Thursday, January 19, 2012

A call to outrage

Once again my followers and readers (both of you), I am back after a combined Christmas and New Year's holiday. I wish I could start on a cheerier note, but, alas, there is a great and present danger at hand.

You see, over in the United States there is a new act being considered. If you're well versed in the internet then you'll have probably already heard of it. I am of course refering to the PROTECT IP and STOP ONLINE PIRACY ACT, PIPA/SOPA. This act will grant the US government and the entertainment industry the power to block, sue, or cut of funds to any website that contains copyrighted material. The problem however is that the act is very ambiguous, and the government and powerful corporations could easily abuse it to shut down any sites they THINK are infringing on copyrights, i.e. any websites they want. This also puts such commonly used sites such as Tumblr, Google, Youtube, Facebook and others at serious risk of being blocked or worse, due to some of the content people put on there (hope you haven't put up any facebook statuses containing song lyrics).

Even worse, PIPA/SOPA could destabilise the internet, as corporations and governts tamper with the registry of IP adesses, and the act will not even be effective at stopping online piracy (which is what it is meant to do), as sites containing pirated material could still be reached through the IP adress.

All in all, PIPA/SOPA is bad news for the internet, and brings us one step closer to living in a dystopia right out of 1984.

Please, if you oppose PIPA/SOPA, want your internet safe and open, or just support freedom, speak up or do something about this act. There are several sites that offer more information on the subject, and I encourage you to search for them. Tell others about PIPA/SOPA and what it really means for the internet, and if you can write to Congress or the State department.

Save our internet! After all, do you really want the people who brought us George Bush, Sarah Palin and Justin Bieber in charge of the internet?

In other news, the next gathering is on the 9th of February. Exactly what will be happening has yet to be decided upon, but it is possible that, because of Waitangi day, it will be extra patriotic. I think there might be some other obscure tradition in February, but I can't quite think of what it is...

Furthermore, as of Christmas, I have begun a Crusade of Classic Literature! Starting with Lolita (after FINALY obtaining a copy), I intend to work through a whole gaggle of great classics.

And, at long last, a new Kakapo Challenge: comment on this blog and tell me what ol' Santy Claus left you for Christmas! A cookie to those who succeed.

That's all for this instalment folks. Hasta a la Victoria Siempre!

Ace Of Clubs

Hi Welcome to the blog of the Mangere Bridge Teen Book Club. We call ourselves Ace of Clubs. We meet once a month, normally on the third Thursday 4.30pm @ Mangere Bridge Library. We talk about books, hang out and have random fun. This blog will tell you what we have been up to, what is coming up and of course lots of stuff about books. All teens are welcome so if you are around come along and join us.