First, the sites aren't officially removed. BOLS redirects to their forums, ChillingEffects seems to only be flagged for the specific copyright items, and the owner of Faeit 212 recently posted on the BOLS forums stating:
"the notices I have received from Blogger are for individual posts, and declares that those particular posts are removed to draft status. Nothing from either Games Workshop or Blogger about the removal of the blog itself.
I will continue posting, and things will continue. so stay tuned.
until then I will be posting up on my youtube channel."
So it seems that this is a temporary hiccup until these sites remove what I understand to be leaked photos from an upcoming issues of GW's magazine "White Dwarf." Actions like this are nothing new, with websites often being hit for revealing leaked content, although it's probably more rare to be served for having leaked photos without nudity. That being said, I think both sides of this issue need to stop and take a breath.
First is GW. It's no secret that the company struggles to "get with the times." I'm sure a record exists of them trying to sue the internet for people talking bad about their company. They want absolute control of their content and image and have taken invasive steps to secure that control. If you've been with GW through all their nonsense so far, this shouldn't be the thing that breaks the proverbial camel's back.
In the eyes of the law, these sites were in the wrong and GW tattled to Blogger about it. Was it the right thing to do? Probably not. Is it another PR nightmare joining a continually growing list of similar mistakes? To a degree, I'd say yes. But here's the important question - have they gone too far? If "too far" is measured by them exceeding a line they've drawn, then I really don't think this sets some new sort of precedent.
GW throwing out a potential lawsuit over leaked images should come as zero surprise to anyone. The fact that they went after the bigger blogs is a bit shocking, but it seems more like an eventuality than a turn for the worse. As I said, GW wants absolute control of their content. If a site is leaking their information, that means (to them) that their print publication loses value and anticipation. However flawed their thinking may be, they are doing what they feel is best to protect their company.
Now for the rest of us. When a friend posted about this on our Facebook group, my knee-jerk reaction was that GW was trying to oppress us and destroy our free speech. An Orwellian dystopia was sure to follow! Or is shutting down popular news sites the final nail in GW's coffin?
But when logic took over I realized that GW can't single-handedly shut down a website without just cause. So after some digging I found that BOLS and Natfka weren't terribly worried, and this probably wasn't the first time they'd received a content warning. They pushed their luck and GW pushed back. They took a stand that will probably have long-lasting ramifications, but it's a poor business decision more than anything else.
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a GW fan (as you may recall from a previous post I wrote), and that I'm trying to come from a logical viewpoint. But we need to slow down and look at things realistically. Are people REALLY going to stop spending all their money on GW just because they flagged a website for copyright infringement? Out of everything they've done, is this really what's going make people throw down their d6 and cry "Enough!"? GW caters to a small customer base, and they're currently exercising their legal rights against a few websites who cater to a small percentage of that customer base. It sucks, it's silly, but it's not a big deal.
First is GW. It's no secret that the company struggles to "get with the times." I'm sure a record exists of them trying to sue the internet for people talking bad about their company. They want absolute control of their content and image and have taken invasive steps to secure that control. If you've been with GW through all their nonsense so far, this shouldn't be the thing that breaks the proverbial camel's back.
In the eyes of the law, these sites were in the wrong and GW tattled to Blogger about it. Was it the right thing to do? Probably not. Is it another PR nightmare joining a continually growing list of similar mistakes? To a degree, I'd say yes. But here's the important question - have they gone too far? If "too far" is measured by them exceeding a line they've drawn, then I really don't think this sets some new sort of precedent.
GW throwing out a potential lawsuit over leaked images should come as zero surprise to anyone. The fact that they went after the bigger blogs is a bit shocking, but it seems more like an eventuality than a turn for the worse. As I said, GW wants absolute control of their content. If a site is leaking their information, that means (to them) that their print publication loses value and anticipation. However flawed their thinking may be, they are doing what they feel is best to protect their company.
Now for the rest of us. When a friend posted about this on our Facebook group, my knee-jerk reaction was that GW was trying to oppress us and destroy our free speech. An Orwellian dystopia was sure to follow! Or is shutting down popular news sites the final nail in GW's coffin?
But when logic took over I realized that GW can't single-handedly shut down a website without just cause. So after some digging I found that BOLS and Natfka weren't terribly worried, and this probably wasn't the first time they'd received a content warning. They pushed their luck and GW pushed back. They took a stand that will probably have long-lasting ramifications, but it's a poor business decision more than anything else.
Let me preface this by saying that I'm not a GW fan (as you may recall from a previous post I wrote), and that I'm trying to come from a logical viewpoint. But we need to slow down and look at things realistically. Are people REALLY going to stop spending all their money on GW just because they flagged a website for copyright infringement? Out of everything they've done, is this really what's going make people throw down their d6 and cry "Enough!"? GW caters to a small customer base, and they're currently exercising their legal rights against a few websites who cater to a small percentage of that customer base. It sucks, it's silly, but it's not a big deal.
See you tomorrow for another look at Convergence of Cyriss or my giveaway results for the Warmachine/Hordes faction dice. April 30th is the last day to enter so don't miss out!
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