Closing of IBN

Status
Not open for further replies.

medictod

Member
Feed Provider
Joined
Mar 11, 2008
Messages
31
Was a little suprised to read the email distributed by IBN regarding their closing.
Did many others once use this site but migrate away for similar reasons as I did?
Radio Reference just plain made it easier to become a listener, not to mention a feed provider.
While IBN was nice, their migration from Teamspeak 2 to version 3 lost me as a listener, and I never beacame a provider after getting the impression I had to do more than just provide a feed.
Thank you RR for giving us an easier platform to enjoy our hobby, provide our audio to others, and I hope many of the IBN providers who are now without a server will migrate their way here to RR where their contributions will be greatly appreciated.
 
Joined
Jul 23, 2007
Messages
580
Location
Edmonton, AB
I'm actually quite surprised to hear about their closing down. I never tried to use the new version of Teamspeak so I don't have any thoughts on that. However at one time they were one of the largest stream providers around. I believe they did a good job of making this aspect of the scanning hobby known.
 

webstar22

RenfrewCountyScanner.com
Feed Provider
Joined
Dec 21, 2003
Messages
999
Location
Ontario, Canada
I was on IBN I had about 50 icecast listeners and I didn't even get 12hours to let them know before they killed the servers.

I don't see why the move to TS3 was a big issue for people. The TS3 software is far better then TS2 and IBN has never forced me to do anything else but be a feed.


There is a problem with us migrating to RR.com, most feeds are word of mouth and well I just lost my entire listening base other then 6 people I got on a twitter group 1 hour before the shutdown. My other issue is RR.com rules. OPP TAC channels are in my scanner and will stay there but from what I read SWAT channels are not allowed. OPP TAC channels are used for many many reasons and one of them include ERT, ETF etc... comms. I also have Military Police and Fire on my feed which the rules say I cannot so I am not sure what to do.
 

APSN556

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
161
Location
Phoenix, AZ
What bothers me is that they failed to notify people in a timely manner. Many of us here at RR also stream our feeds to IBN for one reason or another. To wake up this morning to find all of your links dead is annoying to say the least.

I streamed feeds to IBN because the RR Website embed code for developers will not let a user play more than 1 feed at a time, and its not very user friendly.

Bummer.
 

richtidd

Active Member
Database Admin
Joined
Dec 19, 2002
Messages
1,150
Location
San Mateo, Ca
I was on IBN I had about 50 icecast listeners and I didn't even get 12hours to let them know before they killed the servers.

I don't see why the move to TS3 was a big issue for people. The TS3 software is far better then TS2 and IBN has never forced me to do anything else but be a feed.


There is a problem with us migrating to RR.com, most feeds are word of mouth and well I just lost my entire listening base other then 6 people I got on a twitter group 1 hour before the shutdown. My other issue is RR.com rules. OPP TAC channels are in my scanner and will stay there but from what I read SWAT channels are not allowed. OPP TAC channels are used for many many reasons and one of them include ERT, ETF etc... comms. I also have Military Police and Fire on my feed which the rules say I cannot so I am not sure what to do.

For classification here is the do not feed list:
Feed Provider Terms of Service

Feed Providers are not allowed to broadcast:

  • SWAT "type" operations if on dedicated channels or talkgroups
  • Narcotics / CID / Investigations or other tactical operations
  • Dedicated channels or talkgroups for Ambulance to Hospital Communications
  • Dedicated Federal Government or Military Communications (exceptions include any fire fighting or EMS operations, space shuttle communications, park ranger operations)
  • Any commercial service broadcast (FM/AM/TV etc)
  • Music or talk show of any kind (commercial or non-commercial)
  • DJ or other type of similar activity (commercial or non-commercial)
  • Open Microphones
  • Schools/School Buses
  • Citizens Band (CB)
  • NOAA Weather Radio (See WunderGround for a host)
RadioReference reserves the right to limit access to or disable broadcasts that the management feels not appropriate for the community.


We do allow Military & base Fire & EMS. Not the Police though.

Dedicated SWAT is not allowed but if the transmissions are on a dispatch or other shared use channel or talk group, that is OK.
 

Livewire3286

Member
Joined
Jan 24, 2008
Messages
207
Location
Montesano, Wa
Thanks for the great thread guys, glad we made mention here.

For clarification for most of you here that have commented - I have put more than 6 years into IBN. The post someone made was correct we used to be one of the largest and most popular places on the net for scanning listening .... However things have taken there toll on us over the years. The economy for the first part. I personally have been paying out of pocket month after month with very little support from the community as for as what we did. No one really helped out with donations and such at all. They all wanted something for free, and whenever fees or contributing came up, I got shot down and was left flipping the bill.

For a great example, the Obama Inauguration in where we also let RR re-feed the feed cost me over $1000 in bandwidth and no one ever helped out with it and I didnt make a cent on it. I had been paying $200 monthly for 6 years so that comes out to about $14,400. And currently I am only working a PT job due to the economy the way it is. So that became a burden.

My health played a factor in all this as well. I am diabetic and had lost my main job in Vegas last year due to an illness diabetic related. Over this last year I accrued more medical bills that you could imagine. I am barely making the payments on it as it is.

We spent the last year revamping many things trying to get participation. The TS3 program was on track, and a great program. We didnt expect everyone to make the move right away. The program was a bit too simple for some of them out there for them to understand People couldn't figure out there was no user registration. The TS2 program is at end of life and no longer supported byt the TS people. You cant even download the program from their website. And if you download it from somewhere else, that nulls and voids the terms of service. So it was a move we had to make due to the the way TS people made it.

As for the short notice on closing down, I would love to have given more notice, believe me - IBN was my life. The data center informed me Friday morning that they wewre seeing an error on the HD and were going to have to replace it this weekend. That meant total new HD, OS reinstall and then me going in and getting Icecast reinstalled, TS3 reinstalled, All server OS reconfigired, Pay for certain modules again like the firewall and mail scanner software which would have taken days.

Right now I am in the middle of EMT class, and this is really important to me. I do not have the time to be able to piece everything back together. I failed a quiz the other day and that was not like me at all. Luckily today I got over 90%. But when I take everything factored in, the Financial, Mental stress, lack of new involvement, and then the fact that the server HD had to be replaces - and then one last final piece, if I moved to a smaller cheaper server by the end of the weekend I saved $200 on the next server bill I didnt have to pay.

So time was just not really on my side to have to pay another $200 to wait for everyone to talk about it. I already spent $14,000 with not much thanks.

So there you have it guys ... Finally an official post by me regarding what transpired.
 

SCPD

QRT
Joined
Feb 24, 2001
Messages
0
Location
Virginia
Brian thanks for all the hard work that you have done over the years i am in the same postion you are in and i understand how hard it is.

I went from making $70.000 a yr to making nothing due to me being out on medical leave i also run a group in Michigan and pay for everything out of my pocket so far since 2002 i have spent well over $20.000 and i get very little help in getting my costs back.

Thanks

Matt
 

PeterGV

K1PGV
Joined
Jul 10, 2006
Messages
754
Location
Mont Vernon, NH
I hate to see any radio-related web site close down, software to stop being supported, or company to go out of business. It's not good for the community.

It is, however, interesting to note that few community members seem to truly understand the level of dedication some of these activities require. I have no inside information at all, but I suspect ScanAmerica wasn't doing very well before its acquisition by RR. Now, IBN bites the dust. And it's not for lack of trying by the folks who ran these enterprises.

Kinda makes you glad that Linsday's clever/fortunate enough to be able to make a commercial success of it, doesn't it?

Peter
K1PGV
 

APSN556

Member
Premium Subscriber
Joined
Oct 22, 2008
Messages
161
Location
Phoenix, AZ
despite the frustration with timing, I will miss IBN. They had a very sleek website and very friendly staff. I think RR could learn a few things from them in some ways.

I have stated my only issue with RR (the embed feed code for developers) if that were fixed, then things would be kosher.
 

mtindor

OH/WV DB Admin
Database Admin
Joined
Dec 5, 2006
Messages
10,366
Location
Carroll Co OH / EN90LN
Kinda makes you glad that Linsday's clever/fortunate enough to be able to make a commercial success of it, doesn't it?

I know it makes me glad.

It is, however, interesting to note that few community members seem to truly understand the level of dedication some of these activities require. I have no inside information at all, but I suspect ScanAmerica wasn't doing very well before its acquisition by RR. Now, IBN bites the dust. And it's not for lack of trying by the folks who ran these enterprises.

Indeed. Obviously the investment by numerous site operators is very significant. And when the community does not support them monetarily, this is what happens.

Bottom line, nothing is free. And a non-pay model or donation-only model just can't sustain what SA was doing or what IBN was doing (especially if the clientele wanted everything for free), and most definitely this model couldn't sustain what Lindsay is doing. All of this costs money. On top of equipment/infrastructure, there are inherent costs of running any business. Last but by no means least, anybody who puts this type of significant effort into building a site, a platform, a business, deserves to make money off of it. It can't be a labor of love forever. To grow, to be an innovator, the people in charge must be able to count on the bills being paid by income generated by the operation as well as a paycheck for themselves. Burnout and health problems are a guarantee in any effort such as this where the operators are paying out more than they are bringing in and getting the proverbial slap in the face every time they turn around by people wanting something for free.

I disliked a thing or two about IBN back a few years ago when I briefly provided a feed, but overall I thought it was a nice operation. Their newest site is great. And I'd never wish them this outcome. It is unfortunate. I hope at this time the pressure is off the owner and he can focus on more important things, like health and happiness.

Mike
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top