Privacy vs. Freedom of Information

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Title:	Privacy vs. Freedom of Information
Creator:	Carolyn Craig (SnowBears) and fans
Date(s):	October 1996
Medium:	print and mailing list (online)
Fandom:	Starsky & Hutch
Topic:
External Links:
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Privacy vs. Freedom of Information was a late 1996 discussion in the very gen Starsky & Hutch newsletter, Black Bean Soup v.2 n.39 pt. pt. 2.

It includes a blurb from an article in Business Week (30 September 1996) about big data and how privacy is breached on the internet.

Some Topics Discussed

• privacy
• access to information
• online fandom and print fandom
• elitism in fandom
• giving credit where credit is due
• the role of reviews

The Introduction

In a desire to prevent this from becoming a personal conflict between individual subscribers to this newsletter, comments have been provided anonymously. If those whose comments have been printed would like their opinion "'on the record," so to speak, I will attribute these remarks in the next issue of BBS. -- [the editor, SB (SnowBear) </ref>

The editor then comments:

There are one or two brief points I'd like to make to all of you - new computer/Internet users and old hands. While the "panic of the day" seems to be (what I deem) irrational fears about the Internet, much of this information has been available to the unscrupulous for quite some time - in point of fact, much longer than the length of time that such large numbers of people have been surfing the net!

[...]

I DO NOT want to scare anyone but I want to make certain that people realize this kind of information [from phone books and credit cards] *IS* readily available and is in *NO* way related to this newsletter and anything that *I* may do. I do not share my list of subscribers with anyone except my back-up editor, Buc252 (and that's in case something happens to me and/or my computer, so that she can let everyone know what's going on). Most companies will remove yow name (from the lists they sell) if you write them and ask them to do so. Just check with your credit card company or magazine subscription companies, etc., if you want more information about their policies on selling lists to others. But don't think that will make you "invisible" to the world at large.

From the Discussion

[Fan 1]:

This is only partly on the topic of S&H, but someone has expressed concern so I thought we might as well address the issue. This person was concerned that while sharing information about zines we have read, some of us are giving out the author's names and the editor's names without first getting that person's permission. Okay, I've heard the argument that if they have published work, even in an amateur publication, then the names are public domain. But that is negating the spirit of what zines and fan writing are really all about. Those fans who write, for the most part, do so to entertain a specific audience. Before the Internet, that audience was well defined and the circulation of those stories were within a certain population.

The Internet has opened up a whole new realm, but also seems to have numbed some of us to the simple courtesies we were accustomed to before "The Net.” Users of the Internet appear to think that all information is free domain and blithely publish and/or copy people’s work without conscience.

In specific, I am thinking of the older, out of print zines, where the authors and editors thought they were supplying a select ’family' of readers. Now, new people to the fandom are posting information to the Net that the authors and the editors did not intend to be put out to so wide an audience.

Smart new writers and those older ones who have been burned know now to use a pseudonym when publishing. And I am not just thinking of slash zines. It can be detrimental to anyone trying to establish a reputation as a legitimate author to have amateur, possibly low quality, work pop up under their real names. So many authors did not realize this when first publishing.

I know of several editors and authors who have asked by every means available that their names not be put out on the Internet. Not even in private email. But there seems to be those among us who do not choose to abide by the express wishes of the authors and editors.

What I am asking is this: When reviewing a zine, unless you have the express permission of the author or editor, do not use the person's name. You can review a zine by giving the title of the zine, and each story by giving the title of that story. It is not necessary to put the author's name. If the reader is intrigued enough by your review, he/she can locate a copy of the zine and find out any further details. And especially if you are bashing a zine, do not give the author's name. That is mean-spirited, plain and simple. These are amateur publications. Published with the best of intentions. No one should let their own ill-will tarnish the spirit of fan-fiction.

