Do Not Donate, Do Not Participate!

Do Not Donate, Do Not Participate!

The new ML agreement is terrible, a portion of the ML's (municipal liaisons aka volunteers) cannot sign it because it breaks the law in their regions.

Dozens more have said they won't sign it, because the confidentiality agreement is worded to prevent whistleblowing, and even more can't sign because the identification company being used violates their country's data laws. This is on top of those who already resigned because they just said this wasn't okay.

Volunteers contacting HQ to ask questions has been told "it sounds like you aren't interested in participating in this as a volunteer" with no other follow ups, some were simply told they would be let go for asking the questions.

The board response to this, and the outrage from community members who are not volunteers has been to post a message on the forum thanking the community and volunteers for their immense support, which DOES NOT EXIST.

https://forums.nanowrimo.org/t/message-from-nanowrimo-board-of-directors-february-march-2024-update-to-the-community/592793

There is something SERIOUSLY sketchy going on here, and from the tone of the email, they have basically stopped listening.

If you are currently donating the NaNoWrimo, please stop immediately. Do not engage, do not support this organization, they are NOT what they once were, and they can't be allowed to continue with blinders on.

I loved this organization, the challenges, but it seems they are no longer capable, so please spread the word, it's time to let it die.

FANDOM TRUMSP HATE 2024 BIDDING IS OPEN!!!

There are 9 works to bid on in the Justified Fandom this year, and bidding is open now, until March 9th! I have linked the AO3 pages for all those offering in the fandom below! Anne McSommers is offering 3 works

grydo2life is offering 1 work

Grace_Hill aka E_Greer is offering 1 work

roaroftheninth is offering 1 work

Willow McKinley is offering 2 works

schweinsty is offering 1 work

If you are looking for a complete list of fandoms offering works, look here!

Agreed, put the Kraken back on the map!!!

Im weighing in on the discourse. We need to start putting sea monsters on maps again.

Re: tumblr selling our data to AI companies.

I don't know if it's overly cynical to say, but it's nothing that all the other social media haven't done already, with more or less publicity. I see people being like, "I'm going away from Tumblr, I'll be on Instagram instead" and. Do you really think Facebook and co aren't selling all of your stuff already. They are.

The AI companies are buying a shitload of data now, I'm guessing mostly so they can say they have "legally acquired" content when the laws and lawsuits start rolling in, but they were scrapping tumblr before that. They were and are scrapping AO3 and whatever other website you use. It's disturbingly easy to get ChatGPT to write shitty omegaverse. If you ask the image AIs to give you Maedhros from the Silmarillion, they'll spit out red-haired guys - that's not because it's canon (it's not even in the Silm) but because it's been trained on our fanart.

This is undoubtedly a shitty move on Tumblr's part, I hate it, etc. This is sure as hell not a defence of them. Do toggle the toggle to "opt-out" for whatever good it's going to do. Do Glaze your art if you can, Nightshade if you can (remember that Nightshade doesn't protect shit though), I don't think either of those are the panacea I've seen them described as but it's better than nothing. But ultimately, all of our stuff online (not just art, and not just public things) has been scrapped and will be scrapped. It doesn't matter if it's on your personal website or on shitty social media.

The internet's core concept is sharing, and that involves a certain amount of goodwill on all sides of the transaction. And that goodwill, when it comes to those big companies, just isn't there. The only way to protect your art from being scrapped is to not share it anywhere.

I don't have a solution. Those models are probably going to burn themselves out eventually, but the next thing will be as bad or worse. The big companies have considered themselves above the law for years and legal frameworks are unlikely to do much. The choice is between not sharing anything and giving up on the communities that bring me joy, or accepting that my art will be stolen whatever I do. Personally I'm going to keep sharing my art on here with the people who enjoy it, and try to remember even in the worst moments of imposter syndrome that it will always be a thousand times better than whatever shitty things the AIs are sprouting by stealing it.

This isn't the solution (or even compromise) I wish I could have. I'm writing this because all the posts I'm seeing are panicking and guilt-tripping, and I've caught myself feeling guilty for still wanting to share my art even though it's going to feed the Machines(TM) and. Can we please stop that. Can we not make the artists somehow responsible for being stolen from.

You know, this is a really good litmus test. Like do you want to get seriously involved with someone and then one day discover they believe that birds aren't real or that the earth is flat?