So today there's something that's been bothering myself as well as millions of people worldwide. There is a bill that is trying to get passed by congress called SOPA in the United States which would allow the government to not only monitor but also block entire websites from being viewed by all American citizens in what they say is an attempt to stop internet piracy. You guys want more information, check out the video below. Actually, please check this video out. It will make a lot more sense as to what I'm talking about.
So now that you've watched this video, what exactly are you thinking? Most of your favourite websites can be absolutely erased by this. You like Twitter? You can go take those one hundred and forty characters and shove them straight up where the sun don't shine. Facebook? That book will probably be closed faster than you can like your friends status. Youtube? Ha! No more videos for you. If you're a business owner and are trying to market your product/services online, you can be cut off from all online oppurtunities (Trust me, that would be a gigantic blow to any business that even has a website for customers). So much for trying to make a living bud, go work at Wal-Mart part time and struggle for survival. (Oops, looks like this blog and website will get blocked because of my comments. My bad Blogger.)
All of this is apparently over people downloading copywritten objects for free. This would be great except for the fact that people have been using recording technology for their own purposes for over 30 years! So over the past 30 years (I've been alive for 27 so I'll vouch for the things I personally know), the corporate music industry is still kicking around with everyone involved still being able to live a comfortable life. Sure, most mainstream music sounds like the same autotuned garbage to me (except for a few exceptions) but they're doing okay. Movie industry? Yep, it's doing fine. I know this because they keep pumping out Harry Potter movies constantly and they continue to make hundreds of millions of dollars from that lame wizard and his fantasy world.
So what could be the reasons as to why this bill exists? Could it be as simple as the entertainment industry has just got fed up with 30 years of not getting everything they want? I doubt it. I'd rather look a bit deeper into what's with this bill. Could it be that the internet is now a world wide marketing and entertainment haven where anyone can create a Twitter/Facebook account and promote themselves? Anyone with a camera or a cell phone can upload their videos onto YouTube and showcase their talents. Any jackass like myself can create a blog and rant about whatever they want. The best part of all this is that the conventional corporations have absolutely no say in what happens on the internet! Sure they can sign indie bands simply by scouting on YouTube and maybe they can find acting talent based on YouTube videos but here's an interesting point (at least based on my perspective). This could be a way for those corporations to shut down the free entertainment on the internet to force everyone to watch/listen only what they put out. Not only can they force you, they would probably end up charging you to enjoy their online products. Imagine having to pay 99 cents to watch a five minute clip of an old Chris Rock sketch on YouTube? That's ridiculous but it could very well happen. Also, this would make the media corporations work less on product innovation and quality. Why try to improve your products when you can crush any upcoming threat to your business and keep raking in money? From a personal perspective, the music business has been pretty stale for the past few years. I've found myself either looking to the underground and internet to find good stuff or going back to the past. It's sad when the best mainstream place to look for current rock music is WWE theme music. I wish I was joking.
There is still a thought that haunts me about this. First off, this bill basically cuts off free speech. Last time I checked, free speech is what Western civilization is primarily based on. To control the biggest technological advance in the past 50 years and actually censor the development of the internet (which has made it so everybody is linked to each other and you can do things that were unheard of even ten years ago) not only kills the advancement of the internet and mankind but it could open up Pandoras Box in a sense. What am I rambling about a Pandoras Box for? If there is a governing body that has the power to control everything online, what would the internet turn into? Well, it's almost a for sure thing that Facebook, Wikipedia, Twitter, any major blog site, Youtube, Dailymotion or any picture saving site would be either heavily controlled or gone off the face of the Earth. The common man and woman would no longer have a say in anything online. Only accepted pieces of media and information would be posted online. I guess that would mean every main piece of news will have the same viewpoint. Opinions will be shot dead in their tracks. Everything that is part of the controlled marketing machine will preach a certain message and style that is suited to the capitalist leaders to mould the youth a certain way. I'm pretty sure in history that something like this has happened before. Somewhere in Europe. A leader controlled the media, selected what books people could read in libraries and marketed to the youth with a single message. Want to guess who that leader is? Adolf Hitler. That worked out pretty well for the world, didn't it?
Hopefully, my paranoia of a Pandoras Box effect doesn't come remotely close to happening. History suggests that things like this lead to disaster. They will vote on this bill in February and hopefully the public outcry will make sure that this doesn't happen. One voice may be silent but the voice of millions could destroy this potentially society killing act. It has been a very long time since anyone has had to fight for free speech. Looks like it's time to fight for our right to have a voice.
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