Just read it Pam, Really looking good now, My membership is almost out I just hope the system will not pull the plug on me during the transfer phase. If the proposal is not accepted they will pull the plug anyway.

things look promising Pam,thanks for the update

Oh thanks Pam, I paid up my annual fee yesterday.

It has been made very very clear (in several groups/places and by people repeating it in posts) by the IMA that subs are not to be paid right now.

ANY subs paid now are (legally) going to the Ipernity SA.. and will not (as stated by them ) now be refunded.

When the IMA officially take over .. we hope that is very soon... THEN a request will be made by the IMA for full subscriptions.

At worst... people were buying a 3 mth sub... and then that too was withdrawn.

So.... hoping Jenny you have not paid to anyone.. as it is non refundable and non transferable... again.. as clearly stated in the IMA group and other places where people have repeated the messages

Pam, would you mind entertaining a question about timing and transition?

If anyone else has a good answer, and not just a tirade on ipernity, I'd appreciate hearing it.

We are to mid April. If one's membership expires around the first of May, is there a danger of losing nearly all their images? I know one doesn't want to pay in to an entity that is about to hand over the keys and walk away, and one can't pay the new landlord yet. I am very concerned about this. Assurances that no one's photo stream will reset to the old 200 limit are not enough to put my mind at ease. I know how sites have things set as automatic default. Unless someone knows where that is and turns it off, I can see it causing members to lose most their stream.

If this has already been addressed, I am sorry, I have missed it.

Thanks in advance for considering the question.

Hi Smiley....

The reset function from "free" to 'paying" (just using general terms here) is a VERY common one on many many sites. I belong to 2 more at least where this is a function.. and know of several more.

ALL the pictures are still on the Servers.. so they are NOT lost.

Paying (updating an account) when it has lapsed in all the cases I know of... instantly gets all the pics/doc/whatever back.

If this is successful for the IMA.. they will of course be given the 'keys" so to speak.. and as you saw in the formal proposal... Christophe has also said he will at least temporarily assist where its needed in those respects.

Frankly... people have been putting the cart before the horse for weeks on here... what was VITAL.. and PRIORITY.. was to save the site... and with that goes the obvious basic things.. like pics/docs etc on the Servers.

I refuse to do anything other than trust the IMA. That is the choice I took when I donated

There are no guarantees in life... if this fails the plugs will be pulled shortly anyway. If people havent got their stuff backed up(and that means ANY SITE ANYWHERE) on their computers and an external hard drive(frankly memory sticks and such are so cheap now and so are externals) then they honestly shouldnt be on the Internet .

So.... my feeling is this.. if the bid fails.. we all who donated get our money back and its Bye-bye Ipernity.

If the bid succeeds.. we hope we can make it thrive again with some work by all of us. No guarantees... ever..... you pays your money you take your chances... that is for each of us to decide and NO blame on anyone.

As to what is on the Servers .. the IMA will be given all the info... just like in any other business deal.

What so many also seem to not get is that the negotiations COULD NOT (often by law) be all disclosed. It takes TIME. The IMA have so far acheived in 6 months what normally take 2 years.

I have been going through this with another site for 5 years !!! That has included 2 ownership changes and constant shutdown threats. I do have a very real grasp of reality on all this.

I hope some of that is at least a help to you !

I appreciate all the points you make. I, too, am of the mind that one must proceed with faith in ipernity's future.

What I wonder about, still, is what happens if the individual yearly user fee is up for renewal during the critical weeks of transition. I hope for a grace period, and I just hope that's not hoping for too much.

Thanks, Pam.

Smiley.... as far as I can read it... if your account runs out .. it will revert to a free one.

Then... if all goes well.. the IMA will then ask for the yearly sub whatever they decide and how they decide... and once paid... your account will revert to Club for one year as normal.

There will be probably a 3 mth free option for new members.. but expired account Club will be given the chance as I said to renew and get Club back.

That is my reading of it .

In short.. it you have Club and it expires... fear not... if you then pay when asked the yearly to the IMA.. all will return as Club

Thanks, Pam. I hope you understand where I'm coming from with the original question. I have been more concerned about the macro of Ipernity than the micro. But at the end of the day, there's still our small, personal stake in it that we hope to see protected. :)

This article looks well-timed, even if my query was not:
www.ipernity.com/doc/serola/44613266

:)) .... and so we wait.. and that is ok !