Fuck SOPA *and* The Moronic SOPA Blackout Day

Published 2012-01-18 01:14 by Abscissa in General

SOPA/PIPA is obviously Orwellian idiocy. In fact, it's so moronic, that even most of its former supporters ended up abandoning it. It's dying, it's been dying, and chances are it'll be dead by the end of the month.

And yet, we're having a big internet blackout day to stop it. But, let's take a moment to fully appreciate how this is supposed to work: Today, all the sites that are opposed to this fleeting carcass of a bill are supposed to shut down thereby forcing their users towards...the sites of those few companies who would embrace the Orwellian SOPA/PIPA? Umm...ok?

Alright, suppose I'm wrong and these fascist bills do manage to pass - just as the corrupt douchebag politicians passed the DMCA years ago. Am I really supposed to believe that's immutably "Game Over: They Win"? Well it will be if Americans repeat their reaction to the DMCA; that is, to roll over and say "Oh, ok, a bunch of out-of-touch politicians said this is so, so that's just how it is and we'd all better comply."

Jesus fuck, has nobody learned anything from Henry David Thoreau?

When an unjust law is passed, especially by corrupt out-of-touch lawmakers, you have a moral obligation to disregard it, if not flagrantly break it.

(I seem to remember the Germans rolling over for unjust leaders about, oh, 70-some years ago. Look how wonderfully their subservience turned out. Gee, heaven forbid anyone should have enough of a moral compass to rock the boat.)

If people (especially those in justice or law enforcement) aren't demonstrably willing to stand up and take a big steaming piss on unjust already-passed laws, then crap like SOPA/PIPA/DMCA/etc. are only going to keep popping up. Eventually, some of that shit flung against the wall is going to stick. And no "awareness day" stunt, no matter how big or small, is ever going to do a damn thing to stop that pattern.

This is still supposed to be a country run by the people, not by "the corporate entities" or even the lawmakers. So don't go pulling another DMCA: No matter what happens with SOPA/PIPA, have the balls - and the basic integrity - to exercise the power that you are constitutionally entitled to.

And as far as the ill-conceived SOPA blackout day: Fuck, I have better things to do today than deal with self-crippled sites and play "follow the leader".