April Fools
From Rumblepedia
Once in a while the CBR mods like to play a prank on the denizens of The Rumbles... Observe and let this be a warning for future generations of rumblers:
'Originally Posted by Matt April 1rst 2005'
Jonah has requested I pass the following important message onto you all.
On the 16th of November last year, the United States Congress put forth motions to regulate the use of online forums, specifically to protect privacy in regards to minors.
Kids make up a considerable proportion of online users and previously the United States had established COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) in 1998, these new regulations toughen child protection measures and place increased responsibility on webmasters.
Essentially this means that a full time employee will need to be brought in to monitor these forums on a permanent basis, to constantly watch to make sure all aspects of the new regulations are being adhered to. This, combined with the necessary software purchases, is a considerable cost to Jonah and thus he has been forced into a harsh situation – either close the forums down or introduce a subscription fee. Beginning at the start of next month, an annual fee of $9.95(US) will be required to gain continued access to the CBR Forums. Details about how this subscription fee will be handled will be forthcoming shortly once some technical details have been worked out.