just the faq's

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just the faq's

Why DA should support our position

What is considered porn on DA?

    From FAQ 565-

    you prohibit the submission of 'pornographic material'; what do you consider this to be?
    When we mention 'pornographic content' in our policies we are specifically referring to specific subjects which we will clarify below.

We apologize if the descriptions below are slightly graphic.

The following contents are considered unacceptable in either visual art or literature form and will be subjected to immediate removal without notice.

Masturbation (actual or simulated).
Hands should not come in contact with genitalia in a matter which strongly suggests fondling or masturbation. Hands also should not be extended beneath clothing (such as pants or underwear) in a sexually suggestive manner.

Sexual positions.
Subjects should not be positioned in a manner to suggest sexual penetration, genital to genital contact, genital to anal contact, oral to breast contact or oral to anal contact.

Sexual body fluids (Actual or simulated).
There should be no depiction of semen or vaginal lubricants. In some cases we will also remove images depicting breast milk or menstrual blood.

Erections.
Male subjectsshould not be depicted with an erection.

Vaginal Spreading.
Female subjects should not be depicted with their vagina 'spread' or opened in any fashion or bay any means.

Adult oriented (sexual) toys.
"Adult toys" consisting of dildos, strap-ons and vibrators are not allowed at all. Whips, chain, and bondage materials can be used providing they violate no other guideline. Objects of any kind should not be shown entering the vaginal or anal area either directly or indirectly nor should they be shown readied for such penetration.

Sadism and/or Masochism.
Self-mutilation and real-life harming is typically not allowed. Simulated wounding using makeup and other special effects can be allowed. Needlework, piercings, suspension and knife play may be allowed on a case-by-case basis. It is a very grey area and no absolutes will be given in regards to these fetishes.

Submissions which are judged to be in violation of these guidelines will be removed without prior warning and users who repeatedly submit such materials will be at great risk for receiving administrative punishment.

Also be aware that we prohibit providing an outside link to another website which provides access to the material described above.

So a nude couple kissing is not porn according to this FAQ, yet many of these have been removed from artists galleries in the last few weeks. Also notice that S&M is allowed on a case by case basis where as a romantic scene with an aged anime character is not allowed ever.

    From FAQ #33

What are deviantART's policies on nudity?
Nude submissions are allowed, although certain themes are prohibited as obscene or pornographic (details are found elsewhere in the FAQ).

All images containing nudity must be tagged as Mature Content pon submission. The deviantART staff reseerves the right to mark any work with a Mature Content if it is deemed by that staff member to require one. (This FAQ is not quoted in full due to the fact the rest primarily applies to photography.)

    From FAQ #249(note: this FAQ was changed on 7/26/07)

What is the policy concerning images depicting minors?
(Only relevant parts shown.)

12. Fictional characters taken from popular television series, movies, or other sources will at all times be treated as being underage by staff regardless of attempts to claim the character is 18+ or have otherwise been "aged" past their minor status in order to be shown nude or in an erotic manner.

Any submission found to depict any of this prohibited content will be removed immediately and without notice. These rules apply equally to all forms of submissions and they apply equally to depictions of 'real life' persons as well as fitional characters.

As you can see, it is with this recently changed FAQ that things get ugly. Until this change it pretty much stated as long as the character did not look like it's official underage image they could be allowed. This states that artists no longer have the artistic freedom to draw a character at any stage in life other than the official youngest age they have ever been portrayed at. EX: Kagome Higurashi from Takahshi's Inuyasha has the youngest official age of being a newborn. According to this policy that means that the character of Kagome can never be drawn older than an infant by a fan artist.

From deviantART's etiquette policy

As the guiding force of this large and vibrant community we have two primary and often conflicting goals in the service we provide for you, the members of the community; the first being to ensure that members are free to express themselves within reason with as few restrictions as possible while nurturing an enviroment of creativity, learning, and talent and the second is to protect the members of the community, to the best of our abilities, from infringement of copywrite, discrimination, harrassment, and prejudice.

Yet they appear to be undermining their own goals. artists are being harrassed, prejudice against the Fanart community is raging out of control, and the restrictions are tightening around our throats.

From the end of the etiquette policy:
Petitions and other forms of public outcry are discouraged and will have no affect on managerial reviews of staff actions and may in fact be detrimental to the case in question.

How can something have no affect and yet still be detrimental? In other words, they are threatening to punish those who point out their abuse. Doesn't give one a lot of faith in the company, does it?