More Msscribe Stuff

[angua9]

I truly don't want to pile on heidi8 when she is down, demanding instant apologies, explanations, and justification of all her actions and inactions over the past three years. That isn't polite or reasonable. On the other hand, what she is saying on her LJ is infuriating me. Here is what I just posted to her:

When I got Angua's email, I spoke about

Comments

[praetorianguard]

Hi Angua

[rustleaf]

Unfortunately, the flip side is a ToU that allows us to release personally identifying information whenever we want to.

You don't have a clause for people who incite hatred etc?

[praetorianguard]

We do, but only if the request comes in the form of a subpoena or similar legal request. It's pretty common for companies to do that because otherwise the company has to make the determination of whether someone is guilty in any given cirumstance. In this case, maybe it would have been easy, but in a lot of cases it wouldn't. Journelfen, for example, has much the same clause in its ToU.

[dinpik]

She may not have hurt FA then, but she's doing a bang-up job of it now.

Come to think of it, you're not helping either.

[praetorianguard]

No, I don't imagine that I am. We acted as we were required to under the law, but I can certainly see that doing so didn't win FA any friends or supporters.

[dinpik]

Drop the Poor Martyred Us routine. It's disgusting.

This isn't about FA as a corporate entity. It's about a choice by people involved in FA who had reason to know better -- namely heidi, but you as well -- choosing to ignore evidence that one of your inner circle of friends was creating sockpuppets simply to stir up shit. If someone outside your group of friends had done the same, you all would have been howling for blood. Do not even pretend otherwise: heidi's made an ass of herself dashing to Cassie Claire's defense every time Cassie's plagiarism is brought up. She tried the same thing when the story on bad_penny first hit: she called it "libelous".

Last time I checked, it's not libel if it's true.

Grow a pair, turn off the spin machine, and face the music like an adult.

[mrs_bombadil]

Actually, I can appreciate that a lawyer has to carefully distinguish between commenting as such, and commenting as a private individual.

In this case I can see that praetorianguard is doing the former and, while I may not like the actualities being conveyed, I cannot argue with them.

[praetorianguard]

I apologized three days ago for the role that I had in this personally. I honestly have no idea what else you'd like me to do.

[kvader]

Personally, I believe you were caught off guard by this mess. You didn't shift blame from your role, and I think that's something to be respected. I think almost everyone was lied to by her. Maybe some knew, but I don't think anyone can prove it unless those people grow a conscience and admit it(and judging by some of their past actions, that's about as likely as pigs sprouting wings and flying backwards(I changed it up a bit, because genetic modification could give them wings eventually)).

[praetorianguard]

*nods* Like I said in my post, she lied to me, but I still took action -- public action -- based on those lies and that is my fault. And I'm loving the genetic modification out on the pig analogy. :)

[rhiannonmr]

Actually I admire that you personally apologised. You got conned too by this whackjob. It had to hurt. Not liking the lawyerly thing here but, that's your job, you have to do that.

That said, Heidi going emo in people's LJs over the weekend and posting what that mess was monday(the only worthwhile part being the IP match and admission that Dionne WAS sporkify) just left a bad taste around here.

That said, there will be some odium that sticks. You guys are going to be known as the people who let a woman wage such a malicious campaign against a group you didn't like. It will stick. Some of the slashers in the fandom say you guys condoned an attitude that isolated GT and led them to being the fandom's whipping boys. That's odious. Believe me I wasn't on LJ at the time this went down but I WAS in fandom, and the perception WAS out there and common. Now it can be laid at the feet of one of your former Mods and her socks. Not looking good for FA.

[praetorianguard]

Yeah, I know. I wasn't thinking I could somehow rehabilitate FA's image on this one, only that I could explain to Angua (and others) what we did and didn't do, and why. And apologize for the fact that apparently no one ever answered her e-mail, which is unprofessional and appalling.

[dinpik]

praetorianguard, I'm sorry. You've said your personal apologies, and I can understand your desire to protect FA from repercussions of this whole mess.

angua9, I'm sorry for letting my temper get the better of me in your journal. It won't happen again.

[praetorianguard]

It's okay. I know that tempers are high, and given the nature of the fandom, I expected a fair amount of this when I posted here. I seriously thought of e-mailing Angua privately, but I thought the public deserved the explanation almost as much as she did. Thank you, though.

[praetorianguard]

Thank you *so* much for this. So many people have gotten so hostile to each other in all these LJ/FJ threads, it's wonderfully refreshing to see something so simple as someone taking back something they said and apologizing for it.

[pandarus]

fwiw, as a random observer, I'm sorry you're getting attacke on this point. My understanding may be imperfect, but if your involvement in the matter was simply that of legal advisor as to whether FA might be implicated legally by any of Msscribe's actions, then you seem to have acted to the letter of the law.

That Heidi and co (and perhaps yourself, but I don't know all the circumstances) behaved reprehensibly in not investigating further, or taking action to distance themselves from Msscribe, or at the very least holding back from mocking and belittling Angua or the GT people is another matter, but - as you have rightly said - that is a matter of PERSONAL responsibility rather than FA's legal responsibility.