CCP's War On Bots: An Unusual Threadnaught

I have to admit that my interest in CCP's War On Bots™ was spurred on by NinjaSpud's threadnaught Reporting from the front line of the Bot-War.  I didn't really know a lot about Eve Online's botting underworld until I started googling some of the phrases in the tears from botting sites that were posted in the thread.  At the beginning, NinjaSpud identified the bots by code.  Now?  People post thinly veiled references to bots if not the bots names themselves.  I've done it myself.

"When did the rules change?" you might ask.  I always thought that mentioning bots or botting sites was against the forum rules.  Indeed, a year ago, mentioning TinyMiner would get a thread locked.  Now, CCP seems to be happy to watch players dance on RoidRipper's grave on the official forums.  What changed?

My guess is the emergence of CCP Sreegs to lead CCP's War On Bots™.  While reading the thread I was reminded of a talk Vio Geraci, at the time a Goonswarm counter-intelligence officer gave Eve University back in June of 2009 in the wake of the Goons dismantling of BoB.

"They'll [spies] give us chat porn, we call it, the tears of our enemies harvested in text form.  It is very motivating to see the despair that you are inflicting on your enemies.  Our spies will often give us that.  I hate, by the way, posting it.  Because anything you post to your own guys, like, to your general membership, you are putting the spy that gave it to you at risk, so I despise doing it.  But Goonfleet and Goonswarm absolutely love it to the point that sometimes my CEO will come to me, my CEO now is Zapawork, but Darius used to do it all the time.  He would say, 'Vito, hey stupid, post some chat porn, we need it,' and then I would have to post chat porn if I had any handy."

- Counterintelligence and Social Engineering, Vito Geraci, Eve University Guest Lecture, 6 June 2009 (24:45 - 25:28)

The Darius in question was Darius JOHNSON, the head of Goonswarm when the Goons took away BoB's identity, and eventually their space.  Also the Darius who later morphed into the man now known as CCP Sreegs. What I assume is happening is that CCP Sreegs sees a forum thread he likes (and Goons love good forum threads) that is furthering his cause by posting the tears of botters who he banned.  He is not allowed to post them himself, but if the players do it, well, what can he do, right?  After all, he's not a forum moderator.

Just as Darius JOHNSON overrode the concerns of his intelligence folks to use the intelligence to bolster Goon morale, I believe that CCP Sreegs has convinced people in Iceland that players providing proof that botters are hurting instead of just CCP claiming they are doing something would help the war effort.  While CCP Sreegs, as a CCP employee, can't engage in such behavior himself, I don't think there is a rule stating he can't help promote it among the player base behind the scenes.  Eve IS a sandbox, after all.  Some players enjoy reading tears.