Yeah, right
Today’s threat to freedom and the Internet comes from our lawmakers… Two bills pending in Congress (the PROTECT IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)) look OK at first glance… I think we can all agree that intellectual property producers have the right to be paid for their work. However, on closer inspection, both of these bills contain some scary and misguided mechanisms which threaten free speech. The PROTECT IP act would require “all providers of DNS services” (including ISPs, companies, educational institutions and the like) to not resolve DNS names to IP addresses for sites which a federal prosecutor alleges are “primarily dedicated to infringing activities.” SOPA is even worse… if an intellectual property owner makes an allegation of infringement, credit card processors would be required to stop processing payments to the “offending” site – with no judicial or law enforcement review. These bills are attacking a real problem, but in doing so they threaten freedom of speech on the Internet – it is easy to think of ways both processes could be used to stifle dissent against both government and it’s owners (large corporations with deep pocket and lobbyists).
Don’t take my word for it… take a few minutes to read this excellent article at the Stanford Law Review and decide for yourself. In my younger, more naive days, I would end this post with exhortations to contact “your” legislators. However, I am older and wiser now, and realize that unless you happen to have a SuperPAC or have otherwise had the foresight to purchase a legislator, you are wasting your time. Just be aware of what the true owners of our country are up to.
