In the Aftermath.
We finally got to speak to somebody at FOX today. I'd already complied with the focal point of their request (the vids), so they stated they weren't planning to pursue anything any further. Sadly, this means that the videos will have to remain out of the public eye. I'll still keep making them in the comfort and privacy of my home as time permits, but won't again be able to link them to 4Paws.
There's something that's an even bigger shame, though. After our chat, I'm pretty sure now how it was that FOX decided to target little ol' me. Why it is that people feel threatened/insecure/petty enough to want to ruin something for not only myself but the rest of a fandom they claim to be part of, I'll never know. But yes, you "won". I'm sure that you're feeling quite full of you right about now.
What's really interesting though is that I'm not angry. I thought I would be. (Actually, I thought I'd be angry about a lot of stuff lately and I haven't been, so maybe I've been getting spiked with Paxil or something, because I am not by nature this mellow.) Mostly I just feel tremendously sorry for someone who has to go to such extreme lengths to feel validated. And it's the same sort of situation with the hacker who hosed the Pack this weekend.
I mean when it's me? And I get upset at someone? I either resolve it with that someone or I let it go. There are far greater things that I can devote my time and energies to than "getting" a person I've never met before. There's frankly nobody that worthy of my ire, not in real life and definitely not online. Is that egotistical? Quite possibly. But if that means I'm schadenfreude-free, then I'll happily sprinkle on my dash of ego.
It could also be a subconscious realization that what this person or persons want more than anything else is to "crush" me. Between the hack on the board and the FOX deal, I can't help but take it all personally right about now. Whether it was simply a misfortunate timing incident that brought both together in a perfectly synchronized clusterfuck or a plan exercised with precision, the simple fact is that these acts weren't random. As mentioned, after the chat with FOX I'm now a mere 0.000138% shy of being completely certain 4Paws was specifically reported to them. And as for the Pack Hack, the fact that I was struck not once but twice in succession by the same person (based upon settings they changed on the board) , who then proceeded to do about as much damage as possible in as short a time as possible ... that's not a script kiddy looking for quantity, that's someone who's latched onto a target.
My first instinct when I got the C&D order was to say "Fuck it." As in, fuck everything. Fuck the videos, The Chosen, everything to do with Buffy ... Because that's how I get sometimes. But when my temper had abated it left behind resolve to simply not let this beat me down. After all, why should I sacrifice something I love? Luckily I was already in that frame of mine when the board got hit, so I simply expanded my calm to that as well. Do your research, learn how to stop this from happening again, fix the problem.
And while I'm not maintaining this attitude for the benefit of anybody but myself, I do take further comfort by thinking of the person(s) who, for whatever reason, decided to make me their target du jour. Because once they're done patting themselves on the back and they realize that in reality they've done nothing ... well, I can't imagine that's going to sit very well with that sort of aimlessly destructive person.
Okay, you hacked my board. I honestly think I have it secure enough now to where you can't do that again (and thanks for forcing me into taking those measures, by the way). But even if I haven't secured it well enough, you've made me learn so much more about it's inner workings that I can now put it all back together again in about 15 minutes. 20, if the connection's slow. And interestingly enough, I learned so much in doing it that I'm already way ahead of my class in SQL. So another thanks for making the first six weeks or so cake.
Okay, you made me take down my videos. I'll give you a point for that one – I lack the money and power to pursue permission from FOX for using their footage. But you know, I was keeping logs of my video downloads, because I really like stats. You know how many downloads I had, just of my Buffy music videos in the past year? 18,500. (18,468, to be exact. And that total's without any of The Chosen credits. Add 7299 downloads for those.) That's at least 18,500 copies of my work already in distribution. That number's not going down ... if anything, knowing humans, the allure of "forbidden fruit" is only going to peak interest. So whatever grudge you held against me and my videos? (Especially "Groove Thang", from what I understand.) Well I'm afraid you've pretty much struck out there too.
So yeah, I'm mostly just feeling bad for you. I admit that I'm a little irked that three days of my life were wasted by you, and of course I miss having the luxury of just having my videos click-to-downloadable. But looking at the net gains and losses, I gotta say I don't feel I'm out a whole heck of a lot. But you ......
