Or at least, Smile Half-Month. In case you haven’t been over to the library recently (and WHY not?!), TUEBL.ca is livening up the month of May with a prize drawing.

Win $100 USD

To celebrate both smiles AND favorite books, TUEBL want’s YOU to share both. Here’s how:

Brokep

Formerly known as Brokep the Pirate Bay’s spokesman, Peter is of Finnish/Swedish background and is running in this election with the Finnish Pirate Party. It is a confusing move for many because before now, he has not aligned himself with the Pirates – at least not in party form!

@puz_le I’m not a member of anything actually. I like the greens, the socialists and the pirates. Call me multi-political.

— Peter Sunde (@brokep) May 14, 2013

@puz_le I am only a member of the swedish left I think, at least on paper. I give my support where it’s earned though.

— Peter Sunde (@brokep) May 14, 2013

Yeah, confusing!

But although he has hesitated to throw his weight behind a specific party name before, his work is perfectly in line with the Pirates’ platform of internet freedom and helping to foster new opportunities for both fans and artists:

“Non-commercial file sharing should of course become legal and protected, and must re-think copyright all together. Copyright is not the thing that makes ARTISTS money, it’s only for their brokers and distributors… I’d rather see us sponsor culture by pushing more money to music education, and facilities for your people to create music. It would be much more sane for cultural advancement then extending copyrights.”

~Brokep.

Unlike many politicians, Peter’s conviction can hardly be doubted. Throughout the Pirate Bay trial, and before it began, and in his work after, he has long fought for the right of creators and fans to share freely. And while he’s not with TPB anymore, he has only gone on to fight the good fight on other fronts. In 2010, Peter launched Flattr, a micro-donation platform and one of the most seriously useful tools for artists to get support and recognition for their work, and something that, together with his involvement with the Pirate Bay, gives him some serious credibility in the fight for the internet – something that the FInnish Pirates recognize:

“The Pirate Bay has become a worldwide symbol of standing up against the corporate bullies for the rights of internet users around the glove. Flattr, on the other hand, is a great example of creating positive and constructive solutions at the same time”

 ~Finnish Pirate Harri Kivistö

While the Pirate Bay is basically the biggest and best library that the world has ever had, Flattr is the way that the library can turn distribution into financial support, answering the oft-repeated question How will the artists survive? 

Flattr bought the cover art for my first book.

Flattr helped me afford proof copies & review copies of my work.

Flattr helped me find other creators to support who were working in the same FREE territory as me.

Flat–

Ok, I’ll stop.

I won’t go into way too much detail on it right now because I’ve actually been working on a whole series of in-depth intro/how-to/why-to posts on Flattr for TUEBL users who want to support their favorite authors! (Will work faster….. Promise!) So if you’re unfamiliar, stick around for a little while, and I’ll get back to the Flattr love in upcoming posts.

The Pirate Party 

Like our librarians here at TUEBL, the Pirate Party seeks to legally change copyright law from the inside out. Pirates across the globe are working to make more fan- and artist-centric policy that embraces the sharing of culture and art instead of propping up the old monopolies and disadvantaging independent creators, and breaking the internet.

While still a mystery to many Americans, the Pirate Party has had great success in elections across Europe. Sweden currently has two pirate members to keep Peter company in the European Parliament should he win a seat. Pirates have stormed four German state-level parliaments in Berlin, Saarland, Schleswig-Holstein and North Rhine-Westphalia. Eichberg, Switzerland had a Pirate mayor. And Pirates are not just for Europe either – for a short time, Tunisia had a Pirate cabinet member.

So for now, let’s wish Peter luck, and hope that he gets the chance to join his fellow Pirates in the halls of government.

The grey-haired, suit-wearing old guard won’t know what hit them!

In Apathy, users have to pass or stop bills by, for example, calling their representatives, talking to their friends, and voting. But like in a real representative democracy, things don’t always work the way the constituency wishes…………….

“When confronted with a maddening user interface, human beings tend to throw up their hands and stop trying. So many people “hate computers” just because every modern operating system is so poorly designed, they don’t ever feel capable of making them do what they want them to do. Well, judging by voter turnout statistics, roughly half this country “hates democracy.“

Zac on Apathy

Zacqary founded Plankhead, an organization that produces and promotes public media such as the animated series, Your Face is a Saxophone. He’s also known for pioneering the only 100% successful anti-pirate technology to date.

Like me, Zac is one of a few creators striking out into the Public Domain and leaving any semblance of copyright far, far behind. There aren’t that many of us! It’s pretty damn important for us to stick together and support our fellow makers of free culture. If you like TUEBL and/or this humble blog, you should too! So get on over to Plankhead, get your Apathy on, and Vote.

Play Apathy

Vote

(P.S: Here, your vote really does count!)

Then Like, Share, and Tweet the shit out of this to help promote an advocate of free culture!

A Tutorial!

Specifically, a how-to on TUEBL.

Or at least, on TUEBL’s pronunciation!

Pronunciation is hard in Internetland, where the written word rules. And when you’ve got a weird mashup of letters like TUEBL does, attempts to translate it to speech can get pretty mangled! So here’s the definitive guide for TUEBLovers who want to get it right.

International Phonetic Alphabet pronunciation of TUEBL:

[t^húb. ɫ ]

Yeah, I bet that was helpful!  :P

Ok, a translation for the non-linguists out there:

1. Stress on the first syllable

2.  TOOB, as in the word tube 

+

3. ul, as in the sound at the end of babble 

=

TOOB – ul

Better?

A recent playwright’s post displays a beautiful illustration of the plight that many, many writers face as they fight to keep a tight hold on their work. Read the whole damn thing.

“Let’s explore this idea that “giving away” my scripts devalues them. My plays are valueless, as long as they sit in a drawer……………….

 

Listen: Of course I want to get paid. Of course I should get paid. But the fact is not only am I not getting paid now, but my work is languishing in the dark.”

 

 From “The Great Release”

read the rest……

True. Fucking. Story.

… Oh, and by the way?

BAD PANDA is fucking awesome.

The fact remains that, despite efforts to serve both the writer and reader communities, our little library attracts the occasional hysterical mob. Authors and publishers, somehow missing all the DMCA Takedown buttons next to each and every one of their books, wind up taking out their frustration out on TUEBL. It can’t help but leave us bookworms looking up from our latest chapter a little confused, wondering WHY? Why, even though TUEBL is as legal as Google, Youtube, or your ISP, do the pitchforks and torches still get broken out with alarming regularity?

Because…. pirates!

Observation suggests that this anger is the result of the all-too-common assumption that Well, MY books didn’t sell as well as I wanted; it is CLEARY those terrible, terrible pirates stealing sales! In other words, the library become the scapegoat for every underperforming (or perceived-to-be underperforming) title.

These authors’ frustration is particularly sad to me because it’s something I understand very, very well.

It is painful to watch small time and indie authors parrot out the copyright company line. Even with continued, mounting, and comprehensive evidence putting holes in the hardline-copyright rhetoric, the creators have often already had their perspective so perverted by the  the anti-pirate, anti-artist rhetoric of the publishers (and the film industry before them, an the record labels before that) that they twist their every experience to confirm it.

My book didn’t sell. Pirates! But why? Pirates! But how? Pirates!

And so on.

Of course, when it comes to the effects of piracy on any given title, we can’t say unequivocally that they will always without fail guaranteed to be positive. We can’t say that piracy is a magic bullet, and that getting a book onto The Pirate Bay or any other sharing site will make it sell millions of copies and shoot the author into bestseller fame.

However, what we do know is simple: getting books in front of readers is an opportunity.

And opportunities are hard to come by.

But while some authors rage against their readers, they fail to see that libraries and file-sharing sites as the massive opportunity that they are for modern creators. By rejecting the sharing prowess of the internet, they are shooting themselves in the foot.

