Open Letter To Rizzn Hosting

[theFerf]

Dear Rizzn:
People have complained repeatedly about your service to me. I personally have sent you emails inquiring about different problems I have noticed with your site and feeds with no replies trying to help you become better at what you do.

I think your service is a great idea, however, vulnerabilities exist in your site. People have had their podcasts hi-jacked, deleted and I have personally browsed through what should be administrative level directories on your server without any troubles.

My question is this: What are you doing to maintain the integrity of your services and to maintain/grow your customers? Please do not take this post as an attack, but podcasters need to know what they are getting into and I cant seem to contact anyone from your site. At this point, since i cant seem to get a reply from anyone there, I may be forced to make some decisions reguarding reccomending your services to podcasters and allowing anyone hosting with you to be listed on this directory.

Podcasters: Please feel free to chime in here with your thoughts and opinions about the Rizzn service. Good or Bad...we need to hear them. I know many podcasters are hosted with these services so if your is...please tell us about your experiences so far. I actually am hoping that someone will tell me that Im completely wrong about their services. :)

* Anyone who has visited this site and the forums often enough know that I try to maintain a level of integrity in the podcasting community by providing fair, non-biased reviews about everything podcast related. This is our chance to really take a look at Rizzn and what they are offering.

[rizzn]

People have had their podcasts hijacked and deleted? I want to know where you get off making allegations like that!

There is one and only one user who has had their podcast hijacked, and that is VioletBlue - and that is only after being a non-active user for over three months, and only after I learned she moved to LibSyn. Her subscribers were eating up a third of the rizzn.net bandwidth, and the feed was no longer active, so yes, I hijacked it.

As far as other users are concerned? I think you should talk to Radio Free Calamity, or perhaps Clusterflux Anomoly, or maybe PodPoet, just three very popular podcasters on my system who I've been very active in helping. I am but one person, and I have in excess of four hundred users on my system. I get hundreds of emails a week, and it is not my primary job function to run this company (yet).

Security leaks, thanks to a mindful r.Podcaster user named Paul Wright, were pointed out two weeks ago and fixed.

If I recall correctly, I recieved an email from you a couple months ago soliciting your work as a coder. I get ten or twenty of those a week, and I don't have the pocket book to hire that many coders, nor do I need them.

I could say the same thing about you not responding to your emails - I sent you an email back in November or December asking if we could work together on an API so that I could automatically add rizzn.net users into your directory - and you never replied.

I understand you say you don't mean this as an attack, but you make an awful lot of unfounded allegations that you've never made to me in private... and private is where this conversation needs to take place.

As far as growing my customer base - I have a floodgate growth policy. Those that don't like my service can leave and freely do. Those that love my service are welcome to stay, contribute, and contribute to new features that I can develop.. but mostly I grow via word of mouth. The only advertising I do is I sponsor a couple of pages here and there (about $5-10 a month in advertising), and post on a couple forums every week or two reminding the public I'm out there.

Of all the podcast-exclusive hosting ventures, I'd guess I'm the top one as far as market share (excluding companies like FeedBurner or Blogger), and I could post you hundreds of emails from my users that talk about how well the enjoy the service.

I admit it's not perfect, and I admit it's a work in progress. You get what you pay for, I guess. I don't have the star power of Adam Curry, and I can't command hundreds of programmers to work for free, nor would I since I might want to incorporate my idea into a business model at some point. I have a conscience, contrary to what your open letter intimates, and I can't ask people to work for nothing and profit from their labor.

I'm not sure if this letter is what you were looking for. It seems to me you posted these unfounded allegations mostly to stir up some controversy on your bulletin board and increase user participation. I can understand that, as I've been involved with some light-committment communities like podcastalley.com before, and things can get semi-boring without any drama. I don't fault you, therefore, for your posting of allegations.

I will not, however, continue this discussion in public. If you wish to learn more or ask me more questions, and actually get an answer that means something instead of conjecture and allegation, email me at mark@aacsnet.com or rizzn.dourden@gmail.com.

[allthewhile]

I see nothing wrong with opening a public debate about the merits, positive and or negative of a service even if it's free. And as for the "allegations", maybe that was going a little too far, but so what. I'm sure he's not lying about it. People probably have emailed him.

In other news, I was happy with the rizzn service when I first began podcasting, but uploading through email and HORRIBLE user interface drove me away. Again, I had nothing to complain about, since I dind't pay a dime. I was, in fact, and still continue to be greatful for the free services offered; I've even forwarded new podcasters your way.

Rizzn: please get someone to redesign your site.

[theFerf]

I will email you shortly to discuss this further. No issues with that, and I am VERY happy you decide to publish a reply. Rest assured this is not for the purpose of drama, rather in an attempt to make you aware there are issues that need to be fixed with your service.

By the way, the only way i knew you had replied to this email is because you set this thread to "watch" for replies. The email the forum sent to you bounced at your email account, just like other emails i have attempted to send you. So it sent me a notice saying it had bounced.

I still hope that supporters of your site login to this forum and praise you. I have very few complaints about your services but since i could not get thrugh by email, I decided to post my questions on the fourm. I will consider our public discussion of this matter closed and will coreespond further by email.

[theFerf]

UPDATE: Rizzn and I kissed and made up :)

[Version3]

Well, I suppose that could be good news, but I am still troubled by this statement

Her subscribers were eating up a third of the rizzn.net bandwidth, and the feed was no longer active, so yes, I hijacked it.

