SOPA… It really is bad for the Internet
Apparently the American public is burying its collective heads in the sand on the SOPA legislation. The goal of this bill is to allow the government to censor the Internet for an unimaginable list of reasons. Many of which seem to be purely “hey I don’t think that stuff is appropriate” type complaints. I wonder if the people sponsoring these bills and their supporters have any idea what they are going to do to the Internet if these things pass.
Internet censorship via DNS blocking allows any websites with comments or links to other sites to be removed from the web because someone doesn’t like what a website has to say. This seems to be a violation of the first amendment, the one that grants me freedom of speech and the right to maintain a blog and post comments to other sites voicing my opinion on any topic, from technology to politics. Why does the government get to decide what I post online? Or what I say on Facebook or Twitter?
I agree with the idea that you should not post things online that you wouldn’t share with Grandma Lois, but I will decide what I should and shouldn’t post… The government has no business deciding that. Am I someone who uses the Internet? Sure. I use it everyday for my job, freelance work, and entertainment, and the freedom of speech and freedom of expression is what makes it so great, not a government controlled firewall that takes it upon itself to determine what content I post and view online. If I wanted that Internet experience I would move to a country where this behavior was expected. Here in America, we choose our leaders, and this kind of censorship is unacceptable. The problem with copyright protection and content online is more about business models than anything.
If Hollywood wants to run to cry wolf when they do not get their way, that isn’t helping anyone. Changing the business model to use online sales and distribution might be a better way to go than crying foul for some bad apples who piss them off. Hopefully congress realizes the error here and forces the entertainment industry to figure out a better solution. Remember what happened when the banks got bailed out… That seems to be an idea we will be recovering from for a while… Blocking DNS to censor the Internet is kinda like that, a hugely bad idea that has to have a better solution.
I know that the blackout for SOPA has started and sites were down, which is great to put a message out there, but at least one site missed the boat. Facebook. Sure there was a statement from both Facebook and Zuckerberg denouncing SOPA, but why not make a bigger statement, make the site dark. How many politicians have friends, family, or children/grandchildren who use Facebook every day? Wouldn’t shutting the site down to protest SOPA make a big mark in the case of those who oppose the bill. Maybe next time sites protest SOPA, Facebook can play too.


