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I forgot - please don't damage the code. Limiting access is one thing but damage usually according all countries' laws is criminal. Preserve the code-base!
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What I do with customers who don't renew support contracts is lock them out so if they install an upgrade from my site without authority it puts their system in demo mode. I have a 'status check' page that enables them to check first so this is only a surprise if they don't check first
In your case It's annoying, but firstly do your best to contact them, and if you get no-where after a month then change your program to a demo version until its resolved. Be as professional as possible
It might not be what you want to hear but if they point blank refuse to pay what they owe, just write it off and move on as its only been a few weeks, as legal action is expensive, time consuming and will do your head in, but under no circumstances do anything that can be misconstrued as intentionally damaging to their system, because presumably as its your software, where are any existing customers going to get upgrades and fixes from?
Good Luck
Bob
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There are a several items to consider:
1. This is January, the period when bank holidays interupt payments.
2. Staff holidays may result in clerical errors where batch tallys do not match and work must be redone to ensure accounts payable goes through. I got caught out by this on my US pension.
3. You may be subject to excise payments to IRS on income received from international sources. Might I recommend contacting a good attorney?
Take no action until you know all the facts.
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The dude is on holiday. Tread carefully.
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If the amount of money at stake is worth pursuing, consider having a collection agency work for you (one of the reputable ones). I had to use an agency a number of years ago for software prodcuts that I sold. Several clients did not pay, when the agency got involved, I was able to recover about 75% of what was owed.
This is probably more expeditious and less costly than hiring an attorney, who might be motivated to run up the hours. The agency gets a cut of the recovery, so their motivation is to move the process along. Also, a good agency is well versed in all of the legal angles, and can ramp up the pressure on the non-paying client in a way that complies with all applicable laws. The agency that I used had a multi-step process, eventually leading to legal action against the non-paying client (the legal action was performed by their attorney, and was included in their cut).
This removes a lot of the emotional pressure on you: you no longer need to be thinking vengeful thoughts and contemplating actions that will get you into a much deeper problem than you want to be involved with.
If the software that you developed is important to your client, will they not need to return to you at sometime in the future for fixes/enhancements?
Let the collector do the work, and allow the situation to quiesce. When the client is ready to work with you again, you can start with a deposit to cover the amount lost to the collector and cover the anticipated amount that you will bill.
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So you've been working for 2 years on this project. Was the project a coding project or was it a monthly maintenance plan project?
If it was a coding project, have you completely satisfied your end of the contract agreement? If you haven't yet finished the project, certainly there must be some areas in the project that still need your attention. Or is that all out of the way?
If it was a service you were performing for the client and he didn't pay, in the U.S., we have what is called 'Theft of Services', but you'll have to prove that your client intended to use your service without the intention of paying for it. But, then again, you're dealing with international laws.
If you've completed the project, how many payments was he outstanding?
There should be no reason for you to act out of character. In the U.S., it's normal for businesses to take up to 90 days to pay. You can still write it off as a business loss from your taxes. Although, you'll have to show a good faith effort in trying to collect, (i.e., send emails to the client requesting payment and stating your intentions for a reasonable period of time).
Even for large amounts of outstanding balances owed to us, it's sometimes better to cut your losses and run. Figuring that the amount of time, money and thought you spend trying to collect, you could put to better use cultivating another better paying client. And, you'll write all this new learned experience into your contract so that you can have some control the next time this happens, and not have to commit a criminal act.
Big rocks and little rocks and sand.
Happy coding, hope you get paid!
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We're discussing changes to the member reporting system and I wanted your input as a sanity check.
At the moment when a member's account is closed due to reports, it disappears. It's like it never happened and no one can prove anything. It's like we provide the alibi and the getaway car.
We're going to change this so that if an account is closed due to a member or members reporting that account, a list of all those who reported the account will be shown. I would be proud to have my name shown as the one who stopped a spammer in their tracks, and I'd also be happy to hold my head up if I had to close an account of a member who was being abusive and disruptive.
Not everyone feels the same, however, and so I'm expecting some members will stop reporting spammers/abusers when this change is made. That's fine, as long as there are members still willing to do the right thing.
So my question is: Do you feel these changes will have a net positive or net negative effect on our site's membership and its ability to control spam and abuse?
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Net positive I think.
Chris Maunder wrote: it disappears. It's like it never happened
I hope that the database continues to hold the data whether it's made public or not.
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I would consider making it an option on showing there name and maybe giving a little more weight to those that do.
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This defeats the purpose.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Want me to vote him down for you? Say the word and he's gone. 
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Chris,
I do not think it does (or more correctly, that it has to)
As a NEW user, I would not feel confident with that information showing up.
But after a year or two, I think it would be a badge of honor.
Is there any way to tie this to the members choice + their rank?
(The demi-gods on the forum cannot opt out. But us lowly servants can?)
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Making it a choice defeats the purpose.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Positive, I think.
Yes, there will be those who retaliate - but I suspect that they do that against those they suspect of downvoting / abuse voting then anyway.
If it introduces a realisation that the authority to do something comes with responsibility to use it appropriately, then it can only be a good thing.
Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay...
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I agree.
The first step in the acquisition of wisdom is SILENCE, the second is LISTENING, the third MEMORY, the forth, PRACTICE and the fifth is TEACHING others!
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Negative. It creates a potential for retaliatory responses (which in turn would create a blood feud between various cliques).
Whichever clique is the biggest wins, everyone else becomes an outsider.
Positive. It creates a form of self government so the hamsters don't have to monitor everything.
---
So um... I guess the question is... Is this the best form of stopping abuse? I'm not sure it is, but I don't have any other suggestions that don't include manual effort by the staff.
Wouldn't it be possible to track which accounts were closed unjustly (based on response from the closed account) and then see who is abusing power...
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Pualee wrote: Wouldn't it be possible to track which accounts were closed unjustly (based on response from the closed account) and then see who is abusing power...
I agree. Is it a big enough issue that something needs to be done?
Good points all around. 
There are only 10 types of people in the world, those who understand binary and those who don't.
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Pualee wrote: Wouldn't it be possible to track which accounts were closed unjustly (based on response from the closed account) and then see who is abusing power...
Yes, and we have this already.
However it feels...undemocratic, for want of a better word. We see who does it, we talk to them, they do it again. We nuke their account and no one sees the debate or the reasons.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Chris Maunder wrote: t feels...undemocratic
Democracy gave us George Bush (both of them), Tony Blair and Vladimir Putin.. perhaps it's not all it's cracked up to be? 
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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Or as Churchill is claimed to have said: "Democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."
But then he also said: "The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter"
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Brent Jenkins wrote: Democracy gave us George Bush
You seem to have a different understanding of American politics than I do.
cheers
Chris Maunder
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Chris Maunder wrote: American politics
Okay, I'll give you that one 
How do you know so much about swallows? Well, you have to know these things when you're a king, you know.
modified 31-Aug-21 21:01pm.
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I think some will probably think twice before reporting something, which might not be a bad thing.
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When I vote, I vote for a reason. If I can't back it up, I shouldn't dish it out. So, go for it.
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I think it'll be a net positive, but I do worry about retaliation. I think the net positive will be that since your name will be published, then only those who have a legitimate beef will report the account.
The retaliation could probably be minimized by listing the reporting members *only when* the account is closed.
In addition, perhaps you should require a reason or comment.
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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