Disclaimer: This website is not in affiliated with STARFLEET, The International Star Trek Fan Association, Inc. in any way. In case you are not working on all thrusters!

This is a sort of protest site. My name is Dave Lowe. I am a member of STARFLEET, the International Star Trek Fan Association. On January 1, 2008, a newly elected administration took over. They did not win by any sort of mandate. They won, but with only 49% of the votes, the other 51% were split between the other three slates on the ballot.

The new regime still claims (incorrectly) that they are acting with the “will of the people,” tossing around strong words like “landslide” and slogans like “Members Matter.”

They have been running all over the place, claiming they are gonna “clean up STARFLEET.” They want to get rid of all the “mean people” and “cyberbullies” in the organization. I feel sure I may be one of them. They use an unenforceable “Officer’s Code of Conduct” as a basis of a justice system. They want to use this policy to kick out the bad peopel in STARFLEET.

What they started was a real shitstorm. They began their funny business by trying to kick out a 20 year veteran of our organization illegally. They simply violated his membership rights under the constitution of our organization. No due process. They tried to suspend this member without notice. The vote did not carry among the Board of Directors, thankfully.

When that attempt failed, the new President of the organization retained an attorney for $2000. He has also spent untold amounts in consultation fees with this attorney. He filed a cease and desist letter, threatening a lawsuit against this member to sue for $150,000 in damages for theft of intellectual property. In reality, this member wrote all the stuff he is accused of stealing and gave it to STARFLEET.

Recently, the President spent nearly $900 sending a nine page letter to all of the members of the organization. Entitled “The Threats to STARFLEET“, this letter was nothing more than propaganda and paranoia of the new regime. Since that letter, they have taken steps to restrict and control communications, creating “official” mailing lists and such. The mailing lists are tightly moderated and ruled with a heavy hand.

It’s been a circus. And I am tired of it. So this is my way of thumbing my nose at the system.

A Short History of Fail

OK, The name “STARFLEET Fail” may be a little on the offensive side to some. There are those that have argued I should not malign or defame the name “STARFLEET.” The club is well established, been around since 1974. People love STARFLEET. To some, it is like a family to them.

The name came about from my love for sites like The Fail Blog where all the funny pics with FAIL! are posted. it’s an internet meme thing, the MMORPG gamers and other netizens coined “FAIL!” and stuff like “EPIC FAIL!” and “UR DOING IT WRONG!” emblazoned over pictures. Other sites like Doing It Wrong and I Can Has Cheesburger are also very popular.

Fail:

1. An interjection used when one disapproves of something.
2. A verb meaning approximately the same thing as the slang form of suck.
3. An amazing word that can sum up almost any bad situation in a single syllable

One day in Late February, I took this picture of Sal Lizard, the recently elected Commander, STARFLEET, from the organization’s newsletter and put FAIL across it. I posted it on my regular blog. For about 6 hours, it sat there. I got the wild idea to register STARFLEET Fail. That was February 21, 2008.

The site went up a few days later. This was amidst my ongoing flame war with Vic’s Lounge. It pretty much was JUST the picture, and a hit counter, nothing more. I started posting a few other things, like the countdown until the “end of the Elven Regime” and other tidbits. Then, my first moderation from SFI-L, and I posted about that.

Somewhere in there, the logo was born. Later I added this picture, and several others. Then, “The Letter” went out to all primary members of STARFLEET outlining Sal’s perceived “Threats to STARFLEET.” This was on STARFLEET’s dime, classic propaganda piece, costing members around $900.

A few weeks later, at the urging of Richard Jolitz and others, all knowing that I was a WordPress Jedi, they browbeat me into putting up the website as it is today. The site opened as a blog April 14, 2008.

Yeah, it’s a little raw. I’ll grant you that. Because I do not really want STARFLEET to fail. It is my opinion, and apparently that of others, that is has and will continue to fail unless the Executive Committee and the Commander, STARFLEET wake up and smell what they have been shoveling.

The administration has been on the warpath. Member rights have been violated, and the use of lawyers to intimidate members of the organization that are politically opposed to the administration is sickening. And it continues. The rampant spending by our current administration is way out of control. At six months into the current term, and the exact numbers have been a cit obfuscated and layered in spin, the Executive Committee as of July 1, 2008, has spent over $8,800 on legal fees alone. This is for legal advice on dealing with unruly members. Like me. I was even sent a “cease and desist” letter on July 7, 2008.

My Regional Coordinator, Jack Eaton, intervened on my behalf. In a telephone conversation, Sal Lizard said that he would apologize and rescind the letter, and offer an explanation to me on his reasons for taking the action. He acknowledges that I have every right to do what I am doing, and that lampoon and parody is protected by the First Amendment and also by “Fair Use” clauses in US Copyright Law.

To date, I have received no apology. But, that’s no real surprise. Nothing on this site will change. Despite the hemming and hawing I have been doing over the issue, talking about possibly changing the name, the logo, whatever. Not gonna happen. I am legally allowed to do what I am doing. Whether it is right or not remains to be seen.