Fight for the Internet - It's time to take a stand.
I try to stay away from politics as much as possible with my blog but when it comes to the Internet, I have to say something. I had seen this topic a few weeks ago when my friend Gus posted it on his Facebook wall but I had not taken the time to check it out. This morning before I came into work I finally got the chance and I am outraged. Like all of you, I love the Internet! We do everything on there now. We shop, we educate ourselves, we express ourselves, and we communicate. The last two parts of my previous sentence are the most important part of the Internet in my opinion. Don't get me wrong though, I'm all about educating myself over the Internet, but I'm more involved in expressing myself and communicating with others. What would we do without the Internet? I know, it's a lame question, but there are a lot of people out there saying that we need to go outside and get back to our roots. We need to go back, to an extent, to how it used to be before the Internet. It would be awesome to go out and run around or visit family or go on vacation but what if you can't? What if you're stuck at home because of an illness or disability and the only way you can get out is by visiting a site that holds information on a vacation spot you would love to go to? What then? With the Internet, we are able to visit places and learn things we wouldn't normally be able to do at a moments notice. Think about everything you have done with the help of the Internet. I know there are bad things on there but I believe that the good outweighs the bad. I mean seriously, stop for a moment and marinade on what you've done, who you've found, and how you've expressed yourself or communicated. Now that you've taken a moment to reflect on this let's think about something else.
What if the Internet we know today was shifted, regulated, and the very freedom of it, was taken away? It's a scary thought if you ask me and right now there is a bill called, "PROTECT IP Act" that Congress is trying to pass that would kill the Internet. From what I have read the bill is being passed off as a good thing. The bill is set to stop Piracy and protect against copyright infringement. Good thing? Yes, but there will always be pirates. There is a lot to this bill so I won't go deep into it. Instead, I will offer a link in order for you to educate yourself on this matter. What I can tell you is that if this is passed a lot of things will change. For example, sites such as WordPress could be in danger. The one site I blog my thoughts and opinions on would be at risk. I say this because if the bill were to pass it would give property owners the right to sue and take down those who allow the content to be added on their site, i.e. WordPress. I posted on Saturday Morning Cartoons a few months back and I used video's from YouTube to take everyone back in time to when Saturday Morning Cartoons were worth watching. Now with this bill in place it's possible that Disney or whoever else owns the property could sue WordPress and take down my post. The same goes for YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. We post non-stop on these sites with video's and such to express ourselves and communicate. With this in place, we would no longer have that luxury.
Like many others, I see the Internet as a platform for education, and expression of many things. People are out there right now expressing themselves by showing off their musical talents and covering well known songs. Sometimes the new talent is able to pull off a better version of the well known song and it's awesome! It's great to have this freedom. It's great that we can upload a video created by us with music in the background and post it for the world to see. Many people have been tapped by big companies because of their talent. Without the freedom of the Internet, the people would not be able to express themselves in such a way. Without the Internet and how it is today, we might not have Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube. If this bill passes we might not have anything at all. Do you want to end up like one of the countries we see on the news that has the Internet blocked off? Are we going to roll over and let them regulate the freedom we currently have over the Internet? I would hope not! Although it seems impossible that this could happen because of the money that certain sites bring in, believe me when I say that it can happen. All it takes is for you, the people, to let them take it from us. The ball is in our court and we can stop this from happening. I have provided a video below and a link to a site, that is not of my creation, but of another fighter of the cause. Follow the link and you will be able to sign and send off a letter to Congress in order to express your concern. Our pleas may not matter but we need to at least try. Let's band together and do our best to stop this bill. It's time to fight for the Internet. It's time to take a stand!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDX8Lyl16Qs]