FUCK YOU, LJ

[ishtar79]

In case you've been living under a rock

You know, during the LJ strikethrough drama (or the first wave of the drama, if you want to be accurate), I was one of the people embracing a ‘this too shall pass’ philosophy. Partly because I don’t create fic/art, partly because I’d acquired enough distance from fandom lately, and partly because I always roll my eyes at conspiracy theories, and believed deep down that fandom would soon enough return to business as usual.

 Let the record show that I was completely and utterly  WRONG . I don’t believe this is yet another fandom drama that will blow over. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the lj fandom era as we knew it is over. And given the suspicious timing of both the ‘new improved’ TOS and the most recent journal deletions, those conspiracy theories are starting to sound a hell of a lot less far-fetched.

 I don’t care if two weeks down the line most people decide to ignore this latest slap on the face and attempt to return to business as usual-I for one can’t. As far as I’m concerned, LJ has declared war on fandom, and no amount of wishing for the best is going to stop them from coming after us again. And again.

 Of course, it’s not an open war, and that’s the only shred of insight they’ve shown since beginning this witch hunt. A significant portion of fans is just ignoring this, because after all, it only concerns those pervy underage/incest/socially unacceptable kink fans, doesn’t it? Well, to those people I say, if solidarity towards fellow fandom fans doesn’t motivate you to join in the protest, perhaps a sense of self-preservation should? It started off with ‘suspect’ interests, now it’s individual fanworks (where the age of the characters is not explicitly told/depicted, I might add), what’s to say they won’t go after your fan creations on some random basis like…oh, I don’t know, copyright violation? Your non-pervy, non-porny, non-underage het fic/art might not be as safe as you think.

 I already have accounts on all the other journaling sites (ishtar79 on both GJ and IJ, ishtar on JF), yet all the account creating seems somehow futile, because I’m very aware of the fact I have NO idea what comes next. People can’t even seem to agree whether a mass migration is warranted at all, never mind where we should migrate to. Honestly, I don’t want to move. I want LJ fandom to continue as it is. I also want a killer cleavage and a pony, but none of the above is happening. Even if we do stay here, it’ll be less our fannish playground, and more of daily looking over our shoulders, or in cases (like mine) of mere consumers, checking our flist for possible casualties.

 I just wish people’s response could somehow be…better organized. More like an actual plan, and less like mass hysteria and posting lyrics of that Pirates song that stopped being funny about a hundred comments ago.

And when I say better organized, I don’t mean striking an actual hit against 6A. This isn’t about Sticking It To The Man (though if that’s what you need to do, by all means, give it a try). This is about somehow preserving our fandom, and not ending up with little fragments scattered across the web. So, a fan-run archive (I have doubts about the feasibility of this), GJ, IJ, JF (though those of you gunning for that archive, bear in mind that a lot of people would prefer to go back to Yahoo groups than go there. See also: fandom_wank, non-robust servers), hell, the unofficial Scientology forums if you want, wherever the majority of fandom would decide to go, I’d happily follow.

 Except, I don’t think any of this will happen. No consensus on a move or the location of said move, no plan, no universal show of solidarity. Just like when people were happy to forget the last lj deletions when their friends were restored (and never mind smaller coms like riddle_torture that got shafted), I don’t think much will come out of this. It’s amazing that a single prompt in a com can produce a few hundred posts of (seemingly united) righteous indignation, and something than can possibly threaten the very community and space where we can post all those rants has us running around like directionless headless chickens. Fandom: We stand as one (except where it involves planning, putting aside petty differences, and any degree of inconvenience).

 I hope you prove me wrong, fandom, I do.

Comments

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

It wouldn't matter which journaling site fandom moved to, JF, GJ, IJ etc, the laws would affect them, too. If WB or other fans or whatever turned in someone for posting child porn, that journaling site would have to deal with it/suspend journals/be legally liable. It's the law that would have to be changed, not the journaling site. LJ isn't evil, it's just covering it's ass. Someone's pointed out these artworks, and they've reacted accordingly. It's not a witch hunt on their part, it's just cowardice on their part, they don't want the legal hassles and expense a law suit would bring. They don't want to be the new MySpace.

