The fringe forum seems to be dying, guys. For you younger users here, you might not really know what a lot of this means. The internet used to be a lot more of a "wild west" with anything-goes talk at a lot of places. Things you can't just walk up to most people and talk about because they'll think you're crazy and probably turn you in. This was always the draw of the fringe forum.
What are the details on the Zoklet close down? What forums are left?
I feel like we need to do something. I don't know what. But this luxury of seeking out our peers may come to a close soon if we do nothing. Think about the importance of these places to you and your life. Even if it's not a regular thing anymore, I know they've changed my life.
Edit: Found this from an informational article:
Let's face it, we all knew well before Snowden that spooks were looking at everything. At first, we laughed it off that nobody would be paying attention to the small timers wanting "revenge" but now it's pretty clear that we're all a subject of interest just for being at places like this. If you run a place like this, you have it even far worse. It's getting to the point that if you grow to a certain point you'll be discouraged from continuing by government harassment.This month, Zoklet finally closed its doors, with its owner, known as Zok, citing health concerns, mounting surveillance, and legal fees as the cause. “Over the years, I’ve been contacted and questioned by the FBI, secret service, local law enforcement, lawyers, and nosy reporters… It has not been a fruitful adventure,” he wrote in a post. (This nosy reporter did try to approach Zok, but received no reply.)
In order to survive, the fringe forum must adapt. While methods of surveillance have gotten crazy, so have methods of rendering it useless.
I propose brainstorming a way to produce a "cloud forum" that can be accessed by anyone but also isn't really ran by any particular person. No individual is responsible for the existence of the forum, there is no head to cut off yet the forum isn't so underground as to be impossible to find. While we may not necessarily USE this method ourselves, it's time we find ways this can be done before there's no longer and discussion or interest in doing such a thing and the fringe forum dies completely.