The new LJ TOS
Apr. 4th, 2017 11:09 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
FLISTIE ALERT!
Originally posted by
hugemind at The new TOS
Originally posted by
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
It would be really helpful, if someone who actually knows the section of law mentioned in the new TOS posted to say what the new TOS really means. I have no idea what might result, but the new TOS states that Russian laws now rule and I have a really bad feeling about things. For example, there is this one ominous and bolded part in the new TOS (8.4) that for popular communities, "Community (the Community’s page) within 24 hours, the Community Owner shall be subject to Article 10.2 of the Federal Act of the Russian Federation No. 149-FЗ if more than three thousand Internet users access". Also, people who made comments in communities are according to 8.5 "subsidiarily liable in respect of Community Supervisor’ actions" whatever the heck that means. 9.1.3 says to mark as adult content everything that estimated by the Russian law is not suitable for kids. I don't much about them laws, but I do know that this means all same-sex content regardless of nature of the content (i.e. not just NC-17 or PG-13).
So I think that based on the above especially community owners really need to sit down and consider their option on what to do now. Especially owners of fic communities where people have posted fic in the community or ones that have unlabeled adult content (esp. same-sex), really need to make decisions based on the current incomplete information both to protect themselves and the people who have commented there. One specific example is the kink memes. Those could be lost soon and whatever the TOS mean, it could be also not good for the comm owner. It would probably not be a bad idea to save your absolute favorites from them.
If things start to go down, they may go down quickly as people may opt to be on the safer side and f-lock/delete/disappear. I urge everyone to consider the nature and extent of the content they have posted in their personal LJ/communities they own. To have at least some breathing room and not lose things dear to them/others, I recommend opening a dreamwidth account now and importing all your entries there. The process might take a bit time if many people are importing at the same time, but it is very simple to do and runs in the background after you tell it which parts of your LJ stuff you want to import (entries, comments(!), tags etc.). For communities, the community owner has to create a new comm at dreamwidth and then they can also import the community from LJ. Very simple but from what I see you need have accepted the new TOS for the import process to be able to verify your lj credentials. You can also automatically cross-post your entries from dw to lj and run both of them in parallel. The problem is that some communities have been abandoned and the owners are not around to import them. If you know these kind of communities, contact the people running them ask them to consider importing the content to dreamwidth.
Back things up somehow (dreamwidth, LJ export tool whatever) if you don't want to lose them, and if possible, grab at least your top five fave fics/posts you know are not available outside LJ. Backing up is always a smart thing to do, and I hope that this is not needed, but if it is, at least your content will not be lost. Don't fiddle too much with the style settings or anything that can be straightened out later. Rebuild your friend network the best you can, so there will be ways to get the word out where you are and what is going on. Spread the word that the TOS situation should be monitored carefully and the time to act with back ups is right now. Consider that communities that have become large databases of information (like
spnstoryfinders,
spn_j2_bigbang or the kink memes) might be gone soon if not for the new TOS then for people reacting to the TOS.
Maybe a new dw comm could be helpful to inform fannish people of their options, get people in contact with LJ community owners, and organize campaigns to back up content. Or maybe there already is one in which case, please link me. I don't want to panic anyone but just to recommend people to be prepared and ready to move to another platform if we suddenly receive a word that it is the absolute best thing to do. In that case we can then leave in organized fashion. Personally, I have imported my LJ (with comments) to DW, exported my LJ entries as XML using the export tool, imported also
spnematography to dw (under the same name), exported those entries as csv files, and I will try to figure out what more to do after I get back from work.
I am at dreamwidth and AO3 under this same username and over at twitter as underpurplesky. Feel free to friend me and/or leave me your information so I can friend you if I already haven't. I might be moving, but I am not leaving the fandom.
So I think that based on the above especially community owners really need to sit down and consider their option on what to do now. Especially owners of fic communities where people have posted fic in the community or ones that have unlabeled adult content (esp. same-sex), really need to make decisions based on the current incomplete information both to protect themselves and the people who have commented there. One specific example is the kink memes. Those could be lost soon and whatever the TOS mean, it could be also not good for the comm owner. It would probably not be a bad idea to save your absolute favorites from them.
