SFWA loses all credibility
SFWA is the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, which is supposed to be a professional organization for specfic writers. It's not a particularly big organization (wikipedia says it has about 1,500 members currently), nor a very influential one (although it does host the excellent Writer Beware site). In 2003 when SFWA put into place new (and laughably strict) requirements to join, it grandfathered in all current members whether or not they met the new requirements, thereby undermining its own rules.
Now read this post on BoingBoing. SFWA has taken it upon itself to defend SF writers against piracy--whether or not the work in question is actually pirated, whether or not the writers have asked SFWA to do so, in some cases against the express wishes of the writer, and in such an irresponsible, sloppy way that SFWA has opened itself up to possible litigation. One of the commenters on the BoingBoing thread (#14) points out that "Rule #1 of working in any creative field in the 21st century should be: Your Fans Are Not The Enemy."
And now read John Scalzi's March 2007 blog post about the recent SFWA officer elections.
There's no notice of the hooha on SFWA's site that I can find. It does, however, have a page in the FAQ called "Why Join SFWA?" It doesn't convince me, especially in light of current events.
Now read this post on BoingBoing. SFWA has taken it upon itself to defend SF writers against piracy--whether or not the work in question is actually pirated, whether or not the writers have asked SFWA to do so, in some cases against the express wishes of the writer, and in such an irresponsible, sloppy way that SFWA has opened itself up to possible litigation. One of the commenters on the BoingBoing thread (#14) points out that "Rule #1 of working in any creative field in the 21st century should be: Your Fans Are Not The Enemy."
And now read John Scalzi's March 2007 blog post about the recent SFWA officer elections.
There's no notice of the hooha on SFWA's site that I can find. It does, however, have a page in the FAQ called "Why Join SFWA?" It doesn't convince me, especially in light of current events.