Self Destruction

Yes, this is something that authors are doing to themselves.

Regardless of the effect of libraries on books – something that we may never be able to fully quantify or understand one way or another – the reaction of an author is key. Whether they choose to flourish within the new medium or fight against is up to them. And when they choose to fight the new over and over and over again, well…….

My pity is limited.

Limited, but not non-existant.

Of the saddest arguments that’s been recirculated among the latest pitchfork-and-torch-waving mob is: I can’t write because I have to spend all my time sending DMCA notices to pirates!

And to this, as an author, I just have to ask WHY?

It’s true. Writing, publishing, and marketing is incredibly time consuming.

I know because it consuming all MY time.

We have to write the damn stuff to begin with, rewrite it 2000 times, design and format it (if we’re self published), find people who will review it, find bookstores that will even consider carrying it……. oh and write the next one & start the process all over again!  T___T

It’s hard.

So WHY these dear pirate-chasing authors choose – yes, choose – to spend all their time on DMCA notices instead of writing is entirely beyond me. Fighting the greatest distribution opportunity creators have ever had is nothing but shooting oneself in the foot. And why, why, WHY would an author prioritize that over their real passion of writing? 

And the Collateral Damage

It’s not just themselves that well-meaning authors are hurting when they crusade against libraries.

And it’s not just pirates.

It’s other authors.

See, I’m a newbie. And by newbie, I don’t mean I started this game yesterday. I’ve been publishing since 2011 and writing a hell of a lot longer than that. But publishing is HARD, especially when you don’t have a long resume in industry. Selling books is HARD. I write my ass off every day – and fiction is only a fraction of what I have to figure out for myself. I also have to navigate the self-publishing quagmire, keep up with the developments of the industry, and send my work out into the world – all so that I and my work don’t die in oblivion.

And I bet all the angry, anti-library, anti-TUEBL authors out there work just as hard.

So why take opportunity away from fellow authors?

Opportunity is what a struggling newbie needs more than anything else.

And I hope that one day my fellow authors stop trying take away the sites that give a struggling author just one leg up in this tough as nails fight for creative survival. 

Particularly the sites that, you know, don’t in any way, legal, moral, or technical, resemble a pirate site.

That’d be real nice.

One day.

Background

Charles Sheehan Miles is the author of several novels and a handful of short stories. Earlier this year, on his blog Side Views, he stirred up the last wave of anti-TUEBL with his post “Book Piracy And Me.” The post attempts to debunk what he calls myths of book pirates, including things like Pirating helps authors and People won’t pirate if the paid product is easily accessible and priced low enough. 

TUEBL, for it’s part in this skirmish, is the target of a somewhat misplaced anger at book pirates. Remember, being fully DMCA-compliant, TUEBL is not actually a pirate site. Still, on an ideological level, it’s admins openly embrace the cultural significance and fundamental human value of free sharing. Moreover, as this blog has often reiterated, there are in fact many, many studies that call into serious question the myths of the copyright industry.

The Debate

In other words, each side is strong in their convictions.

Everyone believes they have morality, evidence, and experience on their side.

This debate has been going on in it’s modern form, for over a decade, and in various forms for a lot longer than that. Lawmakers, publishers, and readers are hardly likely to resolve the ever-evolving differences anytime soon.

However, dialogue is important. Readers need writers to create the books they love so much and writers need readers to read the books they poured their heart and soul into. While the internet has catapulted the creative industries and their fans to whole new levels, there is still much resistance to the new digital culture, its mechanisms, and its values. And there probably will be for a long time yet. But talking is our only hope of making progress.

Finally, Be Nice!

Contrary to the oft-repeated assumption that pirates don’t care about authors, I think us bookworms know very well that we love our authors as much as our books. That’s why TUEBL seeks to balance the wishes of authors with the needs of the library community. And that’s why, even when we fundamentally disagree we do so with respect.

And with all that in mind…………..

See you there!

