I’m a habitual blogger. My blog posts are copyrighted material and yes, I’ve had my words stolen and reused on the Internet. There are copyright laws that protect the artist, the writer and others who’ve created intellectual material. The Internet is a glorious, magical way to share with others and promote ideas. I can take care of myself and I don’t want any more laws to protect me from piracy if it means web censorship. I refuse to have a few poo-poo-heads (see, I censored myself!) spoil it for me or for others.
Today many Internet websites are joining together to protest laws that the Federal government is seeking to enact. These laws are drafted to stop piracy of copyrighted material through web censorship Some of the largest content providers like Google and Wikipedia are protesting this legislation. These sites provide information– anyone can post an article or update an article on Wikipedia and Google picks up content from millions of website making it available to any searcher through their search engine. At times you may not like these companies — maybe you’ve found incorrect information on Wikipedia or Google has become “big business” and you don’t like the big guys. But they have worked to keep information available online and have spent a lot of their own money to make legal precdence in a new technology age that has not precedence. Check out Google’s page that explains their position on these laws and offers a petition to sign.
I’m a WordPress user and many of my clients use WordPress to publish their ideas online. Blogging has become the town square, the marketplace, the world’s library of periodicals. I looked at blogger.com and didn’t see a protest (by the way they are part of Google). However, WordPress.org has posted their protest for today. As a blogger and WordPress user I’m happy that they defend our right to be seen and heard.
Blogging is freedom of speech.
