Napster, MPAA, AOL, and how stupid people in power will kill the first amendment

By: Dan

Part 3 of 3 in a series: from the
you-don't-need-that-freedom-let-me-take-it-off-your-hands department

In case any of you were actually interested in reading my series, I apologize for
missing last month's edition. Here is part 3 of a slightly paranoid, perhaps even
delusional, look at what is to come of our freedoms when technology, big Brother, the
corporate Republic, and other nefarious powers that be get through the first amendment.

If you've read both of my previous articles, you might be beginning to understand how
the Internet and its powers have the capability of being warped and twisted into something
it was never designed to be by its creators. You see, computer technology, especially that
involving Internet, was designed to empower humans, to enhance our lives and give us more
freedoms. Unfortunately, power is a dangerous thing. In the wrong hands (the corporate
Republic, big Brother, etc.) that very power can be, and already is being, used to control
us.

Here's a quick sum up. Technology exists today that allows a small regime in any kind
of power to monitor and control us using computers. The corporate Republic would love to
control what kind of music we listen to, which movies we watch, and most importantly, the
information that we attain. AOL-Time Warner has managed to get away with buying up a
majority of all forms of communication aside from the telephone (but I assure you, they're
working on that one as well). There goes the communication. The corporate Republic
embodied by the MPAA has thus far managed to sue movie freedom on the Internet out of
legitimized existence. There go the movies. And of course RIAA has sued the hell out of
anyone attempting to provide any kind of audio stimulation to the masses via that
"dangerous" creature known as the Internet. There goes the music.

To those that would say the RIAA's sue-happy methods are perfectly acceptable, (because
after all, the do legally own the music), I ask a question. Why is RIAA suing Launchcast?

http://www.thestandard.com/article/0,1902,26690,00.html

The gist: LaunchCast is licensed to disseminate music digitally, which they're doing,
but RIAA says, and I quote from the article above, "Launch's licenses ... do not allow for
the level of interactivity and customization offered by LaunchCast, which allows users to
decide how often they want to hear particular songs."

Hey, did you hear that the government reads your e-mail? Through a system called
Carnivore, which entails the government strong-arming the Internet providers into
cooperating with them, your e-mail gets put through filters to keep in check anyone who may
be discussing things that the government does not like.

What's happening is not that our freedoms are being taken away. Our freedoms are being
given away, by the very people who possess them, in order to obtain safety or security.
More and more the government and the corporate Republic are watching us, keeping track of
what we do, following our spending habits, in removing our choices behind our backs,
spin-doctoring the theft into "enhancements", ways to make our life easier, simplifying our
options.

It used to be that you could walk into public library and get nearly any kind of
information you could desire. Today computers in public libraries are forced to run
filtering software in order for the libraries to receive public funding. Where does the
filtering software come from? Why, the heart of the corporate Republic of course. Who were
it's biggest backers? The concerned parents of America, afraid their children could stumble
across things they shouldn't.

Oh, but did you did you know that the same filtering software has the added "feature" of
keeping track of where people go on Internet, and "helpfully" reporting back to the company
that created the software? Oh, did I mention that you can find such wonderful filtering
software in many public schools as well?

Ok, so here's how this ties into the first amendment: once everything we say and do is
controlled, or at least monitored, where exactly are we going to be able to have our
freedom of speech?

One day we're going to wake-up and realize that we no longer have any idea what's truly
going on in the world, that our lives are no longer under our own control, and we cannot
turnaround without being monitored. I close with a couple quotes from guys who pretty much
sum it up better than I ever could:

"They that can give up liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither
liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin

"Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security, will not have, nor do
they deserve, either one." --Thomas Jefferson

Till next time...

--Dan

1.) Script Kiddies: How to be one and be loathed by your peers. - Grifter
2.) Napster, MPAA, AOL and how stupid people in power will kill the first amendment.
- Dan
3.) Getting Started with SQL (part 2) - L33tdawg
4.) Freedom and The Net - Archfiend
5.) The Guide to Annoying People on ICQ - Archfiend
6.) Quantum Mechanics - Part 3 - Josette
7.) The Art of Programming - Dinesh Nair