Censorship is really, really dangerous. Big companies and the government — that’s a scary combo.
Of course it is necessary to protect what is yours, mine, someone else’s… But when you’ve got the internet where I can say and share and link to whatever I want…things get tricky.
Clay Shirky discusses this whole issue in a TED talk. Like he says: the people — not the domain pages etc. — are the ones getting punished. Again, he explains that the burden of proof falls upon the people who are sharing. We have to prove that we’re not sharing something that is not ours…
Why not — instead of taking away the rights of people to share, talk, think, learn — punish people who are found guilty of theft?
Why not? Because that takes away power from those with power and away from us — who give the power — and the law.
That Inane Laugh 