blogline and copyright and friends-lock, oh my!
I spent a couple of hours reading my way through angry lj-entries, panicking responses and terms of services as well as rather naff replies from the lj-staff (big surprise there). I will not lj-cut this entry, as I feel that you should read it if you read my lj. but I promise not to include any 8mb graphics. and, as usual, I'm only speaking for myself here.
so what has happened? a brief (hopefully correct) summary:
lj-user kirbycrow found out by accident that the website
BLOGLINES
provides to its users, upon request, feeds to livejournals.
and what that does this mean?
look at your friends-list. there you can see the entries of your buddies and the communities you have friended. now, with bloglines, you'd look at the livejournals and communities as well, but in addition, also see websites, blogs, newsletters, mailings, parcel tracking records, news and the valar know what else. all the things you'd usually gather by checking twenty websites neatly summarized on one page.
sounds good! so why are people miffed?
1. livejournal provides feeds to anybody who asks without asking the users.
2. livejournal's point of view is that it's our own problem how to get content removed from blogline and other companies of the same kind.
3. bloglines archives entries without our consent.
4. copyright / disclaimers / bandwidth thievery etc.
what does this mean? and how do you think about it?
if user littlenuttley1992 opens an account at bloglines and adds my lj to her "friends list" (=feed), my public entries will be archived automatically at bloglines.
I don't care where my public entries are linked to and who reads them. I would never post anything on lj that would not be fit to see the light of day everywhere else.
my main issue with the whole thing is that if I later decide to make this entry friends-only, it would still be archived on bloglines. if I changed the entry, the original would still be there. I might still own the copyright of the entry, but I could not change or delete it - odd understanding of ownership! and though I'm not an expert in american copyright law, I'd say that this is rather fishy from a legal point of view.
next point: let's assume I write a fic with a rating of "R". littlenuttley1992 is 13. bloglines would allow her to add my lj with a rating of "R" without checking if the content of the diary is suitable and legal for her to see. do they care? naaaaawww... in their terms of service they state that
"(...) You understand that the content of each news feed is the sole responsibility of the creator of the feed. Bloglines does not control the news feeds and does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of the feeds.(...)"
cool! can't wait for the first law suits by mummsies and daddsies who find little nuttley reading hot elfporn. the fun! only - not. wouldn't mind if they'd come after bloglines, but it will be more likely that they'll chase the authors.
how can I avoid hotlinking?
as for bandwidth issues - I have my own website, and pictures posted here in my lj can only be linked to from lj and my own websites, not from anywhere else. so that's not an issue for me, but I understand that it will be one if you use photobucket or anything else. not to talk about those folks among us who post their art to LJ! not good! if you store your stuff on your own server, add a protection code, just like I do. you can find this wonderful, easy to use tool here, and you can determine yourself what sites can access your pictures and what sites can't.
bloody hell - what a mess! my stuff is up there! what can I do?
stewardess_lotr was kind enough to write up a summary of the whole matter in this entry, and you can also find information how to remove your content from bloglines. also, tell lj that you absolutely don't agree with this policy! maybe they move their backsides once the complaints increase. it also looks like somebody already wrote a patch for this problem but livejournal hasn't implemented it.
what are the consequences?
people are making their livejournals friends-only left and right. you can't lurk anymore to read their stories or entries, you have no chance to get to know them before you friend them. livejournal/six apart are making a big mistake here: the very thing that made livejournal special is getting destroyed - the sense of community. it's like being a kid in a new neighbourhood, looking for new friends, and finding all doors closed with a doberman in the frontyard. quite obviously, livejournal is not aware that this attacks the core of its being.
so, are you going to friends-lock your livejournal as well?
you will be surprised to hear this - but: NO. big fat no. I do understand the concerns of the authors and readers, and their anger. to a certain degree, I share it. I only archive my stories on my own website for a reason, and I'd be no happy camper if I'd see any of them there.
but for me, livejournal is not a tool to archive stories.
it's not the place where I'd share my most intimate thoughts. I'm well aware that the very moment I write something on the internet, privacy is gone. you can put your entries behind friends-lock, passwords and seven seals, but nothing, absolutely nothing is safe on the internet. if you write original stories, don't even think about posting them on the internet, not even behind a filter only you and your best friend can read. once it's online, you can't sell it anymore. you will never see one word of my original writing here or anywhere else on the internet for exactly this reason.
for me, livejournal is a place where I can meet people from all corners of the world. a place where I can talk to them, get to know them, laugh with them, sometimes also argue with them. I want to be able to communicate with lurkers, anonymices and regular users, with people who are on my friendslist and with people who are not, without restrictions.
