No Jeri, it is not about ownership and I doubt if many of us actually want that - I know I don't.

Unfortunately, PalTalk provided something impossible wih Hearme - the ability to control a room well enough to attempt to make it welcoming to others who share our enjoyment of music or my be interested in having a listen and the descisions I took tried to extend that hospitality.

The root of all this runs deeper than PalTalk but were exposed by this move - if I had set up a closed room to begin with, none of this would have happened - there never would have been a recurring fight for an open room - no one would have thought that far or cared enough.

For the first time, rather than people having to come to Mudcat and be accepted or rejected, by the body of Mudcatters, strangers were just allowed to drop in as they pleased and join in and this has made some people feel vunerable or insecure for a number of reasons; one of which I would suggest is a feeling of loss control or power within the group.

There have of course been other reasons like maybe types of music played but I feel the above is the big one and why the topic has kept cropping up. I am begging to feel that the only way to heal this (or at least hide it) is to go for a closed room. It is against everything I believe in terms of folk music but I fear that it is the only way to keep the peace in Mudcat.

Jon