liz_marcs: You Know That This Means War (Bugs_Bunny_Not)
liz_marcs ([personal profile] liz_marcs) wrote2007-05-30 10:20 am

LJ User Action Centers

Continued from the following posts: About that LJ Rumor..., Another Exchange of Emails, and A Swiftly Tilting LJ...
Continued in the following post: ALERT: WFI Site May Infect Your Computer (Programs to Combat Spyware)




Warriors For Innocence: You Made Us Do It, And It's Not Our Fault Anyway


Warriors for Innocence (deliberately no link) has updated their blog to take partial credit for the purge.

In short, WFI claims that they're responsible for LJ deleting "hundreds" of "pedophile journals," but refuse to take responsibility for the many, many more that ended up deleted because (for whatever reason) SixApart/LJ took these nutball's threats to go to the advertisers seriously.

I'm sure that you won't be shocked that WFI uses its latest post to...blame the victims. It's the fault of the deleted journals, y'see? They shouldn't have written about objectionable content. And they should've backed up their LJs. And they are not harming legitimate law enforcement efforts by publicly grandstanding.

Oh, and we're all a buncha whiners.

As always, their professionalism shines right on through, doesn't it?

Please be aware: Some people are reporting that they've been infected with spyware after visiting this group's site. Here's some tips to protect yourself if this is true.

ETA: Let me stress that WFI is taking credit, but LJ/SixApart have said squat. Something interesting, though: the WFI folks are tracking the individual journals and comms being pulled down on this page. (Should be safe.)

Note that in their world view that we are all "pedos" or "pro-pedo." Read over the list, because there are some really mystifying choices of comms and journals that have been deleted.  A fan comm for what looks like Ghost World? Hunh? What's that doing there?

Per C-Net: Mass deletions were prompted by several activist groups, including WFI — SixApart




SixApart and LJ: *Silence*


Or Silent No More: Instead of giving their customers an official announcement, SixApart gave it to CNet. See: Mass Deletion Sparks LiveJournal Revolt. My favorite quote:

"We did a review of our policies related to how we review those sites, those journals, and came up with the fact that we actually did have a number of journals up that we didn't think met our policies and didn't think they were appropriate to have up," Barak Berkowitz, chairman and chief executive of Six Apart, said in a telephone interview. The site boasts about 13 million journals.

Great. We're on our own.

I want to be clear here: at the end of the day, SixApart/LJ caved. Our corporate overlords have not deigned to give us a response yet, despite numerous demands on the LJ news comm for an explanation and/or announcement.

Current rumor indicates that complaints and questions put up on support are being deleted as they are found by responders. While the deletions can't be proven, it's shocking that there's only a few scattered comments there, and all of them are that green "unanswered" color.

ETA, Now with Proof: Through the magic of screencapture [personal profile] kajivar gives us proof that LJ is deleting support tickets that reference the journal and community deletions.

ETA, Possible Explanation: [personal profile] hummingwolf notes that the deletions could be because of standing LJ policy.

ETA, Electric Boogaloo: DEBUNKED! The support requests complaining about the deletions cannot be deleted from the system. They are, instead, being passed on to someone from LJ/SixApart who can answer/deal with the problem. per [personal profile] kutsuwamushi here and here.


Advice from Around LJ

  • Edit your user profile. Remove any interest that may even conceivably be considered offensive. There are several "hot button" words, including "rape," "incest," "lolita," "shota," and "pedophilia," that are being targeted.

  • Remove NWS icons. Again, this is just a rumor, and I'm including it for completions' sake. If you have a NWS icon, save it to your hard drive and remove it from your profile. There's one journal claiming it was removed because of an icon. While it's unconfirmed at the moment, better safe than sorry.

  • Backup your LJ. All of it. You can find the latest version of LJ Archive here, although it's windows-only at the moment. LJ Book is compatible with Windows and Macs and turns your LJ into a PDF. Both programs appear to preserve comments and icons from individual entries.

  • Start migrating your entries to LJ-like sites that aren't owned by SixApart. As mentioned before, Greatest Journal and JournalFen are two options, with GreatestJournal the easier of the two to sign up for. In addition, I'd like to add the very intriguing InsaneJournal as a third option. (Thanks [profile] bubble_blunder for the pointer to InsaneJournal!)

  • Start migrating your fannish art and writing to the proper archives. At the very least, you'll have online back-ups of your work that you can transfer elsewhere or point to with a link.





