Okay, so I looked into this and would like to say: Please stop spread this, please stop fear-mongering over this app, and especially please don’t bog down AO3′s volunteer support folks with messages about this app.
Because from what I can tell
AO3 already knows. They’ve known since 2015. They do not have their own version of an app and have no intention of making one of their own anytime soon. So this person isn’t stepping on their toes by making this ad that means they won’t be doing anything about it.
This is basically an ereader app for AO3. They’re not ~stealing~ your fics and selling them for profit. The app is a fancy interface for AO3. It gives you a fancy way to view the site and download fic, but it’s not actually hosting them. It’s not setting up your fic on a new site. It’s JUST allowing people a different way to view and interact with AO3.
They’re not profiting off of your fic they’re being paid for use of their interface. If people want to view ads instead of accessing AO3 ad-free on a browser, that’s their business. If they want to pay $1/month to see AO3 through a fancy skin without ads instead of using a browser that would do the same thing for free, that’s their prerogative. It makes absolutely no sense to me why anyone would WANT those things, but it’s not my business to interfere with the idiom “a fool and his money are soon parted.”
This is not to say that the app doesn’t have serious problems. The major problem I can see is that the app is completely and totally not affiliated with AO3 but gives users the option to log in- but since they are unaffiliated, this means you’re basically giving your login credentials to a third party.
So, you know. Those of you who just downloaded the app just to bitch them out and logged in to do it- the app creator potentially has your login info now. Maybe go change that on AO3 asap, and don’t use login to AO3 through this app just in case.
And if you’ve left a nasty review of this app in response to this initial post, perhaps consider taking it down or revising it with actual information (like maybe the bit about not logging in). I get being upset over the idea of someone stealing your fic to make a profit, but that’s not what is happening here, and this app creator does not deserve backlash for something they’re not even doing.
Anyway, that’s the info I could find while half-asleep at Too Early O’clock on a Sunday. Please try to be a little more judicious on what information you’re spreading and maybe ask around before spreading it, especially if it’s going to involve making extra work for the AO3 support folks who already have too much to do. There absolutely HAVE been sites found to be stealing your fics and re-hosting them elsewhere against your will. This doesn’t appear to be one of them though.
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