[Fan 2]:

Reviews serve an important function to inform prospective purchasers/readers/viewers about things that they may wish to either experience or avoid. A review is simply the opinion of the reviewer, with which other individuals may or may not agree. How do you judge a reviewer? You engage in the experience, and then compare your reaction to it to the reviewer's. If you and the reviewer have similar tastes, your opinions will concur, and on the basis of that concurrence, you will accept that reviewer's judgments in the future. If your views diverge, you will ignore the reviewer's other opinions.

More than just the name, reputation, and track record of a reviewer will affect your choice of whether or not to sample a creative work, We all have favorite authors and actors that we will seek out irrespective of what *anyone* says about their performance in a particular work; we know others that we would avoid under any and all circumstances. One function a reviewer, legitimately serves is to tell prospective audiences about who's involved in a work, and that includes names of authors and editors. There is no violation of any privacy interest in naming in a review an author whose name appears on a work. Printing an address would be improper, but naming an author is not only within the reviewer's rights -- it is a part of the reviewer is duty to those to whom the review is addressed.

Where the review appears is immaterial. The Internet is no different than any other communications means; E-mail is no different than letters, bulletin boards are no different than newspapers, or fanzines. That the Internet can potentially reach a larger audience than other avenues means nothing; given the extensive quantities of information available through the 'net, users search for what interests them, and do not waste their time browsing things of no interest. Editors are not netsearching for the clumsy early works of authors in order to discredit them, nor are television studio legal departments sniffing for fans writing unauthorized fiction featuring trademarked characters in order to prosecute them.

Anyone who writes and who lets others read the work is apt to receive the opinions of readers, and to be the subject of readers, including reviewers -- passing those opinions on to others. A bad review or a poor opinion can hurt; we put ourselves into our writing, and do not like to hear that someone thinks we did poorly. But no matter what we do -- write, work, entertain, or simply live, we will never manage to please everyone, or win uniformly positive reviews. And that is good, because without criticism, we would have no guides and little incentive for improvement, and in anything we do, there is always room to improve. A good reviewer, like a good editor, can point out flaws or concerns while praising successes, and can teach us to be better in the next work we produce.

Do I value fanzine reviews? Damn right, I do; they help me to decide whether or not I want to pay the price and share the experience. They can alert me to authors I may want to find again, and let me know whether a title I've heard is associated with someone I already like, or with someone whose style turns me totally off. And that's important to me, because I came into organized fandom very late, far too late in the game to be a part of anyone's "in" club; I rely on reviews to point me toward things that will suit my personal tastes. Would I as a writer object to being reviewed? Hell, no - and *do* put my name in that review, so readers who haven't found me yet know what to expect. Praise me or bash me, that's your choice; if I respect your opinion as a reviewer, I as an author will listen to what you say; if I disagree with your taste, I'll turn away and shrug it off - and that is what every other reader of a review will do, based on *their* tastes and *their* degree of general agreement with the reviewer. So, write reviews both of what you like and what you don't, and explain why you feel the way you do; it's a service to the rest of us.

[Editor of Black Bean Soup]:

Personally, I was saddened to learn about this paranoia on the part of some long-time fans. I have been a fan, an editor, a fanfic writer, and a fanfic reader for many, many years now and 1 disagree completely with some of the points made in the above note.

For those new members who have yet to be “introduced” into fandom, let me explain that a con is a convention, fanfic is fan-written fiction about a specific show (yes, there has been fanfic written about almost *every* show anyone has ever watched!), and a fanzine is a compilation of fanfic, edited and published for sale to other fans. Normally, those who submit stories to the zine (contributors or tribbers) are provided with free copies of the finished product (trib copies). Letterzines are publications in which fans subscribe, the editor provides questions to which subbers respond and then prints all responses in one booklet for mailing to all subbers. Subbers may choose to provide letters of comment (LOCs) or merely to read the other LOCs each time the publication comes out.

