David Icke on the ropes?

David Icke

A name can induce anything from guru-worship to guffaws in derision.

Love him or hate him, David has been having problems recently. Not with the NWO or Reptilian shape-shifters, but with problems of a more practical kind, ones that we can all probably identify with.

A victim of his own success, the surge in numbers and traffic to his website, have been biting into the Icke finances. Adding to that, an increase in the number of server changes and upgrades needed to combat attacks on his website, and the ability to keep his content free and available to all comes under threat.

In a recent subscriber's newsletter, David had this to say:

But, you know, I do wonder sometimes, no, increasingly often, why I bother. Every day I am faced with hours of unpaid work and a stream of emails asking me for help. I always try to do what I can, given that there is only one of me. But when I ask for help? Forget it.

The subscription take-up for a paid-for newsletter - I say 'paid for' I mean the price of a single beer a month - has been, how shall I put it?, virtually non-existent. When it was free, wow, yes please. Now it's the price of a pint of beer a month for four newsletters, no thanks.

The Top Trio of ATS take note. ATS has always vowed to keep it's content free, but it is still interesting to see the quick dampening of enthuasism that goes with asking for a little bit of cash. Even for a site as wildly popular as David Icke's, something for nothing seems to be the golden rule.

This turn of events and the general lack of apathy that greeted his call for some assistance has put David in bad form. He continues:

So if that's what they are considered to be worth - nothing - then why should I spend my time producing them while wondering if my basic bills will be covered at the end of the month and whether Davidicke.com can continue to exist in anything like its present form?

The response has made me reassess all that I have done and am doing because I am up to here with giving out with so little in return. People say they support me? Okay, where is it? I put out an appeal for help with the website and every single response - bar one - was looking to make serious money out of doing it.

So what is going on? Conspiricy Guru watchers like myself have recently seen more websites switch from free to subscribed content. Is this in itself a conspiracy? Are those who would dare to take a dfferent route really under attack or is this the price of being popular in the modern world.

Jeff Rense had to start charging for access to his archives to keep up with bandwidth costs. Agree with Jeff or not, he has a popular show.

I am amazed at how a monster like ATS can keep going with free content. People don't seem to realise the cost of transmitting information to others. I wonder what the ratio of R.A.T.S. to normal ATS members is? Any moderator want to chip in a figure?

The questions that no-one is willing to ask are how far would you really go to find out the truth? When asked to run a marathon when you thought it was going to be a sprint, how many can make the grade?

Or is it a case of overwhelming apathy? We are starting to get disaster fatigue now. Hurricanes, earthquakes, bird flu, terrorists, etc., etc., humanity is in such a spin now that they just want to throw in the towel?There are only so many things people can worry about before it starts to cut into what is important. Looking after your loved ones and paying the bills.

Or is it the case that David Icke's time in the thick of it is coming to an end? Is this the last word from a man who was responsible for starting so many on the path to questioning the world around us?

The next newsletter will go out on Saturday/Sunday and if the take-up is not vastly increased, it will be the last one. And I am certainly not, given this wake-up call, going to spend my hours every day on the website any more if this is how much the information is valued. Why should I? I have a family to look after.

Thanks so much to those few who have responded, it is so much appreciated. But after nearly 20 years of giving out with so little return, enough is enough.

(It seems like his primary website is down at the moment.)

Well, no matter what you think of Mr. Icke, it's generally not good for the entire "conspiracy community at large" for a person of his stature to be thinking the way he's thinking right now. His situation is unfortunate, perhaps not unpredictable, and it's clear he's not getting the help he deserves from his troops.

I believe we are surviving (and indeed growing) because we adopted a different and more "synergistic Internet culture" approach to creating a large conspiracy theory theme website. Mr. Icke's model is the unfortunately dated concept of centralized publishing where one person (or a team of specific people) is responsible for feeding the information engine. The online culture of sharing and collaboration is beginning to show how the concept of centralized information publication is destined for replacement.

As I mentioned in one of my PODcasts, ATS is a capitalist society where the capital is ideas and knowledge. Members invest by depositing their knowledge, and profit by taking away more knowledge. This collaborative environment of knowledge investment establishes an atmosphere where our members end up having a vested interest in their participation in the community.

