Just Another SOPA Opera.
Last week, the Internet showed itself to be effective at more than streaming cute cat videos and finding the latest deal on shoes or videos. In a single day, the Internet enabled millions of people to assemble and form what is perhaps the largest protest in the history of the world.
Wikipedia's home page on the day of the protest.
An almost spontaneous movement that culminated in one historic day of protest effectively killed two bills being debated before Congress, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). I’m definitely not the most well-versed person in regard to either of these bills, but suffice to say enough respected heavy-hitters in the online industry rallied against it and served as a Pied Piper of sorts to hoards of followers. Wikipedia went black for the day. Other sites (Google, as an example) obscured their logos in protest, or became forums or points of distribution for protesters (Twitter). In less than a day, two bills which were seen as slam dunks for quick passage were suddenly withdrawn, with politician after politician going before the media cameras and saying how they needed to take a “fresh look” at the proposed legislation.
In other words, they went from “done” to “dead.”
On a personal note, I first suspected something big was afoot when my 13-year-old texted me and asked me to sign Google’s online petition. In case we doubted the Internet’s ability to take “sticky” information and make it “slippery” (easy to pass on), here we had it in spades.
In a world where “power” usually translates to money and connections, the SOPA/PIPA protest showed that if you have an idea that is simple enough and compelling enough and can get enough “social proof” behind it, nothing is impossible. Regardless of where you come down in terms of whether this legislation is a good idea or not, you can’t help but be awed by what transpired.
A word of caution, here. At some point, this process could lend itself to some serious forms of digital malpractice, especially because many movements can grow at a velocity where potential members may not have an opportunity to vet the authenticity of what’s going on. So before we sign online petitions or forward manifestos to everyone in our contact lists, we need to do some due diligence. Being the transparent self-policing place it is, the Internet will (in time) weed out the scammers and the low-lifes, but it doesn’t happen instantaneously.
The Internet, then, is at a point where we can view it much as we do electricity. It is so ubiquitous, we almost take it for granted. The power can be harnessed, but must be respected.
Posted by Mickey
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