"Anonymous, which briefly knocked the FBI and Justice Department websites offline in retaliation for the US shutdown of file-sharing site Megaupload, is a shadowy group of international hackers with no central hierarchy...[link] The temporary disabling of the US government websites is the latest exploit by the loose-knit hacker activists, or "hacktivists," who have taken credit for scores of online attacks over the past few years." OK...but isn't this just the sort of thing to give the powers-that-be the excuse they are looking for to push through SOPA, or more (I know they have backed off for now)? And speaking of which, isn't a digital nine-eleven just around the next corner? [edited 210112, 7a.m.]
5 comments:
Copywright violation is such a complex area, somebody was pointing out on Sky (as does the Huffington Post article) that existing rules can be broken even where all parties concerned are apparently aware of the rules. There is also the problem with artists who 'donate' their works to sites which also have copywrighted material on them.
I discovered how flimsy copywright can be myself two years ago with some of my surfer photographs which turned up on another site despite me having apparently chosen to make them copywrighted rather than available under a licence. As I'm not in it for the money I chose to use a universal licence in future.
There is statistical evidence which suggests that people who download 'free' music actually spend more a year on legal music than those who download via paysites, something like £77 to £33 but I'm not sure how reliable it is.
I had to smile at one comment this week when somebody asked, "Can the US Government really close down sites?" Well I seem to remember the Whitehaven or Warrington rugby clubs sites being closed down shortly after 9/11 because somebody had made a reference to Osama Bin Laden in an article.
There's no doubt that the Internet has empowered the likes of you and me and every other nutter in the world and that frightens anybody who previously thought they held exclusive rights to opinions, whether that be Governments or the media - particularly the media who treat bloggers with complete contempt whilst at the same time using them as a news source.
Your last paragraph is very true, it never ceases to amaze me the number of times you read an assertive piece in the MSM (BBC on climate change and their "scientific reporters", an example plucked at random...ahem!) only to see it completely (and scientifically) trashed and proven to be complete pants or not even half the story.
I have asked a couple of times re using artwork on Owsblog (many moons ago in the 1st year, and Charlie calling me a necky git for asking) but there is so many images out there so easily available I think most copyright violation is petty stuff that nobody is ever going to worry about...but it is still illegal!
As soon as any government really feels threatened, be it USA, UK, Iran, China or anywhere else, they will close down what and as much as they like!
I misspelt copyright again!
...and I copied you!
The servers for my webspace are in Texas so I would've thought the US government could shut me down at the drop of a hat if they felt they needed to.
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