After removing all dialogue on the cache page itself Jacob has finally responded, in part, to the storm (in a teacup) his re-invention has caused. See the comments from the Groundspeak Forums ...
"Wow. I see this caused quite a stir, let me see if I can explain.
Over the many years of maintaining these caches I have been contacted
many times by Groundspeak telling me that the caches have started to be
"passed around" or taken to events and mass logged. That is not
allowed and I have been told if I don't police it better and stop that
from happening the caches would be archived.
Personally I hate deleting logs, but in hopes of keeping these unique
caches alive I have tried to police them. I do not enjoy being the
police and instead prefer to let people do what they want.
There was recently another rash of "illegal" behavior with the caches
and I was faced with the need to stop it, I thought about just archiving
the caches because it is not fun to babysit people who can not follow
the simple rules on the cache page.
I temporarily disabled the caches and asked the people who had them to
take the caches and either hide them as a new cache hide in a permanent
place or take the contents and put them in another cache. I thought
that way there would be no "litter" caused by leaving the caches places
and I would have time to decide what to do.
I was of course ignored in my requests to those people, and the people who continued to find the cache while it was disabled.
I have so far decided to keep at least one alive and given it a fresh
start closer to my home where I can hopefully keep a better eye on it.
I expect to get the other two going as well but the blatant refusal to
my requests is starting to make it go back towards archiving all three.
Hope that helps? "
One of the many deleted logs, including mine, was the last finder's 'found it'. He had offered Jacob many options ...
"UK cache status
Those observing the logs in the last two weeks may recall that I posted
the last set of UK coordinates. The container is still there and fully
intact.
Nevertheless, I recognise that the lack of information for UK Geocachers
is giving way to something less pleasant so I've decided to share what I
know and offer my interpretation. I'm fortunate in one sense. I became
aware of this cache only recently, so have spent less time-and-effort on
it than many.
Don't misunderstand me; had I been following it for months, watching it
come within reach only to have my plans dashed by a sudden move away,
I'd be right with you. I'm not so bound-up in it but fully respect those
who are.
Nevertheless, I too waited for the CO to explain his motivation and
intent. With none forthcoming and very aware that I was last to hide the
physical container, I made direct contact.
For reasons that I didn't challenge, the CO wanted to relocate his cache
to Utah. I proposed two actions that he might take: 1) provide a
TB-style 'mission' to allow it to return home under it's own steam or 2)
allow me to mail it to him in Utah at my own expense.
Now, I realise neither of those would satisfy all UK Geocachers but they
would, perhaps, deliver a more elegant closure to many. We could all
shed a single tear and wave an empty logsheet as we wished the cache a
safe voyage back home. ...or something like that.
The CO didn't take me up on my suggestion or offer. Our exchange stopped
pretty quickly but I leave it open should he have a change of heart.
Now I see that he's deleted all UK entries following his own 'Disabled'
post. That includes all offers- to-adopt and leaves all courteous
questions unanswered. He has also deleted my Find log which I do find
disappointing. I drove some distance to recover the cache; I really
didn't anticipate that my search would ultimately prove futile.
I too had my moment of annoyance and resolved to submit a 'Needs
Archiving' log. I've changed my mind, asking myself "what's the point?".
This is just one of those rare Geocaching irritations like people
logging a Find without signing the log or without even visiting the
cache. In the end, it's hurting nobody.
I'm sorry if this comes across as sanctimonious. I seek neither thanks
nor sympathy. I hope by concluding that the UK chapter is now over won't
get me flamed either.
c'est la vie Rodney, c'est la vie - which probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense in Utah.
Happy caching, even if you're from the Beehive State,
John."
Now that it has gone live in Utah we have a piggybacked find ...
"Along with Utahsnowflake for the hide, now we can officially log it.
(New coordinates are in her log.) Many thanks for the awesome revived
cache!"
... and a passing around/headsup ...
"Grabbed this tonight with MrsLegoLegend! Thanks utahsnowflake for the
heads up! I thought this cache was gone. It was larger than we
anticipated. We'll be placing it soon! Thanks Jacob!"
... as the first 2 finds where it is 'closer to home' and 'easier to police' ... lol, just LOL!
Now Oracle has put another Needs Archived log on it ...
"Seems the US cachers are doing exactly the same thing that the Brits were accused of !
Best
way for Groundspeak to address the situation is to archive the moving
caches. Whether that is possible when COs delete such logs immediately
remains to be seen."