Countdown to Deletion

Found this rather nifty little countdown (with multiple time zones) at time and date.com,

So when the clock ticks down, I shall be off.

Why?

Because of the insistence on the part of LJ/Six Apart that default user icons showing a perfectly normal, legal practice--feeding a baby--will be banned with refuseniks having their accounts suspended--if there is any possibility that the woman's nipple is showing (or does that include the baby's nipples too? it's so crazy, I wouldn't be surprised... oh, wait, since men's bare chests are acceptable a baby boy will be fine but not, presumably, a little girl?).

And this matters because: first of because it is hiding from view a natural, legal, act. Censoring images of this is a tacit discouragement of the act. In a world where there is money, big money, behind the expensive, less good option and little money, if much passion, behind the healthier, cheaper option.

It also matters because it impinges upon freedom of expression (when default icons featuring works by, say, Gustav Klimt are being banned, we can see it's grown beyond a simple issue of photos of individuals breastfeeding: we're having swathes of art banned too). This matters. This brouhaha may be, ultimately, a small, local spat over something that is not directly life threatening as other instances are. But each time the battle is lost in a small way, we all lose a little freedom.

It's also because the issue has not been handled well by LJ/SixApart. The TOS were changed suddenly, post facto. The ruling is applied inconsistently. And, tho' I hesitate to mention this for fear of extending the problem, it's rather futile. If the case is that certain images cannot be default icons because that's what might be found (accidentally or otherwise) by casual browsers (including minors, who must not be contaminated by images that are perfectly acceptable on anthropological programmes broadcast on TV), then why target the default icon. Folk can modify their journal pages to the extent that no user icon is shown, leaving only one place where the default icon reliably displays: User Info. There's no reason that I can see why I cannot include a picture (bigger than the tiny 100x100 user icon) in my user info in the same way as one might put LJ is love banners. This image would be bigger, just as "accidentally" browsable, and as far as I can tell not covered by the no nipples in default icons ruling.