“Imagine a world without free knowledge” – NO THANKS!
“Imagine a world without free knowledge” – NO THANKS!
Time to realistically manage our 21st century in which, as Thomas L. Friedman helpfully discusses in his long-time BEST SELLER, “The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century” describing and analyzing the DIGITAL age! (Be sure YOU note that the title is that the WORLD is flat, NOT the earth!) I believe the legal frameworks of previous centuries are OUTdated for the DIGITAL AGE and MUST be changed! What do YOU think?
If you are not acquainted with Thomas L. Friedman's best seller, “The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century”, I urge you to use the link to Amazon.com to learn more about it. I URGE my students each semester to put it HIGH on their MUST READ lists!
I continue to benefit from a lecture I heard at Marian College, Fond du Lac, WI about 21st century education as part of professional development as an instructor for our Wisconsin Web Academy which is a partnership by our Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI) and CESA #9 which provides local school districts throughout Wisconsin with online courses through the “Wisconsin Virtual School,” in which the speaker reminded us – the participants – that we were ALL DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS – that is, we were born before the DITIGAL AGE while our STUDENTS are DIGITAL NATIVES – they have been born during the DIGITAL AGE!
I KNOW from my grandsons, ages 11 and 7, what it really means to be a DIGITAL NATIVE! WOW! I am humbled by their DIGITAL EXPERTISE & DEXTERITY! Yes, I confess, my grandsons were KEY to helping me set-up my new iPAD!
So, the reality is that our CONGRESS MEMBERS are ALL DIGITAL IMMIGRANTS! They need to be educated vis-à-vis the DIGITAL AGE before they try passing laws to deal with our DIGITAL AGE! Therefore, I agree with Wikipedia and other technology companies who are shutting down their popular Web sites today to protest the RADICAL BILLS currently pending in our US Congress – the House’s Stop Online Piracy Act (SOP) and the Senate’s Protect IP (intellectual property) Act (PIP). The bills are based on OUTdated concepts and definitions of “intellectual property” and “fair use” and “fair distribution.”
For me, I am able to use the NORWEGIAN edition of Wikipedia today! What edition are YOU able to use during the shut down today?
I read with interest and appreciation the feature article in the Washington Post “SOPA protests shut down Web sites.” I urge you to read it for information and perspective.
I myself was relieved to read the quotation of Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif – NOTE: REPUBLICAN!), “The voice of the Internet community has been heard.” Rep. Issa reported that GOP leaders told him that the House would not vote on a version of the bill that those companies oppose. Rep. Issa makes a very healthy assertion, “Much more education for Members of Congress about the workings of the Internet is essential.”
FOR SURE - STOP AND CONSIDER: ALL the members of our US CONGRESS – both HOUSE & SENATE were born in the last century! The US Constitution requires members of the House to be 25 years-of-age and members of the Senate to be 30 years-of-age… so, the YOUNGEST POSSIBLE MEMBER would have been born back in 1987.
Using eNotes, I got the following report, “In the 112th Congress, which began on January 3, 2011, the youngest member of the United States House of Representatives is Aaron Schock (R-IL 18) who was born on May 28, 1981 and was elected in 2008,” from the “List of youngest members of the United States Congress.”
I encourage readers to get acquainted with eNotes as a valuable Internet resource to answer questions and for anyone to learn about various topics. eNotes desecribes itself as “… a comprehensive online educational resource. Used daily by thousands of students, teachers, professors, and researchers, eNotes combines the highest-quality educational content with innovative services in order to provide an online learning environment unlike any other.”
Reporting on its content, eNotes asserts, “Our content is all fact-checked, edited, and written by professionals who are experts in their field. It comes from our in-house publishing unit or from Academic Publishers, including content which is not available online anywhere else.”
Have YOU seen the ENGLISH homepage for WIKIPEDIA today? IF NOT, take a look: ENGLISH homepage for Wikipedia on Wednesday, January 18, 2012.
ALERT: ONLY the ENGLISH version is shut down! IF you speak another language, YOU have full access to WIKIPEDIA today! To access other languages, use "Wikipedia.” I myself am using the NORWEGIAN version of “Wikipedia” today! What language can YOU use today? Please identify in a comment.
Complementing the Washington Post’s article is the New York Times’ article, “Protest on Web Uses Shutdown to Take On Two Piracy Bills.”
BOTTOM-LINE: There is a legitimate concern vis-à-vis Internet “piracy,” but these bills are DRAMATICALLY RADICAL so they are losing support.
GOOD NEWS: As WE THE PEOPLE of the WORLD – yes, WWW = Whole Wide World – become aware of this legislation in the US Congress, WE THE PEOPLE of the WORLD are reacting. Having learned the TRUTH, NOW we have opportunity to take action so that THE TRUTH WILL MAKE US FREE! BBC World News made a very strong point that the Internet does NOT belong to the USA! The Internet belongs to the whole wide world!
