I echo the comments of Andy, Scott, etc. Groundspeak/gc.com has become a
monopoly, perhaps not in any legal sense of the word (I wouldn't know), but
certainly a monopoly in fact. Their management has come to the conclusion
that they not only own a website, but that they own Geocaching. How else can
one explain their complete disdain for their customers, when so much of
their profit is based on the volunteer labor they receive from those very
same customers? How much do you think a "premium membership" would cost if
they had to pay their reviewers the federal minimum wage? All we can do is
thank folks like Artemis who freely give of their time to advance what we
do, although their efforts have the unpleasant side effect of lining Mr.
Irish's pockets.

I, too, have owned my own business, and I've been in the business world
since before many of you were born. And I still haven't recovered from Mr.
Irish's post this past July (http://tinyurl.com/d6rss) in which he writes:
"I'm a firm believer of firing your worst customers...". No business owner
can believe that unless they are convinced of two beliefs: 1) Their business
is the 800-pound gorilla in their market, and 2) NOTHING is ever going to
change that fact.

Belief number one, in this case, is fact. Whether belief number two
continues to remain fact will be borne out only by time. This particular
market (a commercial Geocache listing service) has significant barriers to
entry, and the shoulders of the Information Superhighway are so littered
with proof of that, we could probably hold a CITO event. (Anyone else
besides me remember geogamers.com?)

One of the reasons Groundspeak has been so successful is because they have
managed to make people forget that they are a profit-making organization.
They ask their customer base to endure inconveniences as though doing so is
supporting a not-for-profit. "Premium members" who now have to request their
pocket queries every week know exactly what I'm referring to. How long would
you stay with your email provider if you had to send them an email every
week saying, "Please, sir, I want some more..."? But you have dozens of
options for receiving email. The reality is, you don't have a lot of options
if you're an active cacher, and Groundspeak milks that reality for every
expense-cutting maneuver they can concoct, regardless of how much they
inconvenience their customers.

There's no point in complaining to management. If they don't like what
you're saying, well, they're "... a firm believer of firing your worst
customers...".

That, in the final analysis, has been the difference between gc.com, and
this website/listserv. Brian and Jason conceived this site, brought it to
life, and have done all they have over the years out of a love of Geocaching
and a desire to improve the caching experience. Though many would dispute
that it's a positive thing, I think the reason Arizona has never had a
formal Geocaching organization is because azgc.com has done such an
admirable job of providing most of the benefits such an organization might
bring. We are all in your debt, gentlemen.

As Scott said, I'd rather give you guys the thirty bucks a year just to
download AZ caches, and take my chances on the increasingly rare occasions I
do go out-of-state. But the only way I can think of to deflate Groundspeak's
arrogance would take a lot of time, skills (not just computer skills, but
marketing skills and customer-oriented business skills as well), and some
fairly deep pockets. Given that, though, I believe they are ripe for the
plucking. Their corporate actions are making it more achievable every day.

Steve
Team Tierra Buena