The following is a rather garrulous and extensive explanation of the submission rules in place on LittlePa.ws, including the reasons behind why we allow what we allow and why we don't allow what we don't allow. If you would rather just see the progress report, skip down to the bold and underlined title for that section.

Our Submission Rules, in detail...

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness; while these famous words were first penned in the Declaration of Independence, an American document, I believe that these are universal rights that should apply to all people regardless of their origin, gender identity, religious preference, age, life choices, or any other defining characteristic. As a people from a global view, we have not achieved this wholly. There are still many people that are marginalized and kept in the gutters due to who they are or what they like, or because of social precepts or ignorance that keeps them from acting in a manner or living a life that they would want to live. Of course none of this can be fixed in a day, and discrimination will never vanish entirely, but for those who truly believe in freedom of expression and the ability to live a life of safety, stability, and love, we can fight to make small changes happen in our own way. I, myself, am one of these believers, and it is the core reason that I created LPES in the first place.

When I first envisioned LittlePa.ws, it was my intention to follow a philosophy beyond what Inkbunny embraces. I wanted to allow the ability of artists to upload any and all content that they wanted regardless of its nature. However, there are many laws that are ill defined within the United States, and many laws that are clearly defined in other jurisdictions, that discourage/disallow shota or loli works and/or put cub porn into a questionable light. While I personally do not necessarily see cub porn or shota/lolicon as a form of art in and of itself, but rather as just a drawn fetish, art is in the eye of the beholder. As a human being who believes in freedom of expression, I do not think ill of anyone that sees those drawings as being forms of art. I also believe strongly that no one else should think ill of them either.

I knew, from a legal perspective, that allowing the direct upload of shota/lolicon to LittlePa.ws would never happen after very little research. It is outright banned in Australia for one, and pornography as a whole, in many parts of the world, is completely illegal. So the next thing that I had to tackle, being that we are a website for Littles with varying backgrounds and interests, was the issue of cub porn. I talked to several popular cub artists who are well liked within the FA community, who will remain anonymous, that are ardently opposed to cub porn. I discussed with them the moral conflict that I had with limiting an artist's freedom of expression next to the legal realities that be or may come to be, along with the very deep and fragile divide within the community on the subject. As a whole, we reached what I felt was a reasonable compromise. We reached an agreement that cub porn should not be directly uploaded to LittlePa.ws.

However, there is a difference between our definition of underage pornography, and other's definition. As per the laws of the United States, simple nude images of children that are not focused on genitalia and do not show arousal are legal. While we do not allow photographs of nude minors, or photographs of nude adults for that matter, that legal boundary does make drawings with such content also legal, regardless of species. So as long as a drawing is made in good taste, within those legal parameters, and it is appropriately rated, it can be uploaded to LittlePa.ws. However, and I cannot stress the importance of this, because not everyone is comfortable with seeing an under aged nude form, a simple to understand content management system was put into place and it will be accessible at launch so that you can make sure that the content you see is the content that you're comfortable with. This content management system is known as your Site Experience.

The Site Experience falls into three levels. The first, Little Angel, is the default site experience and MANDATORY site experience for all members aged 13-17. This site experience only allows access to G-rated content, meaning absolutely no nudity. The next level up, Mischievous, allows access to innocent nude art, as mentioned above, as well as audio and literary submissions that contain profanity or lude language. Innocent nude art would include things such as bath time, a diaper change, or something that would be a logical situation in which a minor character would be nude. The final step, Little Devil, allows access to drawn pornography. This does not include cub porn or shota/lolicon, as both are banned, but can include characters that are clearly above the age of 18 per their back story even if they look younger than that, and hard core fetishes. As an additional layer of protection, ALL of these submissions must have a warning thumbnail so that, even if you are okay with some of the content that falls beneath Little Devil, you can avoid anything that you are not okay with. Also, per the standards and rules that FA uses, the furry website considered to be the strictest on underage character content, you may upload a clean clipping of a cub porn or shota/lolicon related work with a link off site to the actual content.

When these parameters were created and made after seeking feedback from the aforementioned individuals and senior ranking members of the former LPES executive council, it was my belief that everything would be alright. However, as was explained to me this evening, even this may not be enough for some. So I feel it is my responsibility to explain this to you all, ahead of launch, so that you are aware of what we allow, why we allow it, and the protections in place for you.

While we as a website reserve the right to change our policies with sufficient prior notice provided, what is said above will likely remain in force for quite sometime. As long as we are able to allow as much freedom of expression as possible, while being COPPA compliant and controlling site content so as to avoid anyone seeing something they would not like to see, then I believe that I am doing my civic duty as someone that believes in freedom of expression. If laws change in the future, what is allowed could broaden or decrease. It really is dependent upon what governments and courts decide, and my personal philosophical views on freedom of expression will not keep us from maintaining a good standing in the legal community.

I know that this has been a rather long winded diatribe, but I wanted to get it out there to explain to each of you what is going on, in advance of launch, so that you can be prepared. This may not be sufficient for some and some of you may disagree with the decisions made, but it is my sincere hope that you can see that we are doing everything in our power to balance the tastes of each individual with the need to allow as much artistic liberty as we can. I encourage and implore you to comment, send a note to my personal account or this account, or anything else you'd like to do. Whether you have something positive or negative to say, I am open to hear it. However, please do so in a mind of respect, openness, and reason.

So with all the heaviness now done with, I have some very excellent news to share!

Our Amazing Progress Report!

1. The core of the Classroom Matrix was completely constructed in two days. While further implementations will take place this week to finish it, this could not have been accomplished without the hard work, sleepless nights, and tireless dedication of , some non-furry developers, and especially .

2. In response to our prior journal, we have already managed to gain several crucial faculty members! In fact, we are in a position now where we only need to hire four more teachers at minimum! I want to personally thank each and everyone of you who advertised, put the word out, and made this possible. While the start of term will likely not be RIGHT at site launch, it should not be far away from it.

3. We have dwindled the list of things left to do to the site to make it launch ready to only a handful of crucial aspects. This includes improvements to the notifications system, the ability to watch other users, some minor aesthetic issues, and testing the site extensively for security holes or potential vulnerabilities. We are well on our way to keeping to the hopes for a May 1st launch date.

4. We have now partnered with several additional artists that have joined LittlePa.ws in advance of launch who will split proceeds with the website when you commission them! Some of the names on this roster are very well known, so this should be an exciting thing for you all to see!

Hoping that you all had a wonderful weekend and have an even greater week ahead,
Libby