I Won't Blackout

*Blows an inch of dust off this place.*

Before I go too far into what is sure to be a soapbox post, I need to make one thing crystal clear. This is MY blog. I can say whatever the fuck I want. Yes, I said fuck. And guess what... I posted. I didn't throw a blackout over this baby today for one (or two) very good reasons. 1. I haven't written in forever, so what would be the point, and 2. I am going to take on this whole SOPA / PIPA bullshit head on. I'm going to arm you with things that may or may not be true. Take that congress!

BE WARNED: You might hate me and think I'm a trash mouth after this post. You've already been hit with 2 "F-Bombs" in the first paragraph. I don't normally talk like a sailor *lies* but I"m going to prove my censorship point here.

Currently, there is legislation on the table in Congress. This legislation is SOPA - Stop Online Piracy Act. Sounds logical, right? No one should be stealing from anyone else, much less distributing stolen property. This is a common sense issue. This is where I remind you that Congress often leaves its common sense on the bedside table with its box of condoms and self-control.  Here's why I'm NOT happy about the idea of a WORLD governed by a law that restricts what we can and can't see on the Internet.

Number One: Since when is the United States Government's job to stop what some dude in Ireland or Belize or Australia watches on YouTube. Seriously - YouTube is owned by Google which is under US control, if I understand correctly (which I may not). So, I upload a Fantastic video of Miss 3 singing Katy Perry while she dances to Just Dance on the Wii. You can see the Wii content, hear the music and its just adorable as shit. Right? Except I don't have any right to distribute that song. Or that picture of the Wii because YOU didn't buy the game, I did. Am I a Pirate? AARRGG. Hell no.

Number Two: Mr. 11 comes home from school and asks me what the Boston Tea Party was all about. Its not for a report but just because he's curious. I pull up Google (which will be censored) and hit Wikipedia (Which will be censored). Not because Wikipedia is the end-all-be-all of correct knowledge, far from it, but because it is a HUGE online wealth of easy to read knowledge. Because its ten years in the making has a purpose. If I'm an expert and can have my entry approved, I could write for Wikipedia and so could you. Does Mr. 11 understand that Wikipedia is written by the people and for the people? Sure he does. He also knows what plagiarism is and that its BAD. He has morals.

Number Three: At SOME POINT, we have to agree that things are going to be out there. There are thousands if not MILLIONS of images that are public domain by default. Can we really stop some teenager who is in love with the Biebs from using his face as her Avi because its his face and not really hears? That is completely jacked up! I know I'm taking this to an extreme, I really do, but once the ball is rolling, how far will it go? Is my blog going to get taken down because I posted this video just now?





I mean, can't we just have that one particular video taken down if it pisses Breathe Carolina off that much that I shared their song with the billions and billions served by this blog. (Intense sarcasm intended.) Its worked so far - no harm no foul. Charging me to see this or share it is EXACTLY what YouTube is NOT about. Its a FREE video uploading channel for the world to use. Thanks a lot Senators - obviously you don't watch Marcel the Shell... assholes.

Now, what can you do to stop this madness from hitting us all.
Well, you could just never use Wikipedia, YouTube, Pintrest, Twitter, Facebook or any other form of social media again with the free will to post songs and pictures you love. Well, you could post them -  but we might all have to pay to see them. And you would have to pay to watch them. And the government could take them down anyway....

You could click this link and sign the petition to STOP SOPA AND PIPA. Its easy and it takes like 30 seconds of your online life which we all know is way more important than you'll ever admit anyway. Hey, I'm just being honest. We love our Internet.

Call, or tweet, or Facebook your Representatives and let them know what a crock of shit the whole deal is anyway. Seriously... 99% percent of the world isn't posting terrorist threats or stealing videos. This is a bit much, don't you think Senator? (Also, I made up that statistic. It might be 98% or any other random number)

You can laugh this off. I'm sure most of you will but someday you'll wake up jonesing for an old Bon Jovi video on YouTube and have to enter your credit card information. Take that. Now you get it, right?

Also, I might be out of line with all the (*^&^( I'm posting in this, but again... its not a nice thing to say. I'm going to say it before I have to pay a fine for that too.

Have you read The Hunger Games or Matched where the Gov't controls everything???........ Just a thought.