Thursday, December 8, 2011

Fight for the Future

The fight against Stopping Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261 a.k.a. SOPA) is not over yet. And there is so much to go over now. Protect IP (S.968 a.k.a. PIPA) is often put forward as a compromise to SOPA but both bills are not acceptable to a free internet and are not needed in a competitive business market.
This situation is developing so fast that I can't keep up with it. All I can do is direct readers to one of my favorite sites on the internet, Techdirt. Floor64, the consulting company which hosts Techdirt, is biased strongly in favor of internet freedom.
Some of the recent developments include many Senators distancing themselves from this bill, at least until after their re-election is secured. Supporters of these bills have offered to not enforce the DNS blocking until after the technical issues are sorted out. As an aside, these DNS provisions are not viable in conjunction with a secure name resolution system. DNSSEC rejects the various versions of DNS modification proposed by these bills' supporters. Additionally, a domain name system that can lie on government orders can lie on anyone's orders.
Another major development in the news is that many sites including this one are voluntarily blacking out tomorrow, January 18, 2012, as a preview of what the internet could look like when it's censored by hostile business interests.
Many interested parties in both the House and Senate will ask for these bills to be tabled until "the issues can be studied". Meaning in this case after the election cycle is complete and representatives are secure in their jobs. This requires a renewed call to action from all interested parties. Push for these bills to be defeated on the floor of both the House and Senate. And hold their remaining supporters accountable.

Merlin

In my next life, I want to live it backwards. Hear me out, it would be a great way to live.
You start out dead to get that out of the way right off the bat. Then, you wake up in a nursing home feeling better every day. When you are kicked out of the home for being too healthy, you spend several years enjoying your retirement and collecting benefit checks.
When you start work, you get a nice gold watch on your first day. You work 40 years or so, getting younger every day, until you're too young to work. Then you go to school, date, drink, and party.
As you get even younger you become a kid again. You go to elementary school, play, and have no responsibilities. In a few years, you become a baby and everyone runs themselves ragged keeping you happy.
You spend your last nine months floating peacefully in luxurious spa-like conditions, central heating, room service on tap, the works.
Until finally, you end your life as an orgasm.
I rest my case.