Check that out, I just got a twinge of pleasure. I guess I'll take that schadenfreude to go.
There's something that's an even bigger shame, though. After our chat, I'm pretty sure now how it was that FOX decided to target little ol' me. Why it is that people feel threatened/insecure/petty enough to want to ruin something for not only myself but the rest of a fandom they claim to be part of, I'll never know. But yes, you "won". I'm sure that you're feeling quite full of you right about now.
What's really interesting though is that I'm not angry. I thought I would be. (Actually, I thought I'd be angry about a lot of stuff lately and I haven't been, so maybe I've been getting spiked with Paxil or something, because I am not by nature this mellow.) Mostly I just feel tremendously sorry for someone who has to go to such extreme lengths to feel validated. And it's the same sort of situation with the hacker who hosed the Pack this weekend.
I mean when it's me? And I get upset at someone? I either resolve it with that someone or I let it go. There are far greater things that I can devote my time and energies to than "getting" a person I've never met before. There's frankly nobody that worthy of my ire, not in real life and definitely not online. Is that egotistical? Quite possibly. But if that means I'm schadenfreude-free, then I'll happily sprinkle on my dash of ego.
It could also be a subconscious realization that what this person or persons want more than anything else is to "crush" me. Between the hack on the board and the FOX deal, I can't help but take it all personally right about now. Whether it was simply a misfortunate timing incident that brought both together in a perfectly synchronized clusterfuck or a plan exercised with precision, the simple fact is that these acts weren't random. As mentioned, after the chat with FOX I'm now a mere 0.000138% shy of being completely certain 4Paws was specifically reported to them. And as for the Pack Hack, the fact that I was struck not once but twice in succession by the same person (based upon settings they changed on the board) , who then proceeded to do about as much damage as possible in as short a time as possible ... that's not a script kiddy looking for quantity, that's someone who's latched onto a target.
My first instinct when I got the C&D order was to say "Fuck it." As in, fuck everything. Fuck the videos, The Chosen, everything to do with Buffy ... Because that's how I get sometimes. But when my temper had abated it left behind resolve to simply not let this beat me down. After all, why should I sacrifice something I love? Luckily I was already in that frame of mine when the board got hit, so I simply expanded my calm to that as well. Do your research, learn how to stop this from happening again, fix the problem.
And while I'm not maintaining this attitude for the benefit of anybody but myself, I do take further comfort by thinking of the person(s) who, for whatever reason, decided to make me their target du jour. Because once they're done patting themselves on the back and they realize that in reality they've done nothing ... well, I can't imagine that's going to sit very well with that sort of aimlessly destructive person.
Okay, you hacked my board. I honestly think I have it secure enough now to where you can't do that again (and thanks for forcing me into taking those measures, by the way). But even if I haven't secured it well enough, you've made me learn so much more about it's inner workings that I can now put it all back together again in about 15 minutes. 20, if the connection's slow. And interestingly enough, I learned so much in doing it that I'm already way ahead of my class in SQL. So another thanks for making the first six weeks or so cake.
Okay, you made me take down my videos. I'll give you a point for that one – I lack the money and power to pursue permission from FOX for using their footage. But you know, I was keeping logs of my video downloads, because I really like stats. You know how many downloads I had, just of my Buffy music videos in the past year? 18,500. (18,468, to be exact. And that total's without any of The Chosen credits. Add 7299 downloads for those.) That's at least 18,500 copies of my work already in distribution. That number's not going down ... if anything, knowing humans, the allure of "forbidden fruit" is only going to peak interest. So whatever grudge you held against me and my videos? (Especially "Groove Thang", from what I understand.) Well I'm afraid you've pretty much struck out there too.
So yeah, I'm mostly just feeling bad for you. I admit that I'm a little irked that three days of my life were wasted by you, and of course I miss having the luxury of just having my videos click-to-downloadable. But looking at the net gains and losses, I gotta say I don't feel I'm out a whole heck of a lot. But you ......
Check that out, I just got a twinge of pleasure. I guess I'll take that schadenfreude to go.
"Dead Man's Party"
