All I have to say about this is: I knew it, and I told you so. Bwahahahaha! :D

If anyone missed my big post back in August explaining what was really going on behind the scenes with 6A, it's here. It's all about 6A's financial situation and business dealings. Based on what I turned up, my conclusion was that the various strikethroughs, boldouts, and policy changes were the result of 6A being under pressure to either sell out or go public. It's an interesting read; check it out if you didn't see it back in August.

Yep, so far from giving a shit anymore.

Important information here, folks. Beneath the cut you'll find a fairly complete history of Six Apart's activities and financial dealings. From this, I think we can glean a pretty clear picture of what happened with Strikethrough, what's gone on since then, and what we can expect from 6A in future. I think people need to see this; pass it on.

( SIX APART: Where Have We Been, and Where do We Go From Here? )

"This, madam, is a faithful narrative of every event in which we have been concerned together..."

NOTE (9-5-2007): I'm not sure why people suddenly seem to be finding this particular entry. THIS is the post you probably want to read. It contains a fairly complete history of 6A's business dealings, and shows how all of this likely ties together.

~ ~ ~

Someone close to me has been doing a bit of digging into 6A's activities. A few things she's turned up are... interesting, so I thought I'd pass it on for your consumption. This is the body of the email I just received:

I've been looking into some of 6A's financial dealings and I'm finding some interesting stuff. Apparently their other two main products, Typepad and Vox(?) aren't doing too well. About a year, year and a half, ago they raised $12 million from investors... That indicates they either planned to launch a new product (obviously haven't) or seriously needed money. Then last April they hired a service that tracks activity on LJ - counts how many visits to a site, etc. All this is very curious, but I'm not getting a complete picture yet to see how it ties to the hits on fandom. Speculation is that they want to sell the company for a nice amount, and among the most likely interested buyers would be News Corp.

Your friends might be interested in knowing about this. Seems everyone's activities on LJ are being tracked. Leading Independent Blogging Company Six Apart Chooses Omniture to Enhance Social Networking Platforms

Duuuude. Sometimes LJ/6A makes it so damned easy that it's almost not any fun. Almost.

For those who aren't yet aware, there's a new post up on lj_news. No, it's not related to Strikethrough, etc. in any way. It's about the latest virtual gifts. The last gift mentioned on the page is a 'brain in a jar'. The bottom of the post reads:

Brain in a jar, why?
I'm still trying to figure out why I would send someone a brain in a jar. Comment with your reason for sending (or receiving) a brain in a jar v-gift and the v-gift fairy just might grant your wish.

I can't be the only one predicting an influx of comments along the lines of, "We need to send them to the LJ staff since they've obviously lost theirs!" Oh, 6A, you so full of fucking stoopid! ::dies laughing::

ETA: Anyone else think 6A would be horrified if we all told them how awesome the handcuffs are for the Harry/Draco shippers??

Son of ETA: Right, I couldn't resist. My comment here. ::snicker::

So there's a new lj_biz post up. ::yawn:: Color me so not impressed. I believe I'll be following their own 'two strikes' rule and staying on IJ. I'm getting quite comfortable here.

For those who are just arriving to IJ, here are a few things to help you settle in:

- All html codes are exactly the same on IJ as they are on LJ.

- You can use the same navigation strip on IJ that you use on LJ. To activate it, log in and go here.

- Don't like the default orange? Log in and go here to change your viewing scheme. (Personally, I find the orange to be so grotesque that I'm actually rather attached to it...)

- IJ has private messaging! This is going to be so incredibly useful for fest and comm mods, and just entertaining for the rest of us. :) To view or send messages, log in and go to View --> Private Messages.

Also! I seem to have been friended by a number of people with whom I'm not familiar. Feel free to say hello, introduce yourself, tell me how you found me, etc. Or not. It's up to you, really. ;)

I'm loving the community we're creating on IJ here, folks. ♥

Welcome to IJ Love Meme! Right here!

