VCL (Vixen Controlled Library)
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The VCL (Vixen Controlled Library) is the world's largest nearly-uncensored archive of furry and anthropomorphic material.
VCL was originally an abbreviation for "Velan Central Library" that dated back to the days when its founding administrator, Brian W. Antoine, provided public ftp access to his personal collection of furry art; the "Velan" in the name - the adjectival form of "Velar" - was taken from a location in a series of furry stories written by Brian.
However, when the archive moved to a new location at the student computer society network at the University of Linköping, Sweden, Brian suggested that the term "Velar" should not be used any longer, and the archive was renamed to just "VCL". Calling the archive "Vixen Controlled Library" is not officially recognized, but has nonetheless become common in furry fandom, and there is also a regular joke among some contributors to think up new meanings for the abbreviation "VCL".
The VCL is currently owned by Chris Cogdon, a.k.a. Ch'marr, and operated with the help of several others.
In January, 2005 the main site in Sweden was ordered to shut down after 7 years of operation, for ostensibly political reasons, leaving the single server remaining in the USA. Since then several more mirrors have started operation:
- http://us.vclart.net/vcl/, main site located in California, USA.
- http://nas-kan.vclart.net/vcl/, located in Washington, USA.
- http://orcas.vclart.net/vcl/, located in Texas, USA.