Marking out...

Over the past weeks, I was experiencing a general annoyance at the idea of blogging.  I'm friends with a lot of bloggers and, through such small interactions during bloggers' nights, some pro-bloggers as well.  But I've always had a reluctance to call myself a blogger.  I couldn't put it too much into words, until this morning...

When blogging was not yet as mainstream, I loved the idea it presented:  freedom of expression, self-regulation by peers, returns for meritorious and worthwhile writing... a writer's utopia if you will. 

But over the years, the blogs that I followed decreased and decreased until I'm only reading mostly my friends' blogs or those recommended by friends.  I've gotten sick of wading through crap, of reading short generic posts with links and one-liner reactions, of reading stupidity hailed as journalistic triumphs.  There are some bloggers who started thinking of themselves as the be-all and end-all of their chosen topic, entitled to recognition, or simply overly pretentious.  So I stuck only to those blogs that have no such pretentions of being anything more than online personal diaries.

(On a tangent, I've also grown out of reading fanfiction this way... seemingly realizing that most of the fanfics online are 95% crap.)

It probably started when I bought a few of PSICOM's "blogbooks" or "blooks," I heard someone say.... and realizing I spent P50 for each book that was not worth it.  Coupled with PSICOM's propensity not to edit stuff, the writing read far worse than I thought it should.

My friend stolisomancer (http://stolisomancer.livejournal.com ):

That said, with current developments in my current vocation, he says something very valid in Doktor Sleepless #11 that I'd as yet failed to consciously articulate:

The five rules of journalism--who, what, where, when and why--aren't there because people like pissing you off with rules. They're there because that's how you learn things and that's how you explain things and that, eventually, is how you see that events and people are connected... and that's how we build up a picture of the world and begin to understand where we are today and what it really looks like.

The bit I keep coming back to is "...because people like pissing you off with rules." I see a lot of that about right now; the up-and-coming writers are all bloggers, with no more formal training than time spent on Usenet or Livejournal or somebody's phpBB or whatever. I've edited a lot of people who came up in that environment, where the only barometer of progress was that somebody was reading your shit. It might've been a vicious linguistic abortion that makes English teachers spontaneously combust, but fuck you, I've got twenty thousand unique hits.... The moral of the story, moving forward: print may be dead, but the rules it was supposed to abide by still matter. The five rules still matter. You have to stay curious.

(Source:  http://stolisomancer.livejournal.com/80538.html )

Yes, I'm guilty of this sometimes, posting knee-jerk reaction posts.  It doesn't make what he had to say less valid.  I was fortunate enough to have the privilege of getting pwned by stolisomancer and lurkerdrome, two of my online friends, among others, when I was a young writer.

Unfortunately, several things make it easy to neglect this:  the overall permissiveness of the blogosphere, the strange hypocrisy of the net (e.g. "hey, look! he no spell good!"), the ease of posting (see: plurk)... and it's easy to stop being critical and start being cynical.

*************

And before I continue, I have no pretentions that this blog is more than a personal online journal of mine.  I don't care if no one reads this.  But if it reaches more critical minds, the better.

*************

The recent brouhaha that got me into a tizzy was the post reactions to this article.  (Click for link)

The full text of the circular is here:  http://portal.ntc.gov.ph:9081/wps/_mc/MC2009/electronic_games.html

Google Cache link in case the site goes down again:
http://Toolong, just click here...

Yes, it's in legalese, but personally, I thought it was actually clear on its intentions.  God knows I already feel weird talking in favor of regulation, but the truth needs to be stated.

Fact: The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) that issued this draft regulates telecommunications industry. As such it has power over service providers (Globe, Smart).

Fact: When you download content to your phone (e.g. wallpapers, games) you pay a fee. Part of this goes to the provider, part to the content provider/developer.

Fact: At the current industry standards and practices, Telcos pay developers a fixed rate (e.g. P2 per wallpaper) then they pocket the rest.  So, from the P10 you pay them when you download, the content provider gets P8 while the Telco company gets P2.  The memorandum aims to regulate the amount telcos receive out of this, so instead of Globe getting P8 out of your P10 download, they'll only get P2.  The developer or content provider gets the rest.  THAT'S THE MAIN POINT OF THE MEMORANDUM.  However, in order for them to enforce this on the Telcos, they need to know who provides the content, hence the registration of companies who provide the content.  The license is only secondary to the main point of the memorandum.

(Now that you read it that way... isn't that a GOOD THING?  Man, I feel like a government shill, but it needed to be said.)
 
Fact:  The circular draft states in its definitions:  "Contents Providers – are persons or entities offering and providing contents to the public for compensation through the networks, systems and/or facilities of authorized networks, systems and/or facilities providers."  If you read through all the definitions of providers, it repeats "FOR COMPENSATION."

Does this mean bloggers need to register? Only if you sell your content directly to subscribers or if you receive compensation directly from the service providers (Globe, Smart, etc.).

Pro-bloggers or those who receive compensation indirectly (such as through ads) and who distribute their content outside the telco service providers are not covered by NTC authority. How are they going to follow you up? Ask Friendster/Multiply to furnish them a list?  All they can do is ask Smart and Globe. 

Bloggers who don't get anything or people who simply post to Friendster/Multiply and the like are even more not covered since they ARE NOT COMPENSATED.

When I saw this last night (and man, was I sleepy) I personally saw this as much ado over nothing. I agree the public hearing may be good for a laugh, but only if these bloggers start being questioned on why they are there.

So again, think first if you cover both bases:  are you a content provider AND compensated for this AND providing content to Telcos.  It's Boolean logic, please.  I didn't use any OR.

If not, please please please don't go to the hearing... you'll be wasting your time.

(On a different note, I'm pretty sure the "Cosplay Mobile" feature on Cosplay.ph may be covered under this. See the facts: (1) Cosplay.ph provides content to our partner which provides said message via text and (2) the website is compensated for every text message it provides. However, there's a possible out since we have a partner that deals directly with the telcos.  Let them get the license.  :P) 

P.S. On a more personal note, the fact that the source of the original rant is a certain Mike's blog makes me automatically drop it as overacting, but there's the facts.


EDIT:  To all those who read this far and didn't go "TL;DR" (Too long, didn't read), THANK YOU.