The internet was abuzz this week to protest SOPA and PIPA. I’m sure everyone saw the ubiquitous Google infographic, shut down Wikipedia page and blacked out webpages on January 18th. Even though these tactics seemed repetitive, the strategy made sense. After all, the goal was to get a singular message out to as many people as possible.
However, now that the dust has settled, I’ve decided to isolate the three most interesting articles that had a fresh take on a (deservedly) saturated subject. Click on the title of each section to read the article referenced.
With everyone talking about the dangers of issuing new regulations on the internet, McKenna turned my focus back to the problems with laws that are currently in place. While stopping SOPA is certainly a victory, there’s still a lot of work to be done. Definitely worth a read.
“It didn’t work for music. It didn’t work for email. It’s not going to work for movies.” That’s Scott’s summary of what’s wrong with SOPA. Rather than use legislation to protect dying business models, as shown with the music and email examples, we should embrace technological change to create better ones. For business-minded people like me, this article particularly resonates.
I’m always a huge fan of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. It’s true–fact can be funnier than fiction. While none of Stewart’s seven minute segment disappoints, the highlight for me started at 3:30 with the footage of the bill’s political representatives. When the people whom we’ve elected to make these decisions all admit that they don’t understand this whole “virtual world thing” and need to bring in some “nerds to explain it” (not specialists!), is both hysterical and eye-opening.
Thanks for reading! Lindsey Kirchoff
