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This is one of the most difficult blog entries to write, one it is hard to tell the truth, and in some ways I think the sponsors and supporters of SOPA are trying to pull a fast one. I am reminded of the scene is the Wizard of OZ where Dorothy is not told to look behind the mirror to learn that the Wizard is really a short fat little man with a penchant for fighting off flying monkeys.
Here is what we know so far, which is stunning in its own right, that the head of the MPAA, a leading company in the country is advocating bringing to American shores the same system that is used in China to filter and otherwise make invisible sites around the globe.
Think about that for a moment, the company mouthpiece for Hollywood, that is primarily supporting SOPA thinks that the great firewall of China is an awesome idea that should be implemented in America.
This has lead to us becoming a laughing stock in China, they see the hypocrisy of lambasting them for their own Great Firewall while America contemplates their own.
When did America seek to become like China? There is nothing wrong with China, but somewhere in my education, we learned about the Bill of Rights, and amendments, where things like habeas corpus could not be taken away (but it is under the new defense authorization act). Or that we had free speech (within limits, I am aware of the Comstock act and the thousands of other examples to stifle speech in the name of the children, or morality, or against specific religions, belief systems, against abortion, laws, etc).
When did we become a laughing stock over our espousing of free speech and democracy when we have suddenly turned our back on all those things we put as founding stones of our country, in the name of protecting the job creators.
When did changing technology mean we needed to support a company long past its failure point?
Did anyone come to Bethlehem Steel’s rescue when they went bankrupt because of mini-mills, how’s about saving Enron or WorldCom from their own bad decisions, or the Savings and Loan system that went under, during Ronald Regan’s presidency?
When did we start bailing out banks and big companies that were too slow or sluggish or too large to move fast enough for smaller nimble companies? Wasn’t Hollywood predicated on the piracy of technology?
Many of the companies and businesses infringing on the patents of Thomas Edison should be easily recognizable today. William Fox, for instance, was running his own Nickelodeon in Brooklyn, which eventually became Twentieth-Century Fox Studios. [*24] Harry M. Warner founded his first film studio in 1907, which eventually became Warner Brothers. [*25] By 1898, Jesse Lasky already owned part of a film production company, which later would become Paramount Pictures. [*26] In 1903, Adolph Zukor invested in his first cinema outlet, eventually becoming a co-founder of Paramount Pictures. [*27] Source: Punkerslut
When did we laud China and hate Google, which started out as two guys in a garage who thought of something really cool? When did Twitter, Facebook, Blogs, and other systems become roads to unrepentant piracy that must be stamped out at all costs, think of the job creators, think of the loss of workers, think of the children, think of every kitten that dies when you download an MP3 single track from ITunes rather than buying an album full of filler.
When did the rich become a protected class?
SOPA, PIPA, and the new version called the Open act have opened up a kettle of worms, where the MPAA’s head boss thinks that Chinese censorship rocks, that unremitted takedowns of web sites regardless of if they are pirating or not, and the disaster that will become the internet in America if these acts pass.
When will Congress step up and realize the disaster they are creating in the name of security, the children, kittens, and puppies?
When did we lose our sanity, when did we decide that the bill of rights was to be torn up in favor of “job creators” who see all new technology as a danger to their current business model rather than something that could be really awesome for business. Hollywood has a long history of fighting new technology, new technology that in the end ends up making a pot of money for them. Maybe it is time for saner heads to prevail, because Susan Powter said it best:
“Stop the Madness.”
Related articles
- Chinese Internet Users Relish Irony Of SOPA’s Great Firewall Of America (techdirt.com)
- Rebecca McKinnon in NYT: SOPA will strengthen the Great Firewall of China (boingboing.net)
- The True Intent of SOPA (theagilepanda.com)
- Privacy infringed upon by SOPA act (Great Firewall Of America Alert) (gunnyg.wordpress.com)
- New Node.js blocked by Great Firewall of China (gigaom.com)
- For Chinese Netizens, SOPA is Another Great Firewall (advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org)
- Mozilla asks users to join ‘Stop SOPA & PIPA’ campaign (digitaltrends.com)
- Stop Sopa now | Dan Gillmor (guardian.co.uk)