Radio AnonOps, 9PM EST

It’s a common question about our friendly neighborhood ebook library. And fair enough. If something is awesome enough, there’s probably a law against it.

So let’s answer it once and for all with a resounding YES.

Under the current admins, TUEBL has always had a DMCA takedown process, which means it falls solidly into DMCA Safe Haven territory, just like YouTube or Google. In fact, TUEBL’s takedown process is more stringent than YouTube’s or Google’s! Every book page on TUEBL has a clearly-displayed DMCA button that an author can use should they object to their book’s presence in the library. The DMCA button takes the author to a form asking for basic information. (This provides a layer of accountability and helps to prevent abuse of the system.) Then, with that one step completed, the book is gone.

DMCA Safe Haven allowances for sites and service providers have been upheld over and over and over in U.S courts. As long as YouTube, Google, and every one else that simply carries user-submitted material is legal, then TUEBL is legal.

Of course, TUEBL supports the free sharing of books. Libraries are, after all, essential to both individuals’ and civilizations’ development. Libraries must survive. But survival means playing by the rules – even as you try to change them.

Even aside from it’s privacy violations, overbroad categorization of activities as “threats”, and complete disregard for due process, CISPA is a worrying indication of the absurd contradictions in our messy internet legislation, and the complete breakdown of communications between the internet users and their legislators.

While obsessively following all CISPA coverage last week, one small problem caught my eye. This one small problem stood out in a sea of many because it flew in the face of previous internet legislation that has been getting a lot of press this year: the wildly overreaching Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (#CFAA).

One of the (many) problems with the CFAA is that it takes violations of terms of service and turns them into (potential) massive criminal offenses carrying years in prison. It was this legislation that was used in the vicious and wildly disproportional bullying of Aaron Swartz  – bullying that ultimately led to his death.

CISPA on the other hand was deliberately formed to allow for terms of service violations. In the one move that could have partially redeemed the legislation, an amendment was proposed that would prevent individuals, in particular employees and job candidates, from being forced to give up passwords to their personal social media accounts. Though not a common practice, the fact that it has happened shows it to be a very real threat – and one which is a blatant violation of the terms of service of those same social media sites. Take a look at what Facebook’s terms have to say about passwords:

“You will not share your password (or in the case of developers, your secret key), let anyone else access your account, or do anything else that might jeopardize the security of your account.”

That’s a pretty unequivocal laying down of the law – not to mention common sense. Don’t share your password. It puts you and anyone you’re FB friends with at risk. Don’t do it. Seriously. Don’t.

CISPA seemed to agree with this.

Until, of course, the provision to protect individuals from this kind of abuse was defeated.

Again, this is one of many aspects of CISPA that put internet users (read: everybody) at risk. But what really stands out about this one small detail is the blatant contradiction we would have on the books if the bill passed into law. Add CISPA to CFAA we have a pair of laws saying simultaneously:

Any violation of terms of service can be a criminal violation landing you years in prison.

and

Terms of service may be violated at will in the workplace.

The most worrying part is that individuals – aka Congress’s constituency – get the short end of the stick every time. When an individual is circumventing the terms of service, they are criminals and can spend years in prison. But put the power in someone else’s hands, say an employer, and that same individual can be coerced to give up their personal information – in violation of those same terms of service.

How do legislators reconcile this inconsistency?

As the Twitterverse has shown, many leap to malice as the explanation, and blame the slow but deliberate slide towards a police state for harmful legislation. I won’t say they’re wrong. But, the reality, I think, is both simpler and much, much more worrying: foolishness. A bumbling and scared Congress responds to very real threats – identity theft, hacking, espionage – by fumbling with solutions that they simply do not understand.

With any luck, CISPA will be dead in the water before reaching Obama’s desk. However the endemic cluelessness and misplaced hysteria demonstrated by this type of legislation is very much alive. The contradictions in CISPA and the CFAA do not simply reflect two different approaches, like say legislation on revitalizing the economy.  It does not even reflect diametrically opposing moral positions, like, for instance, abortion or capital punishment debates do. Rather, it reflects a fundamental lack of understanding of that which is being legislated.

