In case you haven't heard, The Fox Network and Ten-Thirteen Productions, in the form of David Oakes, their lawyer, have begun shutting down "unofficial" or "unauthorized" sites for Millennium and the X-Files including Gil Trevizo's, by saying the creators of these sites are in violation of copyright laws. Read the story here, or even better, the full version here. We, the members of XFACTOR (X-Philes For Abolishing Censorship Threatening Our Rights), are fighting this with all our might.

If the creation of these sites was truly an intended illegal violation of corporate copyright laws, like industrial espionage, then the reactions of Fox and Ten-Thirteen would be more understandable. However, fan-created sites are an act of love for the fan's favorite show, not an act of malice.

In forcing the closing of fan created sites, companies are simply biting the hands that feed them. After all, where would Star Trek be if Trekkies didn't demand its rescue from certain death? Where would the X-Files be without X-Philes? It would have been quickly cancelled and it would never have been heard from again, like so many shows on the Fox Network. And where would Chris Carter's new venture, Millennium, be without the fans? Quite frankly, it simply never would have been created. In the past, fans have demonstrated their strength in saving a show, changing a show, or getting a show cancelled, through the use of letters, boycotts, etc. Now, with the use of the internet, fans have a way of voicing their opinions and distributing information instantaneously. And with the internet, fans can motivate millions of others to assist them in a worthy cause, like that which the XFACTOR represents today.

Since its conception, the internet has been synonymous with free speech. If the Fox Network is allowed to proceed with their (illogical -- after all, they're only taking away free publicity for themselves) restriction of fan produced pages, we are all witnessing the beginning of the end. If Fox wins in its battle against us, how long will it be until fan fiction is threatened? Personal opinion? Personal expression? How long will it be until our right to free speech is entirely taken away from us, and we find ourselves living inside a virtual version of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four?

Together, we must stop this progression. The line must be drawn, and we must enforce it. Are we to let big corporations simply walk in and destroy us? The answer, of course, is a resounding no, but to resist this onslaught, we must band together and collectively fight for our rights that we have gained here on the internet.

Please help us fight the Fox Network and Ten-Thirteen Productions and their attack on innocent X-Philes and Millenium fans, by contacting the people below and telling them your feelings about the imminent loss of free speech to the citizens of the internet. On behalf of the XFACTOR, and all other people on the net, I thank you.

Amanda Mosier, aka Tenofdiamonds

E-Mail addresses

David Oakes, Fox Network's lawyer

Ask Fox, Fox Network's information address

Current webmaster for Fox's official sites

X-Files production company e-mail

Charles Kennedy, VP of Programming Research

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