Greenguy's Board - View Single Post - Free Speech Coalition

ConnorYoung · 2005-12-06, 01:06 PM

Howdy... interesting discussion about the FSC going on here. I figured I'd drop in any offer to answer any questions anyone might have...

Although I'm not really surprised by it, and probably would wonder what the FSC was up to if I were not on the Board, for what it's worth I can pass on that my own experience with the FSC has been pleasantly positive. For quite a while I was VERY concerned about whether the FSC had the interests of the Internet community in mind... and frankly, back when Bill Lyon was Executive Director I don't think it was very concerned with the Internet community at all. Things have changed over the past two years... a LOT has changed, in fact. With a couple of exceptions (and no, I won't name them here) I believe that the current FSC Board is a very good group of people who have the best interests of the industry in mind.

What you need to understand is that FSC Board members do NOT make any money and do NOT get any benefit from serving other than perhaps the opportunity to make contacts with other Board members and a chance to influence the direction of the organization. Yet there are cheaper ways to make friends. FSC Board members pay for the expense of participating with the FSC out of their own pockets. It takes time, money and energy to sit on the FSC Board, and despite what was suggested here by one person, yes most of us DO make this decision out of the goodness of our own hearts.

In my case, it's just a matter of feeling so strongly that something needs to be done to counter the anti-porn zealots and to minimize the damage they do to our businesses... and anything I can do to fuck with them brings a smile to my face! If any of you ever get the chance, make it a point to meet and chat with Jeffrey Douglas and Reed Lee, two attorneys that sit on the Board. These are two of my favorite people in the industry, and both of them put a TREMENDOUS amount of time into protecting this industry... and by sitting on the FSC Board, they actually lose out on the opportunity to be lead attorneys in FSC cases like the 2257 challenge or the Utah Spam Law challenge.

I'd also encourage everyone to also find a chance to meet Michelle Freridge, the new Executive Director of the FSC. She has done fantastic things for the organization since she was hired... and again, I think that those of you who meet her will be impressed. She will be at Internext.

Communication is an issue of course... Tom is doing a lot of very good work for the FSC, but he's only one person. He gets calls from media companies all day long, helps develop position papers, has to coorditate with attorneys on both court challenges... as you can imagine, he doesn't often find time to visit every single message board in the industry. In fact, he generally doesn't have time for message board posting at all. But that doesn't mean the FSC isn't doing a lot to communicate with members. In fact, a new version of the website is pretty far along with the hope of better communicating... but this is a two way street. For those of you who are interested in what's going on with the FSC, sometimes you have to swing by the website and read the press releases... the FSC can't always take the news to you directly. There are also regularly scheduled membership meetings. That said, I think many of you will be very pleased over the next year with efforts that are being implemented right now to INCREASE the communication with members and INCREASE opportunities for members to speak out about what's important.

Finally, I would encourage everyone to be VERY wary of anyone who seems to show up with an anti-FSC agenda and tries to pass on some sense that there's widesperead discontent with the FSC. Sometimes these posters are genuinely expressing their sentiments, but sometimes they are simply using a very common "divide and conquer" technique that, frankly, infects the online message boards at times. The "divide and conquer" tactic isn't just used on the FSC but is also used on companies. It works pretty well: people from a competing group start talking on message boards about how this or that company is having problems, about how people are down on them, about how their efforts are suspect, etc, etc. They repeat it so often that eventually it starts to seem like reality. So I am VERY pleased to see a lot of kind comments about the FSC here on this board.

BTW, in terms of more Internet people on the FSC Board... I certainly would have welcomed more people from the Internet on the ballot to back me up in looking out for our unique interests, but nomination ballots were mailed out not long ago and nobody stepped up. People from the video and retail side did step up... nobody from the Internet. I even tried to recruit a few people myself, but at the end of the day when they find out that it takes WORK to be on the Board, few people are seriously interested. Others backed out because they were concerned that their image might take a hit if they lost the election. If anyone is interested in participating, hit me up... I can put you in contact with Michelle, and I'm sure there are ways you can get involved. And if you want to run for the Board, there's an election every year, so you will get a chance again in 2006.

I'll try to check this thread as often as I can if there are any questions...

