As folks may recall, last year “amptoons.com,” the domain that hosts “Alas, a Blog,” was sold to someone whose business is “optimizing search” results on google. (His clients are mostly porn sites. Details about the sale are here.)
The sale required “Alas” to remain on the “amptoons” server for at least a year. Although that initial year has passed, I’ve decided to keep “Alas” where it is. Staying on “amptoons” means the owner of “amptoons” will pay me $500 every three months. These payments will be donated to charity. (I’ve exchanged emails with my co-bloggers about this plan, and we’ve all agreed to it.)
I know it’ll disappoint some folks that we’re not leaving the amptoons.com domain. I’m not looking to rehash those arguments. I am posting about this decision publicly because I think the worse mistake I made, when I sold “amptoons,” was initially keeping the sale a secret.
I have recently received the first two payments in a $1000 lump (the next payment is due in March). The $1000 has been donated as follows: $333.33 each to Women For Women International, the American Domestic Violence Crisis Line, and the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Women for Women currently is advertising a matching gift program, so the $333 donated translates to $666 for them, in theory. They seem to do a lot of good work empowering women at a grassroots level, including (to relate it to current news) victims of rape in the Congo.
The American Domestic Violence Crisis Line is a non-profit that former “Alas” poster “Bean” works for; they aid American women living abroad who are victims of abuse. Many worthy organizations help victims of domestic violence, but ADVCL is especially appropriate because of Bean’s history with “Alas.”
And I assume that the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the leading anti-racist organizations in the US, is familiar to most “Alas” readers.
All of these organizations do crucial work, and I hope “Alas” readers who can afford it will consider donating to them as well.
(Update, April 27 2008: The next $1000 payment got to me late. It will be donated to charity in May or June, after I’ve had time to figure out which charities to donate to.)
I wish I had known about this sooner… I would have let you share my hosting!
What happened to that last $0.01, though? Tried to slip that past us, eh? :-)
my guess, Amp rolls 1d3 to decide who gets the last cent.
it’s like an untrained melee attack from a halfling, but for charity.
You know, when I was writing this post, I consciously thought to myself “should I say how the extra cent was dispersed? Will people want to know where it went?”
Then I thought, “Naaaahh. Don’t be silly.” :-P
Well, I’m not saying where the extra cent went. It’s just gonna be my secret! HAH!
I hope your contract is for a long time, with no right of cancelation on his side:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/10/30/google_guru_explains_pagerank_change/
Probably no one cares about my opinion on this, at this late date. I’m hardly a Red Hot Feminist; indeed, I’ve been repeatedly and viciously attacked here by the self-anointed Red Hot Feminists formerly on this site for not being Red Hot enough. And I respect you, Amp, for a good guy.
All that said, I cannot in good conscience continue to contribute to or support this site. The pornographic backers of this thing sell images which degrade everything I believe in.
Good luck. Sort of.
You’re saying, ‘well, I pimp out these women, but I donate the proceeds (well, some of the proceeds) to charity.’ If someone who sells out donates some of the proceeds to a Good Cause, does that make it OK? Not in this book.
I’m disappointed; you know? That doesn’t do anyone any good.
Susan, amp doesn’t sell porn, neither do the people who pay him. They sell a higher google rank to people who sell porn. Still might be too close to ‘selling porn’ for you but I see there being a difference.
Hi Joe. I do understand the difference, but it’s not enough of a difference for me, you know?
Porn itself is bad. Profiting by it, at a distance, is worse. Sorry, Amp. You’re a good guy who made a bad choice. I like you. But in all good conscience I can’t contribute to your bad choice.
I’m sorry. It was a good site.