I've got a post that should go up at some point soon over at Mandommag.com about this same topic, but I thought I should go into a bit more detail.
So why all this hubbub about SOPA and PIPA when the bills have yet to pass either house of Congress? Where was all this hubbub when the NDAA of 2012 was passed? This is my main gripe about all these sites going dark today. Which is a bigger threat? Stopping us from using the Internet the way we want or a violation of one of the most basic human rights our constitution guarantees?
Of course, SOPA/PIPA need to be protested, but there has been MUCH more of a net-wide freakout over these two unpassed laws than is required at this point in time. Wouldn't humanity be better served by spending our energy and effort on protesting the more infringing law that is already on the books rather than laws that are three very large steps away from being laws?
Maybe we should ask ourselves why there is such a bigger outcry against SOPA/PIPA. Is it just because these laws could give corporations the ability to effectively shut down some our favorite websites? In the great scheme of things, that seems pretty minor. What's your Internet freedom compared to your actual freedom?
So what is it, then? My only guess is that it's all for the money. Think about all the money those sites will lose if they are blocked from American users. Since they would be blocked Google would probably have trouble indexing them and if they had trouble indexing them, they'd have trouble putting targeted ads on their sites. In theory those sites could go under entirely, robbing Google and other b2b service providers of a lot of income. Of course, when you or I get detained indefinitely at a protest, that doesn't have any effect on these companies' bottom lines, so why should they care?
From Tumblr today. Really? The WHOLE Internet needs to be saved?
Maybe it's a stretch, but why else would such Internet powerhouses as Google, and Wikipedia care about a law being passed? They didn't seem to give a shit when a law was passed that would allow for the legal indefinite imprisonment of people. So, when human freedom is at risk, they're meh. But what gets these big guys motivated? Lost revenue. Then you see them marshaling their Internet forces and suddenly it's as though the entire Internet was at risk--literally, that's what Tumblr is saying today.
"SAVE THE INTERNET" any page on Tumblr reads right now.
It's as though the Internet always existed or as though we couldn't live without it.
Do I think SOPA/PIPA are worth protesting? Of course. Do I think it's a waste of resources because there's a bigger threat out there? Definitely.
I've plenty more to say about this.
Part Two coming tomorrow....
from a post at thepete.com
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