T Campbell's Blog

He just seems to be flailing around for people to blame in that post.
 

I think it's last of (publicly-posted) sour grapes for Squidi.

It has certainly been a tough time for him; he stuck a toe out too far in an environment that doesn't forgive and never forgets. He was in the right for trying to defend his work; he was in the wrong for not realizing that the way he went about it was utterly self-destructive.

I was following Squidi from day one (pixelation, etc), and to begin with he was a very amiable character. Stuck-up yes, but witty and forward-thinking. He spent considerable effort creating his own sprite templates until the had just the right feel for his story, but he realized early on that by its nature, pixel art can very easily slide into the public domain.

And so he did all he knew to protect it. Most people who hadn't met him beforehand only saw this starker, more desperate side of him and immediately pronounced him an self-important ass. The label stuck, and the mob blacklash began to frenzy, growing in strength and tenor. I stopped paying attention to Squidi around that time, but it looks like it never stopped.

I think the case of Squidi really highlights that there is a stark distinction between what is right and what public opinion thinks is right. Clearly, on the internet one is more important than the other. Webcomic authors of the future should heed this point well.

So, Squidi is history, but his case brings to focus a darker side of webcomics and internet content in general: is there a "right way" for a web-based author to protect his intellectual property (without risking crucifixion from masses who may only have heard of him because of his attempts to protect his property)? I don't know that there is.

R.I.P. Sean. You blazed a trail; just not the one you wanted to.

And T: I have nothing but respect for how professionally you have handled this situation. You are a truly decent person.
 

...there is a stark distinction between what is right and what public opinion thinks is right.

I'm not sure you're correct about this being a stark distinction. In point of fact, I think that the real reason that Squidi fell into such trouble is because we live in a period of ever-growing intellectual property restriction.

It is only natural that certain creators would try to take advantage of that ever-growing power, but I don't think that makes those powers rightful. In fact, I think a lot of those powers (DMCA, Sony Bono copyright extension) were created wrongly through corporate lobbying.

Squidi tried to act in a way that a large corporate entity such as Disney might act. He wants to control every aspect of how fans use his work, including aspects that the common man might well see as "reasonable". Disney has the power to force people to accept their definition of reasonable. Squidi does not, and the tools he was trying to use to force the issue are tools forged by the Disney's of the world.

By trying to act like such an entity, I think Squidi caught a huge amount of the internet's legitimate resentment against the near-constant hemming in of our fair use rights.

I've probably gone on about this too long here already, but I've already talked about it elsewhere.
 

I think squdi earned his sour grapes, and the real lesson we should take away from it is that there IS a webcomic aristocracy and you cross them at your own peril.

It also threw the ugly, scumbag side of fandom into a sharp light. Something that we as a "community" do our best to act like it doesnt exist. The biggest thing ever done about it is having people shake their heads at it while breathing a sigh of relief it wasnt them.

But you cant blame the guy for wanting to control his material. I dont see him as acting like Disney... I seem as foolish for thinking there's equality on the web. I think it's getting about the time that we put that myth to rest.

So yeah, he has the right to tell the "community" to go fuck ourselves, because we all earned it.
 

I confess I'd never heard of AMD or Squidi before today; what exactly was the "Penny Arcade" incident in question? I read PA regularly, but not the forums, and if pixel art was specifically represented in a PA strip, I confess I don't remember it.

Could anyone give a rough summary? The link T. gave to Squidi's farewell helped, but didn't really explain the full context.

- Isaac
 

As in most debates, any summary is likely to be disputed. However, I was paying attention at the time and did exchange some email with Squidi on the topic. I continue to be a fan of Modest Destiny, and am very sorry to see it go.

In a nutshell, here's what happened. A forum user (possibly more than one) in Penny Arcade's forums used an avatar based on one of Squidi's pixel-art character designs. Squidi asks his readers to report such use to him, because he doesn't allow this kind of derivative use of his designs to pass unchallenged. He asked for the offending avatar to be pulled and was initially rebuffed by the forum participants, mocked a bit, and banned from the forums. Attempting to escalate the issue, he wrote to the creators of Penny Arcade, asking them to intervene, and made an appeal to his readers to help convince the forum authorities at PA of the rightness of his point of view.