2005-12-06, 01:06 PM	#43
ConnorYoung Internet! Is that thing still around? Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 3	Howdy... interesting discussion about the FSC going on here. I figured I'd drop in any offer to answer any questions anyone might have... Although I'm not really surprised by it, and probably would wonder what the FSC was up to if I were not on the Board, for what it's worth I can pass on that my own experience with the FSC has been pleasantly positive. For quite a while I was VERY concerned about whether the FSC had the interests of the Internet community in mind... and frankly, back when Bill Lyon was Executive Director I don't think it was very concerned with the Internet community at all. Things have changed over the past two years... a LOT has changed, in fact. With a couple of exceptions (and no, I won't name them here) I believe that the current FSC Board is a very good group of people who have the best interests of the industry in mind. What you need to understand is that FSC Board members do NOT make any money and do NOT get any benefit from serving other than perhaps the opportunity to make contacts with other Board members and a chance to influence the direction of the organization. Yet there are cheaper ways to make friends. FSC Board members pay for the expense of participating with the FSC out of their own pockets. It takes time, money and energy to sit on the FSC Board, and despite what was suggested here by one person, yes most of us DO make this decision out of the goodness of our own hearts. In my case, it's just a matter of feeling so strongly that something needs to be done to counter the anti-porn zealots and to minimize the damage they do to our businesses... and anything I can do to fuck with them brings a smile to my face! If any of you ever get the chance, make it a point to meet and chat with Jeffrey Douglas and Reed Lee, two attorneys that sit on the Board. These are two of my favorite people in the industry, and both of them put a TREMENDOUS amount of time into protecting this industry... and by sitting on the FSC Board, they actually lose out on the opportunity to be lead attorneys in FSC cases like the 2257 challenge or the Utah Spam Law challenge. I'd also encourage everyone to also find a chance to meet Michelle Freridge, the new Executive Director of the FSC. She has done fantastic things for the organization since she was hired... and again, I think that those of you who meet her will be impressed. She will be at Internext. Communication is an issue of course... Tom is doing a lot of very good work for the FSC, but he's only one person. He gets calls from media companies all day long, helps develop position papers, has to coorditate with attorneys on both court challenges... as you can imagine, he doesn't often find time to visit every single message board in the industry. In fact, he generally doesn't have time for message board posting at all. But that doesn't mean the FSC isn't doing a lot to communicate with members. In fact, a new version of the website is pretty far along with the hope of better communicating... but this is a two way street. For those of you who are interested in what's going on with the FSC, sometimes you have to swing by the website and read the press releases... the FSC can't always take the news to you directly. There are also regularly scheduled membership meetings. That said, I think many of you will be very pleased over the next year with efforts that are being implemented right now to INCREASE the communication with members and INCREASE opportunities for members to speak out about what's important. Finally, I would encourage everyone to be VERY wary of anyone who seems to show up with an anti-FSC agenda and tries to pass on some sense that there's widesperead discontent with the FSC. Sometimes these posters are genuinely expressing their sentiments, but sometimes they are simply using a very common "divide and conquer" technique that, frankly, infects the online message boards at times. The "divide and conquer" tactic isn't just used on the FSC but is also used on companies. It works pretty well: people from a competing group start talking on message boards about how this or that company is having problems, about how people are down on them, about how their efforts are suspect, etc, etc. They repeat it so often that eventually it starts to seem like reality. So I am VERY pleased to see a lot of kind comments about the FSC here on this board. BTW, in terms of more Internet people on the FSC Board... I certainly would have welcomed more people from the Internet on the ballot to back me up in looking out for our unique interests, but nomination ballots were mailed out not long ago and nobody stepped up. People from the video and retail side did step up... nobody from the Internet. I even tried to recruit a few people myself, but at the end of the day when they find out that it takes WORK to be on the Board, few people are seriously interested. Others backed out because they were concerned that their image might take a hit if they lost the election. If anyone is interested in participating, hit me up... I can put you in contact with Michelle, and I'm sure there are ways you can get involved. And if you want to run for the Board, there's an election every year, so you will get a chance again in 2006. I'll try to check this thread as often as I can if there are any questions...