Topic: Icopress ' Merit Source Application 🚩 - page 7. (Read 5247 times)

Have you already noticed that he is distributing merit based on his business interests, or are you just assuming that if he gets merit source status, he will begin to exhibit that kind of behavior? If it's the former, could you provide some evidence?

By the way, he wouldn't be the first bounty manager with merit source status anyway.

Last time I checked merit records are public - so what exactly is the issue here? If a merit source were to "abuse" their power it won't take long until the community calls them out for it. Besides that, what's the worst a campaign manager could do by being a merit source? Rank up business accounts for their clients? lol.

I'm also quite confident that any manager here on average read and see more posts than any other user.

A campaign manager and a merit source are an inherent conflict of interest.

I have nothing against @icopress personally and his activities as a bounty manager. It is his personal right to choose what type of activity to engage in and what projects to promote on the forum. But if my voice could influence anything, then I would vote against his (as well as any other forum member involved in bounty campaign management) candidacy for the role of merit-source while he is an active bounty manager.

Not all good proposals will have a positive impact on the community, and not all bad proposals will be harmful. I’m not saying to ban any business activity (other types of activities should be discussed in a separate topic) for merit-sources, but only the role of a bounty manager. I consider the activities of a bounty manager with merit-sources unacceptable.

I don't claim to be the only correct and true opinion/suggestion, but only an honest one. I expressed what I thought about this. Some will agree with me, some will not. This is normal. The purpose of a forum is to speak out and discuss, and then on the basis of this the best solution for the community will be formed.


There is a simple and effective way to check the trustworthiness of intentions any candidate for merit-sources. If the user is ready to give up the role of bounty manager completely (at least for the period of assignment assumes the role of merit-source), then he is worthy of this role. This will demonstrate the “purity” of intentions for the period of service in the role of merit-source, for this is in a sense a volunteer activity.

Yeah, I have been referring to o_e_l_e_o. Of course he wasn’t demoted, but practically the effect is the same.
As far as I know after Ratimov also gave up his status, only a small Merit Source has been appointed (or someone had his stash improved by 200 or so)
 
The situation is the following:

Don't know how far out of the loop I've been, but what events are you referring to, and who are these 'heavy' merit sources that might have been demoted?  O_e_l_e_o was one if I'm not mistaken, but he left the forum of his own accord and that wouldn't qualify as a demotion (but it would leave an open slot as far as I'm concerned).

Em, again....did I miss something with icopress mixing his campaign management with something he shouldn't have?  Is there any substance to the argument that he'd misuse the source sMerits he'd be allotted were he to be made a merit source? 

As far as that proposed requirement above, a lot of members have some sort of "business-related activities" and if Theymos were to assume that there would automatically be a conflict of interest, that there would be merit abuse because of those business activities, the list of merit sources would likely consist of drooling morons below Full Member rank who couldn't tell what a good post looks like.  In other words, it's not a good suggestion.  No offense.

I vouch for this application, as I think I already stated.
Also, given recent events, I guess at least a couple of (quite Heavy) merit sources have been demoted.
There might be space for a new one, and I think @icopress ticks all the boxes. 

I'm not giving ethics lessons...I'm stating the change in my opinion..

As for the rest of your post, this has already been discussed elsewhere. If you want to rehash that conversation, you can go to the relevant thread. I personally have already responded to it, the community and I have moved on...otherwise it'd still be a conversation.

I must say that I do like that the best you can do in attempt to invalidate my opinion is a set of quotes from August of 2023. That says a lot in itself. You're a very cute member and I enjoy your ongoing entertainment.


I 100% agree with you and I am pleased to see a fellow member sharing their honest opinion. Refreshing, and very well said. Kudos!

I am of the same opinion that there should be a clear distinction between the business role (bounty manager) and the merit-source (volunteer activity) to avoid conflicts of interest. In my opinion, combining the role of a company manager and a merchant will inevitably lead to abuse of power opportunity. Should clearly separate flies from cutlets / bees from honey.