While waiting for the response to the escalation, he hashed out the problem with one of the forum administrators, who asked the offending user to change his avatar. It appeared that the matter was settled.

But then the escalating email was received by Gabe. At some point in the email he mentioned that he had used legal action (or the threat of legal action) to force the removal of his content from other sites in the past. This was perceived by Gabe as an empty (and somewhat crazed) threat and Gabe mocked him for his presumption on the main page of PA and countermanded the forum authority that had reached an agreement with Squidi.

Meanwhile, the readers of Squidi's comic, going (perhaps) a bit beyond Squidi's stated intention, launched what could only be called a flamewar in the PA forums. The PA forum goers, as well as the regular PA readership who'd read Gabe's rant, retaliated in the Modest Destiny Forums. Considering the disparity in user-base, it is not surprising that PA was barely affected but squidi.net went down for days.

Right or wrong, Squidi has failed to relent on any of the positions he took at the time. He continues to aggressively pursue those he perceives as violating his IP rights. In addition, he becomes quite defensive when people say he "legallly threatened" Penny Arcade, arguing that mere mention of previous legal action does not constitute a "threat". His insistance on arguing this semantic point often completely derails other discussions about what happened. (It's consistently the weakest leg of pro-squidi accounts of what happened, in effect trying to argue that "Telling someone you have a gun while you're arguing with them isn't the same as threatening them with the gun.")

A lot of the details of this account can be echoed by the wikipedia description at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Howard , however, note that the description of the events there often seem to be written in an attempt to portray Squidi in the best possible light, possibly because Squidi has a lot of partisans monitoring the page.

Anyway, since then, there have been other notable altercations involving Squidi and his art, but almost all of them can be traced back to the events outlined above. He's definitely not wrong that these events have become the most defining part of his webcomics career so far, which is a shame, because his comic was pretty good. Here's hoping that Modest Destiny returns in some form in the future.
 

You apparently have some of the facts slightly wrong, and in the wrong order. For instance, Squidi says he never threatened legal action at all at any point during the email - saying he shut down some websites and saying he threatened to sue them are two VERY different things. I think just talking about copyrights leads many people down the "I'll sue you!!!" line of thinking. For someone who is so very obsessed with the letter of copyright, I doubt very much that he confused the two things - legal action is not something you threaten lightly or without the resolve to see it through. Squidi has always struck me as the type of guy who would be proud to have sued someone over copyrights (and won), so if he says he didn't threaten legal action , I believe him.

You can read about the whole incident in his own non-nutshell words at the following link (but be careful how you relate them to others - the devil is in the details): PA blog

I'm not surprised to see William G defending him. He had his own run in with the PA soul crusher when he dared question their motives for the child's play thing back on buzzcomix. At the time, I thought it was hilarious, but I can see now that it must've been rather painful.
 

But is "threatening language" defined by the one speaking or the one listening? Whatever Sean's intent, repeatedly mentioning sites he's "shut down" seems to me the equivalent of brandishing your enemies' ripe, decapitated heads before you sit down to debate.

I don't see any factual errors in Glenn's account.

And no disrespect to William G, but let's follow his example and leave his own experience out of this-- that's another drama for another time.
 

I believe a threat can only be a threat if actually implied by the speaker. If you read it wrong, that still doesn't make it a threat.

Squidi has said repeatedly that he said he shut down sites because he was trying to appeal to their nature as artists - that it was a recurring problem that he has had to deal with repeatedly and that it wasn't just a one-time PA forum problem. That he had shut down sites in no way implies that he was trying to shut down theirs. Squidi is not a veiled threat type of guy. Besides, would he STILL be taking issue with what he did ad didn't say if he was just trying to cover his ass? People stopped caring. but he didn't. That should tell you sinething about his sincerity on the subject.

BTW - the PA avatars in question have actually been posted on www.squidi.net. Seems like more than just the feet to me...
 

Yes, I understand Sean's account of his intentions and I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. But intention only gets you so far. At some point, you bear responsibility for how your words sound to others.