Fortunately, it worked (whew) and we're beginning to see not only the point where advertising revenue is able to support our growing hosting needs (currently four multi-processor dedicated servers), but even possibly going to the "next level" as our television show begins production.

er... I didn't intend this as "bragging", just pointing out how our differences have provided alternate opportunities than what Mr. Icke is experiencing.

Perhaps there's some way we can help. After all, we wouldn't be a "community" if there wasn't a willingness to consider helping others of a like-minded effort.

i think its a bit hypocritical for david to be asking for money. after all that he has been trying to prove. i really do not think he is short of cash - he has sold loads of books.
a lot of people are very interested in what he has to say - but to have to pay for newsletters seems like money grabbing.

And the website has been down a couple of days, looks like he didn't pay the hosting bill!

Originally posted by truth_hurts
but to have to pay for newsletters seems like money grabbing.

I don't think so. From our interaction with him for the ATS Interview he seemed like a generally sincere and decent fellow. I'm no fan of his ideas and theories, but I can respect his effort and appreciate what seems like someone I'd enjoy a more than few pints with.

Also, don't forget that his books and other items may be his only source of income. An online effort that costs more to maintain than it earns is likely to cause him some serious problems.

Originally posted by VelvetSplash
And the website has been down a couple of days, looks like he didn't pay the hosting bill!

You would have thought by all the books he has published and all the TV appearances he has made he'd be able to afford a server?

.
It is interesting to note that Whitley Strieber has a generous mix of both free and paid subscriber content on his website. He also incorporates a bookstore that sells other people’s books as well as his own. He sells author’s books, so they provide him with more free content. It seems to be a good combination. Free content brings people in, and then he can make his sales pitch. And make it he does…continuously. I go there periodically and put up with the advertising because I do value the other content. I have bought one book from him in the last year.

But even Whitley, a well-established author, has resorted to self-publishing a couple of his last books. He too has expressed disappointment with the sales.

I think it’s a tough business to make your living at. If you are going to feed your family, you have to make a buck here and there. But the slightest hint that you’re “just in it for the money,” and the fans disappear.
.

Anyone here have his direct email addres?

This thread is an interesting contrast to all the cries that Alex Jones is deceptively making gazillions from selling his DVDs (which he encourages people to copy and redistribute), and from website subscription (which is only necessary to view certain content immediately it becomes available).

Hmmm....

why I bother. Every day I am faced with hours of unpaid work

There's an evil shape-shifting reptilian conspiracy that is secretly ruling the world from the shadows and eating babies, and maintaing a website is 'too much' for him to chip in to eh?



I guess saying that the world is really just an imaginary hologram is a good way to cop-out.

To all the people saying that he should have enough money from his TV appearances and book sales I think it is time to wake up

As the ScepticOverlord and all the others involved in running information portals such as ATS will tell you, it is not a cheap proposition. From what I understand about David Icke's operation, the books just about pay for themselves, the website manages to just about break even through advertising and he doesn't make a hell of a lot through his public appearances.

Remember, in the early days he was renting out halls and travelling the country to talk to people and this all came out of his own pocket. It is only now, through the latest boom in popularity of conspiracy research that any small amount of money is being made. Add to that the administration costs of fixing his website after the attacks. If ATS was being battered like that, how would you react? If the top boys here made that call, how many would answer?

People have always asked David if he was afraid that the powers that be would do something nasty to him and he always replied that he wasn't afraid. Well, they might not do anything to him physically, but through the upcoming hate speech legislation and the rising costs of getting the message out there they may have found an indirect way of shutting him up.

And that is something we should ALL be worried about.

I for one will miss his site. The Headlines section was great to get some true news that they dont bother telling us on the mainstream news.

Does anyone have any news on whether his site is down for good?

Originally posted by welshslider
I for one will miss his site. The Headlines section was great to get some true news that they dont bother telling us on the mainstream news.

Does anyone have any news on whether his site is down for good?

Just to say. Reading from another forum that David Icke hopes the site will be up and running in the next few days. He thanks everyone for there support over the last few days.

