oh, so that's why

[lolmac]

Next time there's a persistent problem with LJ, I'm just going to Google 'Russia politics elections'.

Tomorrow, Sunday, are the Russian parliamentary elections.  Putin is setting himself up for the presidency again.  So, like wasps after a picnic fruit salad, LJ gets another round of attacks.  Gah.

I'm hoping it eases up after tomorrow, anyway.

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[campylobacter]

Russian government = Russian Business Network (AKA Russian Mafia) = various botnets

LJ doesn't so much "stand up for free speech" as it flails around trying to survive & turn a profit. Granted, the LiveJournal.ru domain hosts both pro-gov't propaganda & anti-gov't blogs without censorship. But honestly, I'm paying $$ for a service that is constantly attacked & also has so many bugs & function issues (which perhaps not firing experienced English-speaking Perl programmers in the US might've ameliorated) that if I could migrate all of fandom to WordPress, I would.

[lolmac]

The botnets don't equal the RBN any more than rigged betting shops equal the Cosa Nostra. That's only one small slice of the whole enterprise: profitable and useful, true, but not central. If you haven't read MacMafia, do -- quite an interesting read.

The anti-government bloggers use LJ because nobody else will stand up to the RBN. I have to respect any group that's willing to run the risk of being found flayed.

Anyone is free to leave LJ and take their money elsewhere, and I do wish that DW had ended up as a truly viable alternative, but it hasn't.

So I have to wonder: why are you still here? You're certainly not a person who's likely to remain in a dysfunctional or codependent relationship with anyone or thing, person or platform; you have the IT chops to manage your online life from another platform (you could practically build your own) -- so why are you still giving LJ any money? (And complaining about how much you hate it?) I'm truly curious.

[campylobacter]

My Friends List.

[edited for reply!fail]

[lolmac]

You can follow LJ accounts from DW or Wordpress -- LOLMac has subscribers from both. Would you find it less constantly aggravating if you took that route?

[jackwabbit]

This.

[lolmac]

THANK YOU.

I realised this morning part of the reason that I had become so intense about LJ's stance against the RBN. It's a bullying thing. LJ is standing up to the bullies, and that means a huge amount to me. It doesn't make them saints or angels, but it does give them points in my book, points that matter.

It would be nice if the RBN acted like most bullies and ran away after a few repulses, but that rarely happens once money gets involved.

[jackwabbit]

Boo bullies!

(And you're welcome, my dear.)