Cybersecurity and "Internet Freedom" Act: Who Are They Kidding?

Anytime Congress puts the word "Freedom" in the title of a bill, it means that it's about to curtail the freedoms of whatever other words show up in the title. For instance, the "Cybersecurity and Internet Freedom Act", will limit freedoms in both Cybersecurity and the Internet. Easy, see?

Considering that most Congresspersons can't be trusted to check Snopes.com before e-mailing their bank account numbers to Nigerian princes, I can't see how they think they have enough tech savvy to regulate the Internet properly. And if there's anything Egypt has shown us, it's that we should be making it as hard as possible to let Governments pull the plug on the Internet.

"But Eric! The United States isn't Egypt!! You're crazy to compare the two!!"

Tell that to the 84,000 domains (mistakenly!!) seized and shut down by ICE without so much as a notification to the site operators last month.

Olympia Snowe (Republican-ME) couldn't get this pushed through in 2009 with Rockefeller (Moron-WV), so her companion in the Senate Susan Collins (also Republican-ME) from Maine is trying again in 2011? I have to ask: "What's up, Maine? What lobby do you have up there that's pushing this?"

My take on the 2009 bill can be found here, and not much has changed. Except the title, of course.

The Sound of Silence

Sorry about how quiet the blog has been lately. Many of the things I like to write about are starting to bleed together in my head. I busted out some mind-mapping tools (Thanks LucidChart!), and found out why it's been so tough for me to find a toe-hold on writing lately. 

I'll get to work on chopping this up into some sensible posts soon. In the meantime, please feel free to enjoy my madness.

Thanks!

-Eric

Everything is a Remix

Everything is a Remix is funny, smart, (and ultimately) a deeply important series of videos about the nature of creativity in a world where access to the means of media production and distribution are ubiquitous.

I'm looking forward to where Kirby Ferguson is taking this. He's done his homework.

You should watch the videos (and consider donating!).

Check out Part 1:

Everything is a Remix from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.

Part 2:

Everything is a Remix Part 2 from Kirby Ferguson on Vimeo.