This is what the IOTA Foundation has to say about that:
"As you have noted, several people within UCL, including Navin Ramachandran has expressed their frustration and perplexion toward this act. In fact, we are still not sure whether this is a website being hacked or someone rogue in CBT that put this up. Making such a drastic statement and decision based on falsehoods on a Friday night when no one can reach the people involved is not protocol for a prestigious university or any of its affiliates (CBT).
We have reached out to the directors of UCL CBT pending resolution, but again due to the odd timing, we probably won't have any official response until Monday.
On the topic of IOTA Foundation's attitude toward cryptography researchers, that there is an 'issue' here is a misconception that gets repeated by bad reporting. The IOTA Foundation has always been and is still working very closely with globally renowned cryptographers, mathematicians, and other computer science researchers. There is absolutely no tension here beyond the false narrative pushed by a handful of people. I will once more underscore that the IOTA Foundation has never threatened any researchers for their work, of course not, and we condemn the very idea of doing so, which we have denounced publicly repeatedly. "
"As you have noted, several people within UCL, including Navin Ramachandran has expressed their frustration and perplexion toward this act. In fact, we are still not sure whether this is a website being hacked or someone rogue in CBT that put this up. Making such a drastic statement and decision based on falsehoods on a Friday night when no one can reach the people involved is not protocol for a prestigious university or any of its affiliates (CBT).
We have reached out to the directors of UCL CBT pending resolution, but again due to the odd timing, we probably won't have any official response until Monday.
On the topic of IOTA Foundation's attitude toward cryptography researchers, that there is an 'issue' here is a misconception that gets repeated by bad reporting. The IOTA Foundation has always been and is still working very closely with globally renowned cryptographers, mathematicians, and other computer science researchers. There is absolutely no tension here beyond the false narrative pushed by a handful of people. I will once more underscore that the IOTA Foundation has never threatened any researchers for their work, of course not, and we condemn the very idea of doing so, which we have denounced publicly repeatedly. "
Where did you get the information from? The official blog does not provide a statement. It is not the first time I read something official which was communicated in unspecified channels. I think there should be used a channel for every news from the foundation.
