Google’s eye-catching twenty four hour “blackout” last Wednesday, protesting PIPA and SOPA sure got my attention. How did it make you feel?
Watching sites like Wikipedia and Google go dark, reminded me of the media censorship I witnessed as a tourist in Asia a few years ago. Downright creepy.
Imagine not having online access to the information you need (assuming it is legal for you to own it). That’s the question we must face.
Do you and I have a right to freely acquire copyrighted content such as books, movies and music without paying?
Digital pirates think the status-quo is swell because the more we feast, the richer they get.
Law enforcement officials in New Zealand , in cooperation with the FBI, arrested the 38 year-old founder of one of the web’s largest file-sharing sites, also known as “file-sharing lockers” Megaupload on Wednesday.
The suspect, who had his name legally changed from Kim Schmitz to Kim Dotcom was in the middle of his own birthday bash when authorities raided his 25, 000 square foot home and took Mr. Dotcom into custody.
According to reports, the German national was found hiding in his “safe-room” clenching a shotgun. Officials noted that there were 18 luxury cars on the property, along with nine million dollars cash in U.S. currency.
The Wall Street Journal reported:
“Mr. Dotcom was charged with criminal copyright infringement and conspiracy to commit racketeering. The Federal Bureau of Investigation shut down his Hong Kong-based website, which it claims was used to pirate half a billion dollars worth of entertainment content.
The husky Mr. Dotcom is a kingpin in a little-exposed side of the Internet economy, who profited by tapping changes in technology, roiling the entertainment industry.”
Congressman Darrell Issa (R-California) has introduced a new bill called the OPEN Act (Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act). The tech-giants seem to be embracing the bill, but Hollywood executives don’t think Rep. Issa’s bill goes far enough to protect their interests.
This battle is far from over, but at the end of the day one thing’s for sure.
Someone’s going to be walking the plank soon.
