 | | | Subject: Is h2g2 even worth a postage stamp?
Posted Jul 18, 2001 by  Deidzoeb
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 | | Now that I have your attention with that misleading headline  ... what I really mean is, if you could push h2g2 back toward the less restricted days before BBC, do you feel it would be worth the price of one letter to Bush House?
We have 97 online signatures under the Petition for Greater Freedom on h2g2. That's okay so far, but my goal is to exceed the current record for largest h2g2 petition, which was 197 signatures on an Amnesty International petition.
Meanwhile, we have been debating all along whether paper petitions mailed to BBC would be more effective than online signatures. After some recent discussion with Mark Moxon, I believe that paper petitions are considered more seriously. As of 17 July 2001, they had received only six petitions through the mail.
If you felt compelled to join the Zaphodistas to show BBC how you feel, please draw your attention to http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/A544943 and consider signing this petition and mailing it to them. The petition is significantly toned-down from the earlier Zaphodista "war" rhetoric. It was written by a non-Zaphodista, workshopped with suggestions by some non-Zaphodistas, has already been signed by several non-Zaphodistas. And yet the radical manifesto on the main Zaphodistas page has received about double the number of signatures. We can do better than this.
We need to mobilize the troops. It's going to be tough, because some of the early Zaphodistas have gone missing, some have left h2g2, some only peek in every month or two. We need your help to make this petition something Auntie Beeb will have to notice. Something she can't avoid.
If you haven't signed the petition yet, then please print out a copy (using the printer at work if you're cheap like me), sign it and mail it to the address shown. If you've already signed, then mention the petition in h2g2 conversations to people who might be interested. By now, you probably know the difference between what's acceptable and what's spam in conversations. But anyone who complains about moderation or other restrictions ought to be clued in that they can do something about it by signing.
Another good way to help the cause is to publicize the petition in your nickname. It doesn't have to be a long message, just "petition A544943" will be enough to catch the attention of other researchers. If you really want to see changes on h2g2, then please get rid of the "Zaphodista" or "wearing a Goo Beret" in your nickname and trade that valuable space for "petition A544943" so we can get more signatures.
Here's a statement straight from the top, h2g2 editor Mark Moxon talking about paper petitions: "When they start pouring in, then we'll definitely respond - we'll have to!"
[Post 1 on http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F23...thread=128478&post=1151567#p1151567 ]
Another encouraging statement from Mark was on http://www.bbc.co.uk/h2g2/guide/F19...thread=127799&post=1150998#p1150998
"...Much of our work is focussed around trying to retain or go back to as much of the 'original' h2g2 as possible; remember that the pre-BBC h2g2 was a real implementation of what we believed h2g2 should be, so new additions like moderation and heavier rules are *not* what we wanted, or we'd have implemented them before we joined the BBC..."
Signing the Petition for Greater Freedom on h2g2 is the best way to show BBC how many people still oppose their extraordinary restrictions. This time, it's not about the Goo Berets or the Revolutionary chic. It's about the restrictions.
Thanks for your time,
Deidzoeb
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