Good...

If David Icke stops pushing his views out onto other people, especailly in the way he does, if he stops making flase claims with little to no evidence to back it up at long last we might get more people looking into the New World Order.

His whole ideology, just like the other people who claim reptiles are rulling the world are doing so much more harm than good it isn't even funny anymore.

it's only a matter of time before one of these guys jumps out from the woodwork.

Saying. Exactly. The. Same. Things. Each. Time.

Oh, snore. Here we go.

If David Icke stops pushing his views out onto other people

Eh!?! In every interview I have heard featuring David Icke, he has always said the same thing. Take it or leave it, I don't care. How exactly is he forcing you to except his point of view more than say, ATS? Is he repeating his message ad nauseam over the TV? Is he preaching it from the pulpit every Sunday morning perhaps? What is he doing more than any other pundit trying to get his message out?

especailly in the way he does

Like, for example what? Writes books, maintains (just about!) a web presence and readily does interviews when asked. Again, in what way is this offensive to you?

.....flase claims with little to no evidence to back it up....

Go to the bookstore, pick up one of his books and flick through to the end. Everything is sourced and backed up.

at long last we might get more people looking into the New World Order.

If it wasn't for David Icke a heck of a lot of people wouldn't even have known of the possibility of such a thing as the NWO existing.

His whole ideology, just like the other people who claim reptiles are rulling the world are doing so much more harm than good it isn't even funny anymore.

Here we go. The major bone of contention. The reptilian connection. I too am on the fence about those pesky shape-shifting lizards but have had enough weird experiences to not dismiss it totally out of hand. To paraphrase Hamlet, there are more things in Heaven and Earth than are dreamed of in the philosophy of any man.

However, I don't let it become the whole message from the man. I had a theory once that the Reptilians was a way out for people. A safety valve for the mind, if you will. What he is saying is so mind-blowing that when you get to the Reptilian bit, most people will go, phew, I was starting to believe him just then, but TG, he is just another wacko. I mean lizards ruling the world, how ridiculous!

The other possibility is he doesn't want to end up taking a walk in the country and slitting his wrists a la Dr. David Kelly. Give enough grounds to dismiss his message as nutty so nobody will take him seriously. Being taken seriously can be bad for your health in Blair's Britain, it would seem. He still gets time to get his message out there, though.

As I said in a previous post, I am a bit of a Conspiracy Guru watcher. Not many other people invoke the same amount of controversy and anger as David Icke does. That in itself is enough reason to give him more consideration. Almost every mainstream interview he does gets stuck on the lizards or the "Son of God" statement. If I had a chance to interview the guy I am sure I could come up with far more interesting questions.

Go to the internet and you could easily find 1001 nutjobs out there. How many of those guys are having their website attacked on a regular basis? What are people so angry and afraid of? If David Icke is a nutter and his message is tosh, why bother? Why get so worked up?

THAT is the question folks!

Originally posted by wecomeinpeace
This thread is an interesting contrast to all the cries that Alex Jones is deceptively making gazillions from selling his DVDs (which he encourages people to copy and redistribute), and from website subscription (which is only necessary to view certain content immediately it becomes available).

Hmmm....

Trust me,,,Alex has the ability to make gazillions and be a mind controlled yup like the rest but he lives on a humble salary getting the message out. I wouldnt doubt his total take home income in no more than 60k and Im sure he pours some of it back in to infowars and prisonplanet.

I was kind of wondering what happened to his website, I've been trying to access it myself for the last couple of days.

Well, the site is back up any ways.

don't think so. From our interaction with him for the ATS Interview he seemed like a generally sincere and decent fellow. I'm no fan of his ideas and theories, but I can respect his effort and appreciate what seems like someone I'd enjoy a more than few pints with.

I'd have to second that...

He may be a few fries short of a Happy Meal, when it comes to the idea of world leaders being disguised reptoids...but he seems a decent bloke....

whether you love him or hate him. Or on the fence. Reading his books makes you think. makes you question stuff, how much is up to you. its just damn interesting stuff. and thats a good thing - right?