Puttin' People on the Moon and SOPA/PIPA

[RaidPanther88]

I spent a good portion of today talking/arguing with a person about this SOPA and PIPA legislation, until I realized something: we're arguing about pieces of legislation that, basically, only have financial reprecussions for moguls of one industry versus moguls of another. The fact that Mark Zuckerberg, AOL, and Google are against it should indicate that they probably are not in it for "the good of the people," but, rather, for their own financial well-being. I'm not taking sides either way, but I came to the realization that we have wars, unemployment, and illness in our country and our world, and we're arguing about copyright issues on the Internet. There's something wrong about that, and it made me think of "Puttin' People on the Moon." Sometimes I feel like that song just hits true in so many ways.

[beantownbubba]

Oh yeah, make no mistake: This is mogul v. mogul. I tweeted the other day about the absurdity of Rupert Murdoch, interceptor of private phone conversations and commodore of a fleet of cellular sea pirate ships, railing against "internet piracy".

It's "interesting" watching the "titans" try to craft their arguments in ways they believe will appeal to the little people (that's us).

And you're right: PPOTM captures this beautifully.

[Lone Wolf1]

i ain't got no cell phone or ipod thingy or any other gadgets. i can do without the goddamn interwebby. shut the bitch down

[Clams]

Wait a second. Bubba tweets???

[Living Bubba]

@Bubba

[beantownbubba]

Wait a second. Bubba tweets???

Rarely.

[Maluca3]

Well, here's an argument for how this would impact amateurs. It may be about mogul vs. mogul, but these will have "pernicious side effects" that could impact the rest of us.

[beantownbubba]

Well, here's an argument for how this would impact amateurs. It may be about mogul vs. mogul, but these will have "pernicious side effects" that could impact the rest of us.

I was being too glib. Of course the outcome matters to the rest of us. But the battle is not being fought out based on what the effects might be on the average person, and the battle's not being fought by the average person. It is being fought by moguls out to protect their fortunes and competitive advantages while pretending to be the "true" protectors of the average person's interests. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Really: They should be out to protect themselves. It's the pretending to be speaking for me part that I hate. Well that and Rupert Murdoch. Well those and the corruption of the political process that this kind of situation always involves.

[Maluca3]

BTB I can't give up on the democratic process. A dozen senators publicly changed their stance on these bills yesterday due to the public outcry.

[cortez the killer]

[beantownbubba]

BTB I can't give up on the democratic process. A dozen senators publicly changed their stance on these bills yesterday due to the public outcry.

The world needs more people like you. And fewer like Rupert Murdoch.

[njMark]

J19 will be remembered as the day the internet fought back, let the lulz continue! Watching all of theose sites being taken down by the people in response to megaupload being targeted is beautiful. S

[Iowan]

My facebook status as of last night reads "They're too busy blowin' rockets and puttin' people on the moon"

It was funny how many non-Trucker fans readily realized it was about how Congress and some politicans are more worried about protecting Hollywood on the internet and preventing gay people from basic civil liberties than they are about fixing the country.