Photo courtesy of Gizmodo; Data provided by Aviation Week / Defense Technology International
A quick glance at Gizmodo's 2012 Map of World Conflicts above shows a surprisingly peaceful world, relatively speaking (light purple symbolizes a 'Stable' region). There are few surprises in the conflicts themselves - revolution and repression in the Middle East, piracy in Somalia, cartel warfare in Mexico and Columbia, high tensions in Syria, Iran and several African nations. Europe is 'Calm'. China, Russia, Brazil and the United States are 'Stable'. In fact, the vast majority of Earth's inhabited land seems to be enjoying an unprecedented measure of peace, if not downright stability. Don't misunderstand me - I'm as eager as the next gentleman to embrace this state of affairs. But in a depressed and fragile economic climate, one can't help but to be pleasantly surprised that cooler heads have largely prevailed (so far).
And yet what the map does not show is a highly-publicized and actively engaged conflict which directly effects nearly everyone in the industrialized world: The Battle of the Internet.
In the past week alone, this battle has been waged on dozens of fronts. With the SOPA and PIPA bills creeping their way through Congress, (and only Ron Paul publicly denouncing it among this year's Republican candidates), a large number of major web sites decided to "Black Out" on Wednesday, January 18 in protest of the ludicrous provisions of these bills, which would effectively have established internet censorship in the United States.
Despite the MPAA's most prolific whining, these online protests seem to have been largely effective. Wikipedia has reported 162 million page views, and Google managed to collect over 7 million signatures on its anti-SOPA/PIPA petition. As a result of these efforts, Many lawmakers have retracted their support for SOPA and PIPA, including several key sponsors of the bills.
The FBI responded today with the takedown of file-sharing website Megaupload, seizing assets which total over $50 million, and sending a clear message: they don't need these bills to combat piracy with a heavy hand.
Shortly after the takedown, the hacker collective Anonymous had its say on the matter with a large-scale retaliatory DDoS attack on the websites of the Department of Justice, the FBI, the White House, the RIAA, the MPAA, and several major record labels.
And that's just since Yesterday.
Whatever happens in the coming months may very well determine the future of the free and open internet. One thing is clear: the above map will need an update, or at least an appendix.
XKCD, I'm looking at you.
"The FBI responded today with the takedown of file-sharing website Megaupload, seizing assets which total over $50 million, and sending a clear message: they don't need these bills to combat piracy with a heavy hand."
ReplyDeleteYeah, that surprised me as well. Why was I feeling good about the defeat of SOPA again? Was that debacle just Congress trying to make FBI policy already in place legal after the fact?
What about Googles new restrictions and surveilance?? If I search for "Hitler" for a school project, I may end up eigther being listed as a neo-nazi, and or being spammed with WW1/2 info everytime I search for something or enter the internett. I will have to share a lot of info about my self, and what I have done, liked and more with everyone, unless I want to spend hours to remember and go though everywhere I have ever been on the internett, and specify for all the details who can see them.
ReplyDeleteGoogle is no friend here! Fredom og speech is no longer an option...
There are ways to preserve anonymity in the internet, if that's your condition for free speech. E.g., tor. Google may or may not be evil, but unlike the government Google can't use force against you if you break its rules.
DeleteYes. If I want to leave a comment on a "dumb" video on YouTube, I don`t nesecearly want to share this with all friends and future bosses..., but I dont see why I should have to not make it a publicly visible comment. I feel they have made us dependant of the internett, and now we have to put up with all this.. Google is owned by the NWO. You see the Freemasons symbol in e.g. gmails logo.
ReplyDeleteNWO start war wherever, whenever they like. Obviously now on the internet, and they have created a finance crisis so people will work in weapon industry volantarily, and create turmoil and, a greater demand suply conflict on e.g. oil, fear and frustration, and therefore an excuse to start a war against Iran, and force other countries to have to participate as well starting a possible WW3.
ReplyDelete