Interesting points are being raised in relation to DeviantART’s recently published “Terms of Service”. I know that myself, John, Rob, and other ‘Deviants’ will recall the uproar over their last range of legal documents published. But now, they’re kicking out the under 18’s which I think makes up the mainstay of DA’s userbase….
“To register as a member of the Service or purchase products, you must be 18 years or lawfully permitted to enter into and form contracts under applicable law. In no event may minors submit Content to the Service. You agree that the information that you provide to us upon registration, at the time of purchase, and at all other times will be true, accurate, current and complete. You also agree that you will ensure that this information is kept accurate and up to date at all times. This is especially important with respect to your email address, since that is the primary way in which we will communicate with you about your account and your orders.”
From Jark’s blog…
Minors, which make up the vast majority of the userbase of deviantART, are now no longer allowed to submit content to deviantART. Not only are those under 18 not allowed to register for an account but they can no longer submit their art to the site or interact in areas where they will ultimately be submitting information to deviantART for all to view.
My thoughts…. ridiculous. I really, honestly don’t know what they’re trying to achieve with this. Don’t they know that kids are the future of today, tomorrow…. No bloody wonder everyone is flocking to MySpace!
Bring back Jark! 🙂
This is absolutely ridiculous. Any time I go browsing on dA, 3 out of 4 deviants are under 18. Banning them from submitting is going to severely damage the site’s content and credibility. One can only presume that most people will just lie about their age, but you have to question why dA thinks this is necessary. Too much adult material for little kids? Someone wants to make dA ‘high’ art and thinks this is a solution? Stepping stone to a full paying service? If this goes ahead I can’t imagine how dA will survive. Idiots.
I’d love to see the percentage of U18 users. This takes the piss with DA as far as I’m concerned, the U18s being the lifeblood of DA. What about all those who paid for subscriptions as well?
seems like they also intend on limiting storage space or the amount of time they will keep a deviant up for. this really doesn’t suit an art hobbyist, maybe professional artists who produce work every other day. two thumbs down by all accounts.
I must have missed the limit on storage space one. Though it would make sense given the 2 million plus that use DA, and a lot of the users in the photography areas that are inexperienced in dealing with filetypes, filesizes and resolutions sure do hog up space with their 3 and 4 meg photos!
out of interest I just set up an account on DA as a 16 year old. No problems joining, and will try and submit something later to see if they’ll kick me out! But it seems that the ToS are just to cover themselves
Nice one Rob, didn’t think of that myself. Let me know if anything comes of it!
Nothing. Nothing in the submission policy, nothing in the terms of service. Everything went swimmingly. Its early days yet though. It’ll be interesting to keep in touch with some of the YIFm folks on this one.
Yeah, I had spoken to pip about it, worried that he was going to lose his account. Funny thing is, there’s still been no ‘official’ announcement via DA from what I can see!
This is why I moved on to http://www.myartspace.com. DeviantART was a good thing, with great art, and decent leadership until they went from being a company to a COMPANY. I also find Angelo Sotira the CEO of deviantART to be offensive. Have you read any of his interviews online? In one he states that one of the reasons he helped create DA is because at the time there was no where for artists to display their art online. That is bogus. For one, Artwanted pre-dates DA. Two, there were several other art communities already around before DA. Seems they like to change history rather than honestly make history. But with legions of minors on the site who may not have much knowledge of the early years of the internet they will fall for it hook line and sinker while uploading their doodle and proclaiming it a master work of Anime.