This is scary.

Why should you be scared?

Because you’re here.

Our contracts, the explicit and implicit agreements we make every day on the internet, are ubiquitous in our society. Our personal lives, our professional lives, our social identity, our goal paths, our self-education, and enjoyment of life…. all of these things intersect with the digital world on a daily basis. Whether we are digital natives glued to the screen or we’re just trying to get a job, we can’t avoid intersections. The cluelessness in Congress and the messy laws growing out of it affect all of us, whether we want it to or not.

The basic provisions for privacy and due process have been defended and upheld for centuries as pillars of modern democracy. But as soon as the internet enters the picture, these rights fall by the wayside. Bad as that sounds, I don’t want to attribute malice here. I don’t think that it’s either accurate or useful to forget the part that plain old confusion and ignorance play in overreaching and nonsensical laws.

And the only thing that combats ignorance and confusion is communication.

So even if CISPA dies, remember it for when the next contradiction comes through Congress. And don’t ever stay silent.

*Hugs* to both my new TUEBLovers and my old Cheapass readers!

This blog has been quiet! Before the TUEBL transformation and the CISPA call-to-arms, it was almost a MONTH since the last post o_O I was off wandering the 3D world a while. But don’t worry! This prodigal netizen has come back to the digital fold. The offline world is beautiful, thrilling, and good for the Vitamin D reserves, but it’s also exhausting, expensive, and just so… physical.

In the Lost Month outside of the Internets, I went off to dig holes in the middle of nowhere. This was my office for March and April:

Sorry for the crappy quality. (TUEBL’s Librarian-In-Chief is trying to convince me to give up my grandma phones and get one with a real camera. BUT, while love the digital world, I’m not a gadget girl. Plus, I really want to avoid becoming one of those people on the news who runs into bears and water fountains while glued to the phone!) A better camera would also have better documented my next offline adventure: a roadtrip into the Great Northern Expanse of COLD (You may know it as Canada?) The GORGEOUS Montreal, where I went after I was done digging up cornfields, was more than worthy of a good camera! Not to mention the countryside, old neighborhoods, gorgeous campuses, maple syrup, Parliaments, and Pirates along the way would have been worth a picture or two. But you’ll just have to take my word for it: the Great Northern Expanse of COLD is a pretty cool place.

Still, it IS nice to be back home in the world of 1s and 0s!

And I’m happy to put my dereliction-of-blogging-duties days behind me. With CheapassFiction’s transformation to acting TUEBL blog, I’m excited to deliver better and more reader- and writer-focused content to the blogosphere.

BUT I need YOUR help with that! 

Ready for your assignment? Here it is: I’ll need your opinions, thoughts, comments and considerations in my efforts to bring more of the following to this blog:

1. Author guest posts & interviews

Who doesn’t love to hear from their favorite authors? I know I definitely do. Both the reader and writer in me love hearing the story that’s not between the covers – the story of the person behind the book. Indie authors especially have a multitude of new and diverse experiences with the writing and publishing game, and I’d love to bring more of them here to tell their stories.

2. Book Reviews

The internet, collectively, is the biggest library humanity has ever had access to. We have a constant stream of stories coming at us – not to mention the entire history of literature all available at our fingertips. How the hell are we supposed to find the good stuff in all of that?  It’s easy: we talk about it! That’s why book reviews are at the heart of any thriving community of readers.

So here’s your task:

I want to give YOU the opportunity to weigh in on the books/ authors/ genres/ themes/ topics that YOU want to hear more about! What authors do you want to hear from? What awkward and thorny questions do you want to ask them? What books do you think could use a review? What underrated/niche/too-weird-for-mainstream books and genres do you think should get a spot here? What overrated/popular/sick-of-hearing-about-it books and genres do think actually should be talked about?

Let me know in the comments, or come find me on twitter @CheapassFiction

~A.