SOPA, PIPA and megaupload

So... the great US freedom loving nation strikes again.

With primary candidates rolling all over each other claiming they want "less government interference", with libertarian ideals being thrown around left right and centre, with the supreme court placing the "freedom of expression" of large corporations above the interests of individual Americans (see this) the new US approach to freedom becomes blatantly apparent.
SOPA and PIPA are under discussion, laws which expose a desire of government (enjoying broad bipartisan support btw) to have tools to censor internet. Meanwhile Megaupload gets taken off the air for alleged piracy.

SOPA and PIPA might still be described as mistakes out of ignorance of how internet works (the blanket type law now being described would take most social networks offline, as well as youtube, reddit, blogger, etc etc etc. This is because under the current proposals all it takes is one idiot posting copyrighted content on any part of the site (like uploading a video to youtube for example) for the state to have the right to take the root directory of that site offline), or false idealist thinking that such broad powers would "never get abused" (read a history book for gods sakes, these kinds of powers ALWAYS get abused!!).

The Megaupload raid however strikes me as a different matter. You see, Megaupload does a lot to remove illegal content from its sites.
Its developed a tool to remove illegal content automatically, they have given the owners of copyrights access to the site so they can remove illegal content, and its come to agreements with for example Universal about sharing copyrighted content under license.
Furthermore, the vast majority of Megaupload users use it for holiday photos and suchlike stuff. They now also have lost access to all their private and often irreplaceable belongings. (waiiiittt a minute! that means that these people are assumed guilty until they prove their innocence. Thats not quite how we practice law and fairness is it?)

So despite this organisation being one of the standard bearers for reason in the fight against illegal content, having dialogues with all parties involved (governments, industry and users), having shown clear efforts to comply with the law and being invaluable to many innocent users, its being censored off the net. Furthermore, the owners have been arrested in an international raid (isnt this what we expect when people plant bombs or deal huge amounts of drugs? I mean, against nerds????). This didnt even happen in the case of youtube, which had far more easy to find illegal content.

Anonymous is taking revenge. I personally dont think they can have a meaningful impact on the situation (after all, the biggest demonstrations in history were also ignored by our "democratically elected representatives"), but I support them in so far that someone needs to cry out against this outrage.

Is illegal file-sharing really the fight we want to put our energy into right now?
Is this Americas priority? (btw. there has never been a link proven between piracy and reduction of sales for fat-cat artists and industry millionairs. In fact, many experts claim these things are entirely unrelated for various reasons).

Once we've brought those responsible for the current state of the world to justice, maybe.
By that I mean for instance criminal politicians (just an example of the bigger problems we have. It could have been a dozen others). Take Irak for example. Did you know that one of the last things Bush did in office was to silently push through a law that grants him and his cronies immunity from prosecution? (and that Obama supported this!!) Thats just about an admission of guilt in my book! Its also blatant corruption which Id normally expect from corrupt backwater third world countries. Not from the "standard-bearer for democracy and freedom!"
Or the reckless businessmen who caused the crises by bending the rules and being greedy. There is plenty of evidence that they knew exactly what they were doing, some former CEOs who walked away with millions could be charged tomorrow based on the evidence already collected. But I guess they are "job creators", so shouldnt be prosecuted... and looking at current unemployment figures, they've sure created lots of jobs the last decade!!

But as long as big problems such as these are left to go unchecked, as long as the rich and powerful can (figuratively) get away with murder and even walk away with a fat bonus I am not surprised that peoples faith in politicians and the rule of law dwindles. Add to that the blatant hypocrisy of politicians who want less government regulation for (purely profit driven) companies, but claim to have the right to regulate what consenting adults do in their bedroom, what I see on internet, what I read, and perhaps soon (if technically possible) what I think (but I do have the right to own a gun. Thats of course my god-given right. To be able to shoot my fellow men....).

Because of these reasons, injustices and imbalances I support the Anonymous actions. I dont think violence (even digital) is the answer, but in this current climate I support any organisation who cries out about about blatant injustice. As I see it, our voices will be ignored by the powers that be until we grab them by the ear and make them listen to us.

If taking down their websites is whats required to get their attention, so be it. Go LOIC!

Arab spring, forwards or reverse?

The Arab Spring, the surge of revolutions that has taken the Arab world by storm and has kindled hope for more democratic and fair regimes in the region.
Starting in Tunisia with a relatively swift overthrow of Ben Ali, it evolved through Egypts peoples revolution and Libya's civil war.

