Wednesday was the day that many of the internet heavyweights weighed in with their opinion on the SOPA/PIPA legislations going through the halls of Capitol Hill. Reddit and Wikipedia went dark, while Google showed their solidarity with the protestors in a different way. The bottom line? Enough people got upset about the orneriness of this legislation. No matter what you think about so-called online “piracy”, you will not fix it by overreaching. Taking away rights will not  save “jobs”.

One question I’ve seen on Twitter is asking why Progressives are upset about government overreach. Doesn’t government know best? Well…certainly not all the time. When the rules and regulations that we are forced to live by are controlled by big monied interests, it doesn’t matter if the overreach comes from government or business. Oh yeah, and trust me, this one was government overreach with a heavy dose of big business. Who do you think really drafts these bits of legislation?

In the case of legislation involving the internet, it certainly isn’t the elected officials. Patrick Leahy, Lamar Smith, et al. know nothing about the internet, and they proved it with their attempt to push this legislation through. Their attempt to reign in “piracy” was misguided, and worse, it was fed to them by industry lobbyists. Now, I know this happens all the time, and this was not particularly egregious as lobbyist fed legislation goes. Nonetheless, it’s another stark reminder that our system is badly broken.

Even before Citizens United, big money had too much influence in Washington. It’s certainly not a recent revelation, but this one was more disheartening because it was so bipartisan. I know…as much as I long for a more civil tone in D.C., this is not the issue on which we need agreement between Democrats and Republicans. A draconian law that solves no problem is not worth agreeing on. No…we need real problems solved with the precious little bipartisanship that actually exists in Washington.

This isn’t over. Not by a long shot. The MPAA and the RIAA will try again to get this garbage legislation pushed through. Hopefully we’ll be as vigilant then as we were now.

I watched the documentary, This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated, recently. I’ve long been critical of the MPAA, and this film gave me no reason to change my mind. The doctored facts, hypocrisy and duplicity of the MPAA was on full display.

It was run for years by ex-Washington insider, Jack Valenti. Because of his contacts within government, he was able to bolster a system where the film industry would police itself without interference from Washington. Another benefit of this relationship with government was the ability to lobby for laws that were very beneficial to the industry.

This film exposes many things about the MPAA that most folks may not know. For instance, it is not a government agency. It has no legal authority, and cannot censor films. However, this is only half the story. Because the organization is made up of all industry players (cinema owners, studios, distributors, etc.), they do have power to limit distribution and exposure of films that don’t play by their rules.

Another disturbing trend the documentary covered was the acceptance of extreme violence over sex. Many child experts agree that violence is far more traumatizing to children than sex. They are even more biased against homosexual sex.

I think people need to understand what the MPAA is and what it is not. It is an organization that serves big business, not consumers. We don’t need them to tell us what is okay to watch. We can stay informed, and decide what to watch ourselves.

It feels like I find a new story every day about a content provider trying new ways to add charges to it’s customers. Newspapers across the country are discussing charging for the “privilege” of reading their content online. Hollywood and the recording industry continue to dream up new ways to lock down the music and movies we buy. Software makers put more and more draconian restrictions into their EULA’s (End User License Agreement).

We typically look toward the government to protect us from such anti-competitive, monopolistic measures. However, they seem to be asleep at the wheel. Or worse, they’re in agreement with the lobbyists. I voted for Barack Obama despite my misgivings about Joe Biden’s cozy relationship with the RIAA. I felt Obama stood for fairness. I still feel that, somewhat. But it doesn’t seem he is really putting his weight toward these issues. In fairness to him, there is a lot going on in the country right now. However, if the government doesn’t pay attention, then we are likely to lose much of our digital rights.

Why has common sense and fairness been thrown out the window? Why is it okay for content providers to use their money and attorneys to intimidate the public through lawsuits? Why is our privacy being threatened in the name of combating a perceived problem of piracy? I want answers to these questions. And don’t give me the typical corporate crap. I want real, bottom line answers. I want fair use to be respected. And by fair use, I don’t mean doing anything I want. I do think I should be able to use my legally purchased content on any device I own.

Congress enjoys puffing its chest out in faux indignation when an athlete is caught using performance-enhancing drugs. Where is the indignation when a grandmother who doesn’t own a computer gets sued for illegal downloads? Where is the anger when our courts are used as a tool for the RIAA to enforce its form of justice?

I am angry, and I am tired of feeling like no one is looking out for the average person. Please read up on these issues. Ask questions. Make up your own mind.

If you asked the average person, they would typically say privacy is very important. That is what makes several developments across the United States and Canada so troubling. Here are two recent cases.

1. A judge threw out a lawsuit by the ACLU and the EFF against several telcos. The lawsuit was filed as a result of the assistance they provided to the government in its warrantless wiretapping campaign. He cited the law passed by Congress granting immunity from lawsuits to the telcos.
2. A Canadian victim’s rights group called Victim’s of Crime has asked their government to force ISP’s to provide law enforcement with users’ data on demand. They blame the internet for the rise of abuse against children.

In the case of the new US law granting the telcos immunity from lawsuits, it cites the need to track terrorists and cyber-criminals. As for the Canadian group, the desire is to protect children.

At face value, these are very noble goals. However, will governments use these laws to spy on its citizens? Will powerful groups (RIAA, MPAA, etc.) use these laws to force ISP’s to give out private user data? These are the questions we must ask ourselves.

I’m going to go a little serious on this one. I usually don’t in this forum, but this is important to me.

I am a passionate advocate for the EFF, the Electronic Frontier Foundation. You’ll see a web badge for them on my side bar. We have groups like the RIAA and the MPAA that are determined to take away our fair use rights in the digital realm. The EFF opposes them, and advocates us in the courts.

Before you think I’ve gone off the deep end, understand this. The RIAA uses an unlicensed investigative firm to track online downloading behavior. They are also lobbying the government to force the telcomm companies to divulge our downloading habits. I could go on and on, but I’ll save that for Empire of Geek.

One of their current projects is the Patent Busting Project. They are challenging in court the use of frivolous patents that discourage innovation. They even have a top 10 worst offenders list.

If you want to give me a Christmas present, make part of it (emphasis on part) a donation to the EFF. It would really make me smile.