Megaupload

Hmmm.. a new twist to the megaupload story...
A rumour is going around that the reason Megaupload was shut down, has little or nothing to do with illegal filesharing.

The real reason MU has been hit so hard, is that they were developing a legal alternative to buying music from the record lables.

Artists would alow MU to play their works without charging the listers. The artists would be payed from advertising revenues. Kind of spotify but a little different. Quite a few artists were onboard already
This was percieved as a huge threat to the music industry fatcats. And, just days  away from bringing this new idea online.... the whole MU gang gets busted.

Feels a little like corruption, doesnt it?
Thats cause it is....

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!

Interwebz censorship

China had been censoring the Internet for decades, and being criticized for it. See also the recent withdrawal of Google from China, as it refuses to filter its search results any longer.
Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Myanmar, Iran, Pakistan, Cuba, North Korea, etc , there are quite a few countries doing it. But these countries are not considered to be free, democratic & enlightened, are they?
But... most of Europe censors internet, the US, Canada, most countries censor try to have some content blocked. The main difference is that in most countries considered to be free, the filter is non-mandatory for USPs, and the sites blocked break Laws.

Now Australia is experimenting with a mutiple Million dollar webfilter. And they intend to block more than just illegal content. Pornography of woman with small breasts is an example. Its 100% legal, but as it might be confused with something illegal (child pornography) its best to ban it anyway, right?
WRONG!!! without hard rules to govern a filter, it can (and thus invariably will) be abused. The absence of hard rules allows the than dominant opinion bearer to stifle any other opinions. And the Nets greatest achievement was in fact the variety of opinions that could be found, mixing & coexisting.
Progress will be retarded, freedom will be lost, people will be persecuted for their opinions...

Take an example: Up to a bit more than a decade ago (1996), Gay people were persecuted in certain parts of Australia. Now dont get me wrong, Im not saying that Australians are backward or homophobes. Just that public opinion can change quite rapidly, and something which is now considered the most normal thing in the world (womans right to vote, the right of consenting adults to make love to each other) has a few short years ago been something people had to fight for.
Censorship is one of the main tools to stifle those types of progress. Therefore its used mainly by regimes which actively try to maintain the status quo, if necessary with force.
Im very disappointed that an an enlightened country like Australia would even consider setting such a dangerous precedent.



People should not be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people.

Irrepressible.info

An initiative of Amnesty international to counter internet censor.
Just add the banner below to your blog & it will display fragments of censored material.

The net should remain free & uncensored!





2011 Edit: Its been discontinued for some reason... A shame, I liked it!