Long before the advent of massive Internet usage, I went to a fan convention and was lucky enough to get a copy of the then-available publication “Datazine.” This effort was a complete listing of fanzines, newsletters and letterzines available - old, new and to be published. Provided in these listings were addresses to which one could send a Self Addressed Stamped Envelope (SASE) for additional information. While Datazine is no longer published, there is currently available a publication called GAZ (Generic Ad Zine) which provides the same information along with ads to buy/sell/trade fandom-related collectables and addresses for fan clubs. I was delighted to find out that there were actually other people who wrote stories about tv shows and even tv shows that I thought had been long forgotten! As a result of sending a SASE to someone, I met many new friends, got the opportunity to co-edit a zine (several volumes of a zine, actually) and read a lot of good and bad fanfic along the way. For the most part, I have kept in touch with all these friends throughout the following years and have maintained snail mail or long-distance phone correspondences with *all* of them. But the truth of the matter is that there are only a handful that I have actually met in person (although most of us exchanged pictures).

Having been introduced to the Internet and an online service like AOL several years ago, I learned a whole new method of networking with other fans and was delighted to find that many of my old friends now had E-mail connections (which *always* proves faster than the postal service!). I also learned a lot of Netiquette (Internet Etiquette or what is considered ‘"proper' and “improper" on the net.

Now, most of you who have read this newsletter for a while know that I have specifically stated - on numerous occasions - IT IS IMPROPER TO *EVER* POST ANYONE’S ADDRESS ON THE NET WITHOUT FIRST HAVING OBTAINED THAT PERSON’S PERMISSION. (And, there *is* a difference in “posting” something on the net, such as on a bulletin board or web page, where it remains for anyone who drops in to read it and sending someone information via E-mail!) It is also improper (and ILLEGAL) to reproduce anyone’s work - be it artwork or fanfic - without their express permission. I do not and will never condone such actions on the part of anyone.

But the issues that have been raised by the initial message I received are 1) zine reviews and privacy and 2) freedom of information to new fans. A review is merely the opinion of the reviewer on a work by another person (persons). There may be as many differing reviews of a zine as there are people who read it. Everything is a matter of personal preference and personal taste. And I believe that the zine reviews which have been provided in this newsletter are just that. Anyone who wants to provide a review may do so. Describing a zine, listing the editor (and their address) and the authors/stories in a zine has been done for years! When I co-edited a zine, we sent flyers to anyone who SASEd and provided all that type of information to help them make a decision about buying the zine and we distributed flyers at cons all over the country (just like the ad from Nanci in part 1 of this issue). We were eager to share that information with others and anyone who happened into the con could pick up a flyer and read about the zine then SASE the editor(s) if they were interested in additional information. And, after reading several zines and getting to know many fans and become acquainted with major authors in fanfic, I can recognize specific authors’ names (and editors’) and have a reasonably good idea of the quality of the work, the type of work and whether or not I would be interested in it. If you read the review of a book with no author listed, you may not be prompted to buy that book. But if, for example, Stephen King is a favorite author of yours and you know you like his work, you may buy the book just on his name alone even if a review is bad.

What particularly disturbs me is the remark “authors and editors thought they were supplying a select ‘family’ of readers.” To what family are we referring? If you mean the family of fans or fandom, then we are still supplying that same family throughout the Internet, even though the size of the family has grown many times over. How is posting information in a publication like GAZ any different than allowing information to be printed in a newsletter like BBS? BBS does not post anything to the net - it is sent to a specific list of subscribers, Starsky & Hutch fans, via E-mail which travels across the ‘net. Internet connections are not always inexpensive and *rarely* does someone who is NOT interested in Starsky & Hutch do a search of the Internet for posted information on that topic. “Fans ... write, for the most part,... to entertain a specific audience.” Isn’t that audience Starsky & Hutch fans? I consider it “elitism” (to put it politely; “snobbery” to be blunt!) if anyone believes newer S&H fans who may have found us over the Internet are any “less” fans just because they found out about it through a different medium.

I also dispute the premise that “it can be detrimental to anyone trying to establish a reputation as a legitimate author to have amateur, possibly low quality, work pop up under their real names.” Those authors who did not want to be individually known for their work often used a pseudonym but there are fanfic authors who have published works under their real names and have still gone on to become professional writers. Most publishers looking for new authors do *not* go looking for them by reading fanfic! A close personal friend of mine is getting her first book published this coming January and she has long been recognized as an excellent fanfic writer. It is a difficult and lengthy process to sell a book and one that does not involve a publisher looking for earlier, possibly inferior work by that author.