LJ User Action Centers
[personal profile] ancarett has helpfully pointed to SixApart's corporate phone numbers. She points out that phone calls are going to make a much bigger impact than emails. Program 'em into your cells before the numbers disappear!

ETA (I lied, one addition): [personal profile] acari has a very important list of links, including LJ back-up programs for Windows and Mac and news from around LJ.

ETA (I lied again, a second addition): [personal profile] vichan is asking for people who have an LJ to support their fannish pursuits to stand up and be counted at [profile] fandom_counts. All you need to do is "join" the comm. There's no need to post anything or answer questions. The whole point is to get a headcount, which may help the fandom wing of LJ decide what kind of mass action we can pull off to protest the deletions. (I can personally vouch for [personal profile] vichan as she's in my fandom *grins*).

[personal profile] bookshop from [profile] fandom_lawyers has a a call to action here.

[profile] bubble_blunder has one of the most reasoned lists of what we can realistically expect, and what we can't in a fantastic post here.

[personal profile] vichan has a good round-up post here.

[personal profile] femmequixotic has detailed her experience with the deletion of her HP fanfiction comm [community profile] pornish_pixies[Unknown site tag]

ETA for more information: [info]catrinella is back on the case with a massively, massively updated of news and helpful information. Right here is the real "news central."

This post in [profile] innocence_jihad has more listed.

[personal profile] lolaraincoat [Unknown site tag]has more lists of deleted comms/people here and in comments here.

Fandom Tossed over on Greatest Journal is still serving as a very strong central point for information and links to action centers. It is also now syndicated on [profile] fandomtossed

And don't forget [profile] fandom_lawyers have a discussion thread here. Something that should either cheer you up or strike fear into your hearts. If you've got a deleted journal or comm, the lawyers would like to hear from you.

ETA: [personal profile] dogemperor over on [profile] dark_christian notes that the "anti-pedo" campaign of WFI may, in fact, be more accurately termed as a Christianist campaign. Their real target? Anything that is GLBT-positive, including slash and femslash. [profile] innocence_jihad has more here.

Three new communities have been set up to fight back:


I know I've missed a lot of stuff here, some of which was mentioned in my own comments, but I'm not supposed to be online at the moment (shhhhhh! work!). Please browse the comments here and here. I know some additional links were thrown in there. However, if you've got news/information/additional links, feel free to post them in comments below this post.




As for Me, I Owe Someone an Apology


Just days ago, in this very post in fact, I fluffed off the "urban legend" that some outside pressure group was going after LJ to delete certain accounts and communities.

I didn't believe it. I fluffed it off. I was more than a little snotty about the information.

I was wrong. Even though I didn't attack anyone or name anyone, if my skeptical attitude and less-than diplomatic wording hurt anyone, I apologize.




On a personal note...

I'm going to be off line for the rest of the day due to RL. I hope the above list will be helpful for you to get started if you wish to protest SixApart/LJ's actions.

More fandom action

[identity profile] bookshop.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 02:41 am (UTC)(link)

I just wanted to spread this around:

The 7 Days Response (http://bookshop.livejournal.com/825239.html).

I want to emphasize that we need to work *with* LJ while also striving to make our voices heard, and that this plan is contingent upon Six Apart's continuing to ignore cries for explanations and requests to undelete. If they start listening, then we will scrap this plan.

But if they don't, at least it's an action plan. Please pass it along. :)

ext_28821: (Default)

[identity profile] sayhello.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
I think we're all a bit distracted...

(Anonymous) 2007-05-31 03:00 am (UTC)(link)
youre on digg.com's front page! GOOD LUCK!

[identity profile] almostnever.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 03:11 am (UTC)(link)
Thanks for being such an amazing resource throughout this!

As for [livejournal.com profile] fandompays, to clarify: I started it solely to host the polls that are on it. It's not an organized boycott, it's an attempt to

1, get an idea for how much money fandom contributes to LJ
2, gauge the potential effect of reactions from fandom.

I hope everyone who considers themselves in fandom will click over the [livejournal.com profile] fandompays and take the two brief polls about your spending on LJ, and your future plans for your LJ account.

Thanks!

[identity profile] thisdaydreamer.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 03:20 am (UTC)(link)
[livejournal.com profile] fandom_counts is another community set up to protest.

