06 Feb 12, 10:03PM
The problem is that on the surface all of the new legislation seems perfectly logical. The lobbyists for all of these big name software developers and Hollywood studios tell the clueless politicians, "People are stealing what we have worked hard to produce. Pass this little bill we've written up and people won't be allowed to steal our products." To the internet-uneducated politicians who know little about modern information sharing systems, this sounds completely logical. As a community we cannot condone piracy. What we do condone and promote is the free facilitation/spread of information over the internet without encroachment from solely monetary driven special interests. The fact that our politicians have no clue that these legislations provide means by which large institutions can effectively squash start-ups and effectively circumvent anti-trust laws is ridiculous. The fact that our governments could legally censor entire parts of the internet is appalling.