so, no "erestor for friends only". my cats wouldn't take to the doberman kindly, anyway.
erestor
so what has happened? a brief (hopefully correct) summary:
lj-user kirbycrow found out by accident that the website
BLOGLINES
provides to its users, upon request, feeds to livejournals.
and what that does this mean?
look at your friends-list. there you can see the entries of your buddies and the communities you have friended. now, with bloglines, you'd look at the livejournals and communities as well, but in addition, also see websites, blogs, newsletters, mailings, parcel tracking records, news and the valar know what else. all the things you'd usually gather by checking twenty websites neatly summarized on one page.
sounds good! so why are people miffed?
1. livejournal provides feeds to anybody who asks without asking the users.
2. livejournal's point of view is that it's our own problem how to get content removed from blogline and other companies of the same kind.
3. bloglines archives entries without our consent.
4. copyright / disclaimers / bandwidth thievery etc.
what does this mean? and how do you think about it?
if user littlenuttley1992 opens an account at bloglines and adds my lj to her "friends list" (=feed), my public entries will be archived automatically at bloglines.
I don't care where my public entries are linked to and who reads them. I would never post anything on lj that would not be fit to see the light of day everywhere else.
my main issue with the whole thing is that if I later decide to make this entry friends-only, it would still be archived on bloglines. if I changed the entry, the original would still be there. I might still own the copyright of the entry, but I could not change or delete it - odd understanding of ownership! and though I'm not an expert in american copyright law, I'd say that this is rather fishy from a legal point of view.
next point: let's assume I write a fic with a rating of "R". littlenuttley1992 is 13. bloglines would allow her to add my lj with a rating of "R" without checking if the content of the diary is suitable and legal for her to see. do they care? naaaaawww... in their terms of service they state that
"(...) You understand that the content of each news feed is the sole responsibility of the creator of the feed. Bloglines does not control the news feeds and does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, or quality of the feeds.(...)"
cool! can't wait for the first law suits by mummsies and daddsies who find little nuttley reading hot elfporn. the fun! only - not. wouldn't mind if they'd come after bloglines, but it will be more likely that they'll chase the authors.
how can I avoid hotlinking?
as for bandwidth issues - I have my own website, and pictures posted here in my lj can only be linked to from lj and my own websites, not from anywhere else. so that's not an issue for me, but I understand that it will be one if you use photobucket or anything else. not to talk about those folks among us who post their art to LJ! not good! if you store your stuff on your own server, add a protection code, just like I do. you can find this wonderful, easy to use tool here, and you can determine yourself what sites can access your pictures and what sites can't.
bloody hell - what a mess! my stuff is up there! what can I do?
stewardess_lotr was kind enough to write up a summary of the whole matter in this entry, and you can also find information how to remove your content from bloglines. also, tell lj that you absolutely don't agree with this policy! maybe they move their backsides once the complaints increase. it also looks like somebody already wrote a patch for this problem but livejournal hasn't implemented it.
what are the consequences?
people are making their livejournals friends-only left and right. you can't lurk anymore to read their stories or entries, you have no chance to get to know them before you friend them. livejournal/six apart are making a big mistake here: the very thing that made livejournal special is getting destroyed - the sense of community. it's like being a kid in a new neighbourhood, looking for new friends, and finding all doors closed with a doberman in the frontyard. quite obviously, livejournal is not aware that this attacks the core of its being.
so, are you going to friends-lock your livejournal as well?
you will be surprised to hear this - but: NO. big fat no. I do understand the concerns of the authors and readers, and their anger. to a certain degree, I share it. I only archive my stories on my own website for a reason, and I'd be no happy camper if I'd see any of them there.
but for me, livejournal is not a tool to archive stories.
it's not the place where I'd share my most intimate thoughts. I'm well aware that the very moment I write something on the internet, privacy is gone. you can put your entries behind friends-lock, passwords and seven seals, but nothing, absolutely nothing is safe on the internet. if you write original stories, don't even think about posting them on the internet, not even behind a filter only you and your best friend can read. once it's online, you can't sell it anymore. you will never see one word of my original writing here or anywhere else on the internet for exactly this reason.
for me, livejournal is a place where I can meet people from all corners of the world. a place where I can talk to them, get to know them, laugh with them, sometimes also argue with them. I want to be able to communicate with lurkers, anonymices and regular users, with people who are on my friendslist and with people who are not, without restrictions.
so, no "erestor for friends only". my cats wouldn't take to the doberman kindly, anyway.
erestor