I'll deal with the poster thing first because I have fewer and easier to explain thoughts on that. I'm not going to name names or post links here because it's one of those things where the errant party in this case is already getting plenty of attention just from doing things that are both wrong and illegal, and I'd actually like to get that number down so they wind up going out of business. I can understand why those artists in particular got their work targeted, of course. They do good work. And that's all the more reason it should not be stolen and re-purposed for someone else's gain. I'd link to a journal that talks more in depth about this, but I made the same kind of stupid mistake I usually do and deleted them all before I started writing this journal and can't find one quick now that I need it. I am, however, sure that most folks reading this follow at least one person who's had this happen.
I've also been seeing quite a lot of journals about this "core" thing dA started doing within the last week or so, from what I can tell. Nearest I can tell from what I've read so far is that it's pretty much been an excuse to bump the subscription prices up. The business reasons behind that are not entirely beyond me. After all, they need people, components, and services to maintain the various bits and pieces of infrastructure that make the site work and to kinda-sorta enforce the site and company policies the way they do, and all that takes money, be it so they can pay folks to do their jobs, or for electricity and server space, and whatnot.
At the same time, though, I really do find myself wondering if all this has seriously gotten to the point where it's gonna cost the average subscriber a minimum of US$50 a year to keep the place running as is. Technically, I really didn't have the cash to throw around on renewing my subscription at the old rate, but did it anyway because I thought there was still some benefit to spending that money. I'm hoping I don't have to pay any more for the remaining 21 months of that renewal, because I sure as hell don't have the money now if I didn't have it before.
So, as it stands, dA's got like a year and nine months to convince me that it's worth the new price they're asking for a subscription. In the meantime, I'm going to be working on ways to get my income up, just so I can afford to live without going broke, and maybe even keep my subscription here current.
In the meantime, I'm not holding my breath, and it sounds like there are a lot of people who think the same.
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Somehow, a member in
