Quote:
Originally Posted by DrPhil
Yet I still hold it. I just wanted you to spare yourself the pretend irony and surprise.
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I wasn't feigning surprise, for whatever it's worth.
[separately]
While it's a convenient narrative that the "Power of the Internet" won the day, I'm much more inclined to go with MC's view, that there was a substantive shift in support behind the scenes based on potential consumer outcomes.
Actually, the version of events even in this thread - "This is the power of the people!" - seems overly congratulatory, possibly to a dangerous extent. SOPA was a dangerous bill, but I think the reasons were much less insidious than, say, Pike thinks.
I think it was poorly written, but the intention - protection of intellectual property - is actually an important step toward
protecting rights long trampled over in the modern economy. Without such protections, there's no incentive to create - and the classic "Patent Bargain" approach to other IP is failing miserably. The bill took a piss-poor angle of attack - requiring third-party oversight, particularly against their own interests, is a recipe for disaster, but I don't think the bill language was vague out of a desire to eliminate the internet through the back door.
The only benefit to this awkward narrative appears to be ... those who crafted it, and those sites that "participated'? Very odd, to me.
Hybrid Mode
