Well, I need to leave if only to be true to my own values vis-a-vis censorship and principles of intellectual freedom. When the last incident occurred, I took a six-month sabbatical from the Wiki -- occasionally reading, never editing -- because of how freaking angry I was at the... the intellectual bankruptcy forced on the wiki by its effective indebtedness to Google via using its ad service.
The first round of "solutions" to the problem included what amounted to a EULA requiring contributors to agree to never post anything that was unsuitable for a grade school-age child to read -- almost literally that language -- and it was disturbingly reminiscent of the attempt made here in the US in 1996 with the Communications Decency Act to turn the entire Internet into a children-only zone. Even though the language was changed before I actually took my sabbatical, it still incensed me -- it infuriated and insulted me. It took me that six months to calm myself down and tentatively accept that the new system of walling off "mature" content from the Google ads was a necessary evil that I could -- would have to -- live with. It was, I thought, unwanted by the wiki management, but necessary to keep the wiki going.
But to find that now Fast Eddie is using the second such incident as an excuse to purge everything he doesn't like from the wiki, I am beyond infuriated. I find it a betrayal of the wiki's principles and purpose, that on a wiki that claims to be devoted to exploring the structural elements of all media some media and some elements are unacceptable -- not because the community there decided on it, but because one squeamish, bluenosed administrator decided that just adhering to the terms of the Google contract and the law as not enough -- he had to get rid of everything he personally thought was icky.
Yes, I know there is allegedly a five-person committee set up to review the "deleted" works and tropes. But Fast Eddie has made a few posts that seem to indicate that he reserves the right to overrule the committee if they approve something he disapproves of.
Regardless, it means that the wiki is not a community with community standards -- it is some kind of group-contribution project that must adhere to Fast Eddie's standards, which are higher than any court or legislative body has tried to impose in recent history.
Ack. I went and ranted. Argh. The point is, I cannot stay there and be true to my values. But I have invested so much time and energy and creativity into the wiki, that it's hard to walk away.
No, I think the best thing to do is bring the light of media attention to bear on the wiki and its governance. Has anyone here contacted/posted/whatever to the various outlets mentioned above? I'm planning on writing to Cory Doctorow/BoingBoing tonight if time allows, since it was a posting there X many years ago that first sent me to TVTropes. I'm sure he'd be interested in the recent developments.
ETA: Confirmed that Fast Eddie has admitted that he intends to overrule his committee any time he damned well feels like it. (If I were smart I would have grabbed the link before I closed the tab to post here.) I think that really seals it for me.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
The first round of "solutions" to the problem included what amounted to a EULA requiring contributors to agree to never post anything that was unsuitable for a grade school-age child to read -- almost literally that language -- and it was disturbingly reminiscent of the attempt made here in the US in 1996 with the Communications Decency Act to turn the entire Internet into a children-only zone. Even though the language was changed before I actually took my sabbatical, it still incensed me -- it infuriated and insulted me. It took me that six months to calm myself down and tentatively accept that the new system of walling off "mature" content from the Google ads was a necessary evil that I could -- would have to -- live with. It was, I thought, unwanted by the wiki management, but necessary to keep the wiki going.
But to find that now Fast Eddie is using the second such incident as an excuse to purge everything he doesn't like from the wiki, I am beyond infuriated. I find it a betrayal of the wiki's principles and purpose, that on a wiki that claims to be devoted to exploring the structural elements of all media some media and some elements are unacceptable -- not because the community there decided on it, but because one squeamish, bluenosed administrator decided that just adhering to the terms of the Google contract and the law as not enough -- he had to get rid of everything he personally thought was icky.
Yes, I know there is allegedly a five-person committee set up to review the "deleted" works and tropes. But Fast Eddie has made a few posts that seem to indicate that he reserves the right to overrule the committee if they approve something he disapproves of.
Regardless, it means that the wiki is not a community with community standards -- it is some kind of group-contribution project that must adhere to Fast Eddie's standards, which are higher than any court or legislative body has tried to impose in recent history.
Ack. I went and ranted. Argh. The point is, I cannot stay there and be true to my values. But I have invested so much time and energy and creativity into the wiki, that it's hard to walk away.
Quote:You could find the filthiest examples possible of 'safe' tropes' and populate them.It would be fun, but sadly temporary; they'd be purged before I could turn around.
No, I think the best thing to do is bring the light of media attention to bear on the wiki and its governance. Has anyone here contacted/posted/whatever to the various outlets mentioned above? I'm planning on writing to Cory Doctorow/BoingBoing tonight if time allows, since it was a posting there X many years ago that first sent me to TVTropes. I'm sure he'd be interested in the recent developments.
ETA: Confirmed that Fast Eddie has admitted that he intends to overrule his committee any time he damned well feels like it. (If I were smart I would have grabbed the link before I closed the tab to post here.) I think that really seals it for me.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.