As an Australian, I can't even open sites like pornish pixies without breaking my country's laws and facing jail time if caught. I've had to leave the majority of HP communities (except Snape/Hagrid) because quite a few of them post unexpected child porn that is illegal here.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

I'm aware of the Australian law (the whole Skyhawke kerfuffle seems downright *quaint* in retrospect), but I was under the impression other countries don't have such a *strict* definition of child pornography when it comes to drawing or stories of fictional characters.

You'll get no argument from me on lj being cowards (*g*). And I never used the word 'evil'-but I do find their entire course of action on this at best best unprofessional, erratic and disorganized and at worst purposefuly deceitful and contemptuous towards their customers.

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

I'd go with 'unprofessional etc' rather than 'purposefully deceitful', but then I'm trying to be positive (kinda) about it.

As much as I wish that people wouldn't post child porn at all, I still think they should be given a warning, rather than just getting kicked. I know that LJ is concerned that they'll be seen as co-operating with child pornographers, but really, would it be such a hardship? "Remove this art or you will be booted!" would it kill them? These permanent bans are just cruel - it's not just an electronic service Ponderosa and the others are losing, it's access to an entire community.

On the other hand, strikethrough and the fall out from that should have come as a big warning that this was coming, and yet people still didn't take their stuff down. Then again, I believe that one of the art pieces in question was posted something like a year and a half ago, which makes me think that a fan with a grudge has gone through the community and looked for something or someone to target. LJ itself wouldn't have the time, and since one of the arts was locked, this has to be personal.

And you know, when Snape/Hagrid and Snape/Black etc were kicked off yahoo for having kiddie porn and I was suspended, never allowed to return (until I got a new email address anyway) no one rushed to boycot, and those were in no way under aged stuff! That again, was just another fan with a grudge and a mouthful of lies.

The only thing I can suggest is that we put somethings underground again. Fandom used to be so much more circumspect, so much more careful. We just might have to go back to that. Lock everything, use anonyamiser (sp?) services, faux links. It can be done, we've just got to realise that LJ isn't going to let us get them into huge legal wrangles.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

The only thing I can suggest is that we put somethings underground again. Fandom used to be so much more circumspect, so much more careful. We just might have to go back to that. Lock everything, use anonyamiser (sp?) services, faux links. It can be done, we've just got to realise that LJ isn't going to let us get them into huge legal wrangles.

That actually sounds like a good idea that would allow for things to return to some semblance of normalcy. But it goes back to the problem I mentioned on my post-how do you even put the idea forth, let alone get fandom en masse to agree with it?

[iibnf.livejournal.com]

I believe it is impossible to get fandom to agree with ANYTHING 'en masse'.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

True that. :P

[kaskait.livejournal.com]

I don't know what to do anymore.

This whole fandom deal is a sign of a much larger problem. It requires a mass movement of all internet citizens against encroaching money men and right wing agendas. I don't see that happening.

The most disturbing and deluded argument I hear from all of this is, "A pay service is not required to give it's customers the right to free speech or hold free assembly."

Really? Since when in our free world has money trumped free rights officially? It hasn't. Pay services just want to make us believe that they do so that no one will complain when they really disappear.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

You know, a few short years back when I was doing my Media Studies MA I took a module on the Internet and other new media. Our professor had some grim predictions about the future of the web: the Net no longer being free, censorship, big corporations taking over pretty much every aspect. While I understood it on an intellectual level at the time, it was all very abstract. The reality of it is only now starting to sink in.

And citizens of the Internet assembling to protest? Yeah, I'm not holding my breath on this one.

[arrmaitee.livejournal.com]

I agree with you wholeheartedly. That's why all of my fanfics are backed up off-site. LJ has absolutely declared war on the fandom, and it is only a matter of time until all HP slash will be declared impermissable incest/chan even though the characters are over 50. The thought of this witchhunt makes me nauseous.

[ishtar79.livejournal.com]

It's good that you've taken steps to protect your work. I can only hope the majority of writers/artists have done the same. Even if all the art/fic survives this, I don't think the fandom *community* will, at least not as we know it.

[arrmaitee.livejournal.com]

I agree. With the 7th book already released, a mass banning from LJ will destroy a good portion of the community, which would be such a shame.