as if an internet blacklist doesnt already exist?
"they" (corporations, the rich & corrupt govt officials) get to operate w/ an entirely different set of rules than WE are expected to. govt officials are able to get away w/[among other things] INSIDER TRADING even though it's illegal. now they're "talking" about drafting an ammendment to stop that. why do that? how about PROSECUTE them just like they did Martha Stewart?
meanwhile, this is a horrible, TERRIBLE thing. I tried telling people about the need to call their senators & congressmen/women to tell them to uphold the NET NEUTRALITY laws that were established in the mid 90s by the clinton administration. that's the only thing that was protecting us as telecoms raced to start claiming "ownership" of the internet & control who accesses what. it was to protect us from the telecoms from doing what they're now starting to do, charing ppl different rates for how much access to the same damn internet we all log into. Net Neutrality came under attack during the 04 elections too but it was barely upheld thanks to people making a fuss about it.
It came under fire again in recent years but the telecom companies have made BIG strides in their efforts to erode the protections of net neutrality to the point where comcast & verizon are now charging people different rates for different levels of access to the same net. comcast is even becoming more bold w/ its racial bias tactics when it comes to pricing or what areas to even deny service options to ...& make it impossible for smaller, local providers to try to fill that gap.
this proposed legislation is ridiculous. & this is another result of corporations being coddled thanks to the "corporations are people" mentality & corporations getting ahold of something amazing & trying to RUIN it. worse still, this would make us have the same scenario like china or places in the middle east where the govt can totally control what you see/say online & go after those who say something they disapprove of. something like this was tossed out there , attempted to be attached to the Patriot Act & then the NSA tried to make it stick but the supreme court wouldnt let that happen. If i remember correctly such legislation was introduced during the debate over whether or not the Obama administration should renew the patriot act. Something about giving the President "emergency executive power to censor or shut down the internet if necessary"...it got a bit of scrutiny but not enough ppl paid attention to it.
as far as piracy? that, like so many other things has been around & will CONTINUE to be around & like garrick said, it hardly dawned w/ napster, nor was it made WORSE by that. if artists are upset about their pocket books, they need to look @ the BROKEN music recording industry & among other things. what the "executives" push as "talent" today.
