Some venting
This is probably going to be a fairly unpopular view in this community, but I really feel that this whole situation has gone over people's heads and I feel the need to vent.
The fact of the matter is that LJ can decide whatever they want to host on their site and they can ban users at their complete subjective discretion. They have always had this power. The recent update in lj_biz reinforces this view - they don't care whether or not that Snarry picture is child porn/obscene, they just don't want it on their site. And in my view, understandably so.
This debacle has nothing to do with legal precedents, freedom of speech or law anywhere. The fact that a permanent account was banned without warning is dodgy business, but there's a provision in their ToS that allows them to legally do so. If you're going to be pissed off with 6A/LJ then please be pissed off because of their poor communication and consumer relations or their slightly dodgy business practices.
The fact of the matter is that LJ can decide whatever they want to host on their site and they can ban users at their complete subjective discretion. They have always had this power. The recent update in lj_biz reinforces this view - they don't care whether or not that Snarry picture is child porn/obscene, they just don't want it on their site. And in my view, understandably so.
This debacle has nothing to do with legal precedents, freedom of speech or law anywhere. The fact that a permanent account was banned without warning is dodgy business, but there's a provision in their ToS that allows them to legally do so. If you're going to be pissed off with 6A/LJ then please be pissed off because of their poor communication and consumer relations or their slightly dodgy business practices.