I make my living from intellectual property. My consulting services, my blog, my other writings and my forthcoming book feed my family. I believe that piracy is an awful thing. It harms our economy and kills jobs.
But the two bills under consideration by Congress—the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA – House Bill 3261) and Protect-IP (PIPA)—are deeply flawed, harm our economy and have the potential to kill even more jobs.
Obviously, these workarounds only address the self-imposed shutdowns, but they provide insights as to how determined pirates will be able to bypass the restrictions imposed by SOPA and PIPA. The Internet was designed to route around failures (a process known today as “the Streisand effect”). Roadblocks between consumers and content—even pirated content—look exactly like a “failure” to underlying Internet technology. The very nature of the ‘net prevents many of the measures SOPA proposes from working.
Worser still (yes, I know “worser” is not a word, but it feels right here), proponents of the bill cite examples of totalitarian censorship as positive evidence for the bill’s effectiveness:
“When the Chinese told Google that they had to block sites or they couldn’t do [business] in their country, they managed to figure out how to block sites.”
That quote is from former U.S. Senator and current Motion Picture Association of America head (i.e, “lobbyist”) Chris Dodd. Again, I’m not arguing that piracy is a good thing. But emulating the Great Firewall of China cannot be the right answer to the problem in a democratic society.
Yes, we need to find an answer. SOPA is not it.
Finally, it’s not like an alternative bill doesn’t exist. The OPEN Act offers an alternative that protects copyrights and ensures an open Internet.
I usually prefer to keep my politics close to my vest. I grew up in an era where politics, religion and sex were verboten in professional settings. But in this case, I’m asking you to contact your representatives in Congress and tell them to vote against this bill. It’s bad for our economy. It kills jobs. And, by the admission of its own backers, it moves the United States towards Chinese-style censorship.
To make it easier to contact your legislators, I’ve included a widget below that will let you call them directly. Or you can sign Google’s petition. Regardless, don’t sit on the sidelines for this one. Stop SOPA. The Internet you enjoy today depends on it.
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OK, OK… I know I said today we’d talk about blogging here on thinks. But it’s election day here in the U.S. (for those of you who live under rocks and failed to notice), so this seems more important today. No matter which candidate you support, go vote. Then maybe we can move from this:
To this:
UPDATE: From @wevote08 on Twitter: “If you have any questions on WHERE to vote [click here]: http://tinyurl.com/64g76s”
Catch you back here tomorrow. And remember, you can always subscribe to thinks to never miss an update.
Things have been pretty quiet around The thinks Tank the last few weeks. We’ve been busy building up a batch of content that we’re proud to present and will start releasing new updates about the social, local, mobile web next week.
But, I ask a simple indulgence. Allow me a moment to address the upcoming election. And, more important, what follows.
I support Barack Obama. I’m proud of that fact. Speaking as someone who has successfully hired many individuals to fill many roles, I think he’s the right person for the job.
But, guess what? We could do worse than John McCain. He’s a good and decent man. I voted for him for senator when I lived in Arizona. He would likely do a reasonable job as president. I can readily support your decision if you support John McCain.
Which is what leads me to write this. For as much as I enjoy the theater it presents, politics frustrates the hell out of me. Why? Because politics these days has become a zero-sum game; my side wins only when your side loses.
Screw that. I don’t care to play any longer. The stakes are far too high to think that any one individual, any one party or any one side has all the answers. The question is, are you prepared to do something about it no matter who wins the White House?
We live in difficult times. Not the worst of times. Not yet, anyways. But, clearly, times that call for every American, every citizen to roll up their sleeves and work for a common good. And we are better than the noise and the nonsense, the silliness and, sadly, the slime that accompanies most campaign seasons. As this election season comes to a close, it is time for that to stop.
We, as a people, have never failed when united in a common purpose, a common belief in our ability to do what is right. Americans love to tout our independence. And rightfully so. But independence is not what has led us to our finest moments.
Our finest moments have always followed from our willingness to support one another. Our finest moments always begin, “How can I help?”
We are at our best when we face our problems head on. When we seek solutions instead of scoundrels. And when we place the good of the many ahead of the good of a few.
No one is smaller than the simpleton who stands and shouts, “Ha, ha. Your end of the boat is sinking!” Sadly, our political process – or at least the media that feeds on that process – willingly hands these morons the megaphones and the milkcrates from which to spew their bile.
You’re smarter than that. Ignore them. Find something that ignites your passion, find a fellow citizen who shares your concern and work with your civic leaders – regardless of their political persuasion – to find solutions. Not to score political points. But to make the world around you a better place. That’s an outcome worth voting for.
Political campaigns teach amazing lessons about marketing. None, this year, is more obvious than how important it is for a brand to define itself, lest its competitors do it for them.
Barack Obama and Mike Huckabee won in Iowa because they defined themselves as different. But equally important, they defined their competition as “more of [...]
