Question

[paraka]

So, I've spent most of the day reading up on what people are saying about the OTW are saying. Mostly from non-fandom people, and it's kind of making me want to shoot things, but I was wondering:

What do you think about the OTW? Would you like an archive? A written fannish history? A wiki (OMG, I can't tell you how much I'd like a wiki for fandom, although I can see it being vandalized a lot)? Do you think it's a good idea to have a legal defense fund? If the OTW were ever to go to court, would you support them?

I'm planning on making a post sometime about how I feel about it, but I'm really curious as to what other people on my flist think about it. I think so far only one person on my flist has really written about it, but I spent a couple months away so could have totally missed something.

Also, I am having a bitch of a time working on a mysql database, any one know enough about setting up eFiction to want to help?

Comments

[paraka]

I'm very interested in a central archive, so long as there's no cost to join
From what I understand, the cost to join that has been mentioned is the cost to be a member at large of the OTW, and so you have a right to vote on the board, and has nothing to do with using their services.

I suspect that the first time they are actually faced with a lawsuit, they will be very, very surprised
I think fans in general have trouble understanding *why* anyone would want to slap us with a lawsuit, and any lawsuit is going to require specific legwork, but from my understanding, they're already preparing arguments to use in court.

She is, in fact, putting out a call for fandom to help her with the wiki, to expand the information, do fact checking and so on.
Yeah, one of her friends has been commenting on this thread, and I think the owner is feeling threatened by the OTW and their plans for a wiki (she actually made a post on the wiki saying she doesn't feel objective enough to edit articles about the OTW amoung other topics). A lot of the users of that wiki seem to feel that the OTW is infringing on their work, but I don't think that being the first to do something means that you're going to be the best at it. I mean it's been open for years, but only has about 7000 articles, and as you said only cover a few fandoms in depth (which makes it a rather useless tool if you go there with a specific question in mind).
That's not to say I don't think their site isn't important, but nothing can be completely representative, which is why I encourage having more than one place to go.