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\$\begingroup\$

On October 27th, I decided that the following requirements must be met by November 1st for my continued involvement with the Stack Exchange network:

  1. The forced relicensing from CC-BY-SA 3.0 to CC-BY-SA 4.0 must either be validated as legal by a lawyer or legal team experienced in copyright law and open-source licenses, with the explanation posted publicly, or the license change must be rolled back.
  2. Monica Cellio must be reinstated as a moderator on the sites where she previously was a moderator, and then be subjected to the new and fair process for removing moderators rather than a knee-jerk reaction on a Friday afternoon.

Unsurprisingly, despite nearly two months passing since the relicensing announcement, and nearly one month passing since Monica's unjust removal, no progress has been made by Stack Exchange on either of these issues.

I can no longer support the Stack Exchange network in good faith, because I do not believe the network has the best interests of its users in mind. So, I am following in the footsteps of Dennis and resigning as a moderator, effective immediately.

However, because I object not only to Stack Exchange's mishandling of the alleged Code of Conduct violations by Monica, but also to what I believe is an illegal change to the license terms for network content, I'm going a step further. I am submitting a request for Stack Exchange to remove all of my network content, so that they may not illegally host it under a different license than the one under which the content was submitted.

I am very disappointed that the situation has come to this, but I have been left with no other choice that would not betray my principles. I will miss you all greatly.

I am on Discord as Mego#2328, if any of you would like to communicate there.

\$\endgroup\$
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  • 15
    \$\begingroup\$ I have associated my SE account to this site just so I could upvote and favorite your post, because as far I as know you're the only moderator so far who has brought up the licensing issues in their resignation. Kudos for that, sir. Then again, excuse my newbieness but unless Code Golf is very special, CC-BY-SA 3 still applies and the SE staff is not obligated to remove all of [your] network content. The best they will grant you is to dissociate your account from your content. I understand your position, but the latter is here to stay, I'm afraid. \$\endgroup\$
    – Frédéric Hamidi
    Commented Nov 2, 2019 at 12:41
  • \$\begingroup\$ @FrédéricHamidi CC-By-SA 4.0 has been applied to the entire network, including Code Golf. \$\endgroup\$
    – user44904
    Commented Nov 2, 2019 at 13:29
  • 10
    \$\begingroup\$ @Zoe, that was not my point. To be clear, even if we challenge the move to 4.0, and even if that challenge proves to be suspensive, 3.0 would still apply. And Mego cannot have their content removed under 3.0 either, only disassociated. That's the choice we all made when we started contributing to the SE network, whether as moderators or not. Still, I understand where they're coming from. \$\endgroup\$
    – Frédéric Hamidi
    Commented Nov 2, 2019 at 13:36
  • \$\begingroup\$ Which server on discord? \$\endgroup\$
    – Rick
    Commented Nov 2, 2019 at 17:47
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ @Rick Discord supports direct messaging. \$\endgroup\$
    – Esolanging Fruit
    Commented Nov 3, 2019 at 9:06
  • 14
    \$\begingroup\$ Sad penguin noises. Mego, outside of being a mod, was one of the older members of PPCG. Few if any members that were active 3/4 years ago are still active (which imo is saying something about SE). \$\endgroup\$
    – Fatalize
    Commented Nov 4, 2019 at 14:25
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ It's been great having you, and these changes signify that SE is not the same as it used to be. Good luck! \$\endgroup\$
    – Blue
    Commented Nov 4, 2019 at 16:01
  • 13
    \$\begingroup\$ Thanks for all you've done Mego. It's extremely sad to see so many great people leave or stop contributing to the network due to the actions of SE. I admire your dedication to adhering to your principles. \$\endgroup\$
    – Business Cat
    Commented Nov 4, 2019 at 20:10
  • 31
    \$\begingroup\$ I'm glad you're sticking by your convictions and leaving, but I'm also sad you're sticking by your convictions and leaving \$\endgroup\$
    – Jo King Mod
    Commented Nov 6, 2019 at 1:12
  • \$\begingroup\$ @FrédéricHamidi I could have sworn I saw another mod step down mentioning it, but don't ask me to find it. \$\endgroup\$
    – Draco18s no longer trusts SE
    Commented Nov 10, 2019 at 23:34
  • 2
    \$\begingroup\$ @FrédéricHamidi Anybody who obtained the content in question under CC3 can share it under CC3, but redistribution under CC4 is illegal. Request for license compliance or removal is valid \$\endgroup\$
    – Fox
    Commented Nov 16, 2019 at 4:18
  • 1
    \$\begingroup\$ Your adherence to good moral principles is inspiring. \$\endgroup\$
    – Apollys supports Monica
    Commented Dec 2, 2019 at 19:27

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