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Re: Viacom shutting down ST websites
Here's what I e-mailed to Carl Folta, senior VP with Viacom.
TO: Carl Folta
Senior Vice President
Viacom, Inc
1515 Broadway
New York, NY 10036-5794
folta@corporate1.viacom.com
Dear sir,
Apparently you haven't been around this business very long and
obviously know nothing of the history of Star Trek. If it wasn't for
the fans, you literally would not have this cash cow you call Star
Trek. It was fans that undertook a massive mail-in campaign to
save Star Trek and bring it back a third season. But NBC was
determined to kill it and wouldn't support it that third year. But
fans still kept the faith and wrote non-profit fan stories and kept it
alive in their hearts. Then came the reruns and fans went for
Trek bigtime, and eventually the popularity was great enough
to support movies and then spinoff shows.
Don't ever forget who buys the books, the collectibles and the toys.
It's the fans. The same people who, driven by their love for Trek,
have created free sites to PROMOTE your cash cow! And they
don't expect you to pay them anything for all this work! It's FREE
publicity! Comprende "free?"
Now, you have to understand that shutting these sites down will
only hurt Paramount, not help it. I know you want to promote your
site on MSN, which pays you, I guess, to have it, and then wants
to charge the users to access it. Frankly, this is a really stupid
concept. The fans are simply not going to come in anywhere near
the masses you hope. The Internet is a place for free exchange
of ideas. The fans simply are not going to accept anything else.
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