The initial response by CCP to the allegations of widespread corruption of the last 24 hours has been interesting.
Clearly, they have learned from the mistake made in handling previous dramabombs. This time, after taking down the forums,
they posted this news item, acknowledging that the accusations have been made. That's a good thing, and suggests a degree of transparency. That the person who posted it is CCP Arkanon, head of CCP's Internal Affairs team, set up after the T20 dev-cheating scandal (when a CCP developer caught cheating was essentially excused for his actions, despite their immense potential effect on the gameworld).
On the downside, only one of the three allegations is mentioned in that item, and there seems to be a degree of prejudice here, in that before the Internal affairs department - themselves implicated in the scandal regarding improper BoB-ISD contact - has investigated the suggestion is made that the developer involved was probably just doing his job. I, too, were I in his position, would find some sort of semi-believable reason to act before making such an outrageous move.
While CCP Sharkbait and the potentially illicit corporate transactions he carried out (and about which all petitions were locked and deleted, and any attempt to escalate refused - so "just doing his job" sounds fishy at best) might well be the most vital in terms of immediate effect, it is the fixing of events, and the ability of BoB members to have ISD employees threatened and, ultimately, fired that I find most unpleasant. It, yet again, points to a culture of involvement between certain players and CCP as an organisation that is at best hugely unprofessional, and at worst downright corrupt.
One neutral (non-Goonfleet) poster said it best last night in a now-locked thread: if CCP just admitted up-front that this is their sandbox, which they run largely for their own benefit, and that the choices were reduced to "Eve - love it or leave it" then such frankness would, at least, not leave such an unpleasant stench of petty, grubby corruption in the nostrils.
If anyone feels that they are of strong-enough character to descend into the nine levels of hell which are the Eve-O forums, then
a discussion thread has been allowed by CCP: another wise move, and another lesson learned from the T20 scandal. If nothing else, it leaves their board moderators only one place to look.
PS - Rather disappointingly, I seem not to have got myself a ban. Some on the Goonfleet forums are proudly flaunting their pariah status. How I envy them.