Well... that's what the discussion is about right?
Anybody can make a mod. Anybody can set up shop and sell a mod. Some people have the background technically, background in design, manufacturing and production to produce a quality product. Others don't come close. I don't think any of them have the resources for extensive product testing, product certification, and the likes. That along with the price pressure to buy less expensive components increasing your profit margin.
Then there is a diverse membership/consumer. Some have some knowledge about these things, some learn about them, some refuse to learn about them and feel that someone else should just tell them (with a guarantee), and some don't have a clue and never will. All of them want a mod. There is also the "club" mentality that social forums foster. People don't like to be told they should only buy their stuff from K-Mart (stick to the Joye, etc. products in this case).
I think it should be addressed indirectly by the site/forum owners. Indirectly by being selective about approved vendors and what they can and cannot sell in order to keep their site approval. It's a sticky problem. This site is very probably making a profit. Even if they're not making a profit they are certainly working to increase the site's value. I think ECF is currently valued at around 125K? Sites are valued based on number of members, number of post, and rate of posts. One of the main draws for member is vendors. One of the main draws for vendors is members. The way the site pays the bills and maybe even makes a profit is to charge vendors for being allowed to be a site (approved) vendor. You see the conflicts of interest there right?
I don't see it as the site's responsibility to post a "safe mod" list. They're not going to do that anyway. A vendor isn't going to pay if they're not on the list. I don't think an independent committee is viable either. Who is going to pick the committee members? and wouldn't the site implicitly be the committee anyway since they would choose or not choose to follow the recommendations?
If the problem is going to be addressed I think the site should do it behind the scenes. If a vendor produces crap they should pull their vendorship or have the vendor pull the product. The site should be policed and non-approved vendor solicitations removed or the infractor banned. Vendor's should be held to making sound recommendations. "This mod is only recommended to be used with these particular components purchased from these particular suppliers."
Thats only part of the problem though. I have no idea what you can do about the Darwin Award contenders. I got into a spat with some shining light that said they refused to have to learn anything about this stuff and simply wanted a guaranteed safe battery list to be posted by an expert. I totally failed to convince them that you couldn't take the battery out of the context of the application and declare it as "safe", so what they were asking for was pointless. I think all you can do is try to tell people this isn't K-Mart. If you're going to buy your own components for your mod (for the cheapest price you can find on the internet) you're taking a risk and you're on your own. All the vendors have a "must be 18 or older to enter". Maybe they should be required to add "and can calculate the current given a voltage and load".
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