CBrajkovich Ramblings

The online voices against SOPA just keep getting stronger, but Congress and Big Money are not hearing the outcries – at least not that I can tell. Every hour, there is a new angle that makes this bill more horrific for anyone who believes in free expression. Considering that the entire globe is up in arms, you’d think that our government would get the big picture. But we all know that they’re not capable of seeing the big picture through all of the potential $$$ that they expect. Running a government like a store about to go under is not a way that embraces logic. They might be desperate in their economic interpretation, but this conversation surpasses their selfish beliefs and leaves it in the dust.

To all of you supporters of SOPA, please explain why it’s so great…other than the copyright infringement windfalls you expect to reap. Except that there won’t be any windfalls because creative distribution and innovation will be handed to those with the largest purse strings, and that is not the individual artist. And while the artist may get a few tiny scraps (check out this infographic by Information Is Beautiful.net and posted by @robschwager – and this theft isn’t limited to musicians), they’ll be losing personal freedoms for themselves and the entire Net while destroying its functionality in the process.

Here’s the latest stories that tell the story:

• CNET’s SOPA’s Latest Threat: IP Blocking, Privacy-blocking Packet Inspection
• Aljazeera’s US State Department Not For Internet Freedom
• Huffington’s Hollywood Takes Over the Online Space: Shopping Paralyzed Worldwide
• CNET’s OpenDNS: SOPA Will Be ‘Extremely Disruptive’ to the Internet
• CDT’s US Piracy Law Could Threaten Human Rights
• The Hill’s GOP’s Issa: Efforts to ‘Grease the Skids’ For Online Piracy Bill Has Failed
• Notes From The House Judiciary Committee Hearing On the Stop Online Piracy Act

There’s more coming out every hour, but it’s clear that those at the top are the ones who need a lesson that there are things that should not ever in their purview. When we make legislation without seeking out all of the SMEs, then we only create more opportunities for unknown casualties because of our lack of knowledge. And some things can’t be fixed once they’re shattered. Keep the word going and I’ll keep passing on more info against SOPA as I find it. This is one fight we can’t let go until it’s over and buried.

After all, I prefer the image above to be how our Net looks, and not some fragmented networks that remove our global interconnections. If you want to join your voice with the international community opposing this draconian bill, add your name to Avaaz’s global petition: Save the Internet! And contact your Congressmen to tell them that you’re against censorship and demand to keep the Net free for us all.

When I started writing today’s first post, I was feeling huge frustration and even anger with our business, politics, and economics. I actually had a technical post ready about the disrespect that economics creates in every section of our lives (especially small and large business practices). But then something changed, and once again I felt positively inspired.

Like me, you’ve probably been tracking SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), the bill that is creating a huge uproar in the tech sector. November 16th was American Censorship Day, a day that protests the unimaginable actions that our government has been taking against protecting a free Net. It’s the one thing that gets me up in arms more than anything (and that says a lot), because I’m one of the Net users who believes in protecting our freedom and connection at any cost. This is one battle that I’ll stand front and center with everyone because I believe that the Net is a key for global prosperity, equality, knowledge, and connection.

What changed for me was the sight of this global campaign, started to join the enormous US outcry from November 16th’s inept and biased Congressional proceedings. It makes it worse when you look at the bill’s supporters and how much they contributed to it speedy passage, more evidence that our Congress is bought. No, it wasn’t just this hopeful campaign but all of the campaigns, calls, emails, posts, and tweets of a global community once again raising its combined voices to be heard against injustice. The anger wasn’t just from regular people, but also human rights groups, VCs,  from the EU (which I was a bit amazed to see considering their usual modus operandi) and from within our own government.

With mankind continuing to stand up for one another at signs of injustice, we have our first opportunity to truly come together to build a much better world. Now we need to turn this into a living reality.

edit regarding the VCs link on a study about Internet regulation changes: I was just recently notified of a name change for Booz & company, who are now known as Strategy&. Check out their site if you want to learn more about them.