I am firmly convinced that in the conditions for the appointment of a merit-source there should be a clause "a candidate for the role of a merit-source must NOT have any business-related activities".

Do you mean that you, with your (supposed) super high IQ, do put the interests of the community first by wearing a casino advertisement in your signature, while saying this?


You're not here to give many ethics lessons yourself. I'll summarize it for you in a sentence, which is not mine:

I retract this support.

Since supporting icopress, I have only noticed more and more that he is here to favor his own interests with advertisers and that the community is not truly first priority for him. It is fine to make a business from bitcointalk. If you want to do that and prioritize the business over the community however, then you do not deserve to be a merit source...

If icopress is made a merit source, you can be very sure that merit distribution will be biased and influenced by icopress' business interests. There is no way that it will not be influenced by their business interests, and it would be naive to think that icopress will take an unbiased approach to merit distribution.

There are many better members out there to support or to encourage to make an application for being a merit source over icopress.

Even though I'm a relatively new user here on the forum (I've only been here for a few months), I always see @icopress participation as a positive contribution to the entire bitcoin talk community, which is why I support him in this candidacy and I'm absolutely certain that he will do good work, contributing and encouraging all good users to contribute even more.

I believe, he is already doing this, he follows a lot of users, especially those, who are members of the signature campaigns he manages. But of course with the opportunities if a merit course he would be able to do more, appreciate more quality users and motivate them to to their best here in the forum. I think he has a decent understanding of who deserves merits. And this is exactly the quality that the merit source needs.

I think Theymos should consider Icopress's merit source application because he's a very active member of the forum and he's doing a great job. Although, there are some other good merit source applications but I think this one needs some special attention because Icopress has been doing very good on the forum and if he becomes a merit source then he can help so many members by meriting their good posts.

I am glad the thread was bumped. icopress created the thread in July 2023 therefore it is approximately seven months ago and there is no estimated time before he is advised if the application has been accepted or rejected.

As there are far too many merit sources at the moment it seems there is an understandable lack of urgency on part of theymos to process this and other applications. I hope he receives a positive outcome soon.

Friendly bump, as I think the forum still need more reliable sources

Give that man the merit source, please. He is more than established and competent for that position.

Well, considering that Ratimov, as a merit source from the Russian board, withdrew from the forum with all his privileges, It seems quite logical to me that icopress should take its place. As far as I know, he is active in the Russian local board, I'm even convinced that he would manage such an opportunity better than the previous ^Ratimov one.

note: However, I'm not a regular visitor to that part of the forum, I almost don't even know which of the more reputable members is from there.

Mine will speak.

For how long do you want to become a merit source? I mean, how quickly will you get tired of playing it?

There was that one character in the local section with a past as a merit source and who ended his activity on the forum on a negative note. It seems to me that all his activities with the role of a merit source were only to satisfy personal selfish goals on the forum. He played around with the activities of the merit source and eventually abandoned it. You won’t say in a year or a little later that you’ve had enough and ask to be relieved of these responsibilities, right?

Will your activity as a bounty campaign manager interfere with your role as a merit source and vice versa? Or is this a way to combine one with the other for the benefit of promotion?

In my opinion, when recruiting another merit source, one more requirement should be added - “this forum user must be free from any third-party activities, such as the role of a bounty campaign manager and the like, in order to avoid abuse of some job responsibilities for the sake of gaining benefits in others.” Let's be honest, the merit source will allow you to spam the forum with your nickname anywhere and everywhere, which will have a positive effect on the advertising of your services.

I have worked with icopress many times, and always remained only the best impressions. icopress is competent in many areas, so I have no doubt that it will be an excellent merit source. I see that he is active in several locales, which should also benefit the entire forum. Of those users who would now like to become a merit source, I do not know a more worthy candidate, who could apply for this place.

I believe that icopress can become an excellent merit source, and that its applications will be accepted in the near future.