Wait, Wait, Fred has answers
“You’re doing it wrong! Try it the right way with javascript enabled and it’ll work!”
“The negativity in general means when one’s actions, comments, votes, tweets constantly hurt other people. Please be courteous to each other. Have fun and be cool because we also own the internet and you’re not allowed to say anything that might offend anywhere on it.”
“Most people LOVE US! If anything NEGATIVE is said about EdenFallacys it’s because of the COMPETITION! Look at the sex reviewers blogs who are posting it, they have competition banners posted!”
“You are simply not allowed to affiliate or review for other companies! Otherwise anything you disagree with is because of the above!”
“We’re just butthurt that in three years no one noticed what we were doing. We are confident that we do not violate Googles Webmaster Guidelines, we are sure of it!“
“No, we have no intentions of being a truly honest community where y0u are welcome to post your questions and concerns considering our practices. Instead we will delete your threads and throw a ban hammer at you troublemaker. Then we will respond to your allegations in a superior manner, because we’re smarter than google and you.”
““There has never been an intention, or agreement, or any commitment to link back to a writer. There is no agreement that both parties sign that says anything about linking back to an author’s blog/ site/ page.“
“Last week was the first time we ever had to actually apply the Cooling Off Period. Our other alternative would have been to shut down the entire forum, but that would be extremely unfair to the people are not involved in the current drama.“
So that is the jist of Fred’s answers to all the questions. The short simple answer is, “It’s because other real HONEST and ethical companies are jealous. So if a contributor has a question or a negative comment directed toward EdenFallacys it’s a conspiracy. Since we own the internet we will be policing EdenFallacys based on your actions outside of the site. In compliance with our new TOS you are not allowed to make a negative comment anywhere about us or anyone else, otherwise you’ll be banned. “
Seriously, check out the e-mail that was forwarded to me by DarlingDove. Least she got a response. I e-mailed the moment I was locked out and have yet to hear back. That’s fine with me as I don’t honestly care that much. It’s just interesting to read Fred’s spew stating they would be corresponding with the banned.
EdenFallacys is just digging themselves a bigger hole by beating around the bush, giving bullshit answers which have been proven to be bullshit, insulting other companies to the point that some are now refusing to take on reviewers who are affiliated with EF.
If anyone is still sticking around just because of the free toy in exchange for review there are far better and honest companies who provide a quality and caring sex reviewing program. A few examples are AdultSexToys, Babeland, PinkCherry, Vibrator.com and Fascinations. There are plenty of choices and definitely no shortage. In fact, most of these other programs are superior to EdenFallacys.
If it’s about affiliate earnings MyTickleSpot has a wonderful program where you can cash out via paypal for just $50.00. I’ve also heard great things about GoodVibes.com but have yet to fully test out their affiliate program.
Honestly, think about it if EdenFallacys didn’t have anything to hide or were not in the wrong the reaction wouldn’t have been a big cover-up. Instead they would have put it to rest with a clear and concise manner or admitted fault.
Really, it’s okay to say “Hey, we see why you’re concerned and we’re glad you brought your concerns up. It appears as though our technology is outdated and we fucked up. WE FUCKED UP! WE ARE SORRY! This how we plan to fix it.”
5/25 @ 3:37am: Violet Blue alluded that she will be addressing her thoughts on EdenFallacy’s Link Farming.
5/25 @ 3:33am: OH NOES! EdenFallacys is keeping track of us! 😉 Others who’ve written about this matter have had multiple referrals from the secret staff forum as well.
Juliettia 
I totally love you. And yeah, on a plane, can you believe that? I had to ask Britni about the link drama because I had no clue!
They own airplanes now too. Have you e-mailed them at all about the matter?
Nope, maybe I should, but I know they’ll say it’s because a) I planned to leave and b) because I was “part of the drama.”
Holy freakin’ wow.
So, I posted about EdenFallacys right before I was headed to a conference, and simultaneously as I was putting together a session to lead at that conference (about transparency, appropriately enough!). I was extremely busy and just now had a few moments to catch up. And, amazingly, I can’t even catch up since there’s been so many more bad moves on the part of Web Merchants, Inc. aka EdenFantasys.
It just makes me so sad that the technical expertise their code clearly demonstrated isn’t being put to better use. I mean, it just feels like such a waste of time and talent.
There are huge problems in this world; the stigma of sex-negativity is literally causing people to kill and be killed just for consensually enjoying their bodies with themselves or with others, or even just talking about sex in open and honest ways. And, as technologists, people like me have a certain power to effect real change in the world. And, as bloggers and writers and outspoken individuals of all stripes, people like you can change the world, too.
And here’s the thing: as business people, people like Fred Petrenko, Victoria Steinour, and the rest of their team also have a vehicle (commerce/economics) to change the world. And yet they chose to do this instead?
