Censorship, Free Speech, and FF.NET

There is a lot of controversy on ff.net nowadays. A lot of words have been thrown around. Words like censorship, free speech, and a whole host of other things. I’m not going to delve into the cesspool of name calling right now. I’m just going to clarify what censorship is and how it’s applicable or not applicable in this case. To start with, let’s talk about the big C(and I don’t mean cancer). Here’s what dictionary.com had to say.
cen•sor–noun

1. an official who examines books, plays, news reports, motion pictures, radio and television programs, letters, cablegrams, etc., for the purpose of suppressing parts deemed objectionable on moral, political, military, or other grounds.

2. any person who supervises the manners or morality of others.

3. an adverse critic; faultfinder.

4. (in the ancient Roman republic) either of two officials who kept the register or census of the citizens, awarded public contracts, and supervised manners and morals.

5. (in early Freudian dream theory) the force that represses ideas, impulses, and feelings, and prevents them from entering consciousness in their original, undisguised forms.

–verb (used with object)

6. to examine and act upon as a censor.

7. to delete (a word or passage of text) in one's capacity as a censor.

So, we know what censor means. Jolly good. Now, how does this fit in with the current insanity on ff.net. For those not in the know, consider how lucky you are before reading on. If you are really that curious and simply must read on, you’ve been warned. Most of the controversy has come from the Twilight section, and MA rated fics.

As I posted in the blog previous, when I dug this old thing out of hiding, ff.net has a rating system. People have been ignoring this system for some time, and have gotten caught. Now, as any long time user of ffnet knows, there is a system in place to report stories that break the guidelines. The admins check out the stories that have been reported, and delete offending stories. To which there has been an outcry of “Censorship”, “Oppression”, “What about our FREE SPEECH!?” I paraphrase. I’ve also left out a few things, but those will be touched on at a later date.

To my knowledge, no one has told any author on the site; you can’t write about _____(fill in the blank) What has been said is, you may not post your_____on this site. Two different things. I don’t care if the muse hits, and you simply must write about Carlisle and his insatiable lust for goats in graphic, explicit detail. Have at it, and have fun. I do care if you decide that this Carlisle/Goats story ends up on ffnet. Wanna know why?

Well, since you’re still reading, I guess so. Ffnet used to allow MA stories. However, the site was hit with several cease and desist orders, from the actual authors of the real stories. The authors didn’t want their characters being used for explicit scenes on that site. Ffnet is a massive site, with no age limit to read stories on it. That’s why ffnet stopped allowing MA/NC-17 stories.

Free speech is a wonderful thing. I’m a believer in it myself. However, telling someone; this isn’t the proper site for your story, is not stopping them from using free speech. Even free speech has it’s limitations, legally. Like a person who yells “FIRE!” in a crowded theater when there is no fire. That can get you arrested. Telling the cops, “But I have free speech!” will not stop you from being in some deep shit.

So, I hope I’ve helped clear up some issues there. Have a great day.

Next up on Wesfan’s World . . . . Argument Fail, and how to avoid it.

This is Wes, signing out.

Ratings and an Explanation

I can't believe I haven't updated my blog in so many years. Last post in 2006. Wow.

I’m adding in my two cents to the lovely brouhaha, that’s happening on ff.net. Before I really get moving though, I thought we could all benefit from a few term definitions. I’ll start off with the ratings, specifically M and MA. It should be noted beforehand that FF.net does not allow MA rated stories on their site.

http://www.fictionratings.com/
M rated , as per ff.net: Not suitable for children or teens below the age of 16 with possible strong but non-explicit adult themes, references to violence, and strong coarse language.

MA rated, as per above source: Content is only suitable for mature adults. May contain explicit language and adult themes.

Now that that issue is cleared up, let’s move on, shall we? From www.dictionary.com
ex•plic•it
  –adjective
1. fully and clearly expressed or demonstrated; leaving nothing merely implied; unequivocal: explicit instructions; an explicit act of violence; explicit language.

