Say 'No' to Internet Censorship
Imagine a world where you need to pay for logging on to your Gmail account or any other Email service provider for that matter;when a tweet would come at premium;monthly net-packs used to re-charge your mobile replaced by special FB packs costing say 200 bucks for a month!
Huh!you might say I'm being too overboard here and conjuring some bizarre sham propaganda,but with the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) in place,that mightn't seem to be an absurd dream.
Although at face value these legislations have been drafted to curb the menace of IP theft and copyright infringement;what has been grossly overlooked is the collateral damage that would be inflicted on the greater Internet brotherhood through the implementation of this Act.
Personally,I strongly condemn piracy and recognize the huge losses that the copyright holders,notably the Film and Music Industry,have to suffer.However there is already a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) in place which has been successful in curbing the menace of piracy to some extent,if not wholly.At the same time,I do recognize the need for a stronger and more effective machinery for dealing with piracy,however I strongly condemn indiscriminate Internet Censorship.
A careful observation of the Act would reveal that Act bestows the Copyright holder with no holds barred powers where he can simply blacklist the website which hosts any objectionable content.However the same provision runs the grave danger of being abused for personal gratification or personal rivalry.
The second most appalling feature of the Act is where the web service providers including social networking companies like Facebook and search engines like Google has to monitor user-generated content.This is simply impossible considering the huge resources required for its implementation.If the legislation is brought into place,these companies will be forced to charge its users for the service which they have provided for free all this while.
Moreover,the Act also marks doom for web start-ups as investors have already refused to fund new projects if the legislation is implemented.Effectively, it will weed out any new innovation or enterprising endeavours in the area of IT.We've seen how the free Internet has been instrumental in scripting the success stories of Facebook,Twitter and YouTube,to name a few.
We can't let technology to take a step backward.Growth is a fundamental element for human prosperity.Therefore,I would say 'No' to 'SOPA' and 'PIPA'.What's your take?
Huh!you might say I'm being too overboard here and conjuring some bizarre sham propaganda,but with the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) in place,that mightn't seem to be an absurd dream.
Although at face value these legislations have been drafted to curb the menace of IP theft and copyright infringement;what has been grossly overlooked is the collateral damage that would be inflicted on the greater Internet brotherhood through the implementation of this Act.
Personally,I strongly condemn piracy and recognize the huge losses that the copyright holders,notably the Film and Music Industry,have to suffer.However there is already a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) in place which has been successful in curbing the menace of piracy to some extent,if not wholly.At the same time,I do recognize the need for a stronger and more effective machinery for dealing with piracy,however I strongly condemn indiscriminate Internet Censorship.
A careful observation of the Act would reveal that Act bestows the Copyright holder with no holds barred powers where he can simply blacklist the website which hosts any objectionable content.However the same provision runs the grave danger of being abused for personal gratification or personal rivalry.
The second most appalling feature of the Act is where the web service providers including social networking companies like Facebook and search engines like Google has to monitor user-generated content.This is simply impossible considering the huge resources required for its implementation.If the legislation is brought into place,these companies will be forced to charge its users for the service which they have provided for free all this while.
Moreover,the Act also marks doom for web start-ups as investors have already refused to fund new projects if the legislation is implemented.Effectively, it will weed out any new innovation or enterprising endeavours in the area of IT.We've seen how the free Internet has been instrumental in scripting the success stories of Facebook,Twitter and YouTube,to name a few.
We can't let technology to take a step backward.Growth is a fundamental element for human prosperity.Therefore,I would say 'No' to 'SOPA' and 'PIPA'.What's your take?
Comments
Post a Comment
Your comments....