Despite the fact that SOPA was temporarily stopped, Megaupload was shut down recently and it is very possible that other file-sharing sites like Mediafire, Zshare, Rapidshare, RGhost, etc. will be next.
While this may be overly dramatic and we still have (and probably will always have) some alternatives, blogs like ours might being having a slightly tougher time as these events unfold. Even if we start using alternatives don't be surprised if they get taken out in the near future. Most of our Mediafire links should be up for now.
On the topic of SOPA/PIPA, I would like to direct you to the great Maddox's most recent article as it suggests some important and obvious steps those of you who live in USA (and even international people) can take to not just stop shitty bills like SOPA/PIPA but actually bring about systemic change which will be significant. This is something far more important and which has been needed for a very long time.
"SOPA is the "Stop Online Piracy Act." It's a shitty piece of legislation
put together by puppetmaster lobbyists and politician puppets who don't
know IP addresses from their assholes. My problem with this huge online
protest against
SOPA, and the reason I rarely take part in such protests, is because it
doesn't address any problems, only the symptom. The problem isn't this
shitty bill, it's the people who sponsored it. So we protest this
bill today, bang enough pots and pans to shame a few backers into not
letting this bill pass, then what? Those same dipshits who wrote this
legislation still have jobs. They're going to try again, and again, and
again until some mutation of this legislation passes. They'll sneak it
into an appropriation bill while nobody's looking during recess, because
there's too much lobbyist money at stake for them not to. We defeat
SOPA today, only to
face it again tomorrow. It's like trying to stop a cold by blowing your
nose. It's time we go after the virus.
There have been many bills attempted (and some passed) like SOPA before
it. There's the DMCA act of 1998, PRO-IP Act of 2008, the 2011
Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and now the PROTECT IP Act of 2012.
Think this victory means
anything? A new bill gets introduced every year or two like clockwork.
Check back in a few years, and there'll be another SOPA or Protect IP
Act being squeezed down the lower intestinal tracts of congress. And
then what? We
black out our websites again like a merry band of idiots?"
— MADDOX
We'll still be posting. I've been busy but I'll have a few posts up in the next couple of days.
Thank you.
We as US citizens are losing power and representation. Politicians are funded now by corporations and not the public, so again we are not represented. We can hardly do anything to chose the candidates rather than picking the less of the two evils. American politics is ruined as a whole. Bills like this will keep on being proposed unless the system changes, and our abilities to do so is dwindling.
ReplyDeleteSo let me ask this. How do we destroy the virus?
I obviously don't have the answer to that.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is there has to be a huge amount of people that actively say "cut the shit", and like Maddox says it has to get really bad before that even happens; people have to be incredibly uncomfortable to actually get serious about making a structural change. The change has to be upsetting and radical to mean anything for all people involved. Most people in the western world haven't hit that level.
The boycott suggestion is one that (while small) will actually make some sort of dent in an area that influential corporations actually care about: money and profit. So that's a start. Incessantly badgering local and state politicians will also put some pressure to move towards systemic change. But unfortunately the governmental/political structure is one that is very difficult to change so in that area there is far more uncertainty of what to do. People have to stop supporting the two party system, being a Congressman should not be a career (which originally it wasn't meant to be), etc.
I'm personally waiting for the 1984 scenario to arrive. I'll be long dead by then though :(
The boycott scenario involves too many corporations that have too many products that so many people have become dependent on. Even if people read that article they won't stop using most of those corporations products. I don't mean to be a debby downer however Maddox and you are right on one thing, people will have to get extremely uncomfortable before any real change happens. The problem is people aren't willing to do that, so they will continue to use products by apple, etc etc.
ReplyDeleteAs non-american person, i'm beginning to worry... a lot. The news about the Megaupload (from whom i achieved some Premium Accounts) fell on me like a bomb. How is that possible? Don't these people have more important things to do? Fuck... I don't even want to think if they strike Mediafire, probably the best file-host manager in the whole World. World War Web has begun.. i know that with the shutdown of Megaupload, the cybernetic resistance of the so called Anonymous has shutdown several sites like Universal Music. Is this the fair counter attack? Or will it even pissed them off more? I don't know about the future.. but i see some dark clouds on the horizon.
ReplyDelete