As I catch up on some of the controversy over recent changes on tribe (I have been very busy for awhile, not around much, and likely will stay busy for awhile yet), I have learned that one severe recent change involves Tribe now claiming a perpetual license to use any material that is posted on Tribe and remains posted there.

For a look at the kinds of discussions going on about this, including some of Wade's posts, check out the thread 'Writers and Tribe's New TOU' on the Writing Fiction tribe at writingfiction.tribe.net and others as you may find them. If you do find others, please post links to those discussions here.

The end result is this...I have deleted all posts of my own material here. I believe it would be safe to post links to your material that you have elsewhere on the web (though what rights Tribe retains to the name of your link remain unclear), but I do not currently have web space to host such material myself.

Wade suggests in ' TOU Concern? Idea for Posting Your Work on Tribe' also at the Writing Fiction tribe, that you post your written material in your Blogs and then give us a link to your blog in the threads. Somehow this is unsatisfactory to me, but if it keeps the purpose for the tribe alive, feel free to use this method.

Bottom line...if for some reason you wish to delete your material from here to protect your rights, then do so, I understand completely. If for reasons of access or lack of know-how you cannot delete it yourself, I will honor ALL requests to delete material from this tribe, regardless of Tribes stance on refusing to do so themsleves (at least until they make it impossible for me to control the content of my own tribe). Tribe has apparently chosen not to make a grandfather clause protecting material posted before the TOU change available, so even old material may be at risk. Please use the message function to notify me of such requests as I dont check posts here consistently enough to respond timely to such requests made in threads.

I hope people will still post writing, but I wont be myself. I will continue to read and enjoy what others choose to offer up freely into tribes legal maw, but want those making such offerings to Tribe aware of what they are doing. You may now find it impossible to republish anything you post here professionally elsewhere if you insert it directly into a thread. I believe you have greater protection by posting links only, but I personally dont follow them unless I know the poster due to risk of malicious links infecting my computer, so you may get less exposure this way. I will likely continue to visit the blogs of those who post their stuff there, but will miss the comments and discussion they generate here...

Unfortunately I dont have the time or energy to do more than offer the approriate warning to all of you writers and the offer to delete as needed. I hope we will still get original fiction, but expect this tribe will likely descend to nothing much more than a place to recommend other places to find good reads. If so, so be it.

If anyone learns that Tribe reverses or corrects this overwhelmingly predatory TOU change, then please let me know so I can alter this warning accordingly.