Let’s get this out of the way right now. I personally could care less about the whole LiveJournal saga. I am of the opinion that when you use a service (a free one at that) that indicates they have the right to ban you for any reason they see fit then use at your own risk. If you are wondering why LJ bent to the will of a ‘special interest group’ that is comprised of 3 (you read that correctly) people all you have to do is check out their website. They have been going after LJ for quite some time now using some pretty questionable means. Including posting Six Apart excutives email addresses on their site. Those of you who feel cheated by Six Apart over this whole thing should spend some time searching news articles for similar incidents. One such incident comes to mind and that is when Microsoft (at the corporate level) gave in to the pressures of our good friends at the ‘Christian Coalition’ and cancelled their support initiatives for gay rights in the workplace. I know it is shocking to hear, but Microsoft was actually one of the largest supporters of gay/lesbian rights in the United States up until this time.
The WfI are obvious internet spammers, who were using Google AdSense to advertise their product, whatever it may be. When these ads showed up in LiveJournal on pages from “questionable” communities/journals, the spammers took notice and alerted Google. Quoted from http://www.warriorsforinnocence.org/:
“I have contacted these advertisers and informed them of where their ads are placed. I have had nothing but shock and thanks for my efforts. These ads are placed through Google Adwords and Google Adsense. The companies buying these ads do not know that they are paying for representation on web pages that list interests as “child abuse, child f***ing, child molestation, child porn, child sexual abuse, f***ing kids, f***ing little kids, f***ing young girls, kiddie porn, child sexual abuse, incest” and more.”
I would also like to point out that since their site is hosted by blogger.com (aka Google) you have the right to flag their site as objectionable. For more info on how to do this check the blogger.com help pages.
Interests groups with supporters don’t host their websites on google and register their domain names for 1 year through godaddy (with whois information blocked using domainsbyproxy.com). They also do not use gmail accounts as their main email address.
Personally I think any group who feels it is appropriate to refer to people who suffer from pedophilia as ‘boylovers’ on their front page obviously has a screw loose.
Warriors for Innocence actively supports the death penalty for people convicted of an offense. And I quote: ” This is great news! Since there is no known cure for pedophilia, there are only two ways to adequately respond to pedophiles- lifelong incarceration or death.”
Feel free to copy any information you desire off their website since a usage agreement cannot be legally binding when you only use ‘handles’.
I guess the last thing i want to say is that if you feel that service you are using is not taking your best interests into account, then don’t stay with it. Just because you’re comfortable doesn’t mean you’re stuck with it.
