Hmmm. First time seeing this and the discussion that took place. Another doozy.
I'm not here to pick sides or debate.
If anything, I think it's time Hivewatchers does some rebranding. Change the name. Get "Hive" out of there.
They've taken a lot of flak and that'll continue, regardless. Bound to happen. Simple fact.
Every time there are issues, the entirety of Hive looks bad. Having Hive in the name makes it sound "official" but any time I see someone else come up with their own project and add "Hive" in the name somewhere, I consider that to be brand hijacking or even brandjacking if you like fancy words.
One can trust "Hive" in general. Maybe they're a little green; wet behind the ears. They see a new project with Hive in the name and apply the same amount of trust, thinking it's coming from some kind of official source. Then they get burned. I've actually seen this in action here.
They get burned and they're mad, but not at the individual that scammed them; they're mad at Hive. Outsiders who know nothing catch wind and all they see is "Hive" instead of "John The Scammer."
I've seen the negative impact, confusion, even chaos, that all stems from that one simple mistake of placing Hive in their name. They don't represent Hive, they provide a service independently. They can take their flak independently as well and not contribute to dragging everyone else down, whether that was their intention or not.
Just putting that out there. Not taking shots at anyone. Having Hive in that branding was kind of an amateur thing to do. And of course I won't hold my breath and actually expect change, but I do know what I'm talking about...
P.S. I hope you're doing well these days.