now I'm starting to get a little scared...

To most that know me closely, one of the last things I'll ever start talking about is politics. Unless I know exactly where someone stands I won't bother breaching a political topic, and if someone tries to drag me into a political conversation I usually make a neutral statement and otherwise stay out of it. With that said, my reasons for doing this are I don't feel as politically informed as I'd like to be to carry on such a conversation, even if I was thoroughly informed the conversation would likely devolve into a pissing match and, most importantly, I hate politics. Is there anything more boring, painful or downright frustrating than politics? Even when it's important, there is never an easy yes or no answer.

I'm breaking my rule tonight because I've been noticing a trend that is scaring me. Around October, the Senate Judiciary Committee started pushing something called the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act which, as I understand it, is an act with major funding from the RIAA and MPAA with the power to shut down websites without notice if it is believed that they are sharing content that may infringe upon copyrights. Technically that's probably nearly every website in existence, but that's beside the point, while it would allow websites containing fraudulent merchandise to be shut down and have their domains taken into possession by ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement), in theory it would allow whomever was behind the Act to shut down any website of it's choosing, which of course the RIAA and MPAA see as a powerful option. Now, while this of course is just a theory, we all know how these supposedly polite organizations really operate, so the threat of insane censorship became a major issue. Online organizations like Demand Progress started taking petitions and it apparently made a difference as it's assumed the Act, even if it were to be passed, will have this power for unquestionable censorship removed. It's a slippery argument of course because some of these sites are committing major acts of copyright infringement, but it's wrong to shut a site down simply because of that, especially if they serve a greater purpose than simply making money for an online bootlegger.

With this Act supposedly mostly defeated or at least significantly cut down to size, most average folks probably breathed a sigh of relief, but then some sites began to disappear. The first were taken by ICE, if I remember correctly, in August, but more were removed in November. While the legitimacy of the sites that have been taken offline may be in question, what gives ICE or any organization the power to remove these sites without at least acknowledging a reason? I'm assuming they haven't gone after the bigger sites because they either aren't hosted in the US or it would require much more legal stamina, but I'd like to have more than just an assumption. More so, what stops them from going after sites like this or others like it? Granted, my site doesn't feature new or yet to be released albums for download, but most of it's content could probably be regarded as infringing someone's copyright.

I guess what I'm really concerned about is why the US government is using ICE to shut down websites that don't really seem to have anything to do with immigration and customs enforcement, why they're going after the smaller fish, why they're doing this when it looks like they really shouldn't be, and why they think this is the solution to solving copyright infringement. Some of the questions I can probably answer, at least to some extent. Why ICE? I'm no legal eagle so I don't know any specifics but I would assume their power, whether legitimate or not in these cases, can be stretched enough that they can shut these sites down, at least for the time being as many will probably not fight it and go on to other domain names or simply shut down. Why the smaller fish? Because ICE's lack of real power will come into serious question if they go after the bigger fish like Google-owned Blogger pages, all of which Google already does a good job of policing, that and the press would be even worse if they tried to bring down Demonoid or other sites like it. As to why do this over truly solve the problem of copyright infringement? Because they don't really want to solve it and they couldn't do it anyway. The US government will never have the finances or manpower to fund such an operation and, even if they did, the solution would come far too late. But why do it if they legally shouldn't? Because they're trying to get away with it for a while with the ICE loophole? Because someone is trying to win a pissing match? Because the RIAA and MPAA can't win and are making too much noise about it? All viable answers I suppose, but what's the real reason?

As I said earlier, I don't know enough about politics or the legalities involved to say one way or another for certain about any of these topics. I know I'm going to have some research to do before I can get to any such answer, and I know it won't be any fun whatsoever. I'm kinda hoping someone might be able to point me to someone who already has done the research as I'm sure they're out there, and that's the joy of the internet, there always seems to be someone who has already studied the topic at hand and has some answers, but that's what's scary too, because this kind of loose abuse of power could eliminate some of those people. Realistically, it probably can't do any real damage beyond scaring those smaller fish, but just because you win the war doesn't mean that there wasn't bloodshed. That bloodshed concerns me quite a bit, and that's why I'm a little scared.

Please forgive any incorrect information or errors. As I said earlier, I'm not as informed as I'd like to be when it comes to politics. Why write this then? Like I said, I'm concerned. I can say this though, I promise to at least try not to sound like an overly paranoid idiot while expressing that concern.



R.I.P. Don Van Vliet
At least this time I spelled your name right!



Quick Update - Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere and I'll be back to posting on late Monday or Tuesday. I may look into finding another host if Google takes serious issue with this site. Maybe I'll do like The Lost Turntable and get my own site, although I'll only do so if it doesn't cost me an arm and a leg.