An Open Letter To All Webcomic Artists Who Had Their Comics On Webcomic du Jour,

To Whom It May Concern,

Okay, this is starting to bother me, so I'm going to put thisnup for all to see.

Let me just state this for the record: I know Adam Kaump, and he is not a bad guy. He didn't mean to piss anyone off or commit copyright infringement. He's just a guy trying to make webcomics easier to read.

I know this because I have sort of helped him with the app from the beginning. I read a lot of webcomics, and when I found one not on the list, I would suggest it.

I happen to know the exact reasoning behind the app being paid, because I Adam and I have been in contact pretty much since it started. The reasoning is because he was putting a bunch of work into making the app work correctly, so he might as well kinda get paid for it. Because seriously, the app required a lot of work. It was pretty buggy in the beginning. The payment wasn't for the webcomics, it was for the work put in to display them. You guys might think that's dumb, but I KNOW it's an honest mistake.

Adam didn't ask me to write this. In fact, he doesn't even know I am and probably would tell me not to bother. But he's a good guy, and he had good intentions. Google Reader basically does the same thing, only it's not paid. Here's the thing: Google probably pays someone to keep Google Reader running. But Google is a GIGANTIC COMPANY with ridiculously large amounts of money. Adam is just one guy. He did this in his free time, just because he wanted to do something nice.

I know, I know, good intentions pave the path to hell. But in a moral context, they need to be taken into account. He's not a gigantic douche, and now that he knows it bothers people this much, he's shutting down the app. So put a leash on the name-calling, please.

I know I'm going to get a lot of backlash for defending Adam, but he's a good guy who made a mistake and doesn't deserve all the hate being thrown his way.

As it happens, I draw as well, and I'm starting to draw comics, and I hope to eventually draw webcomics. However, my art isn't good enough to be ripped off, so I guess it's harder for me understand. Maybe I'll understand better in a few years when my art doesn't completely suck, and someone decides to rip it off.

But for now, could we please just calm the hell down?

--Ilsa

P.S. If you have no idea what this is about, feel free to ignore it.