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.

[identity profile] kais-snowfall.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 03:38 pm (UTC)(link)
You are an amazing person, I do hope you know that.

[identity profile] wesleysgirl.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
Current rumor indicates that complaints and questions put up on 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.

I've been monitoring the open support requests out of curiosity and, while I don't have any documentation, I've seen requests for information about the suspensions disappear.

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.

I wasn't able to successfully get LJBook to save icons from any of my posts (I'm on a Mac) but it did save my entire journal and all comments in a fairly readable format.

[identity profile] lyssabard.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 03:44 pm (UTC)(link)
I just wanted to chime in that you are doing phenomenal work towards reasoned discourse on this subject. Thanks a million for your time on this.

We'll see ya when ya get back. :)

[identity profile] imaginarycircus.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 03:58 pm (UTC)(link)
This is normally were I would be so impressed with the work you've done that I would buy you one of those stupid lj roses, or more icon space or paid time or whatever. However I am not giving Six Apart anymore money until they demonstrate they are not a bunch of hysterical censoring ninnies.

Another good link is to [livejournal.com profile] kitsune13's the list of published books that contain illegal sexual acts. She asking for suggestions and compliling it.

[identity profile] blade-girl.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 04:22 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks for serving as a point person in this whole dust-up, and for providing so much information on all aspects.

One quibble that might be the result of my own stupidity: I can't seem to get the download of LJ Archive. It tells me I've selected to download and that maybe I should read the release notes, but I don't see any means of continuing the download process. Anyone know what I'm missing?

[identity profile] laura-iskra.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 04:32 pm (UTC)(link)
thank you for your posts and everything, you really are amazing!
kajivar: (Orc)

[personal profile] kajivar 2007-05-30 04:49 pm (UTC)(link)
They *are* deleting/hiding support requests/complaints about the purge. I took some quick screenshots as proof.


Screenshot taken at 12:27 PM EST. Note the 4th line down: "Permanent deltion of communities and journals based on interests" (request #752330) and 9th line down: "LiveJournal Community/Journal Purge?" (request #752316)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us


Screenshot taken at 12:35 PM EST.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Request #752316 is now gone.


Screenshot taken at 12:45 PM EST.

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Request #752330 is now gone.


Screenshot of support request #752330:

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us


What you see now when you go to that URL (http://www.livejournal.com/support/see_request.bml?id=752330)

Free Image Hosting at www.ImageShack.us

Okay, maybe I'm being a little excessive, but it sure proves LJ is deleting/hiding the requests.
ext_7189: (Default)

[identity profile] tkp.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 04:50 pm (UTC)(link)
I missed most of the lead up to this whole thing, but when I found out about it last night, you were there with very concise explanations and informative links. I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done so far.

[identity profile] longlongwaytogo.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 04:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Am I the only one who does not want a mass migration to like, three or four seperate different journals like this? :(

[identity profile] liz-marcs.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:04 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks. Have looked, linked, and credited you.
ext_3407: squiggly symbol floating over water (Default)

On the deletions from the Support page

[identity profile] hummingwolf.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:06 pm (UTC)(link)
From what I understand: Requests for clarification on LiveJournal's standards are sent to Abuse. A request that simply expresses an opinion on the standards goes to Feedback. Redirecting support requests like this does not appear to be a new thing--since the volunteers answering support requests cannot speak for LiveJournal about its policies, requests are often redirected to the appropriate people actually on the staff who (one hopes) will be able to say something.
ext_3407: squiggly symbol floating over water (Default)

Re: On the deletions from the Support page

[identity profile] hummingwolf.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:07 pm (UTC)(link)
I should note that I am not now and have never been a Support volunteer and so I may be wrong on this stuff. Just wanted to point out that the fact that the support requests are deleted from the regular support board is not necessarily a bad sign.

[identity profile] liz-marcs.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:08 pm (UTC)(link)
Have added an ETA link listing more download sites for LJ Archive and similar programs.

[identity profile] nidoking.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I think a very simple point might at least highlight some of the idiocy of WFI: WFI is an organization that uses the Internet to seek out materials with objectionable content and runs a website relating to that content. Therefore, by their own charter (as exemplified by their actions), they themselves need to be shut down immediately without recourse. Perhaps they need to be reported to their ISP.