I am a strong advocate for a WORLD WITH FREE KNOWLEDGE! What do YOU support on the Internet?
Here we go…
Mr. E.
John Eyster lives in the Edgerton area. He is an adjunct professor of political science at UW-Waukesha and an advocate for democracy/civics education in Wisconsin high schools. John is a community blogger and is not a part of The Gazette staff. His opinion is not necessarily that of the The Gazette staff or management.
Jan 26, 2012 at 2:21 p.m.
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Free knowledge sounds like a great idea. For starters, we can shut down the public school system. I mean, why pay all those teachers?
Jan 19, 2012 at 4:20 p.m.
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Totellthetruth:
Paul Ryan was neutral on SOPA until opposition started to grow on the Internet and his name was being circulated as a possible candidate to target for not coming out against it.
To call him THE BIGGEST OPPONENT OF SOPA is just as disingenous as the false rumors that he was a supporter. A month ago his stance was clearly unknown.
Jan 19, 2012 at 4:13 p.m.
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There are different versions of both PIPA and SOPA.
In its worst form it would mean that if you sang happy birthday to your kids and then posted the link on gazettextra then you would be guilty of a felony and gazettextra could have it's entire domain shut down without due process. Again this would be in its worst form.
I think that we have more than enough regulations protecting copyright holders. For instance the DMCA makes it a crime for you to even create a backup of a DVD for your own personal use.
Jan 18, 2012 at 6:29 p.m.
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There's also the H.R.3699 Research Works Act which would put publicly funded research information behind private publisher pay walls.
Jan 18, 2012 at 2:36 p.m.
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Jvlhomeowner it is the mindset of the democrats that started this bill. It faces support from both sides and opposition from both sides. The point I am making, is Mr. Eyester being a far far far left liberal democrat cannot see that it was HIS MINDSET that started this censorship ball rolling and HE FAILED TO GIVE CREDIT to Rep. Ryan when it was due because of his slanted liberal view.
Jan 18, 2012 at 2:17 p.m.
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Interesting reactions as a result of the flood of public reaction in opposition to these bills. Supporters of the bills are running away from them faster than Usain Bolt in a 100 meter sprint. http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley...
Jan 18, 2012 at 1:41 p.m.
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totellthetruth said:
It should be noted, that regulations like this are developed by those who support and are supported by the Democratic Party. What this writer intentionally neglected to say is that Paul Ryan is THE BIGGEST OPPONENT of SOPA. Please John, be far because it is people like you who are under educated who are making these rules.
Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX),Is a Republican and one of the sponsors of the bills, along with Sen Patrick Leahy (D-VT) who is a Democrat. AND there are both Reps and Dems against this bill because of the broad way it is written.
Jan 18, 2012 at 11:16 a.m.
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Read the bills. Read the history of sponsorship. Come to understand why, now, sponsors and other legislators are deserting the bills. My question is, "Where was everyone when the indefinite detention of American citizens was passed with bipartisan support and signed into law by Obama as part of the NDAA?" Oppose SOPA and PIPA. Two more examples of America's blanket reaction to an issue best handled with a precision action against perpetrators.
Jan 18, 2012 at 8:40 a.m.
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If you want to learn more about SOPA and PIPA, go to wikipedia.com, or reddit.com, or click on the blacked out logo on google.com.
Jan 18, 2012 at 7:08 a.m.
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So, you invested over 900 words to tell us you don’t like SOPA. And the reason is . . . because everybody in Congress was born in the last century! Not a word about what’s wrong with SOPA, why it could be an overreach, how it could constitute censorship, or any other sort of justification. You did tell us twice you can read the Norwegian edition, as if anybody would possibly care.
Here’s a little newsflash for you: in the entire history of civilization, the people who have legislated a new technology were born before the technology existed. The only way to stop this insidious trend is to stop inventing new technologies. While I’m sure your grandchildren are better suited for Congress than you are, I’m not quite ready to elect any 11 year-olds. The median age of our present Congress is 57, and you look a tad longer in tooth than that. Therefore, you are even less qualified to comment on all this than they are!
If one of your students turned in a paper that simply said, “I agree with everything the WSJ wrote yesterday, here’s the link …”, would you give it an A+? Because that’s essentially what you’re giving us here.
I haven’t studied this bill well enough yet to decide if I’m fer or agin’ it, and you’ve provided absolutely nothing here to help with my decision.
Jan 18, 2012 at 6:48 a.m.
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It should be noted, that regulations like this are developed by those who support and are supported by the Democratic Party. What this writer intentionally neglected to say is that Paul Ryan is THE BIGGEST OPPONENT of SOPA. Please John, be far because it is people like you who are under educated who are making these rules.
Jan 18, 2012 at 6:11 a.m.
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I didnt read your whole article cause your writing style gives me a headache.... but with your opening line.. I wonder why people pursue schooling in a lot of the simplest things after HS. They waste their money when they can learn it themselves free.
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