Maybe this will fall on deaf ears, or maybe someone will actually take the time to read it. Either way, as an entrepreneur working to advance technology and innovation, and as a “job creator,” I feel compelled to make this final plea.
As a business owner, I fully comprehend the intellectual property rights of US corporations, and I support their right to take action against infringing content. I also believe that when presented with a dichotomy between unalienable human rights and the rights of corporations, human liberties must always prevail. Anyone who disputes this need only look to a history book for evidence of why.
Why do we seem fated to repeat the same cycles, same patterns of thought, and same flawed ideologies? Why is it that in our modern post-intellectualist society where we have made such dramatic leaps forward in technology, we still can’t seem to find the foresight or awareness to fully comprehend the consequences our actions will have?
By passing legislation that grants corporations unilateral power to remove content from the public internet, you are effectively creating a ticking time-bomb. The effects may not be noticeable or significant at first, but as corporations continue to dismember the internet without due process, they will effectively censor, control, and fragment the last true forum we have for innovation. Is that something we can afford to do? Especially right now when our economy is only barely beginning to recover?
I would be sympathetic if any impartial party truly believed SOPA would mitigate piracy. But there is no room for naiveté when you are dealing with legislation that has the potential to affect nearly 7 billion people. The reality is that SOPA will have an insignificant effect on piracy at best, because the restrictions & blocks it looks to implement are so easily bypassed (hint: Google “bypass SOPA”–first result). More importantly, it will–notice, will, this is not merely conjecture–have a catastrophic effect on the foundation and global infrastructure of the internet.
So I have to ask, what is the upside? The corporations are granted unilateral authority to kill websites at will, yet having this ability will still do little to combat piracy. If someone’s favorite warez site suddenly becomes inaccessible, how long do you think it will be before tutorials to configure Google DNS are spreading virally on Facebook and Twitter?
But overall, what I am most disappointed with is the blatant anti-intellectualism being displayed by the majority of our congress members and elected representatives. Not only do they not understand or consider the appeals from technology experts that have been brought in to speak, but worst of all, they show no desire to learn.
Not understanding is forgivable; Having the opportunity to learn and consciously choosing ignorance is not.
But mostly, I’m tired…
I’m tired of rational logic consistently falling upon deaf ears… I’m tired of the petty ideological finger-pointing that has become symbolic of American politics… And most of all, I’m tired of watching this country systematically destroy and repeal the very rights our constitution was formed to protect.
Sincerely,
A Concerned Citizen and Job Creator
SOPA is the self-autodestruct button to copyright and centralized internet infrastructure like DNS. Once it passes, over the long run we will have to make a choice between fasicm/tyranny and freedom. Between copyright and a tenable society.
What I’m expecting will happen is that SOPA will pass, people will perceive that it is not destroying the Internet that they can see, and it will be forgotten.
You’ll stay to fight the good fight from within, since moving overseas is just giving up. There won’t be much to fight, since there will be no reports of sites going missing overnight.
In the meantime you’ll be experiencing the wailing and gnashing of teeth from fringe groups: the conspiracy theorists, the radical revolutionaries, the rabid gun owners, the black and hispanic communities. But they’ll only be fringe groups complaining that they’re being censored. We’ll be glad to hear the last of the raving lunatics who claim that the moon landings were faked, the Government is hiding the Roswell aliens, old age isn’t really an incurable disease that requires euthanising, and that once upon a time the population was 50% male (even though it says in the Bible that God only created Woman when the rest of the universe was ready for her).
But in case you do decide to follow through, don’t come to Australia: we’re only a few years behind you in the batshit-crazy Government policy stakes. We’re even building a National Broadband Network specifically to allow the Government to censor the Internet without the involvement of the private sector.
Honestly I don’t expect it to have much of an immediate (or short-term) impact either. That said, the traditional way in which our rights get chipped away is with legislation such as SOPA and their corresponding precedent cases and that’s why I’m so worried about the consideration of this bill. Look at examples like freedom of speech, where it began with well-intentioned, harmless laws (ie, it being illegal to yell “fire” in a forum if it’s a false alarm), but later progressed to more severe restrictions; For example, saying “hijack” or “bomb” on an airplane could very easily get you detained by the TSA, questioned by the DHS, and perhaps indefinitely detained. Obviously I would argue it’s universal knowledge that yelling “bomb” on a plane is a bad idea, but that’s no longer the problem. So many of the people in this nation live in fear of terrorism and have the belief that the means always justify the ends when it comes to fighting this “war on terror.” What happens when you are having a private conversation or perhaps joking around with a friend, and you say something that someone perceives as suspicious? Where is the line drawn?
Also take examples like the right to peacefully assemble–small innocuous changes were made slowly over time, starting with requiring permits to assemble peacefully (and arresting you if you did not have one), and transitioning to more severe bills such as the Patriot Act which declared that being of a certain religion is enough to warrant transparent wiretaps and constant monitoring (sometimes without judicial approval) of an assembly.
It’s not that the law makers are purposefully creating legislation to take away our rights–quite the opposite in fact, I would say they’re nothing but well-intentioned. The problem is, the surrounding system has been poisoned with the “opposition mindset.” Instead of focusing on a common goal such as increasing the general welfare of our country, politicians are entirely focused on their parties’ agenda which makes for an extremely confrontational atmosphere where nothing really gets done. Meanwhile, while the government is held up by its bureaucracy, the easier it is for private interests to take advantage of such legislation for personal gain.
Brilliant!
“I’m tired of rational logic consistently falling upon deaf ears… I’m tired of the petty ideological finger-pointing that has become symbolic of American politics… And most of all, I’m tired of watching this country systematically destroy and repeal the very rights our constitution was formed to protect.”
Can you actually give examples of laws that have been passed that do these things, or are you just trying to write a cool blog post?
See my reply to Alex, if you want more examples there are several…