Re: On the deletions from the Support page

[identity profile] 3libras.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:18 pm (UTC)(link)
I was a support volunteer at one time, and while I am in no way speaking for LiveJournal, I'd imagine that this is what is happening. This is an Abuse matter, not a public support matter.

[identity profile] mersipan.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:23 pm (UTC)(link)
I found this post following the noise of reaction to the whole situation. I am not a fanfic writer (except that one time on ff.net, I SWEAR!!!) and I rarely read it, so I don't consider myself "part of the fandom," although many MANY of my LJ-friends and RL friends are.

However. I find this whole situation extremely disturbing and a little disgusting. Destroying LJs and Comms without warning is not good policy, regardless of interest - it's really all about the freedom of speech. And HELL. If you can't say what the hell you want on your own damn LJ without fearing deletion by the Higher Ups, then LJ loses about half of its functionality and a lot of its purpose.

I'm commenting for basic support purposes and because this pisses me off, even just as a flummoxed bystander. I want to thank you for keeping track of it all and hope all this counter-pressure gets at least some of these banned comms and accounts back up and running.

And, if there's something we flummoxed bystanders can do, I'd certainly like to join in the protest. This is just not good business practice, and certainly changes the equation for LJ users across the board.

[identity profile] phoenixdreaming.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:25 pm (UTC)(link)
There is no way to delete support requests. They're taken private /where they will get a response/ because the 'normal' support volunteer who can answer requests on the public boards isn't equipped to deal with them.

[identity profile] http://users.livejournal.com/_falnfenix_/ 2007-05-30 05:30 pm (UTC)(link)
seconded. this whole thing is bloody retarded...should never have happened.

[identity profile] chrissieness.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:40 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi. I just wanted to thank you for all the very detailed information you've given. This whole thing is still blowing my mind (and no, I am not a writer or are directly affected by it, but it's just seriously worrying me and people on my flist and comm's I've enjoyed for weeks and months are).

I would like to friend you, if you don't mind? I'd love to help and stay on top of the issue.

Thanks again!

[identity profile] jetpack-monkey.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 05:45 pm (UTC)(link)
You're like a superhero or something.

[livejournal.com profile] liz_marcs: Come for the fanfiction, stay for the fanaction.

[identity profile] lady-salsa.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 06:09 pm (UTC)(link)
You're awesome. Thank you so much for all the information, as well as the steps you've made on behalf of all of us - whether this was your original intention or not.
Since you appear to be the one making direct contact with WFI, may I just ask that, if you do communicate with them again, that you bring up the issues raised here: http://community.livejournal.com/fandom_lawyers/36677.html?thread=155717#t155717 (Sorry it's the raw link. It's very late) The gist of it is, (I haven't personally visted the site so I can't tell you whether this is true) WIF is apparently teaching people to pose as children to catch paedophiles/keep them away from the real kids. The thing is, they're providing instructions on how to impersonate a child online. And even include ways to avoid voice convos etc. It doesn't seem to occur to WIF that these tactics can also be used by, hmmm... maybe - the preditors?!
To be honest, I'm less concerned about the whole fandom thing as I am about the danger they're actually posing here.
I know I'm kind of dumping this on you to talk to them about it, so feel free to say no and tell me to do it myself and that I'm lazy (no argument here). Just you seem to be much more skilled than me in structuring arguments and such. In any case. This journal is a wealth of info. Thanks.
ext_3440: (Default)

[identity profile] tejas.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 06:23 pm (UTC)(link)
Umm... maybe *they're* the predators and they're just trying to get rid of the competition.

[identity profile] lady-salsa.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 06:25 pm (UTC)(link)
Heh, that's a very interesting point!
ext_3440: (Default)

[identity profile] tejas.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 06:36 pm (UTC)(link)
One of them "Gunny John" claims to be in the Marine Corps. Y'know, say what you want about the military, they tend to not like their folks going vigilante.

I wonder if this group could be in trouble for obstruction of justice. By having evidence deleted, are they perhaps hindering ongoing investigations by some legitimate law enforcement agency?

[identity profile] lady-salsa.livejournal.com 2007-05-30 06:39 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't know anything about the law - especially USA law, for that matter. I hope so, because then they can get their shit shut down or something.

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