January 18th, 2012: The Day the Internet Stood Still

A day without the Internet.  Some of the most heavily used websites will go dark tomorrow.  They will be protesting the Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261) and the Protect IP Act (S. 968).  Maybe “protest” isn’t accurate.  Tomorrow’s Internet blackout will illustrate what the Internet will become if either of those two abortional laws ever get passed.

Those two bills take terms like “corporate welfare” to a whole new level — bringing the Internet to a grinding halt just so the government can guarantee the profits of a few Hollywood/Media CEOs.

Anyway, tomorrow will be an “interesting” day on the Internet.  Web searches, news gathering, political/social networking, blogging — it’s gonna be some slim pickins.

Here is a list of confirmed participants in tomorrow’s Web Strike.

“Why can’t they just hire a lobbyist like everyone else?”

The above quote is the twenty-first century’s answer to “let them eat cake.”  Here’s the background:

As part of their ongoing protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), the hacktivist group Anonymous has published the personal information of two of the most powerful media titans in the U.S.  That would be Time Warner CEO Jeffrey L. Bewkes, and Sumner M. Redstone of CBS and Viacom.

This is part of Anonymous’ “Operation Hiroshima” — the group’s war on high-ranking politicians and media VIPs who are pushing SOPA and its Senate companion, the Protect IP Act.  As you probably know, these two bills would basically bring the Internet to a grinding halt in order to protect the profits of a few Hollywood and music industry CEOs.

Anyway, about the title of this post:  another one of Operation Hiroshima’s targets was a congressman (not named in the linked article).  One of this congressman’s aides, dumbfounded by the level of public anger and the use of such shocking tactics, actually did say:

“Why can’t they just hire a lobbyist like everyone else?”

Why indeed.  That’s exactly what I was thinking earlier today as I was driving my Ferrari from an investors’ meeting to the yacht club.  The above quotation reminds me of a joke I heard a long time ago:

There was a kid from an incredibly wealthy old-money family.  He had the most sheltered pampered life imaginable.  He was now in his mid twenties, having gone to one expensive prep school after another and obtained several college degrees.  And now he was starting his first job — with an advertising agency.  On his first day at work, his co-workers were coming up with an ad campaign, and they decided to run the commercial on the following Sunday afternoon.  And the sheltered kid said “Sunday afternoon?  But nobody will see the ad on Sunday afternoon.  That’s when everybody’s out playing polo.”

OK, so it’s not the most side-splitting joke you’ve ever heard.  But that line always stuck with me as an example of someone being so sheltered inside a magic bubble that he actually thinks everybody else is equally sheltered and pampered.  And now an unknown aide to an unnamed congressman has shown — once again — that you can’t make this shit up.

Media Blackout of Stop Online Piracy Act

Countless blog posts and “non-mainstream” news sites have been warning us relentlessly about the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), H.R. 3261.  (The Senate version of the same bill is the Protect IP Act — S. 968.)

This bill is the ultimate example of using a nuclear bomb to kill a mosquito.  In order to be 100% certain that nobody anywhere will ever again distribute or download movies or music without paying, the film and recording industries are willing to destroy the Internet.  Period.  This is NOT an exaggeration.

You can get more information here and here.

Under this proposed law:  If a copyright holder complains that a certain blog or website is infringing on his/her copyright, that website will be shut down.  No questions, no court hearing, nothing.  One complaint — whether valid or not — and the “offending” website will be shut down.  Search engines will be forced to de-list any website that’s been accused of violating the Stop Online Piracy Act.  And if your own blog is even LINKED to a website that’s been accused of piracy — down you go.

This is more drastic than you’ve even imagined.  For example:  if someone complains that their copyright has been violated by a post on Facebook or a YouTube video, that entire website could be taken down.  No more YouTube because somebody somewhere made a complaint?!?!?!

This bill is being pushed through Congress by three small — but incredibly wealthy — organizations:  the film industry, the recording industry and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  Search engines and Internet Service Providers — not exactly struggling mom-and-pop companies — are lobbying against this bill.  But they’ve been outspent four to one by the film and recording industries.

This bill is quietly — very quietly! — working its way through Congress, with strong support from both parties.  And there’s no indication that Obama will veto the bill if it reaches his desk.

