To address your points domathy
Firstly I respect all you have had to say - You appear to just be asking reasonable questions and asking for clarification - which all of us can relate too considering what we have been asking for from sean.
My personal feelings about Icke are rather ambivalent - I do not personally know the man nor have I had any interactions with him so can only go by secondary sources which may or may not carry their own bias.
I suspect that Icke knows how the admin team run his site - I have issues with the way the site is run. That does not mean I think icke is a wanker or that he doesn't provide a service.
My issues are as follows....
There is a difference between hate speech and freedom of speech - without getting into the merits of freedom of speech it is my belief that with rights such as freedom of speech comes a responsibility not to be a shit. I suspect that in my time I have offended people - no one can entirely second guess whether what they do or do not say will be found offensive by someone else - there is however a line where any reasonable person knows the way they are presenting their beliefs is likely to cause upset.
Currently at the DIF there is unfettered and nurtured extreme views that whilst people are perfectly entitled to hold the way in which they present them is offensive and against the forum guidelines. Guidelines that were put in place by the admin team.
There is an incongruity in which the rules are applied and enforced - you cannot protect hate speech under the guise of freedom of speech and then silence anyone who says something about it - that is hypocrisy too far imho.
Rules are changed in order to react to criticism as opposed to rules changing after mature, open and considered discussion between the team and the community. How can anyone talk of people being sovereign whilst the site is a dictatorship? I understand that decisions need to be made and that sometimes not everything can be discussed and voted on - however the people who make up the DIF community either pay in cash or in time to be a part of it and the forum itself serves as a great advertising space for ickes work. How can we possibly come together as a community and be the change in the real world if we cannot do it on a forum? The answer is we can do it and are doing it - and it is the DIFs eternal shame that in order to do it we needed DG and others to provide this arena in which to do it.
How can we rail against invasion of privacy by governments and big business on a forum that employs the same tactics?
How can we possibly say infinite love is the only truth with a straight face - and about ridding ourselves of the ego when the person who espouses this says stuff like
I couldn't care less what they say because they are a bunch of irrelevant, self-indulgent navel-contemplators who are doing the Illuminati's job for them by seeking to undermine any researcher who commits the crime of actually getting the information out to the mainstream public.
For them, it is not about exposing manipulation and injustice, nor serving the greater good, it is about finding a vehicle for their own bile and hatreds. What deeply sad people they must be to have so much bile and hatred to hurl at their daily targets. How acidic their bodies must be by now, let alone their minds.
I feel for them, imagine living with that every day.
They are just cowards who hide behind log-in names to spew out their hatreds from their gutless anonymity. They have balls the size of processed peas and the word pathetic does not even begin to suffice.
I have already done more to inform the public worldwide, and change lives for the better, than these people will do if they live to be a thousand. That's all that matters to me, not the trash that is constantly hurled in my direction.
This was directed at the illusions website - who were threatened with legal action after posting some videos from youtube from icke - this was at the same time as the DIF was being set up so many websites and facebook pages that were not 'officially' endorsed were strong armed into either not mentioning icke or were shut down. Tactics big business have used against independents to the detriment of us all - creating monopolies which help no one.
That icke earns substantially more then the average person - I couldnt care less about - he works hard and if people want to buy it that is their choice - he can earn 10, 100, 1000, 1000000 a day I don't care - what I do care about is being treated like an idiot by those perpetuating the myth that he is in penury. It is a bit like people trying to tell me that the queen is poor - I know it isnt true - and I don't like being lied to.
Thats enough for now the pooch needs to be let out - but will address more stuff as I think of it.
In short my issue is not with icke as such it is with hypocrisy and nastiness.
Thanks for your reply. I don't have time to reply to all points as fully as I would like to, but just want to say that I do totally agree with what you are saying about free speech. ALso that I know I contributed to the negativity at DIF because I sensed it was a sinking ship and out of frustration just thought to hell with it and on reflection do feel somewhat ashamed.
And yes, all this stuff reflects badly on Icke, which is why im not convinced it is calculated on his part as, if he is a businessman, then its not very good for business is it?
But now he has a choice; 1) go for integrity, and fund the site himself so the people who think he's a quack can chit-chat in peace and choose the direction of the forum (and implient some kind of entrance exam or censorship or pull the plug altogether)
or 2) just go for the bucks and allow people to say what they want as long as that doesnt invlove challenging a moderator. Sorry, not a very well balanced list but Im at least trying to view things from all angles.
. I wasn't ecstatic about it shall I say! 
(dentists are my one big phobia,hahaha). That sounds AWFUL. At least it's over,you're much braver than I could be 
