Recently I went on a holiday to Berlin which was fascinating. But one huge thing I consider hugely ironic is the recent SOPA/ACTA stuff. Clearly this is not a mandated item of legislation from the people. No one actually wants this. Except corporations, who are using false data to put the fear of money in governments.
Of course, as usual, legislators, elected officials and “interest groups” are caving and trying to force the people into something they (we) don’t want. SOPA was defeated because people put pressure on congress in the US to shelve the plans. Now ACTA has raised its ugly head because it was in development through secret meetings with politicians spurred on by special interest groups and businesses.
The reason it’s all remarkably ironic is because during a tour of Berlin we were pointed to the Reichstag, which is essentially the house of the government.
There’s a large, glass dome on top for visitors to check out the building. Even while the government is sitting and having debates, etc. It’s a cool concept. Not because it’s an iconic piece of architecture (which it is), but because of the message it holds. The architect built it this way to demonstrate a very real idea: the people are above the government. In this building, the people look down through glass to see the government in action.
True democracy does not involve the people electing people with agendas. True democracy involves electing people to uphold the peoples’ beliefs. Just because you’re elected, it does not give you a mandate to do as you please without the peoples’ input.
No one wants ACTA. It’s counter-productive to stoping copyright infringement. It’ll only spur on stronger, better and harder-to-trace software. When Metallica & the music industry stood behind a war against Napster, torrents came. Can you imagine what would come after torrents? And don’t for a second think that the people wouldn’t start their own ISP’s and network infrastructures to get around ACTA/SOPA types of restrictions.
The arab spring came about thanks, in part, to the organisational abilities the internet gave the people. It’s the spirit of this sharing, connection and community that embodies the internet. Bad things happen online, like illegal downloading – but as I linked above, if it wasn’t downloaded, it probably wouldn’t have been experienced in the first place (that is to say that I wouldn’t have paid for something anyway if I couldn’t have downloaded it).
I can’t imagine the anger if the internet was suppressed in the way they want to. It’s the voice of the people they’re trying to silence, not the copyright. It suits the government(s) to say that copyright and child porn is rampant and killing the economy – but that’s all a fallacy. In fact, the child porn argument is the most annoying argument I have ever heard. I’ve been using the internet since I was about 10 or 11, and not once, ever, have I seen child porn. I’ve never looked for it, but who in their right mind is?
Ultimately my point is that the government needs to represent the will of the people. There is no mandate for any government to try and shut down or change the way we use the internet. If ISP’s get tough then people leave them (just look at the state of Eircom, who bend over backwards for anyone). If ISP’s are forced to report my IP for merely visiting thepiratebay or similar, then it might be time to invest in private networks – for the people – outside of the governments’ jurisdiction.