Use it to find other users, make IJ your new fannish home, and spread the love. :)

Thanks, eeyore9990!

For those who've been uncertain about IJ due to the friending limits:

squeaky has decided to increase the friends limit, and will likely increase it further in the near future.

This guy is listening to our wants and concerns, and is responding, folks.

I've made posts on both my LJ and my GJ detailed why IJ is far superior to GJ. If you see anyone considering moving their work to GJ, please give them the low down, yeah?

So I've just read LJ/6A's long-awaited official statement.

Wow.

First of all, I can't help but notice that they've created a "theljstaff" account so that they can appear to be unified in their stance, and so that we can't tell who is speaking to us. But aside from that...

They've said absolutely nothing new, and the tone of the post is one of extreme disinterest at best. It's a complete brush off. The message is loud and clear: 6A does not care about our concerns, and would be happier if we just went away.

I say we give them what they want.

We need to agree upon a place to relocate, and do it ASAP. The ongoing discussion of a fan-run journaling system has a great deal of merit, but building it will take time. Meanwhile, our fandom flounders.

The damage has been done at LJ. Comms that contain 'adult' content are locking down, and many writers and artists are less than enthusiastic about posting their work where a limited number of people will be able to see it. Also, by suspending certain users and banning them for life, 6A has ensured that some members of our fandom can no longer participate in fannish activities on LJ.

Unacceptable.

This is a critical time for the HP fandom. The seventh -- and final -- book has just been released. We should be gleefully indulging in a slew of great new art and fic, not dealing with 6A's arrogance and stupidity. We need to go elsewhere, now. If we just pick a place and set up shop, it can be business as usual within a week.

The thing is, I really believe it's the comm mods who need to agree upon a location. Where they go, everyone else will follow. If they set up shop, we'll join and start posting/reading/commenting.

I don't want to fight 6A any more. I'm done with them. I just want to go about my fannish business in peace.

So who's with me?

squeaky has made a new post to announcements here.

He says: We are aware of the issues with the site being down from around midnight to 4am the past 3 nights. It seems we have gotten yet another mass influx of users. We will have the issues resolved by tomorrow night at the latest.

Thanks you for your patience and understanding while we work to upgrade the hardware here at InsaneJournal.

redux comments: Thank you for putting up with all us refugees, crashing your servers. ^^;

squeaky replies: I'm not putting up with you. I am loving every minute of having you here. And don't call yourselves refugee's anymore. A refugee is someone who leaves there home behind. I want you to make this your new home.

Right, so he doesn't know the difference between 'there' and 'their', but I like the sentiment behind what he's saying... Especially after the original welcome message back in May.

Real information is scarce at the moment, and I don't want to incite a riot or jump the gun here. That having been said...

It appears that LJ/6A are at it again. It's just been discovered that at least two fannish journals have been suspended (no, not deleted). Although we don't have all the facts on the matter yet, I think it might be time to start talking about that mass migration to a more fandom-friendly location.

If we start talking now, we can do this in an organized fashion. Perhaps we could set a time by which we intend to become entirely active on a different journaling system. Say, New Year's, for instance. The holiday fests could proceed on LJ if they like, but everything beginning January onward could take place elsewhere. This is a hypothetical example, of course; we don't yet know the true climate of things, and therefore cannot yet determine a realistic time frame. However, an organized move, rather than a chaotic stampede, is preferable.

As much as I hate to leave LJ -- the hub of the bulk of my fannish activity to this point -- I really think it might be time to pack up our marbles and find another arena in which to play. Rats leave sinking ships, and all that... LJ is clearly not the sanctuary it once was. Aside from the ongoing 6A debacle, the vast increase in wank and general idiocy on LJ over the past year or so makes me think that we should look for a quieter place for the sane among us to write/draw/post/discuss fannish content.

Your thoughts?

(Crossposted to ALL of my journals. You can find me on LJ, GJ, and IJ.)

(ETA: Also crossposted to hp_panic_room on GJ.)