We're in the hospital for the night, but I was able to access a wifi signal, and found that my inbox was full of pleas for recruits from several free-speech proponents to help in the fight against censorship, and in particular "SOPA" H.R.3261: the ultimate firewall in lock down mode.
This new iron curtain would isolate each one of us from the other at the precise moment in history when we have, for the first time, a means by which to come together, talk things through, work things out, and make a better world for ourselves and for generations to come: we're now seeing it really is us -- not world "leaders", such as elected officials, corporate heads, or banking magnates -- who are able and willing to make the changes necessary to thrive, not just survive.
Censorship is fraught with perils: I have a need to know exactly what potentially dangerous people are all about (you know, the old "give them enough rope in which to hang themselves" philosophy), just as much as I crave innovative and insightful dialog with those who could very well save the world.
I see this move by the government of the United States of America, in part, as a type of protection racket where the currency is our freedoms. It's a joke that we speak so passionately about freedom in a country which is drafting and enacting new laws by the hundreds each year, and imprisoning so many of its citizens that prisons are occupied well above capacity, and the job of housing convicts is being delegated to the private sector. How much protection do we really need? For that matter, exactly what are we being protected from?
This is a battle we must not lose. It is my voice. It is your voice. It is the most powerful tool a person can possess. I can't imagine this bill as law being anything other than the final straw. It's all we have left.
Further Reading:
- House takes Senate's bad Internet censorship bill, tries making it worse
- Protect The Internet
- SOPA: Hollywood Finally Gets A Chance to Break the Internet
- SOPA on OpenCongress
- PIPA on OpenCongress
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