In this day and age the digital revolution has changed the way we access information, how we contact with friends and family, how we work, and how we entertain ourselves.

On a daily basis it’s almost rare that any of us dont access the internet or an internet based site. It’s become so reptitive something so simple as checking or updating your Facebook page or Twitter account is part of our daily lives. Yet today in an age where technology quadruples every year we have dinosaurs with large pockets relying on the past to keep their hold on humanity and police the less fortunate.

This past week has been a pretty big one in terms of the world as we know it on the internet. If you havent heard of SOPA or PIPA you’ve obviously been living under a rock (read this) . I’ve had numerous people ask me the past couple days what is with this hell bent political refuge I’ve been on on twitter. To put it simply, SOPA, PIPA, now ACTA, and soon to be bill C-61 in Canada is another feeble attempt at the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) to bribe the U.S government and put laws in place so they can police the internet.

A few days ago SOPA was stopped thanks to a huge outroar from regular Joes like you and I. Protests were held, petitions were signed, letters were sent to congress, amongst other things. The internet sighed a huge breath of relief. Only to be outraged moments later when the FBI, (part of the US Government) raided MegaUpload and arrested many members involved in its creation, thus proving the lack of need for bills such as SOPA to even be passed.

So why the need for such a thing?

Fairly simple, Hollywood wants to control the internet.

Dont believe it?

Chris Dodd, ex–US senator and current CEO of the Motion Picture Ass. of America, may face a White House investigation after he made an extraordinary outburst that appeared to threaten politicians who had the audacity to take the entertainment industry’s money and then abandon SOPA/PIPA online-piracy legislation.

“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake,” Dodd told Fox News. “Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.” Read the rest here…

So what

I imagine the majority of you who do actually take the time to read this will shrug your shoulders and say “so what” instead of understanding whats actually at stake here. It seems we have hit a cross road in the internet, on one side we have a corporate hungry giant who continues to want to feed itself by suing the same people who make our countries operate while on the other you have those same people being sued who cant compete with big bucks and most certainly cant fight the government, who ironically enough are only there because the people vote for them. Yet how do you fix said problem? By voting someone else in? Doubtful, as we head down the same path with more corporate bribes and less attention to the actual solution…

Adaptation

We live in a digital age, gone are the days of renting movies at the movie store, purchasing a CD etc. We want access to our content as fast as possible. The internet is a wonderful thing for such things, today we have things like Netflix, Hulu, Itunes, to all serve our entertainment needs. When you get home from work wouldnt you rather want to watch a movie with a click of a button as opposed to driving to a movie rental place, coming home, and hoping your scratched rental plays in your Blue-Ray player?

It seems so simple, I truthfully dont understand what is so hard about embracing this change.

What Can Be Done

In protest to SOPA the past week seen internet giants like Wikipedia, Reddit, Google, etc all make the web aware by “going black” and shutting down there sites for 24 hours. I’ve read numerous petitions to “Boycott Hollywood” in March by not attending or renting any movies, purchasing music, or watching TV. An idea that if it were ever to succeed would help send a message but things like this are pointless, no different then all the “Dont Fuel Up Days To Drop Gas Prices”. They never work and with Hollywood this never will.

Being made aware of the situation seems like the biggest task. With SOPA and PIPA being pasted all over the net and people praising the fact they managed to help it get stopped (for now) the web won a battle in its fight for freedom. Yet behind closed doors now lies ACTA, which more or less is the same shit but in a different pile…a much bigger pile.

ACTA is the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, worse, the agreement spans virtually all of the countries in the developed world, including all of the EU, the United States, Switzerland and Japan.

Many of these countries have already signed or ratified it, and the cogs are still turning. The treaty has been secretly negotiated behind the scenes, with unelected bureaucrats working closely with entertainment industry lobbyists to craft the provisions in the treaty. The Bush administration started the process, but the Obama administration has aggressively pursued it.

Indeed, we’ve already signed on to the treaty. All it needs now is Senate ratification. The time to stop the treaty is now, and we may need a second global internet blackout to call attention to it.

Unsettling

We are at a cross roads in the way we use the internet. If they have their way whats to stop them from going after you? I’ve fixed viruses, worms, malware, and more on peoples computers and laptops for years and I still see file-sharing services like Limewire running. Something so simple as not turning that off could land you in jail if this law passes. Will they? Well one won’t know until it happens but dont you think the United States and the rest of the world has more important things to focus on then suing someone who downloads two songs? Hell lets overpopulate our jails with copyright infringement cases and forget about murders, rapists, and drug dealers. Better yet let’s bust the ass of the people who keep the country alive so we can buy a new sportscar, lets most certainly not spend our vast resources, knowledge, and money to help educate and better the human race.

The time is now, dont go into the dark not knowing or caring about this, especially if you’re someone who uses the internet daily. The future is in our hands to stop this destruction of our rights and freedoms and I reiterate again that even if you think it doesnt effect you, if you access the internet it does. Ask yourself these questions if you dont think it does…

Have I ever uploaded a video on youtube/Facebook/Twitter covering another artists song (IE via guitar, singing, etc)?
Have I ever uploaded a video on youtube/Facebook/Twitter with music in the background from another artist?
Have I ever posted a photo to the same sites not knowing about what is and isnt mine in that photo?
Have I ever shared media with my friends?
Have I ever wrote a blog discriminating against the MPAA or RIAA (like this one)?

You can see my point, if you answered yes to any of those then under new law you will be a “pirate” or a “thief”.

The future is in our hands, dont take it for granted…