A few politicians — of both parties — are alarmed by the Stop Online Piracy Act and are trying to fight it or at least water it down.  Paul Ryan has warned that the bill could lead to mass censorship.  Ron Wyden and Darrell Issa introduced a less extreme watered-down version of the bill, but it was defeated in the House.

Again, this bill has been warned about and argued about, all over the Internet, by millions of people.  And yet, you’ve never seen or heard ONE mention of this bill in ANY mainstream publication or website.

Could that be because so many “news” corporations and movie studios are owned by the same people?  Nah — just a coincidence.

A few millionaires are ready and willing to destroy the Internet just to make sure their own profits keep going up and up and up.  And most of the public doesn’t even know about this.  If you would like the mainstream “news” media to take a brief moment away from the Kardashians to warn the public that their Internet access could be gone forever —Please Sign This Petition.

Anonymous, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Protect IP Act

Whatever one thinks of Anonymous and other “hacktivist” organizations, they couldn’t pick a nicer target than the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.  Anonymous attempted to hack the U.S. Chamber’s computer systems last May, with mixed results.  Now they’re planning another attack.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce exists mostly as a money launderer, enabling large corporations and wealthy individuals to make huge anonymous political contributions.  Elections and politicians can be purchased without the public even knowing who the purchaser was.

But now the U.S. Chamber of Commerce has found another purpose:  lobbying aggressively for the Protect IP Act (also known as the Stopping Online Piracy Act, SOPA).

If you like the idea of people getting fined millions of dollars for downloading music without paying, you’ll love the Protect IP Act.  Using the smokescreen of “stopping online piracy,” the Protect IP Act would give the U.S. government sweeping unprecedented powers for censoring the Internet.

So which is it?  Does the U.S. Chamber of Commerce want a tiny bathtub-size government that lets the Free Market run wild, or do they want a gigantic Orwellian Big Brother controlling everything we do online?

Here’s Anonymous’ description of the Protect IP Act:

“This bill would allow the United States Government to force ISP’s and search engines to censor websites they do not like under the guise of ‘copyright protection.’  Instead of reducing piracy, this bill endangers the free flow of information. Through Domain seizures, ISP blockades, search engine censorship, and the restriction of funding to accused websites, this bill takes Internet censorship to a new level…

“The Internet is a place where anyone and everyone can come together freely to share information and opinions.  The freedom the Internet provides has served us well, and driven our intellectual progress, sparked revolutions and changed the lives of many, all of which has been accomplished without the interference of corporations, governments, or any other global institutions until now.”

Aside from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the only other group that favors the Protect IP Act is the entertainment industry — i.e. those Hollywood Elitists that conservatives are always ranting about.

The Protect IP Act

If you like the already-over-the-top hysteria over trademark and copyright “infringement,” you’ll love the Protect IP Act. This abortional legislation was introduced by Patrick Leahy (D—Hollywood Puppet) and it’s currently on legislative hold. The hold was placed by Sen. Ron Wyden (D—OR).

We have enough of this shit already: Bloggers being sued because they linked to a news article but didn’t mention the author’s name or swoon all over the publisher; huge corporations suing small business owners and entrepreneurs over imaginary “trademark” violations.

If the Protect IP Act ever passes, Net Neutrality will be the least of our worries.

Entertainment industries are pushing this legislation. If it becomes law, all Internet Service Providers and search engines would be required to de-list entire domains any time there’s a CLAIM of copyright infringement. That word again is claim. Not proof. Not a hearing or a vote of any kind. Just a claim.

AND: Any site that even links to a domain that’s been accused of hosting “infringing” activities would also be de-listed and/or taken down. Servers outside of the U.S. would also be within reach of the long arm of the Protect IP Act.

Conservatives should be against this bill, since it’s being pushed by them Hollywood Elitists.

A group of law professors has written a letter to Congress urging the defeat of the Protect IP Act. The letter warns that the law’s sweeping language will “make it extraordinarily difficult for advertisers and credit card companies to do business on the Internet.”

The letter also says:

“At a time when many foreign governments have dramatically stepped up their efforts to censor Internet communications, the Protect IP Act would incorporate into U.S. law — for the first time — a principle more closely associated with those repressive regimes: a right to insist on the removal of content from the global Internet, regardless of where it may have originated or be located, in service of the exigencies of domestic law.”

The complete text of the letter is available here.