Long-time Nine Inch Nails fans have had special insight into how greedy media conglomerates abuse law and power to extract money from consumers while diverting it from the artists they claim to represent. My own near-obsessive following of Trent Reznor's career became an education about the recording industry, and by extension, the motion picture industry. While the shift in media distribution has presented challenges, any progress that's been made has been despite the efforts of the industries in charge, who have consistently moved to stymie progress for fear that they'll have to learn new tricks. Why is it that the Kindle came out of Amazon and not members of the Association of American Publishers? Why couldn't the ludicrously profitable recording industry put their money towards research and development, instead a then-desperate computer company developed the iPod and iTunes, which provides one of the few working income channels for musicians in what is rapidly becoming a post-physical-medium marketplace, and brought about a rebirth for now-ubiquitous Apple.
Instead, it is a constant fight to innovate. The RIAA and MPAA are entrenched in DC, having honed their lobbying skills on a smaller scale with decades of payola, now pay Congress to make every effort to keep money going to the same old people, suppressing growth and innovation, while mining the talent that fattens their coiffers. The latest volley in this battle goes beyond all previous efforts, and if their efforts are successful, pretty much everything you use the internet for, without exaggeration, will be illegal. This is action being taken by people who do not understand nor use the internet, and needs a serious public allergic reaction.
Everything I learned from the internet I learned because I can easily access information and propagate it. In honor of that tradition, I've straight-up copy-and-pasted the following from Craigslist. Please take a few minutes out of your Wednesday and contact representatives in the American government and tell them you oppose Senate 968 and HR 3261.
Tell Congress you OPPOSE Senate 968 "Protect IP Act" (PIPA) and H.R. 3261 "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA):
Supporters of PIPA and SOPA: RIAA, MPAA, News Corp, TimeWarner, Walmart, Nike, Tiffany, Chanel, Rolex, Sony, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, VISA, Mastercard, Comcast, ABC, Dow Chemical, Monster Cable, Teamsters, Rupert Murdoch, Lamar Smith (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI)
Opponents of PIPA and SOPA: Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay, AOL, Mozilla, Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, Zynga, EFF, ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX)
Where does your Member of Congress stand on PIPA and SOPA? (Project SOPA Opera)
PIPA and SOPA Are Too Dangerous To Revise, They Must Be Killed Entirely
Congress needs to hear from you, or these dangerous bills will pass - they have tremendous lobbying dollars behind them, from corporations experts say are attempting to prop up outdated, anti-consumer business models at the expense of the very fabric of the Internet -- recklessly unleashing a tsunami of take-down notices and litigation, and a Pandora's jar of "chilling effects" and other unintended (or perhaps intended?) consequences.
Don't believe it? Monster Cable has labeled craigslist a "rogue site," earmarked for blacklisting and full-takedown under PIPA -- resale of stereo cables by CL users reduces Monster 's new cable sales. (reddit).
There is still time to be heard. Congress is starting to backpedal on this job-killing, anti-American nonsense, and the Obama administration has weighed in against these bills as drafted, but SOPA/PIPA cannot be fixed or revised -- they must be killed altogether.
Sen Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep Ron Wyden (D-OR) are championing an alternative to SOPA/PIPA called Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN) that addresses foreign sites dedicated to piracy, without disrupting basic Internet protocols, or threatening mainstream US sites like craigslist.
Tim O'Reilly, a publisher who is himself subject to piracy, asks whether piracy is even a problem, and whether there is even a legitimate need for any of these bills.
Learn more about SOPA, Protect IP (PIPA), and Internet Blacklisting: