Signal Boost: Potential Badness.

Greetings, all.

Nyronus put a post up recently, which details the situation far better than I am likely to here with an update here... but in essence: the EU is considering changing copyright laws such that FIMFiction may not be able to continue as it has.

There is also a news link here. And Dusty the Royal Janitor also has been reporting on the matter with other sources, here.

I live in the US, so a signal boost is just about all I can do. However, those of you who live in the UK and EU can, as Nyronus put it:

...if you live in the EU keep calling your MEPs.

Be polite, be well informed, but be firm and unyeilding. Make it clear how (people can't afford those filtering systems, the filtering systems will crush transformative work) and why (UGC websites will fold and the creative aspect of the internet will be swiftly monopolized by IP holding companies which will stifle innovation and social mobility and possibly even wreak havoc on the economy) this is a bad move.

However, bureaucracies are strange, fickle creatures. They tend to panic and lash out blindly when asked intelligent questions. So, best to be prepared by doing the opposite of panicking and lashing out.

Therefore, I would also urge everyone on FIMFiction to back up your stories, contact authors you know to be certain they are backing up their stories, and so forth. It may be as simple as everyone (or even the site itself) moving to a server outside the EU. It may not. Let us take precautions accordingly. None of these stories should be lost.

And, of course, continue to spread the word.