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SMOF News, volume 1, issue 10

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SMOF News, volume 1, issue 10

Anime cons sharing accounts with a dating site, and news in brief.

Petréa Mitchell
Nov 4, 2021
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SMOF News, volume 1, issue 10

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Anime Convention Accounts Double As Dating Profiles

Many past attendees of conventions operated by Chrono Pop, LLC are discovering that they have profiles on the dating site MaiOtaku. An early report with screenshots is here:

Hello, I'm writing this post to protect others. Ryan Kopf, disgraced CEO of two Minnesota conventions (AniMinneapolis and Meta Con) is using con-goers information and credit cards to sign them up for his dating site MaiOtaku. I found out I have 4 dating profiles connected to one email. He's also stealing credit card information from the badge registration site he uses.

He's also signing up minors to this site, all of this without anyone's permission.

I implore anyone whose ever attended his conventions to check the site and see if they have any profiles. (Go to forgot username and type in whatever email you may have used. It'll send you an email if any profiles use that email and then you can request a password change, go in and delete them)

Here's a screenshot from when I found out I have 4 accounts. I blurred parts of them out because I still use some of those names and emails.

A bunch of people have already found profiles connected to them. My credit card information was also on my profile. Please go check to make sure your stuff is safe!

More can be found in the Anti-Kopf Con group on Facebook, which has been switched to private in the last few days. At least one person in the comments of the first post is in contact with the FBI.

Ryan Kopf, the head of Chrono Pop, has responded on Facebook with some technical details:

If you don’t specifically go to www.MaiOtaku.com and login, then you do not have an account on MaiOtaku, you do not show up in user’s search results, other users can not access your profile, and you do not have a dating profile on that website. There’s literally a separate database item called a “Matchprofile” and that doesn’t get created until you login at MaiOtaku.com….by searching for an account there, YOU created the account there!

In other words, anyone who has ever created an account at a Chrono Pop convention site has created an account with Chrono Pop itself which is shared across all its sites. That shared account gives everyone access to MaiOtaku, but no public dating profile is created unless the account holder signs into MaiOtaku directly.

Either part of this could qualify as “having an account at MaiOtaku”, depending on how the FBI chooses to define it.

Kopf has further announced that MaiOtaku now includes an explicit activation step, and that Chrono Pop now has a data removal tool which can be accessed here. Though hosted on MaiOtaku, the description suggests that it completely all data associated with a Chrono Pop account other than the account itself:

This form will remove the following data within 24-48 hours:

  • First name, last name, address from any profile.

  • Display name and display about from any profile.

  • Paymentmethods linked to your account.

  • First name, last name, address from any convention attendances.

  • Profile picture from any profile will be blanked.

Ryan Kopf is no stranger to convention headlines. Nerd & Tie has extensive coverage of questionable business practices and alleged bad behavior on Kopf’s part, culminating in a lawsuit by Kopf against Nerd & Tie which is still in progress. Kopf has also been named in numerous allegations of sexual assault, one of which got him banned from Anime Milwaukee.

Kopf denies all the allegations in a “Transparency Center” on his personal website.

The portfolio of Chrono Pop, LLC and Black Materia Inc. (linked to Kopf by research at Nerd & Tie) is wide-ranging, including these conventions:

  • Anime Midwest

  • Anime-ZAP!

  • AniMinneapolis

  • AniMore

  • Con+Alt+Delete

  • Con Online (Chrono Pop mentioned in privacy policy)

  • Kanpai!Con

  • Meta Con

  • Norfolk Anime Explosion

  • QC Anime-zing!

  • Star City Anime

And these fandom-related sites:

  • Ani.me (linked to cons.mx, see below)

  • AnimeCon.org

  • AnimeMatch.com (Chrono Pop mentioned in privacy policy)

  • Black Materia Inc.

  • Cons.mx (mentioned by Kopf in the announcement about MaiOtaku’s activate button)

  • MaiOtaku

  • UpcomingCons.com (also mentioned directly by Kopf)

Chrono Pop also turns up here (PDF) doing business as Iowa Solar.

In Brief

  • The Pegasus Awards for excellence in filking were awarded at the Ohio Valley Filk Festival. 2021 winners here.

  • OryCon (Portland, Oregon, USA) will go on indefinite hiatus after this year’s event (November 12-14). Facebook post • Twitter thread

Event Calendar

Weekend of November 5-7

  • ArmadaCon 2021, Plymouth, UK

  • IceCon 2021, Rejkjavik, Iceland

  • World Fantasy Convention 2021, Montréal, Québéc, Canada

  • Pulp Adventure, Bordentown, New Jersey, USA

  • Corflu 38 Concorde (fanzines), Bristol, UK

  • Carnage 24: Lost in the Carnage Triangle (gaming), Dover, Vermont, USA

  • Midwest Gaming Classic, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA

  • Retro World Expo (gaming), Hartford, Connecticut, USA

  • BottosCon 2021 (gaming), New Westminster, British Columbia, Canada

  • Hexcon 2021 (gaming), Trondheim, Norway

  • AmberCon NW (diceless RPGs), virtual (usually Troutdale, Oregon, USA)

