Computer Support Blog

In January, activists from all across the political spectrum came together to inform Congress that they did not want the Stop Online Piracy Act to pass.  Through actions like a coordinated blackout on January 18 to businesses lobbying heavily in favor of the bill, the defeat of SOPA stands as a great example of how representative democracy can truly work.  Despite the defeat of the bill, there have been lasting reverberations from Congresses attempt to legislate the Internet.  One of the changes that will become more evident when Congress reconvenes is an active presence of concerned citizens and companies.  The presence is the Internet Defense League. Read more »

With the 2012 election cycle heating up, more and more voters will be hearing about lobbyists and corporate influence in Washington, D.C.  Every industry has lobbyists, including the technology sector.  Few companies, however, keep their lobbyists in prominent positions.  Comcast Corporation, the nation’s largest cable, communications and entertainment company, keeps their principle lobbyist as one of their corporate executives!  Her name is Melissa Maxfield.

Melissa Maxfield’s official title is Senior Vice President of Federal Government Affairs for Comcast.  Comcast, as a large communications company, has a keen interest in legislation involving copyright protection, Internet distribution and manufacturing relationships with subcontractors in foreign countries.  In order to ensure that Comcast’s interests are respected and existing laws are enforced, Melissa Maxfield spends much of her time for Comcast in Washington, D.C.

  Read more »

Today, Wikipedia is dark in the United States.  While Wikipedia users have been subject to pleas for money and frequently unsupported articles, this is the first time Wikipedia has ever made an overtly political move.  Wikipedia is the highest profile Internet site participating in the online protest against SOPA.  Yesterday, Alexa had Wikipedia rated as the sixth most popular website in the world.  Participation in the Internet protest against SOPA is elevated by Wikipedia’s participation.

Bravo to Wikipedia!

For those unfamiliar with the issue, the Stop Online Piracy Act is a bill the United States Senate is currently debating.  It is the Senate equivalent of the House’s Protect IP Act.  The stated goal of SOPA is to protect the intellectual property of those who use the Internet for advertising and media distribution.  Critics of SOPA and PIPA argue that the methods written into the bills range from dramatic overkill – the ability for the United States Federal Government to seize servers that pirated materials pass through – to utterly ineffective, i.e. the attempt for the U.S. to moderate a worldwide network like the Internet.  Even many of SOPA and PIPAs supporters are queasy or unclear about what the law, if executed, would actually mean for Freedom Of Speech.

Wikipedia is obstructing all access to its site today as part of a protest against SOPA and PIPA.  The metaphor is an apt one and the educational potential is incredible.  Of course, Wikipedia’s blacking out the site is meant to illustrate that should Congress pass SOPA, sites like Wikipedia could be shut down abruptly and with much less respect than the protest did (users were notified over a day in advance that Wikipedia would be participating).  For those not hip to the issue, visiting Wikipedia today and discovering it dark affords Wikipedia the unparalleled ability to educate its users.  By providing users with information as to what SOPA proposes Wikipedia might just wake up the sleeping giant that is the American electorate.

While some might argue that it is inappropriate for Wikipedia to stage such a protest, the Wikimedia Foundation’s statement on the subject is remarkably articulate.  There, the site’s controlling board point out that, making SOPA into law would dramatically impact Wikipedia and that, because the site is not beholden to stockholders, they ought to raise their voice.  With ironclad logic like that it seems particularly cowardly that Facebook, the #2 site on the Internet, did not participate as well.  As a haven for even the most banal free speech, the passage of SOPA would certainly affect Facebook as well.

At this point, SOPA is virtually dead in the Senate and President Obama has done everything but explicitly state that he will veto SOPA should it reach his desk.  Too often, though, we look at history and wonder why people did not speak up while sweeping changes robbed citizens of their lives, liberties or property.  Today, Wikipedia stands up and the Internet is better for it.

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