[identity profile] angstpuppy.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 03:24 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know if you have this link yet, but [livejournal.com profile] dark_christian has a very interesting post on WFI:

http://community.livejournal.com/dark_christian/830650.html



lannamichaels: Astronaut Dale Gardner holds up For Sale sign after EVA. (Default)

[personal profile] lannamichaels 2007-05-31 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
Thank you for compiling this. It's nice to have a lot of info all in one place.

Can I please ask anyone reading this (since I'm sure a lot of people have it tracked) to not add NPOV, unencyclopedic, unsourced, or defamatory information to the Livejournal wikipedia entry? It's getting really annoying.

[identity profile] mollywobbles867.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 03:59 am (UTC)(link)
I'm snagging your icon. I love a good fight for freedom of speech. These things need a catchy logo.

[identity profile] slycat-blaze.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 04:31 am (UTC)(link)
Umm.. I hope you don't mind terribly, but I sent the link of your blog to the yahoo groups to inform the others about what is really happening with the issue. Several people are not really updated with these kinds of issues, like me. ^_^ Just wanted to inform you, just in case.

[identity profile] soleta-nf.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 04:56 am (UTC)(link)
You've probably heard about this already, but just in case. This is pretty cool:

http://news.livejournal.com/98733.html?thread=46649773#t46649773

Thanks

[identity profile] dixiethorn.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 05:10 am (UTC)(link)
Sweetheart, you are my hero! That LJ Archives, is a dream! Thank you so much. :)

[identity profile] joannakuang.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 05:36 am (UTC)(link)
wells, for all we know LJ/SixApart will be losing out on lots of renewed paid subscriptions after this incident.

I, for one, will no longer pay for something at a risk of deletion for fandom.

grrrr!

I'm with you Liz....dissatisfied customers all the way!

[identity profile] banger.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 08:23 am (UTC)(link)
You don't know me but we won! Fandoms won!!

http://news.livejournal.com/99159.html

[identity profile] luckyckljw.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 04:52 pm (UTC)(link)
As a note to your post about spyware/malware infections, it could also help to be using your computer with an account which does not have admin. privileges.

[identity profile] luckyckljw.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 04:58 pm (UTC)(link)
Erm, didn't mean to submit already... (alt+tab became space+tab unintentionally)

Anyway, that's a good way to keep from software being installed without your knowledge/permission (on a Windows machine, at least. I have no experience with other platforms).

Of course, having AbBlock, etc. (I run AntiVir, Spybot S&D, and PC Tools Spyware Doctor from Google just to be sure I get everything, since different programs can have different blacklists and have heard about many people experiencing Norton not cleaning everything off of their computers.)

(Also, please pardon all the parentheticals and if this has already been mentioned; I just woke-long night up keeping up with all the posts about this- up and my brain isn't at 100% just yet.)

LJ Uprising

[identity profile] phoenixredux.livejournal.com 2007-05-31 10:36 pm (UTC)(link)
I wonder, (and this is just a brainstorm here) if anyone has given thought to what an actual user uprising COULD look like. What if we all voted with our wallets, and bought out SixApart in a leveraged bid, and ran it in the manner of a Co-Op? With 13,000,000 users, they have the servers but we've got the numbers. Would such administration be any better than what we have now? And is there any way to guarantee such a buy-out wouldn't leave the "Redneck Militia" in a stronger position of control than they already have?

How do we keep a small group of nutjobs from destroying an entire online society? I've met a lot of wonderful people through LJ; without a doubt it has changed my life in some spectacular ways. It's a shame to think that one pro-confederacy dunce could bring LJ to its knees.

WFI updated - posted about re:fiction

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_workinprogress/ 2007-06-02 11:48 pm (UTC)(link)
I thought you'd be interested to hear that somebody posted on that site, basically calling the writers pedophiles.

(Anonymous) 2007-06-05 09:10 am (UTC)(link)
Well...I'll be reading the next entry marked at the top of the page too, since I visited their site.

In any case, I would like to say thank you, for posting all of that. Not only did you make them look like a mockery of what they do (which, as you put it, is vigilantism, and to that I highly agree), but you expressed plenty of people's concerns.

FINALLY I'm going to be able to tell a friend of mine to cut it out. She's been TRYING to get her journal banned for interests and the like and I honestly have no idea why she is x.x; But thank you. ^_^ And I'll be looking for that spyware now...thankfully I have today off.

[identity profile] shinineko1.livejournal.com 2007-06-05 09:11 am (UTC)(link)
Erm..the last anonymous post? Mine ;-;

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