  • PAWCon 2021: The Home Furront (anthropomorphic), San Jose, California, USA

  • NekoCon 23 (anime), Hampton, Virginia, USA

  • Kumoricon (anime), Portland, Oregon, USA

  • Anime Destiny 2021, virtual (usually Berkeley, California, USA)

  • FACTS (media), Ghent, Belgium

  • Comic Con Stockholm, Stockholm, Sweden

  • CoosaCon (media), Rome, Georgia, USA

  • Akron Comiccon, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, USA

  • CONjuration (Harry Potter), Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Weekend of November 12-14

  • Novacon 50, Nottingham, UK

  • TusCon 48, Tucson, Arizona, USA

  • Windycon 47: Urban Fantastic, Lombard, Illinois, USA

  • OryCon 42, Portland, Oregon, USA

  • ArmadilloCon 2021, Austin, Texas, USA

  • Multiverse 2021, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

  • OmegaCon Fall 2021, Siren, Wisconsin, USA

  • New England Crime Bake 2021: Home Sweet Homicide (mysteries), Dedham, Massachusetts, USA

  • MEPACon 41 (gaming), White Haven, Pennsylvania, USA

  • Heroicon (gaming), Decatur, Illinois, USA

  • Bride of Geekway Mini (gaming), St. Louis, Missouri, USA

  • MACE 2021 (gaming), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

  • Ludo-Outaouais (boardgames), Gatineau, Ontario, Canada

  • Historicon 2021: Aircraft of War (historical miniatures gaming), Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, USA

  • MillenniumCon (historical miniatures gaming), Round Rock, Texas, USA

  • Flüüfff Grand Casino (anthropomorphic), Brussels, Belgium

  • Bewhiskered: Prepare for Blast Off! (anthropomorphic), Durham, North Carolina, USA

  • Aquatifur (anthropomorphic), Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, USA

  • CanFURence 2021: The Furs Are Back in Town (anthropomorphic), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

  • Anime Dallas, DFW Airport, Texas, USA

  • Anime Iwai, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA

  • WasabiCon (anime), Jacksonville, Florida, USA

  • Thought Bubble (comics), Leeds, UK

  • Grand Rapids Comic Con, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA

  • Destination Star Trek London, London, UK

  • Empire City Con (Steven Universe), Charlotte, North Carolina, USA

Weekend of November 19-21

  • Fantastika 2021 (Swedish national sf convention), Stockholm, Sweden

  • HispaCón 2021 (Spanish national sf convention), virtual

  • Philcon 2021, Cherry Hill, New Jersey, USA

  • Anime NYC, New York City, New York, USA

  • Consequences O: Otherworldly Consequences (gaming), Christchurch, UK

  • U-Con 2021 (gaming), virtual (usually Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA)

  • BGG.CON (gaming), Dallas, Texas, USA

  • Anthro Northwest 4 (anthropomorphic), Seattle, Washington, USA

  • Con Nichiwa (anime), Tucson, Arizona, USA

  • Colossalcon Texas (anime), Round Rock, Texas, USA

  • Sin City Anime, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA

  • Anime Town: Pensacola, Pensacola, Florida, USA

  • London Film & Comic Con, London, UK

  • New England Super Megafest Comic-Con, Framingham, Massachusetts, USA

  • Heroes Dutch Comic Con, Utrecht, Netherlands

  • Vienna Comic Con, Vienna, Austria

  • Time-Flight 2021 (Doctor Who), Holtsville, New York, USA

Weekend of November 26-28

  • Loscon 47/Westercon 73, Los Angeles, California, USA

  • Chambanacon 50, Normal, Illinois, USA

  • Chessiecon 2021, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

  • UK Ghost Story Festival 2021, Derby, UK

  • Winter Wolfcon 21 (gaming), Chicago, Illinois, USA

  • MAG 2021 (gaming/anime), Erfurt, Germany

  • Atlanta AnimeDay, Duluth, Georgia, USA

  • Comic Con Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Germany

  • Comic-Con Special Edition, San Diego, California, USA

  • Chicago TARDIS 2021 (Doctor Who), Lombard, Illinois, USA

  • Starbase Indy 2021 (Star Trek), Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Weekend of December 3-5

  • Smofcon Europe (con-running), Lisboa, Portugal

  • Weymouth Steampunk Christmas, Weymouth, UK

  • Midwest Furfest (anthropomorphic), Rosemont, Illinois, USA

  • Dragonmeet (gaming), London, UK

  • Shorehammer (miniatures gaming), Ocean City, Maryland, USA

  • Anime Frontier, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

  • Nashville Anime Day, Murfreesboro, Tennessee, USA

  • For the Love of Sci-Fi 2021 (media), Manchester, UK

  • Geek Days Lille (media), Lille, France

  • Emerald City Comic Con, Seattle, Washington, USA

  • L.A. Comic Con 2021, Los Angeles, California, USA

  • Naiccon 2021 (media), Nairobi, Kenya

  • Mini-Mini Con (media), San Antonio, Texas, USA

Coda

  • Short stories formed from horror movie titles (New York Times)

Thank you for reading! Send tips, corrections, press releases, and letters of comment to: smofnews@gmx.com.

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