[FoxInTheHenHouse]

There has been a lot of discussion as to whether it's in everyones best interest for news of this scandal to reach the main stream media.

I think it's ABSOLUTELY imperative that this story breaks worldwide. My reasoning is quite simple and logical.

1) if this happened at Absolute, it sure as hell can happen elsewhere. It may be happening in other poker rooms already. By bringing Absolute to there knees here, we may force all poker sites to look long and hard at their security and plug any leaks they find.

2) in order to bring Absolute to task on this, we need the mass media to focus on them.

3) while the fallout from this may hurt us as affiliates, poker players, webmasters in the short term, the industry will gain credibility and trust in the long term.

4) as a player, I'll find it much more comforting making my next deposit (where ever that may be) knowing that a site the size of Absolute can be brought to justice by a few poker players with the smarts to smell trouble and the ability to publicize their findings in a way that made the world take notice.

As an affiliate of Absolute (and many other sites) I wrestled with this for a long time before deciding it was the right course of action. I blacklisted them on my site early yesterday so I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I figure any commissions they owe me are gone but I'm willing to put the good of the industry ahead of my personal gain in this case. I know there are many other site operators who did the same and I commend them for their selflessness.

i hope that when this is finally over we will hear from FT, Stars, etc. that they have done an internal audit and can assure the poker playing community that this will not ever happen on their sites.