We have a little update related to the last news that we posted. We have read all feedback posted so far and we are still actively following the topic. We like getting your reaction and, inherently, knowing what's your opinion related to our decisions.

There were a few suggestions which we'd like to answer officially:

1. Give access through an interviewing process
While it sounds like a good idea, consider that there were ~2700 active invite codes (they expire after 2 days) when we closed the invitations. Now try to imagine how hard to manage it would've been for us if 2700 persons came for an interview. We need to allocate resources wisely.

2. Distributing one invite per year for everyone
We understand the reasons behind the suggestion and while it's true that the overall number of invites would go down, the price of one would go up because of the inherent rarity. It's all about supply and demand. The rarer a thing is, the higher its price can climb and this is not something that we want. We do not want FileList to be an exclusivist tracker, we are here for everyone. In conclusion, this method would simply alter the value of an invitation and more people could sell, there aren't any valid reasons for us to choose this method.

3. Rare invitations given only to some users that fulfill some specific conditions
While at first this seems like a good idea, eventually the number of available invites would diminish or even dry out and like we already said a few lines above, the price will go up and people would still sell them. In the long run the number of created accounts might diminish but people would still sell invites, at a much higher price now and we would still not solve anything. This won't stop anyone from selling invites.

4. Paying for an account directly on the sign-up page
We are guessing that the logic behind this suggestion is that if you can buy an account directly from us you'd have no reason to buy it from some seller. Which more or less makes sense. People wouldn't have any reason to buy invites from some random invite seller if they can buy it directly from us. However, unfortunately or thankfully (depending on which side you are), we will never do this. Having access to this site is a privilege and it is 100% free. That's the way it was, that's the way it is and that is the way it will always be. We aren't here to make money (like some were, by using our invites, until now), we are here for and with the community. Also, yet again, if we do this then anyone can easily gain access to the site so we wouldn't solve that issue anyway.

5. Not really a suggestion but...
Some of you suggested that we should convert your invites to FLCoins or some other bonuses. Obviously this is not possible yet, we still haven't decided if invites will be closed permanently or not. If they will never be opened again then yes, we probably will exchange your invites for something. Whatever will happen, users will not lose anything.

These are the most predominant suggestions. This isn't an easy to solve problem. We do wish for our users to be able to invite their relatives, close friends and for no one to suffer. However, unfortunately, there is no easy solution to this problem.
In a perfect world, populated by honest people, every user would have unlimited invites at their disposition so they can invite whoever they wish whenever they wish. Sadly, this is not a perfect world.

The cleanup is still ongoing (and not only for account/invite selling). There are a lot of sites that sold invites and wouldn't have ever closed down if we kept invites on. It's easier to keep your house clean if only trustworthy people can get inside.

With love,
FileList Staff

2700 active invite codes... okay, but I’d still like to see proof of these being “paid for” or “sold” invites like they claim.

Personally think they’ll shoot themselves in the foot if they close invites permanently.

welp I'm an idiot