SOPA, ACTA and the end of the Internet

Unless you were in a coma last week I’m sure you saw the uproar over the draconian legislation introduced in Washington called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act).  While it was guised as legislation that would put an end to piracy on the internet it was an attempt by the government to censor websites they deemed dangerous.  However, after a strong response from several major internet sites like Google, Facebook, Twitter, Yahoo, and several others the legislation was put on the back burner.

But don’t let that fool you!!  If there is one bill that the government is offering that gets defeated, you can pretty much guarantee that the Thought Police in Washington will either have one as backup or try to sneak one in on another bill.  Say hello to ACTA!!!  What is ACTA?  Almost the EXACT same legislation as SOPA!!!  Check out this video on what it the potential of doing if passed:

From Wikipedia:

“The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is a proposed plurilateral agreement for the purpose of establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement.^[1] It would establish an international legal framework for countries to join voluntarily,^[2] and would create a governing body outside international institutions such as the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) or the United Nations.^[1][3] Negotiating countries have described it as a response “to the increase in global trade of counterfeit goods and pirated copyright protected works.”^[2] The scope of ACTA includes counterfeit goods, generic medicines and copyright infringement on the Internet.^[4] Groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) oppose ACTA,^[5] stating that civil society groups and developing countries were excluded from discussion during ACTA’s development in an example of policy laundering.^[6"

The reason the governments around the world are beginning to crackdown on the internet is because the internet is the last beckon of freedom and free speech the world has.  Sites like Facebook, Twitter, and Myspace have helped social movements grow from a few protesters to MILLIONS around the world.  Sites like Google and Wikipedia have opened up the flow of information to every person with a computer or smart phone.  This is a threat to the establishment authority.

If the world is to continue in the spirit of freedom that is sweeping the globe it will because the internet remains free.  Should there be protections for intellectual property?  Absolutely!!  However, there are already laws to deal with such problems, they only need to be enforced!!  For now we must keep our eyes open to keep governments from restricting free speech on the internet or we all may be criminals soon!!  Until next time.

Much love,

Shawn