Frequently Asked Questions from Subpoena Recipients/Bloggers

Who are you and why are you doing this? Who is paying for this?
We are active participants and concerned observers in the copyright and intellectual property debates that have been underway for several years. We created copywrongs.org to help assure that all voices are heard, especially those of all the people who are now targets of copyright-related legal action. We want all sides - not just business voices with full-time public relations arms - to be represented in this vital period of discussion and decisionmaking.

Laws, precedents and changes in public opinion that emerge from this tumultuous period may well lock in rules that affect ideas, creativity and expression for generations to come. It is important that such decisions are not made in haste looking only at business interests, that they do not cross reasonable bounds, that they consider all stakeholders and side effects, and that laws and policies created around ideas and inventions truly do "promote the progress of science and useful arts..." as called for in the US Constitution (see also Lessig). The words and experiences of those at the front lines are vitally important right now.

We also have a more formal mission statement.

Most of the people working on this site have worked together in research at the MIT Media Lab or on public projects such as freesklyarov.org. All are volunteers. Expenses are out of pocket. A bit more information about the people behind the site appears on our contacts and credits page.

What's on this site for me? What's coming?
The site is a place for communication... from you to the world, between you and others in similar predicaments, and from the world to you.

The public, including lawmakers, wants and needs to hear from those who are the first casualties in this sudden "war" on P2P file traders. The thousands of subjects of legal action and threats need to find each other for advice and support. Publishing on the web, maintaining a public presence and finding an audience, are very important steps, but difficult.

We hope that by collecting many voices in one place, they'll be more lucid, more easily found by the world at large, and on the balance will have more impact on the ongoing debate than if each tried to launch a personal publishing effort apart from all the others. If the legal action now underway was designed to divide and conquer, this site is about unification and leveling the playing field.

In the future we hope to provide tools that will help others reach bloggers while maintaining privacy (if they want to be reached), and activities to enlighten the public and industry about the fate of digital intellectual property and original creations in our highly-connected world.

What should I write/not write in my blog?
This is very important: we are not attorneys and cannot give you legal advice. Nothing you find here, unless it's from an attorney and specifically marked as "legal advice" should be construed as legal advice. If we get some advice from attorneys for writers, we'll post it. We also have decided that for now blogs should not include requests for monetary donations. That is, so far, the only restriction we are placing on blog writers' words. We do not have the resources to authenticate requests for funds. Otherwise, what you write is yours, and is your responsibility.

We suggest that you give some thought to what should or should not appear in writing. Understand that the public at large is generally aware that something involving music trading and lots of people is going on, but isn't well acquainted with the specifics. The public doesn't know you yet, but does want to hear about how your life has been affected by what has happened.

Some questions that might help you get started writing:
- did you receive a subpoena from the RIAA? A scary letter? Phone call? e-mail?
- how many people are affected by what has happened?
- how do you feel about the Internet now that this has happened?
- how is this affecting your life? Your family? Friends?
- how much time have you spent on this matter?
- are you a student? professional? parent/grandparent?
- did someone else do the uploading/downloading that prompted the action, but you're named on the account?
- is this costing you or your family money? how much so far?

Can my weblog be anonymous?
Yes. Well, you can use any name you want on your blog, including your real name, or a made up name. However depending on the level of abuse we run into, we may have to do more work to verify that you're for real... in that case we will not keep records once we're satisfied that you're not scamming us.

What about my copyright over the contents of my blog?
Everything you write is yours. You are responsible for the words, and you own them. The publisher owns the site and a "compilation copyright" over the whole thing, but your words are yours.

Sometimes when I update my blog, the changes don't show up right away
We are using a several mirror sites to help deal with site traffic. The mirrors are other web servers that store full sets of pages for the site. They are updated frequently, but not instantaneously. Changes to blogs are picked up by the mirrors after a delay of typically a few minutes to half an hour. As long as your changes are saved in the blog editor, they'll make it 'round eventually. If something is clearly just not working, however, please let us know... but delays in publishing are normal.

What is the privacy policy of copywrongs.org? What records are you keeping?
See our privacy policy for details.

Are there other rules of the house?
Not many. The main rule is: speak honestly, don't lie to us or the readers, and don't be a jerk. See our terms of use for a more formal version of that same statement.