Comments on: LendInk, Author Activism, and the Need for Critical Thinking http://www.sfwa.org/2012/08/lendink-author-activism-and-the-need-for-critical-thinking/ Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Sat, 15 Jun 2013 05:04:51 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 By: James http://www.sfwa.org/2012/08/lendink-author-activism-and-the-need-for-critical-thinking/#comment-133650 James Tue, 21 Aug 2012 14:53:21 +0000 http://www.sfwa.org/?guid=40987ca0a725c028a5324b9dabfef8ad#comment-133650 There’s a phrase I default to when I’m trying to determine whether some example of mob justice is right, and invoking it almost always invalidates the argument of the lynchers. I don’t know who came up with it, and I don’t remember where I heard it, but I’ve held onto it as a guiding principle:

“Better ten, a hundred, even a thousand guilty people go free than a single innocent person suffer unjustly.”

This is a clear case. Fundamentalist zeal, even with regards to protecting the law, is a dangerous and volatile thing. The people who partook in the destruction of LendInk should use this opportunity to re-examine their motives and what measures they feel are appropriate for accomplishing their goals of protecting copyright.

Because this outcome is unacceptable.

]]> By: Stephen L. Wilson http://www.sfwa.org/2012/08/lendink-author-activism-and-the-need-for-critical-thinking/#comment-133624 Stephen L. Wilson Sat, 18 Aug 2012 00:24:41 +0000 http://www.sfwa.org/?guid=40987ca0a725c028a5324b9dabfef8ad#comment-133624 Victoria,

Thank you for your post, however, I would like more clarification about how “dead” TUEBL is. The term is a bit vague, but I can assure you they are at quite a diminished capacity. Yes, they may be harder to “kill,” simply due to the hard-core belief system and a bit of technological understanding on the part of a few of their more ardent members. Compared to LendInk, a one-man show hosted by a disabled military veteran with no real passion for making a cause of his position, TUEBL will limp along virtually for eternity based on their will alone. If Mr. Porter decided today to bring LendInk back up, he would have it in place tomorrow, based on the feedback by people like me, and many others, who have volunteered our resources to do so.
Just today I touched base with my group regarding our strategy for TUEBL. Since their PayPal was revoked, their Amazon affiliation was deactivated, and their Facebook site was taken down, the only other base they had – their server – cannot stay stable for more than a day or two. Their support base has effectively abandoned ship, as the confidence level of TUEBL’s credibility and integrity has been exposed, and once PayPal left, the confidence of the users slipped even more. Currently we have people gathering intel daily as to TUEBL’s condition, and we have decided to not act on them at this time. Right now, we have another pirate who is currently making money off of over a thousand pages of authors, without anyone’s consent but hers. Instead of TUEBL, my group is going to consolidate to take out her funding this week. Dozens of authors affiliated with SFWA are on the list, by the way. Unless a group known as “Buy Ebooks Now” has some sort of contractual agreement to be doing this, you may wish to contact me at your earliest convenience.
While the bloated body of TUEBL may continue to float to the surface, rest assured, the group is relatively toothless, at this point. Thank you for your time.

Stephen L. Wilson
Founder, “No Pirates”

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