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It's Christmas! A time when spiritualism and materialism clash in mortal combat! It's a secular holiday for me since I'm not Christian but my background is so I get the fuzzy feelings anyway. I haven't gotten half of the shopping done that I need to, but it's tough when you live far away from family and see them twice a year on good years. I just don't know what most of them are into or what they're thinking about, so buying for them is a massive crap shoot nowadays.
My Christmas came a little early because the Hugos decided to drop a little wank into my stocking. They made a post "clarifying" the Ao3 win on their official site, using language that shows they did not take one word of criticism into consideration during the week or so fandom was hashing all of this out the first time. The fact that they have gone right back to square 1 makes it clear that any sort of engagement with their side of the position is a futile endeavor, so I'm abstaining from debate this time around. Just for my own future amusement I'm going to copy an excellent comment made on File 770 that reflects my attitude on the situation and is something I said myself in Hugos wank v. 1.0.
From Jenny Hamilton at the new File 770 post on this mess:
The key part here is that the Hugos both want to insist that Ao3 members are not a part of this select little club, but also that Ao3 members should also do what the Hugos say. Who in their right mind would hear "Get out of my house, but keep living by my rules," and think that was reasonable? But the WSFS still has not figured out that they are not the bosses of the internet, and their failure to approach fandom as equals at any point has been clear as day to everyone.
The WSFS is an inconsequential org in the grand scheme of things. It makes their posturing that much more embarrassing, but also renders it harmless.
Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone!
My Christmas came a little early because the Hugos decided to drop a little wank into my stocking. They made a post "clarifying" the Ao3 win on their official site, using language that shows they did not take one word of criticism into consideration during the week or so fandom was hashing all of this out the first time. The fact that they have gone right back to square 1 makes it clear that any sort of engagement with their side of the position is a futile endeavor, so I'm abstaining from debate this time around. Just for my own future amusement I'm going to copy an excellent comment made on File 770 that reflects my attitude on the situation and is something I said myself in Hugos wank v. 1.0.
From Jenny Hamilton at the new File 770 post on this mess:
What’s wild to me is that the MPC keeps issuing these clarifications that make no progress at all in clarifying that their actual problem is unlicensed commercial use of the registered service mark. By repeatedly issuing the clarification “you’re not a real Hugo winner,” the MPC makes it clear to the AO3 folks within WSFS (you know, the ones with some stake in helping protect the service mark) that we’re not welcome, while completely alienating the non-WSFS AO3 folks (you know, the ones with no stake in helping protect the service mark because it’s not their clubhouse and you’ve now spent FIVE MONTHS telling them they can’t come into your clubhouse) — yet somehow all of this without identifying the actual problem they claim to be trying to address.
This type of statement creates and sustains the impression that WSFS’s problem is “jokey Twitter bios” rather than the actual problem of “people making commercial use of the name and logo in a manner unsanctioned by license.” If the MPC wants to remind the internet not to make commercial use of the Hugo name and logo in a manner unsanctioned by license, perhaps that is the clarification and request they ought to make.
The key part here is that the Hugos both want to insist that Ao3 members are not a part of this select little club, but also that Ao3 members should also do what the Hugos say. Who in their right mind would hear "Get out of my house, but keep living by my rules," and think that was reasonable? But the WSFS still has not figured out that they are not the bosses of the internet, and their failure to approach fandom as equals at any point has been clear as day to everyone.
The WSFS is an inconsequential org in the grand scheme of things. It makes their posturing that much more embarrassing, but also renders it harmless.
Anyway, Merry Christmas everyone!
