“Without Freedom of thought, there can be no such Thing as Wisdom; and no such thing as public Liberty, without Freedom of speech." - Benjamin Franklin
This is 'protest SOPA' day.
SOPA is the worst blow to civilization facing us right now - worse than the wars in Africa, worse than the environmental crisis. Because it means that freedom of expression is no longer one of our rights, because it proves that the corporations and the self-serving lawyers are in charge of our governments, and that our politicians no longer value freedom over commerce.
Freedom of expression, freedom of communication, freedom of information. It's the foundation of all progress in our world. Censors always like to have good reasons for their legislation - the Inquisition with Galileo, the anti-pornographers, the Stalinist or Nazi propagandists. It's never for the better.
Now it's the crusade of the copyrightists and those who want to control what we do and see online. People who clearly do not understand what we do and see online.
As a Canadian, I feel helpless to fight SOPA. I can't write to my congressman. Yet I know that if SOPA has its way, I will be as affected as any American.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}