2. clearly developed or formulated: explicit knowledge; explicit belief.

3. definite and unreserved in expression; outspoken: He was quite explicit as to what he expected us to do for him.

4. described or shown in realistic detail: explicit sexual scenes.

5. having sexual acts or nudity clearly depicted: explicit movies; explicit books.

6. Mathematics. (of a function) having the dependent variable expressed directly in terms of the independent variables, as y = 3x + 4.Compare implicit def. 4.

So, as you can read, I’ve bolded number five. That’s the pertinent one, for this case.

Case 1, Edward and Bella are going to have sex, and there are innuendos left and right. However, the author does not depict the actual act of sex, instead using the traditional ‘Fade to black”. This story would be properly rated as M.

Case 2, Edward and Bella are going at it again. In this story, every part of their anatomy is described in great detail. This story would be rated as MA. MA stories are clearly not allowed. I hope maybe this clarifies a few things.

Tune in next time for my words on censorship and free speech.

Wes

For the Love of Zeus

I really should not have to say this, but there are enough people that need this information apparently.

Public Service Announcement:

If you experience chest pain, DO NOT go to an Immediate Care Center!!!!!!! Call 911 or Go to the closest hospital. Go directly to the hospital, do not pass go, do not gather a lot of bills.

Sheesh, people.

The immediate care center is not equipped or staffed to handle chest pain. They will send you to the hospital, then you (or your insurance) will get billed from the Care Center, the ambulance that takes you to the ER, and the hospital itself.

Oy Vey

Well,
Does anyone else get frustrated at there job? This week has been aggravating!!!!!! Our Boss hired an Emt Basic, who cannot function as an emt without a paramedic's supervision. So I get shafted off of my ambulance (I worked almost a year to get on an ALS ambulance) and stuck on a BLS rig. OMG!!!!!!! THAT IS SO STUPID!!!! Plus, this emt can only work on Tuesdays and Thursdays, which are two of my three scheduled days.

On the plus side, I had my review this week and I got a raise!!! YEAH!!!!!

Hope any readers I have out there enjoy this.

Talk at ya Later True Believers!

Erin and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day! (PARODY ALERT)

This is going to be a multi-part series. I am using somewhat the same format of the book, but it will have differences.

And now on to some fun

I woke up and saw the alarm said 4:30 instead of 5:30 and I knew it would be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day. I couldn't find my black socks, they were dirty, so I had to wear navy blue ones instead.

I got in to the car, and there wasn't enough gas to drive to work, so I had to stop for gas. The gas station was out of 1 liter dews, they only had the small dews. I told the clerk,

"I'm moving to Florida, where they never run out of 1 liters."

On the way to work, I got stuck behind six semis and at least 12 slowpoke drivers. It took me forever and I couldn't find any songs on the radio. I swear one of the disc jockeys said
"For all those commuting, this could be a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day!" Well duh

When I got to the station, ambulance 54 and 56were broken, and I had to use 52 and go up BLS(I hate going up BLS) Jerry said I wasn't his favorite partner, Matt was. Boss said I wasn't his best employee Christine was. We did all the calls, while the shift car slept all day. I told Jerry,

"It doesn't matter, I'm moving to Florida where companies take better care of their ambulances!"

I fogot my lunch, and all GS Hospital had was Bugles and Capri Suns. Patrick told us we could go home, and then at 8:30, he told us we had a call going into Chicago. I hate Chicago runs.

We finally got back to the station, and I told Valerie I was moving to Florida. She told me everyone has terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days. Even in Florida.

The End, Part One

.

Hello All

Welcome to Wesfan's World. This is where I will come to sound off. Let's see, Vital Stats

I am a 27 y/o mother of two small boys. Big fan of Joss Whedon's work (Buffy, Angel, Firefly).

I like Fanfic (reading and writing), my job, most of the time(I work as an Emergency Medical Technician for a Private ambulance service)