The Great Canadian Grid shut down this morning, according to its website, and according to its technology provider, GeVolution.
“I enjoyed my virtual travels and managing GCG in the last seven years,” wrote Great Canadian Grid owner Roddie Macchi. “But it is time to move on. Since GCG started out as a hobby I decided not to sell the grid but to close it permanently.”
Macchi said that residents looking for OAR exports of their regions can contact the grid’s hosting company.
“I have made arrangements with Cliff Hopkins aka Shadow to be sure to hand over only those whose names were owners on the OARs,” he wrote. “He has an entire list of who owns what.”
Macchi said that all servers were shut down, but did not explain why residents had no advance notice so that they could prepare themselves. He did not respond to requests for comment from Hypergrid Business.
GeVolution founder Cliff Hopkins said that he offered to subsidize the Great Canadian Grid for another month.
But Macchi chose to shut down the grid this morning anyway.
“We have access to the OARs,” Hopkins told Hypergrid Business. But he’s waiting for final approval before sending them out. “We’ve already been accused of intellectual property theft,” he said. “So we’re not sending out any of the Great Canadian Grid OARs until I get Roddie’s input.”
The support email for GeVolution is support@gevolutionworld.com.
The Great Canadian Grid went into a downward spiral in December, when a dispute with its previous hosting company, DigiWorldz, first took the grid down. A crowdfunding campaign then failed to raise enough money to save the grid, raising only $1,410 of the $5,000 needed.
The circumstances of this final shutdown, as well as those of the shutdown in December, are not completely clear. Macchi continues to blame his previous hosting company for the problems, but the hosting company said that only the additional functionality they themselves were providing was shut down — not the grid itself — and that they did this because of non-payment of bills.
Source: Hypergrid Business