Well, I think it's about time to throw in the towel on this project, guys.

Truth be told, I honestly don't know what I was thinking when I created this club...I just wanted to try and get a community that I used to love and support to get rid of art theft completely.

How in the world I ever thought I could do that is beyond me. ^^/; deviantART is much too large of a community to completely weed out art theft; they get so many accounts of theft every day anyway that more than likely a report from us would have the possibility of being overlooked. I'm not saying that this happens very often, if it all, I'm just saying that due to the size of dA, it could happen; we're only human, after all, and humans aren't perfect. We all make mistakes somewhere along the line.

To be honest with you all, I really did think that I could make some sort of a difference, but I just don't think it will happen. Art theft will always be rampant - not just on dA, but everywhere on the web. Now, most of the time when a thief is caught, he or she apologizes and doesn't do it again...but there will always be that small handful of wiseguys that will keep on stealing. To try and round all of them up would be impossible, and besides that, it might not do any good.

We may have stopped a few thieves, but it will be impossible for us to stop them all. I once thought that maybe, just maybe, if I could get enough support, we could change deviantART and make it into a theft-free community. Honestly, what was I thinking? ^^/;

I suppose it was a nice gesture, and it was a fabulous idea when it first started out. But I just don't think I can handle something as large as this; it all became too much for one person to handle, and I was too stubborn to ask anyone else to help me with it. Besides, when I was looking for moderators to help me out, nobody answered the call. Then there were those telling me to leave the admins to do their jobs, that they were there for a reason...but I just didn't see them doing a good a job as they probably could have been doing due to so many accounts of theft, so I wanted to help them out. Looking back, maybe I was backseat modding in a way. ^^/

Art theft is still disgusting, and I will still openly oppose it...but I think this is one battle that will never be won. Sure, I can oppose it all I want, but I seriously doubt it will make any difference in the long run.

Will I open up AntiTheft someplace else? I don't know. I may...but I most likely will not. I simply don't have the time, patience, and energy to hunt down each and every thief there is. It was a great club while it lasted, but really, I think that it's lost its purpose.

As for the online petition linked to to the club, I seriously doubt that will change deviantART's policies, either. I should have remembered that online petitions rarely go anywhere, even some of the good ones. No matter how many people sign on, it rarely makes a difference.

I just really want to thank each and every one of you who supported me and this club till the very end. You are all so wonderful, and I can't even begin to express my gratitude to you all. I met so many awesome people through this club - lifelong friends, and people whom I will never forget. Truth be told, I never fathomed that the club would get so much support; it really is inspiring to know that so many people out there are against art theft and are willing to take action against it. I hope you all continue this view.

I greatly, deeply thank all of you from the bottom of my heart.

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