As it demonstrates a VERY unprofessional way of handling a situation. I for one would NEVER get involved with someone who hijacks a customer account and uses it to push content. It is decietful to the subscribers of the customer. The correct thing to do would have been simply to remove the URL to the feed completely. I would be amazed to see any company grow with the knowledge of actions like that being released to the podcasting community (or any other customer base).

Remember, for every 1 satisfied customer that is will to tell 1 person about your good services, a dissatisfied customer is prepared to tell 10.

[korntee]

According to Mark Hopkins himself, Violet Blue had 5,000 subscribers. I am one of them, and have to say I was pretty pissed to get 53 of his crappy podcasts. He can't even use a descent microphone. What a jerk. Did he even contact Violet before samelessly promoting his own blabber?
I was also a rizzen user, but I have moved to libsyn, which is way better and worth paying $5 for, and I know that if my podcast gets popular someday I won't be penalized or badmouthed for it. By the way I found Violet Blue's new feed:
http://violetblue.libsyn.com/rss

[rizzn]

If you had listened to the podcast where I explained why I did what I did, or read the several blog posts or forum posts, you would understand why I did what I did. This will be the last time I explain this for the slow ones in the audience:

1) Violet got popular on rizzn.net
2) Violet switched to LibSyn
3) Violet told her rizzn subscribers she switched, but they never unsubscribed from the old feed
4) Violet's rizzn subscribers continued to download off rizzn.net
5) I have no reason to help promote someone who is using my service to help promote a competitor direct market competitor.

As a corrolary, it should be noted that:
A) Violet was never badmouthed on my podcast
B) Violet was never badmouthed on my blog
C) I left Violet's original mp3's on rizzn.net server because she links them from her blog. I simply overwrote the XML feed that was no longer being updated.

If this doesn't clear things up, then I am truly sorry, I don't believe I can state it any plainer.

If you feel you need to spend $5 on something I offer for free, by all means, go and do so. My service works. Use it or not... it doesn't hurt or help me if you do or don't. I do what I do for my own reasons, and if you don't want to get on board with that, it's your call.

Probably not the best marketing pitch, but I'm not into podcasting for the money. Obviously.

/rizzn

[violet/blue]

I guess you can call me one of the "slow ones in the audience" as well.

A few salient facts:

Hopkins never attempted to contact me about my feed, whether to query the status of my podcast or inform me of what he was going to do (take over my subscribership). I only received one email from him months ago asking me not to leave his service. I replied, asking about imporvements to Rizzn and (like all my other emails to Rizzn) received no reply. It was his responsibility to at least contact me before he took action.

I only announced in my podcast that I was moving, not the names or brands of any "direct market competitors." It's ridiculous to try and justify what he did based on market competition and then profess to not be in it for the money.

I have hosted my podcasts from my own site since February 4.

It's very likely that since I had around 5000 subscribers, it only brought Rizzen more business. At least now that has ceased.

I had thousands of subscribers. That kind of listenership can only be built over time, which I did through hard work and publicity (I'm in Wired this month, and it's not just dumb luck that got me there) -- unless you just take them from someone else without asking. Thanks to Hopkins I no longer have those subscribers. Incidentally I have received a flood of angry email, and they are not mad at *me.* They are quite angry that Hopkins did this, and that he said I "sucked," which definitely fits in the category of badmouthing.

It is very important to note that Hopkins did not call me a "client" in the podcast(s) he sent out to my subscribers. He called me a "chick who talks about sex." It's clear that he did not see me as a customer but as something else, and since there are so very few women within the podcasting comminuty I urge the community to think about what type of message this sends other female podcasters and women who might've considered using a service like Rizzn's to do a podcast.

This man also has a small but substantial handful of my personal infomation, as is required to set up an account. Since he cannot be trusted to communicate with me, about the status of my feed, I will now have to take any and all necessary steps to protect myself from whatever he might do with that information.

It seems that you can get your feed taken away from you at any time with free services, especially ones without policy. This is a cautionary tale for anyone who signs up for a free service such as Rizzn's.

What Hopkins did was wrong, and it can't be undone. I am outraged and plan to persue this matter to the fullest extent. Calling one of my listeners "slow" has only angered me further.

[Version3]

Well, I for one am not at all impressed with rizzn; be it the actions that have taken place or the words posted here in "defense". Being a free service is not a defence for being an *** and f'ing over customers. I hope you openly become the joke of the podcasting and hosting communities you are painting yourself up to be.

Good luck with that.

[PupuStudios]

Rizzn: please get someone to redesign your site.

Yeessss....
I recommend a design firm called Pupu Platters Studios. http://www.pupuplatters.com

[martymulligan]

hey version3, has anyone told you you look like Kevin Meany in that picture? :D

You look so antagonizing, i just have to check out your podcast now!

[Version3]

Who is Kevin Meany? Sorry I have no idea who that is, but is it a compliment at all? :P

You look so antagonizing, i just have to check out your podcast now!

I think that's an excellent idea you have there! :D

[allthewhile]

http://www.stressfactory.com/comics/meaney.jpg

kevin meaney

[yaz]

FISH STICKS!

[theFerf]

FISH STICKS!

Yaz, that was hilarious. What makes it more funny...is that it is a moderately inside joke. If new members are reading this...they dont get it :) I have to say, I appreciated allthewhiles photos.

[allthewhile]

http://photos3.flickr.com/5025426_9c0098c343.jpg

FISHSTICKS!

[yaz]

im having a hard time here because the fish stick picture he looks like he's old and in the "gazing to the heavens" picture he looks like he's 12, is this the same guy??

[allthewhile]

I'm ever ancient, ever new.

And I like fishsticks.

And free t shirts.

http://www.podcastalley.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1285&highlight=#1285