The Perfect Storm...

[liz_marcs]

Let's see if LJ lets me post this.

I've been involved off and on with fandom since...ooooo...grammar school (that would be pre-teens for you non-U.S. people). I can't say for sure, but definitely almost that long.

And I have to say, before this week the only Perfect Storm I knew about was the one I lived through back in 1991 when the No Name nor'

Comments

[mpoetess]

I wouldn't be too scared by the second law - not specifically though I agree with your Be Aware and Fight Back message. That article is from May, 2006. The legislation was proposed and never passed the Senate. DOPA/ the MySpace Law is dead.

Which considering the passing about of a related article as part of the furore supposedly driving the LJ 'crackdowns' makes me lean towards thinking this is less a Perfect Storm than a Damn Fine Troll. Possibly by the same people running the DDOS attack, possibly just someone takig advantage of it.

[mpoetess]

(And the points go to sevenfists now with correct lj name, WTF self for pointing out that the original DOPA-related link circulating was a year old; I just noted that your link was also related, then looked up the bill.)

[liz_marcs]

Thanks for correcting me. I've corrected the entry to point out that it happened last year. *facepalm* I should've checked that damn date.

In either case, I found another article explaining that it got shot down thanks to mass action on the part of the online community.

I've posted the correction, said I've posted the correction in an ETA, and credited you with the correction.

[liz_marcs]

I'm definitely beginning to wonder about how the LJ-fandom-squashing rumor started. It certainly looks fairly suspicious, given the timing.

And I still can't track down the source of the rumor, since it appears to have started in a series of locked posts from different LJers. It's maddening.

But I still think the wank is something of a perfect storm, if only because there is the lesson there: it spilled over into the real world (however slightly). That's actually pretty amazing, when you think about it.

But the IP Bill is definitely something to watch, I think.

[antennapedia]

Fandom has seemed very nervy this week. I keep reading references to some kind of May madness that happens this year every time. That, plus Fanlib, plus the copyright insanity with the horrifying IP law, makes for a group of people ready to believe rumors.

[liz_marcs]

Ahhhh, in May the Hellmouth blows...or Buffy fandom. It's like tradition.

Seriously, it seems to be crossing multiple fandoms this time around.

[djinanna]

I like the Hellmouth explanation

[kristinholt]

I love your brain.

:-)

[spiralleds]

Lots of good food for thought. I've been asking myself why it is I rarely talk about my thoughts on the world beyond myself when I'm on LJ. I think and react to all sorts of things as I'm listening to public radio - I swear Alberto Gonzoles must have been dipped in teflon, or the complete confusion over how to address soldiers with PTSD, or what was reasonable (and not reasonable) to expect administrators at Virginia Tech to have done with Cho Seung-Hui (having been a campus judicial officer, I have an informed opinion).

I'm hoping the "perfect storm" of being done with school and being reinforced that our voices to matter will get to post about more than the immediate of y life.

[dettiot]

What an eye-opening post. I already feel some letters to my congresspeople, in relation to the Intellectual Property Protection Act. And while it's important to stand up as an individual, I certainly hope that we start standing up as a group, too.

Thank you so much for making this post!