UPDATE: I received a comment on my page from a friend that says she saw my picture on a blog, and a link were included in the comment. I clicked on it, then it redirected me to DA's login page. Now I found out that the same comment was sent to my friends UNDER MY NAME!!!!!! If you receive a comment like this, DO NOT CLICK ON THE LINK; it's a fuckin fishing attempt to get your password!!!!! If you already clicked on that link, CHANGE YOUR PASSWORD ASAP!!!

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Darn, I got that news from a friends' journal, but too late for me - if you got such a comment under my name, just delete it!

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Who would have thought that a news article [link] could stir such emotions over here at DA?

I think most of the people here read that article already, but for those of you who haven’t – it’s all about DA’s policies regarding the tracing and copying of images. I have been following the heated discussions ever since, and was puzzled and a bit shocked to see what kind of reactions this policy provoked.

Obviously, most deviants are not happy with the decision of the DA officials on how this topic should be handled, since many of my friends here have now decided to take down their galleries, and maybe will leave DA forever… and why?

Because they fear that their rights on their own artworks aren’t protected here anymore. I think I must have been really lucky, since I never had many problems with art theft, but most artists here have had more than their (un)fair share of it, and so consider this a very sensitive topic.

I don’t think it’s a question about right and wrong anymore – is tracing a kind of art or not, should it be banned right away or not, are some people over-reacting here or not… but if so many people feel like there’s something wrong going on here, shouldn’t that lead the staff to reconsider their decisions?

But seeing how some of the DA officials handled this discussion really makes me sad, since it has been their unprofessional comments which drove some of my friends away in the end.

At first, I thought it was only human to loose one’s temper, especially when you’re probably getting bombarded with hate notes right now. But let’s not forget – some of these people get paid for their job here. DA gets paid by many of us, and not only for their special services – if you pay money for your account, can you not expect for your voice to get heard? Over 2000 rejects on that article speak volumes, I think, and one can only hope that DA’ll change some of the points of their policy over the next week, so that some of those who have gone now will return again.

But what to do now, I wondered.

Should I go, or stay?

To be honest, the most important thing for me here on DA have always been the people – not the staff, or their policies, or anything official, but those friendships that I’ve formed here, the excitement of watching their new artworks and stories, to see them develop and try new things, and to use their comments on my works to grow as well.

Maybe that’s why I’m so sorry that many of my friends are planning to leave this place, because I will truly miss them and their work… but I have never met a more generous community than this. All your comments and artworks and notes make this such a special place for me, and that’s why I’ll stay – and I really hope that you’ll stay here with me as well.

~Kaana


Take a look at ‘s amazing and cute artworks:





This time, I’d like to introduce you to and her brilliant stock photographs:




You're most welcome to take a look at my NWN2 Fanfics here: [link]
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