Among the rest, this also shows me how much more work we need to do to make transparency as ubiquitous as it needs to be to give us that better future I know humanity is capable of.
Oh I just got all sorts of thrilled that you used a link to my tweet concerning REAL ethical, supportive and accepting communities. (I’m @HollyOrd on Twitter and I’m also @WomanTribune because I run two sites because my life just needed that. much. more. in it and apparently I like having no time.)
I basically thought the same things as you put in this post when reading yet another attempt by Fred to explain away all the problems people are seeing within EdenFallacys. Of course people who used to review for them have banners on their sites for real and awesome shops and communities. If we’re writing blog posts about how bad EdenFallacys is and why it’s such an unethical, dishonest place that just changes its TOS when it suits them after the fact, then shouldn’t we let our readers, who we have built relationships with through our blogs and who we consider friends, know who to shop instead? Seriously, Fred needs to put on his big boy undies and stop trying to bullshit everything away. It’s like this: Technically, EdenFallacys is a new company. They fucked up real bad and people caught it and made a decision to leave –after– seeing Fred pile bullshit on top of bullshit. I think that if he came right out and said that their linking practices, hypocritical transparency and banning anyone who challenges them was wrong that more people would stick around. Hell, if EdenFallacys admitted that the banning of Epiphora was handled in a horrendous way, more people would empathize and stick around because they would feel like their concerns were really taken into account.
A business’ decision to play god and give the illusion that they can do no wrong helps no one and makes your community see the light and leave.
I don’t think Fred understands that it’s okay to fuck up, as long as you’re honest about it and make an attempt to remedy the situation. Cover-ups and an overuse of technical big words never plays in their favor.
You’re also welcome for the linkage. Totally improves the points I make.
Oh, and another thing! Has anyone received an actual email about their banning/account being disabled/if they are a part of the “cooling off period” or a permanent ban? I haven’t and while I had planned to leave EdenFallacys, I would have liked an email addressing the fact that something I dedicated a bunch of hours to was all for nothing because I turned out to be anything but another sheep of a flock that are praising everything and anything they do.
The only person that I know of that has received an e-mail was DarlingDove. She replied and her account was never reinstated. I myself e-mailed them the moment I was locked out for an explanation and have yet to receive an answer.
Yeah. I read that yesterday and was floored, yet again, by how ballsy that guy is to tell bold-faced lies to his customers and community. My issue is with the higher ups and how they run the company, not the people I personally dealt with for assignments and such (like Carrie Ann, Gary, Laurel, Victoria). They’re basically tied into it all if they want to keep their job, which is completely understandable in this economy.
It really pissed me off to see him basically accuse his competitors of having something to do with the outrage about everything. People have been reviewing/affiliated with other retailers for months, or even years, and they just now decided to make a dig at EF? What bullshit.
Then to keep lying, saying they aren’t doing anything underhanded when Google says they are is outrageous. He knows that the majority of the people who are still there don’t know enough about the technical side of things that they’ll be easy to confuse. If what they’re doing isn’t bad/wrong, why would he need to add that they never agreed to link back to anyone?
Another issue I have is if their coders can come up with such a sneaky link program, why can’t they copy some forum code from somewhere else so they can make important announcements, like this, sticky. When they post these announcements and lock comments then it just gets spammed into oblivion with all the other surveys and fluffy shit.
See, I never had a big problem with the linking issue itself. What was a deal breaker for me was the way things were handled. Which is everything you’ve already commented about. Had it been handled in a more professional truthful manner I would have been happy. I think most people would have. Instead it’s just been a big run around and accusations toward other companies and people who have nothing to do with it while not taking any blame at all.
Hey, Thank you for sharing all of this information. With out all of the informative posts on blogs, and the help from a few select people, I never would have understood the entire situation.
I blog.. but I am nowhere near a programmer. So at first, I had no clue what was up. Though I understood it wasn’t a good thing.
Now I am fully informed, thank you!
I think the thing that tells us most clearly that there’s a culture of deception at Eden is that they keep changing the story they’re telling, and yet still are not answering the core question.
That they’re lying about security being a motivator for the java links is obvious to anyone who knows anything about this, but the fact that they’re spinning bigger lies to cover existing likes tells us the underlying corporate culture is one of dishonesty and subterfuge.
They’re absolutely, unquestionably, caught in a trap they created. The only open question is, will customers punish them by withholding business, or will the trickery continue to work. Alas, I fear for the latter; consumers are not all that clever.
That’s why it’s all the more important to keep the buzz going to let people know; Eden are a dishonest, sneaky business, and need to be shunned.
Wow, Fred really did not read through his own contracts to see he has thrown himself over the cliff by trying to back track on things that were out there for everyone to see. Just reading through the forum, he is trying to put the blame on everyone else and say people are jealous of the competition EdensFantasy is having instead of realizing they are trying to tell him the company is dealing in shady business transactions.
Damned awesome banner! I love it.