As a writer, I have had several works of fanfic published in zines under my real name. If someone was to review those zines today and critique my work, by name, I am not ashamed of anything I have done. Not everyone enjoys reading the type of work I do, so I would expect to receive some unfavorable reviews. There is a specific difference between mentioning my name via Internet, reviewing my work, and POSTING my home address on the net. (And, as I have also previously stated, anyone may feel free to post my PO box address so that people may SASE me about info on BBS.)

There is also the opposite position to consider. If one mentions a zine or work of fanfic and does *not* mention the editor/authors, some feel that this is not giving proper credit to the person whose work is being reviewed.

As an editor, I know that publishing a zine is a costly and time-consuming process and it is rare that an editor will make any profit, much less break even after sending out tribbers’ copies. It has always (to my knowledge) been acceptable to advertise zines and their contents (including authors and basic plot synopses) via word of mouth, flyer, or an adzine. I believe that any writer who submits a story for “publication” in a zine is (and always has been) subject to being mentioned and/or discussed by fans - whether it be via snail mail, telephone or face-to-face conversation. And I believe that I, as an editor, have the right to advertise sale of my zine.

Times change and sales methods change but the target audience is still the same - Starsky & Hutch fans (or fans of any particular genre). It is only fair that I be allowed to try and recoup my expenses by increasing sales. But mentioning names in a review is not posting addresses or making personal attacks on the authors/editors. There are many actors, writers, singers, and artists who would prefer that their earlier, possibly inferior work be forgotten (Jane Fonda in Barbarella?) But it is ridiculous and impossible to think that they could prevent anyone from mentioning their name in relation to that work. My personal philosophy (taught to me by my parents) is - “never do anything that you’d be ashamed to admit to.” I’ve written some S&H fanfic which I prefer to share with friends but not to publish. Not because I’m ashamed to have my name attached to this work but because I don’t believe it is the type of work that a majority of zine-buying fans would want to read. I DO NOT believe anyone has the right to take my work and publish it or publish my home address without my permission but I DO believe that anyone has the right to mention my name and review my published work and I can’t stop them.

Why should a fan who does not have access to cons but *does* have access to the Internet be disallowed from learning about fandom, fanfic or fanzines? And, while I will reiterate that I DO NOT believe anyone has the right to publish anyone’s work or home address (without their permission) via Internet (OR via snail mail!), I DO believe that freedom of speech gives anyone the right to mention a person’s name in connection with a review - one person’s stated opinions on something which has been published. Zine ads are one thing, reviews are another. Sending E-mail is one thing, posting on the Internet is another. For me, the joy of fandom - ESPECIALLY in regard to Starsky & Hutch, which was beloved because of their great friendship - is sharing my love of a show with someone else who loves the show also.

George Orwell wrote a novel called “Animal Farm” and, in that novel, the statement was made, “All animals are equal. Some animals are more equal than others.” I disagree wholeheartedly with that statement. I will continue to share S&H fandom with anyone else who is interested. I will not publish ads/addresses without permission of the editor (although I *will* publish an ad with the permission of the editor - even if it includes authors’ names - without the permission of each individual author) and ]]I will never condone unauthorized reproduction of someone else’s work. (I had permission to publish Nanci Casad’s zine ad from Nanci - not from the specific authors.) One specific editor has personally asked that I not mention her name/publication/address and since last year, this has been my policy. If there is anyone else (primarily editors) who would like to specifically request that I not mention their name/address, etc., feel free to have them e-mail me at [redacted] or send me a letter at: Caroline Craig [redacted]. If you are a writer, I suggest you contact the editor of the zine in which you were/will be published about mentioning or not mentioning your name in relation to your work. As editor of BBS, I take full responsibility for this publication. If anyone has a complaint about something that has been published herein, they need to take it up with me personally. Thank you. Bears.