Consistency proves neither sincerity nor correctness. Nor does it disprove them.

The "feet" thing is, unfortunately, an "eye of the beholder" matter. Howard has denied that point with every ounce of his strength; to him, his style is a clear fingerprint. But the evidence has failed to convince the jury, and innocent till proven guilty (the defendant would be the alleged plagiarist).

What makes this whole thing fascinating to me is that it's these little dramas that decide the attitude toward art and commerce on the Web at large.
 

The "just the feet" observation has always been a spurious one. It's clear that some of the avatars in question were based on Squidi's template. Some were barely altered, some were completely tranformed. There's a legitimate fair use discussion to be had about which are infringing and which aren't. Squidi's position on the issue just happens to be very polarizing.
 

That's the thing that gets me. I mean, there is a possibility that you could look at them and simply see similarities and not rip offs - but the guy who created them fully admits that they are rip offs. The question of whether or not those things are or are not "copyright infringement" was answered on the buzzcomix by the guy who created them. The issue isn't whether or not they were rip offs - they were. The issue isn't even whether or not Squidi had the right to ask for credit or ask them to stop creating them - or at least ask them to stop making more (there are more of the rip offs than actual characters in his comic strip) - of course he does. If someone ripped me off, I'd rip off their head and then some. That's not what this is about or has ever been about.

Did Squidi threaten to shut down Penny Arcade, either explicitly or implied? I really, really doubt it. I've read Squidi's blogs and the guy is a very smart, rational person. He's opinionated, sure, but he's not stupid. He wouldn't threaten to shut down Penny Arcade over something in their forums - they, as owners of the site and forum, have it within their power to change the avatars and resolve the problem with seconds - why would he threaten them? It's silly.

It's not even a misunderstanding at this point. I'm sure Gabe did read a veiled threat in Squidi's email, but let's face it, nobody on the internet would ever accuse Gabe of being the brightest bulb in the bunch. He makes a living out of being a reactionary dumb ass, and lives up to that reputation at all possible times. So, why is Squidi being crucified for someone else's mistake? Why isn't Gabe being held accountable for the years of misfortune his haphazard misunderstanding has caused this guy? Why hasn't he stood up in front of everybody and said, "hey, it was a misunderstand, stop harassing squidi"? Wouldn't that have changed EVERYTHING?

The problem isn't Squidi. He's fun to hate and he's certainly given plenty of people reasons to do so, but he's not hiding because of that. The problem is Penny Arcade, and the supreme power by which they dominate the limited field of webcomics - the way they can literally destroy those who don't agree with them - and the responsibility with which they DON'T wield that power.

Penny Arcade created this, but Squidi had to live with it. They could've put a stop to it at any time, but they didn't. You want to write about this in your book, ask them why. Ask them why they not only didn't put at stop to it, but continued to encourage it as recently as January, despite Squidi's claim that he had already cleared up the misunderstanding with them. Squidi wasn't the only person in this feud, but it was still one sided if you get my drift. There is more to this story than most people think, but only diehard fans of Squidi know it.

I'm honestly afraid to defend Squidi in public. I'm afraid that Penny Arcade might notice me. They have way too much power and they are not afraid of controlling webcomics with it. If you ask me, the single greatest threat against the future of webcomics is Penny Arcade (and PvP, Ctrl-Alt-Del, etc). They have a history of attacking anybody who thinks highly of webcomics (remember the time they insulted the people doing the webcomic documentary and got in a fight with Scott McCloud?). They are the real bad guys.
 

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
 

Jesus, do I have to qualify every opinion I have when webcomic people act like idiots?

Fucking fanboys...

The person above me is not alone in his or her thinking on PA and the rest of the webcomic aristocracy. A lot of people view these guys with fear/ hatred simply because they do have the power to destroy someone's work and they have not been very responsible with that. I know because these people have all contacted me at one point or another... mostly after Kurtz tried to wang me for panning his comic. I was pretty shocked to discover that there's so many of them.

There is a backlash building up that's going to be pretty fucking ugly. And it's going to happen because NO ONE has the balls to stand up and decry their fanbase and how they use them to their own ends.

