverse suite of products and services. Autodata's products and services help auto manufacturers throughout all stages of the selling-chain from market analytics, product planning, vehicle configuration management, order placement, in-dealership retail systems, and dealership personnel training, to consumer-facing web sites.

Perrier earned an honors degree in business from the Ivey School of Business in 1984 and immediately following, served as a consultant with Price Waterhouse.</font>

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