Internet Grappling

The fight for control of the Herd is a serious one.  I think the Superclass will lose.  Here's one of the reasons why.

There has been a battle of sorts going on for thousands of years.  The Elite (aka The Political Class, The Adepts, The Elect, The Powers That Be...) have been trying to maintain control over the masses in every way possible.  In ancient times it was a more rough process - show up with more firepower, enslave the native, and rule.  After a while there had to be a 'reason', and it was usually an economic or a religious one.  Sometimes there was a racial reason, as in 'white man's burden' or 'civilizing the heathen'.  As time has gone on it has become more difficult as the world gets smaller and the speed of information and exposure increases exponentially.  The reasons for control or regulation rarely stand up to scrutiny, and we are seeing some of them crumble before our eyes.

The last decade has seen the somewhat farcical concept of control dressed up as 'keeping you safe'.  Now this is a gov't that cannot do much of anything right, from finances, to education, to health care - thinking it can keep anyone or anything safe is absurd on its face.  The political left balked at this civil rights shredding 'protection' but they have been silenced with the election of one of their own.  Cloddish protocols at the airport attest to this phenomenon.  Blue-clad semi morons groping prospective passengers looking for 'terrorists' will leave the anthropologists of the future baffled.  This leaves the internet as an arena that lacks 'control'.

As the speed of information speeds up, and the proliferation of video expands, the Power Elite are constantly looking for ways to block or slow down the unregulated internet.  The latest power grab was the attempt at the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).  This act was Hollywood and their cronies taking a shot at control over web content under the auspices of 'piracy' and copyright infringement.  Kim Dotcom's site, Mega Upload was taken down unceremoniously, all in the name of stopping something 'bad'.

SOPA flopped as the word of the power grab spread.  Mega Upload was immensely trafficked, and its getting taken down was a public relations disaster.  Apparently, the legality of the maneuver was built on a foundation of sand as well.

Below, Kim Dotcom explains how the name of the game was power and control.  The administration was going to throw Hollywood (read: large donors) a bone with SOPA, and the big proof of the seriousness of it all was the takedown of Dotcom's site.  The problem is, now there is a new site, encrypted, that is legally and technologically near untouchable.  Every day the internet is up and running is a day of more information movement and the quicker spread of information.  This is a good sign for liberty.