Well Shaenon Garrity does. That's why she's the queen of the internet.
 

I'd like to touch on a pair of things that haven't been mentioned yet in this discussion. I don't claim to have any special knowledge of the participants or debate- I'm just a normal reader who was paying attention to the situation at the time.

First of all, I'd like to state that my opinion is that part of the reason the "issue" stayed alive is because Squidi kept it alive. I maintain that it would have eventually blown over on its' own, given a couple of months, had Squidi handled the whole issue a bit better. Quite frankly, I think that the fact that he persisted in sniping at PA in his blog was one of the contributors to the issue's longevity.

I'd also be kind of curious to know how his regular readership changed after the PA incident. I'm a regular reader of PA, and also a semi-regular reader of AMD (and, by extension, TSD). The chances are very good that I never would have even heard of Squidi's comics had they not been mentioned on PA- and I figure that I can't be the only one.

That being said, I am rather sorry to see Squidi go- I was rather looking forward to the next chapter of AMD.

- HC
 

I don't think you can blame Squidi (completely). Most of his comments about the "PA Thing", as he called it", were reactionary to events that happened, such as the forums getting overrun. The simple fact is, for it to be kept alive by Squidi, he would've needed a far greater readership! Seriously, people would have to read his blog on a regular basis - and if they did, they'd have enough insight into his view of the situation, or they wouldn't put the comic in jeapardy to get back at him ('cause they read it, and presumably, enjoyed it).

I feel like I've been at Squidi's funeral all week, and the eulogies have been rather enlightening. The people who were happy to see him go were not the ones who read the comic. The people writing "Squidi is a douchebag" in his Wikipedia article were not fans.

No, I think it's more likely that Squidi was reminding his fans of what he was going through anyway, so they would feel some sort of empathy. He's said on several occasions that he's tried to move on - this past season of comics was made in self exile, according to him, to limit his exposure to others, and thus limit the amount of harassment he had to put up with. I guess it didn't work. Even in his goodbye message, he laments that he wasn't even on the internet at all and a, b, c, and d happened anyway.

You can blame him for holding a grudge (I think we all would if we had to put up with it), but we can't blame the continued problems on that grudge alone. As said previously, one word from Penny Arcade could have stopped it, and I really, really doubt anything else could've. Squidi was the webcomic version of the Star Wars Kid, and all I can say is that I hope I never am.
 

I make comics; I don't have a webcomic as of yet, but I draw comics. The amount of work put into them... if I saw my Omega, who I spent hours and numerous revisions getting to look JUST badass enough, painted blue with anime eyes on someone's webpage, I'd not only shut down their site, but I'd grab a rifle and notify their next of kin.

I admire the fact that Squidi handled the situation so professionally, and it sickens me to see the raging debates which paint him as a baby, or opressive, and the replies which then paint PA as the evillest thing in the universe. Squidi defended himself, PA overreacted a little due to whatever was going on in their heads. They probably thought he was trying to attack their pride and joy, the comic. If you think of comics as children it all makes sense.
 

I have seen this arguement (The PA Thing) on and off for a while now. A question, backed up by a few minutes research, emerges in my head. Where is the full, unaltered text of the email Squidi sent Gabe?

Why is it that the whole battle seems to hinge on the text of that mysterious document, but it has never been posted (as far as I have found)? Once the "PA Thing" turned into a public battle, and others picked up the torch to carry battle to the opposing sides, didn't anyone ever want to SEE FOR THEMSELVES what all the fuss was over?

I trust myself to be able to read an email and come up with my own opinion of it. I do not need Gabe or Squidi to tell me the contents of said email.
 

Yeah, that's how this all got started. :-)

I asked both Squidi and someone at PA (think it was Robert Khoo on this one), neither of whom could produce it. In defense of that, it WAS eighteen months ago for Gabe. Squidi claimed to have deliberately wiped it from his drive, which I also believe.

Interestingly, some sites that I've been taking information from have completely gone down since this history got started. That's a reason for the history I didn't mention in the foreword...
 

Too many drama queens, and the play is about Henry II.