I really hate politics. It's an ugly creature that attracts all kinds of people that haven't got a clue about the big picture in life. Currently, congress is considering a bill called SOPA. They are also considering a bill called PROTECT IP Act of 2011. In a crowded nutshell, both bills deal with child pornography, and online piracy. But what is also at stake, is a monumental challenge to a form of America's freedom of speech. I've done what any US citizen can do. I e-mailed my congress critters, and I signed a petition. And now, through this post, I'm spreading the word. I've done my civic duty. Yay for me. I'm not real hopeful about either of these bills being defeated in congress. The RIAA has some uber-powerful lobbyists leaning on the congress critters to get this passed. And the way social medicine and the patriot act slipped through despite monumental opposition from the American public, doesn't bode well.
I was in my DeviantArt account last night, reading the latest posts, and viewing the newest art. I see a post about these very subjects. Now I wouldn't have paid any attention to it, except that it's one of those last minute "oh god, when did this happen?" kind of posts. And I was a little bit cynical in a reply post about it. No sooner did I finish, then the original post owner fire back at me saying something along the lines of if I don't sign the petition, then "YOUR A COWARD!". Seriously? Seriously? No forethought. Simply straight out character assassination. I of course did reply to that, informing this person, who I renamed butthead, that if he thought that a single petition was going to change the outcome, considering current congressional history, then he could continue living in his fantasy world.
Currently the American public has the luxury of the internet to pick and choose whatever pet atrocity they believe in, be it SOPA, or the Occupy Wall Street movement. They can do character assassinations to their heart's content.
The internet is a wonderful, revolutionary, field-leveling tool for the masses. It's helped to remove many corrupt dictatorships in the Mediterranean Sea reigions. It's exposed many local level charlatans, And it's pulling nations up by their bootstraps, helping them to become better informed about the world around them. But it's those very reasons that bills like these are being introduced. Nation-states and corporate conglomerates want to shove the internet back into Pandora's box and shelve it high on a forgotten wall of the university labs where it originated. And it's happening. Most of the eastern hemisphere already lives with some form of these laws.
If either S.968 or H.R.3261.IH are defeated, I'll be surprised. But I will say one thing. I'm not holding my breath for a hopeful outcome.
I think the best thing we have going for us besides the fact that so many people are against this is that it will break the internet. Many of the leading technology people in the world including those who helped develop the internet have stated that the way they want to do this would break the whole DNS system making the internet useless. I'm hopeful that at least for now it will be defeated....
ReplyDeleteThat and the monumental costs that would be incurred by others to implement this the way they want I hope will at least stop it for now.
As for my opinion I think the reason the RIAA and other large media conglomerates are behind this is because they don't want to move into the 21st Century. They are stuck on their old distribution models and ideas and are resisting as much as possible moving into using the internet etc to get their content to the masses. I honestly think that if media were available at a reasonable price and in the ways that the masses today want to consume it fewer people would go to the lengths they do to get it illegally.