If things start to go down, they may go down quickly as people may opt to be on the safer side and f-lock/delete/disappear. I urge everyone to consider the nature and extent of the content they have posted in their personal LJ/communities they own. To have at least some breathing room and not lose things dear to them/others, I recommend opening a dreamwidth account now and importing all your entries there. The process might take a bit time if many people are importing at the same time, but it is very simple to do and runs in the background after you tell it which parts of your LJ stuff you want to import (entries, comments(!), tags etc.). For communities, the community owner has to create a new comm at dreamwidth and then they can also import the community from LJ. Very simple but from what I see you need have accepted the new TOS for the import process to be able to verify your lj credentials. You can also automatically cross-post your entries from dw to lj and run both of them in parallel. The problem is that some communities have been abandoned and the owners are not around to import them. If you know these kind of communities, contact the people running them ask them to consider importing the content to dreamwidth.
Back things up somehow (dreamwidth, LJ export tool whatever) if you don't want to lose them, and if possible, grab at least your top five fave fics/posts you know are not available outside LJ. Backing up is always a smart thing to do, and I hope that this is not needed, but if it is, at least your content will not be lost. Don't fiddle too much with the style settings or anything that can be straightened out later. Rebuild your friend network the best you can, so there will be ways to get the word out where you are and what is going on. Spread the word that the TOS situation should be monitored carefully and the time to act with back ups is right now. Consider that communities that have become large databases of information (like
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
Maybe a new dw comm could be helpful to inform fannish people of their options, get people in contact with LJ community owners, and organize campaigns to back up content. Or maybe there already is one in which case, please link me. I don't want to panic anyone but just to recommend people to be prepared and ready to move to another platform if we suddenly receive a word that it is the absolute best thing to do. In that case we can then leave in organized fashion. Personally, I have imported my LJ (with comments) to DW, exported my LJ entries as XML using the export tool, imported also
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
I am at dreamwidth and AO3 under this same username and over at twitter as underpurplesky. Feel free to friend me and/or leave me your information so I can friend you if I already haven't. I might be moving, but I am not leaving the fandom.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-04 10:33 am (UTC)I've been manually xposting since I ported everything over, b/c I can't get autoxpost to work. It may be moot soon, or I'll figure it out, or just keep xposting manually till it all blows up, whichever comes first.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-04 03:17 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-04 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-04 11:39 am (UTC)It's really a shame if we have to let go of LJ since there's so much memory here...
I'm getting a DW account and will find you guys soon.
no subject
Date: 2017-04-04 03:09 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-04 03:48 pm (UTC)Yeah indeed. I hate having to move to DW and I guess it'll take some time to rebuild all the ties in fandom...
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Date: 2017-04-04 07:56 pm (UTC)The new LJ TOS
Date: 2017-04-04 12:21 pm (UTC)The new LJ TOS
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Date: 2017-04-04 03:10 pm (UTC)The new LJ TOS
Date: 2017-04-04 12:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-04 04:25 pm (UTC)But seriously, LJ. HIDE YO PORN! HIDE YO KINKY SLASH! PUTIN IS COMING AFTER IT! This is silly. Russia IS a dictatorship, and I'm sure the new regulations are there to crack down on their political opposition and have more control over their citizens. (I laughed at this "we made the transition out of the urge to be closer to our users, most of whom live in Russia".) If I was living in Russia, yes, this is utter bullshit. But ohmygod, like Putin and the FSB actually give a shit about these ridiculous morality laws and who slashes whom with what on the Internet. The point of them is to thwart perceived threats. I'm pretty sure us foreign citizens with our kink porn don't blip on that radar. It's like people think NKVD is gonna come to their door at 3am in Des Moines, Iowa and ship them off to Siberia for that tentacle porn they wrote.
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Date: 2017-04-07 05:26 pm (UTC)This really scares me
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Date: 2017-04-05 07:34 am (UTC)Oh and when it starts, it's worth refreshing the page after a minute or so to make sure the login has worked (if you're like me and liable to mistype stuff). Other than that, you just leave it running.
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Date: 2017-04-06 12:05 am (UTC)no subject
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Date: 2017-04-06 03:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-04-06 07:43 am (UTC)Not moving yet...
Date: 2017-04-11 04:40 am (UTC)They may take down my stories, but I have already cross-posted at fanfiction.net and archiveofourown.org, so that won't really affect me. They can ban me, but I can move to Dreamwidth. Unfortunately, for any fan who lives in Russia, this could be much more dire. it is most likely that any Draconian measures will first (and perhaps only) affect them.
Post some male-on-maie PWP, and the police could come and arrest you. Post something anti-Putin... and get dragged away by whatever they're calling the KGB these days.
And with the dick-swinging contest going on over Syria AND the upcoming Russian elections... Frankly, I am very, very nervous.
Re: Not moving yet...
Date: 2017-04-11 07:58 am (UTC)