Liberdade na internet (?)

Aqui nos EUA esta havendo uma discussao interessante sobre dois projetos de lei que estao em tramitacao na Camara dos Representantes e no Senado. Estes projetos sao chamados de SOPA e PIPA, e dizem respeito a uma iniciativa de empresas de midias (a maioria de Hollywood) que buscam criminalizar toda e qualquer iniciativa de divulgar videos, musicas e coisas do tipo na internet. Do outro lado estao empresas de internet, como Google, Facebook e Wikipedia, que obviamente sao contra tais projetos.

O debate eh forte, e abaixo coloco algumas informacoes (em ingles) para que voces possam saber mais sobre o assunto. E sugiro que divulguem, porque se tais projetos forem aprovados, ficara meio complicado fazer um mero video para declarar seu amor por sua (seu) namorada(o)…

You are an agent of change. Has anyone ever told you that? Well, I just did, and I meant it.

Normally we stay away from from politics here at the official WordPress project — having users from all over the globe that span the political spectrum is evidence that we are doing our job and democratizing publishing, and we don’t want to alienate any of our users no matter how much some of us may disagree with some of them personally. Today, I’m breaking our no-politics rule, because there’s something going on in U.S. politics right now that we need to make sure you know about and understand, because it affects us all.

Using WordPress to blog, to publish, to communicate things online that once upon a time would have been relegated to an unread private journal (or simply remained unspoken, uncreated, unshared) makes you a part of one of the biggest changes in modern history: the democratization of publishing and the independent web. Every time you click Publish, you are a part of that change, whether you are posting canny political insight or a cat that makes you LOL. How would you feel if the web stopped being so free and independent? I’m concerned freaked right the heck out about the bills that threaten to do this, and as a participant in one of the biggest changes in modern history, you should be, too.

You may have heard people talking/blogging/twittering about SOPA — the Stop Online Piracy Act. The recent SOPA-related boycott of GoDaddy was all over the news, with many people expressing their outrage over the possibilities of SOPA, but when I ask people about SOPA and its sister bill in the Senate, PIPA (Protect IP Act), many don’t really know what the bills propose, or what we stand to lose. If you are not freaked out by SOPA/PIPA, please: for the next four minutes, instead of checking Facebook statuses, seeing who mentioned you on Twitter, or watching the latest episode of Sherlock*, watch this video (by Fight for the Future).

Some thoughts:

  • In the U.S. our legal system maintains that the burden of proof is on the accuser, and that people are innocent until proven guilty. This tenet seems to be on the chopping block when it comes to the web if these bills pass, as companies could shut down sites based on accusation alone.
  • Laws are not like lines of PHP; they are not easily reverted if someone wakes up and realizes there is a better way to do things. We should not be so quick to codify something this far-reaching.
  • The people writing these laws are not the people writing the independent web, and they are not out to protect it. We have to stand up for it ourselves.

Blogging is a form of activism. You can be an agent of change. Some people will tell you that taking action is useless, that online petitions, phone calls to representatives, and other actions won’t change a single mind, especially one that’s been convinced of something by lobbyist dollars. To those people, I repeat the words of Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

We are not a small group. More than 60 million people use WordPress — it’s said to power about 15% of the web. We can make an impact, and you can be an agent of change. Go to Stop American Censorship for more information and a bunch of ways you can take action quickly, easily, and painlessly. The Senate votes in two weeks, and we need to help at least 41 more senators see reason before then. Please. Make your voice heard.

*Yes, the latest episode of Sherlock is good. Stephen Moffatt + Russell Tovey = always good

0 comentário em “Liberdade na internet (?)”

  1. Professor, as pessoas, pelo menos tenho visto na minha página no facebook, estão apreensivas aqui no Brasil, Entretanto, a maioria não está nem aí. Como já é de se esperar… enfim, professor, será esse um marco no que diz respeito aos rumos da liberdade de expressão e acesso universal da internet?

    Responder
    • Olá Edvaldo! Demorei a responder devido à viagem. Como se sabe, os projetos foram arquivados, mas a ideia ainda está em pauta nos EUA. Por lá o lobby está forte, mas felizmente de ambas as partes. Acredito que se esta ideia for aprovada, realmente será um marco, mas negativo, pois uma das grandes vantagens da internet é justamente a possibilidade de se divulgar conhecimento e contribuir para a democratização do acesso ao mesmo.

      Responder
  2. Ok, o que devemos fazer, nos brasileiros? O que esta acontecendo no mundo neste instante?
    Existe uma energia,tipo retrocesso, como na eminencia de uma guerra, o velho continente falido, o Iran com o controle do estreito de Ormus, tendo como aliados os chineses, os judeus/mossad matando o cientista iraniano… O que esta acontecendo de fato no mundo? Tudo é possível.
    ValFerreira@hotmail.com

    Responder
    • Prezada Val, realmente a situação é complicada… Acredito que não apenas nós, brasileiros, mas todos, precisam se conscientizar o mais rapidamente possível para poder agir contra estas atitudes de cerceamento que se apresentam. O “problema” para nós, aqui, é que somos um país culturalmente subdesenvolvido, o que dificulta ainda mais as coisas. Se você puder divulgar estas ideias com o maior número de pessoas, já estará fazendo alguma coisa. Um abraço e retorne sempre ao blog!

      Responder

Deixe um comentário