BitchBuzz: PayPal Puritanism

My column this week is an issue that's been affecting a lot of writers. There's a lot of anxiety and a lot of name-calling and finger pointing, but in the end, the 'man behind the curtain' is really the banks. Yeah, you know -- those banks that got bailed out to the tune of billions. Now they're making like Rebiblicans and telling you what you can and cannot read. Is there no end to this? No.

PayPal & the ebook Revolution's Moral Clause

By K.A. Laity

A kerfuffle erupted on some romance writers discussion groups and then migrated to blogs and finally to publishing sites. The ebook revolution now has a moral clause.

 PayPal has demanded the removal of all books containing objectionable material, specifically "erotica featuring themes of rape, bestiality, incest." Romance and erotica writers felt an unwelcome glare of attention turned toward the genres, normally overlooked by mainstream institutions. As Holly Golightly says, "There are certain shades of limelight that can wreck a girl's complexion."

Third party book sellers like All Romance eBooks, Bookstrand and Smashwords have complied with this new mandate. ARe has separated the categories of erotic romance and erotica, asked publishers to "reshelve" books, and clarified their restrictions clause. The fuzzy boundary between the two categories remains problematic, however. It's a bizarre notion that sex is somehow objectionable if the people involved are not in love, but acceptable as long as they say, "I love you" after all the hot sweaty action.

It matters that this is an attack on the erotica market: for example, there has been no move to remove crime or horror books "featuring themes of rape, bestiality, incest." Morality about sex and what's allowable seems to be reaching a frenzy in the United States as politicians whip up moral indignation about sex. It's presenting a climate that favours this kind of move...

Read the rest at BBHQ.

Bertie headed home early this morning, back to the snow in NY. Hope he gets home safely and has a relatively easy journey. It was nice to have him visit, and next week -- the QoE and Marko!

BitchBuzz: Why the Blackout Mattered

An unusual day: me away from the net. Be honest -- you didn't really notice I was gone, did you? It's all right. I know occasionally I should take a break from yammering across all media. Besides, I took some more lovely photographs over in Salthill. Nothing jazzes up a photo like a happy, bouncing Lab.

I also managed to finish a story and send it off to my editor: it was meant to be 5K but ended up closer to 8K. Also not like me: if you get paid the same, why go over the target? Well, sometimes the story demands it. Characters can be so pushy. Thinking about tonight's Over the Edge reading, I also thought I should have something on hand to read in case I can get on the list, so I finally started writing the new novel. Yes, about time after thinking about it for so long. It reminded me that the best way to edit your writing is to read it out loud. I know that, but I seem to always forget it. You may ask, how's that academic essay coming along? [cough] Today for sure! Here: go read Peter Cook's Jekyll and Hyde script and stop hassling me.

Better yet, go read the column, featuring a rudely hilarious animated GIF from The Oatmeal:

Why the Blackout Mattered

K. A. Laity

After some speculation about whether they would take part, it was telling that Google applied the now familiar black censorship bar over their corporate logo (in the U.S. anyway—Google.ie continued in normal mode). More obvious homes of net freedom like Boing-Boing, Reddit, Wikipedia and Wordpress likewise blacked out for the day, but the participation of Google confirmed the broadening opinion that even for a mega-global outfit like Google SOPA and PIPA continue to be very bad ideas.

The so-called "Stop Online Piracy Act" and the "Protect IP Act" would radically affect everyone who uses the net, by making a criminal of anyone who links to anything deemed to be copyrighted material as explained by the always insightful Stephen Colbert. Why catch criminals when you can make everyone a criminal? Anyone who thinks that of course the laws won't be abused this way by corporations should follow the horrifying saga of how the Recording Industry Association of American (RIAA) and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) have already invoked draconian measures against anyone they can catch—apparently because they're frustrated with not being able to catch real criminals.

People who do not understand the internet should not be legislating for its control; the sad fact is they allow corporations like the RIAA and MPAA to do it for them. While many people will support measures to stop internet piracy, those who do not comprehend how these poorly written measures will forever change the net need to know that Facebook, Twitter and all the rest will be as dead as Napster should SOPA or PIPA pass...

Read the rest at BBHQ. And hey, call your representatives and remind them they represent you and not multimillionaire corporations: fight the real enemy.

 

STOP S.O.P.A.