Here's a roundup of stories on legal actions that might be of interest to fans:

• Many fans who were not already aware of the proposed SOPA and PIPA bills in the U.S. legislature became aware of them along with much of the rest of the online community after last week's blackout day of protest in which numerous sites, including those of the OTW, either went dark or sported banners in opposition to the bills. Individual fans also blacked out their own sites or, like blogger Serena Wilken at the Huffington Post, wrote about how fandom might suffer if this legislation was enacted.
• Some fans have already been affected by anti-piracy efforts. The Wall Street Journal reported that "The Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down Thursday one of the world's most popular file-sharing websites, MegaUpload.com, and announced the arrest of four of the people behind it in a global crackdown against the suspected online pirates." Online locker services are heavily used by fans engaged in transformative works such as podfic recordings, music videos, collections of artwork, or even single story fan fiction downloads intended for eReaders. The sites targeted by local law enforcement were located in various countries, a demonstration of the international scope of U.S. enforcement efforts.
• Unfortunately, government actions against "piracy" are only part of how fandom may be impacted by legal activity. In a disappointing ruling on January 18, the same day as the Internet blackouts, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that works in the public domain could be put back under copyright. While the change is intended in part to standardize international copyrights, and thus equalize the standing of foreign creators under U.S. law, this change will also affect numerous artists, musicians and other creators utilizing works previously in the public domain.

If you are concerned about copyright or use file sharing services, why not contribute your experiences to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories on use of the term "fanboy" that might be of interest to fans:

• A number of negative stories on fanboys have cropped up recently, some placing this point of view in their title, by creating a list of offensive groups, or making an attempt to parse the difference between fan and fanboy, which has led some to wonder when this term became an epithet. While the term has never had favorable connotations, to some it has been a term that expresses general fannishness if not, as in the case of fangirls, simply a gender orientation.
• While the hostility toward fanboys is nothing to envy, a more widespread use of this gendered term seems to be increasing the erasure of women as fans. An example is press reaction to the recent Samsung ad that mocked Apple users. There were numerous news stories surrounding it, beginning around November 23 and continuing for several days, extending to a variety of publications. The common factor was that all used the term "fanboy" in the title. Yet the ad itself features various women in speaking roles, using both Apple and the Samsung product, which is to be expected given that half of Apple users are women (whereas it is actually Android users that are overwhelmingly male). Even though most of the articles embedded the video in their coverage, none mentioned women's use of the product.
• When it comes to continued negative cultural stereotypes, neither sex comes out ahead, as this review of the new TV series Geek Love at The Mary Sue points out. "Geek Love, produced by Authentic Entertainment, the lovely folks who subjected us to Toddlers & Tiaras, is planned as two, half-hour specials which if successful, could warrant an entire series." This doesn't seem promising given the examples cited. Pantozzi of The Mary Sue concludes, "I understand how television works but I also know it doesn’t have to be made for the lowest common denominator. Awkward geeks are what people expect to see. Instead of making a spectacle out of them, how about changing the way people view geeks?" Certainly some media outlets put a more positive spin on geek romance.

If you have something to say about fanboys, fangirls, geeks, or other names in fandom, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here's a roundup of stories about technologies used by fans that might be of interest to fans:

• As this Nielsen study reveals, a major reason "for following/"liking" a...celebrity on Social Networking Sites" is "to show support" and to share the fannishness of one's friends. However, at least one case of sharing with friends has been impeded by changes to Google Reader. Aside from the Sharebros group and Iranian dissidents, many fans have relied on the Reader to collect RSS feeds from various fansites, especially if the fans used independent blogs as their home base. Google is folding Reader into its Google+ site, but although they have backtracked on their policy of banning pseudonyms, changes to the Reader's functionality may yet disrupt people's personal networks. This is likely to be particularly unwelcome news in the wake of similar problems with the sale and transfer of del.icio.us.
• Unfortunately, fan concerns have rarely been a priority for the entities providing entertainment and services as this "letter to the editor" points out in regards to the history of sports fandom in ancient times: "The welfare of the average fan has only occasionally and for quite specific reasons (absent here) been an object of great concern to the people who organise games." Instead, "the public benefited only when there was competition among the rich to provide better amenities."

If you used del.icio.us or other social networking tools, why not contribute to Fanlore? Additions are welcome from all fans.

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.

Here’s a roundup of stories about fans leading the way that might be of interest to fans:

• Fans have managed to put all sorts of sites and technologies to use to recommend and share reading material. A recent study suggests that the key to eBook adoption is to facilitate sharing and recommendations among readers. A different study done with iTunes users supports this finding, noting that purchases increased by 50% among users offered recommendations, primarily because they were broadening their interests. What's more, sharing recommendations increased a sense of community. "The authors found that all kinds of users -- close as well as far -- became closer to one another on their networks in the [group given recommendations] relative to [those who did not get them]."
• Writers and readers working together to further develop stories has also been a staple of fan communities. Now Amazon is developing an infrastructure for readers to have conversations with authors and Nieman Labs suggests that this will change what books are about by creating extensions to the original texts. "Authorship in that sense being not just about creation, but about influence more diffusively...Amazon is encouraging, in other words, questions whose answers aren’t just supplemental to the books they address, but also literally extensive to them. The answers, in effect, become part of the books."
• Lastly, this blog post uses Harry Potter to speculate on how movies, books, and fan fiction are on a detail-oriented spectrum. "[M]ovies can pare away your details and get at the core of your story" while if "you think the world of the books can—nay, should—be fleshed out even more...you may find fanfiction...right up your (Diagon) alley."

We want your suggestions! If you know of an essay, video, article, event, or link you think we should know about, comment on the most recent Links Roundup — on transformativeworks.org, LJ, or DW — or give @OTW_News a shoutout on Twitter. Links are welcome in all languages!

Submitting a link doesn't guarantee that it will be included in a roundup post, and inclusion of a link doesn't mean that it is endorsed by the OTW.