For a short, hopeful time, no despot or Arab dictator seemed safe.
Even in Iran the Ayatollahs must have lost quite some sleep, although the brutal repression of the attempted green demonstrations was still so fresh that nothing really materialised.
But in Bahrain and Yemen the story was quite different. Bahrain with Saudi military help beat down the demonstrators, while in Yemen the revolution seemed to descend into a tribal war. In Yemen the Saleh regime finally was toppled, but Syria's revolution seems to get more bloody every day. The Arab League observers there are led by someone with copious amounts of blood on his hands (Darfur) and seem to be encouraging Bashar's crackdown rather than stopping it.
Current estimates are that 5000 people have died.

Thats more than the population of the town I grew up in.

 Meanwhile Egypt's military rulers seem intent on alienating the population as swiftly as possible, by clamping down one by one on various groups. Christians, woman, the Muslim brotherhood... Have you read about the blue bra girl? An unknown girl who was savagely beaten by the military. Her clothes ripped off, beaten with batons and even stomped on (see picture).
How sick is this?
How fucked up are you if you stomp with your whole weight on the stomach of a defenceless woman, when she is already down? Its not as if she is a threat, is she?
Who are these soldiers and whats wrong with them?
How does someone's son, someone who presumably goes home to his family at the end of a day end up beating a defenceless fellow human being to a bloody pulp?

In Iran it was Neda Agha-Soltan, a girl who got shot to death before the eyes of the world.
In Syria it was Zeinab Al-Hosni, who was found by her family in a morgue in Homs. Her arms had been cut of, she had been decapitated and skinned. (and she is just an example, many more underwent similar fates)
WHAT???
What is WRONG with these people?

 So whats happening? How come the revolutions that started with such a huge wave of hope have now turned into such bloodbaths. How come that even in the countries which seemed to have a successful revolution the conditions are now rapidly heading for "just as bad as before, maybe worse".
Dont tell me that "democracy needs time". Beating the sh*t out of defenceless people is happening more frequently now than it was a few years ago. And it doesnt take much of a moral compass to realise that you're pretty far from ok when you find yourself kicking someone lying on the asphalt in the head.

Im getting quite worried about this increase in violence. Its worldwide. In the US students were peppersprayed , in Turkey journalists are being thrown in jail under a pretence of a coup, Russian demonstrators protest Putins rape of his constitution, African protests erup after every democratic election, we even had riots in London. Im not even mentioning China here, this post just isnt long enough to go into whats happening there under the guise of order and "preserving the peace".

Is it me or does there seem to be a worldwide increase in "asshole goverment".
It seems that the people are running out of options to create a decent government for themselves. The Arab revolutions have mainly returned the same career politicians to the fat paychecks. Irak has nominal and enforced Democracy, but seems little happier now than under Saddam. The ongoing demonstrations in Syria seem unlikely to produce anything but buckets of innocent blood any time soon (while the international community stands idly by), and the Iranian leadership continues to destroy its own economy just so some immature politician can say he stood up to the west.
What did all those brave people pay with their own blood for?

And the West? The selfproclaimed "standard bearers for Democracy"?
Occupy has wound down.
Bankers enjoy fatter paychecks than ever (not supported by even a single percent of the population), and their companies are still able to hold governments for ransom.
Peaceful demonstrators are peppersprayed, and the guilty parties get a "slap on the wrist" (even with videotaped evidence).
The US primaries as well as the last 6 months of hyperpartisan politics amply demonstrate how far the US leaders have strayed from their constituents  (small wonder, see the Citizens united supreme court case). Even Dutch politics (for years the most down to earth imaginable) is ruled by populist twits (Pun intended) instead of by its population.

Millions have demonstrated. Revolutions have toppled despotic governments at the costs of thousands of innocent lives. Countries have been invaded to "bring democracy", and yet it seems that the people are further from having any real power over their own destiny than ever. And I dont mean libertarian "jungle law freedom" in which we get eaten alive by corporations able to outspend entire governments.
No, I mean the power to elect honest representatives who do their job for the good of their people, instead of the good of their own bankrolls. The power to hold those who wield executive power to account when their decisions wreck our livelihoods (hey, they get paid (or enrich themselves) extremely well because of the responsibility they bear? Well, let them take that responsibility when things go wrong as well than!), the power to demand real change when we feel we are hostages of a system that does not suit our needs anymore.

But that seems to be impossible. Todays revolution seems only to produce tomorrows dictator. The loudest demonstrations are simply ignored.

Freedom?

It seems in worldwide short supply these days.

Europe's crisis analysed

A very clear analysis from the Wall Street Journal, looking at the backgrounds - and more importantly, the unfolding - of the Euro crisis from 2008 through 2011.
Take 23 minutes to listen to experts explain what happened and what went wrong in Charles Forelle's documentary.

Im not sure I agree with the final conclusions about Europe needing to adopt a more US style free market economy, but overall the film is valid and enlightening.