Lately the news has been filled with reports about internet privacy, internet scams, illegal downloading, internet censorship, and just about anything else as it relates to the internet and how we use it as a people.
Music and videos are downloaded illegally every day and yet no one still seems to be sure about the rules of doing just this. We know stealing a CD from a store would be illegal, and no one would question the suspect’s guilt, nor would the story of someone being charged with CD-stealing be newsworthy. However, when it comes to downloading music and videos online, we still do it. And we still get caught and get in trouble. This Minnesota woman was found guilty of disobeying copyright laws for illegally making music available online. However, a British survey found that at least eight percent of people openly admit to downloading videos illegally over the internet. If we know that it’s wrong, and we know we can get caught, and we know we will have to contend with the consequences, why can’t we seem to stop ourselves from stealing when it comes to internet property?
Maybe it’s this lack of shamelessness when it comes to stealing from the internet that has led to the sudden outpouring of internet censorship that has popped up in recent weeks. It seems The Powers That Be are desperate to get some control over that World Wide Web. A Montana city has even asked all job applicants to relinquish the passwords to all of their social networking sites! And of course at the forefront of everyone’s mind is Iran and Twitter—how a country silenced by censorship managed to break through the barriers using a simple social media site. Iran’s internet usage has grown by 50% every year for the past several years, according to techno-guru Alan Boyle, making it the fastest-growing internet nation in the Middle East. This MSNBC.com article even likens the Iran/Twitter situation to the 2001 Second People Power Revolution, where text messages helped the people of the Philippines to share information and organize protests, which led to the eventual overthrow of President Joseph Estrada.
It seems that the more the government tries to take control, the more outrage the public has against internet censorship, and the more powerful websites like Facebook and Twitter become. So what should we do?
Obviously the internet has amazing power, so we here at Five Point Capital suggest you use its powers for good. In other words, stealing music or accessing illegal pornography, bad; fighting censorship and combating oppression, good. With this approach, you’ll even be joining the winning side—as Red Tape writer Bob Sullivan pointed out, it’s Twitter 1, Censors: 0.