The ugly truth is out. We Avatar fans are caught in the crossfire of the war between entertainment megacompany Viacom (owner of Nick, Paramount, Neopets, MTV, BET, Dreamworks... shall I go on?) and internet-entertainment and info leader Google/YouTube.
Viacom is taking out their frustrations by kicking that cat. That's us.
First, Viacom targeted our fanvids (and, rightly, many flat-out rips of their programs) and demanded that Youtube remove them. Very uncool, but understandable.Then they sued Google/Youtube for copyright infringement, basically to try and get G/Y's ad revenue.
It seems they have gone the next step, and it's a step too far: if you can't beat 'em, use them, and target the "little people." So now we find out that Nickelodeon, child of Viacom,has its lawyers and suits scouring the internet (probably using the very same Google) doing... what?
Spying on YOU. And me, and everyone else who loves Avatar. And, if recent evidence shows anything, it shows that Viacom is putting enthusiastic, internet-savvy fans on the "watch list." They want to scare the heck out of us and keep us in line, lest they lose a penny in ad revenue. They might be reading your blogs. They are probably going through your Photobucket and Imageshack pictures, even your personal ones. (Just ask Lisa31468.) They may even be examining your forum posts, one by one. And heaven forbid that someone else shares a photo of you, especially if one of the pics show that you might have gotten a tour of a Nick studio once where you MIGHT have seen something, at some point, that the Nick Suits don't want you to see.(Just ask Shadowcloud86.)
Maybe some think I am exaggerating or overreacting, but I don't think so. Too many of us have become used to the goverment and corporate worlds having access to our personal info, our communications, our image, images of our houses, our life preferences,how many boogers we have in our nose right now, etc. Viacom's invasion of privacy reminds us that we need to always stay on guard, ALWAYS, and realize that everything we do, say, or write is subject to scrutiny/lawsuit/whatever. This is an especially serious issue for those of us who are working adults with an established career-- being harrassed/watched by lawyers is the kind of stuff that can jeapordize one's professional status and reputation, or even lead to the loss of job/career.
I understand the need for Nick to guard against illegal leakage, but this has gone too far. They are bullying fans for something that was obviously an inside job, considering that the pics looked fresh from the digital source.
I cannot really, fully express how angry I feel over the treatment that innocent fans like Lisa31468, Shadowcloud86 (and her sister) and possibly others have received from Nick for doing nothing more than loving Avatar and sharing their enthusiasm with us. They and/or people they know I only wish there was something I could do to fight back, but there really isn't. All I can do is hope that those lawyers read this blog and wonder if bullying fans of a cartoon is really what they went through law school for.
P.S. I'm probably going to copy this rant and put it on my DA page, because Lisa will not read it here. She's gone, although I still hope (and think) she will come back to TV.com eventually.
I was bringing up the rear of our trio, so by the time I saw it, it had already turned and started to run off. (My husband and son saw it pretty much as it's pictured here!) For a moment I thought it was a large wolf, until my husband corrected me.. "No, that's a bear. THAT IS A BLACK BEAR." My son started to run, but I yelled "NO!Stay with us!" So, with as much appearance of calm as we could muster, we walked quickly away from the scene. It only took us about 15 or 20 minutes to get back, but those were some very tense minutes, I'll tell you. I was never so happy to see a parking lot in all my life.
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