Thursday, July 23, 2009

The anonymous assasssination of Marian Hebb

An article in Straight.com from Vancouver struck me just how much free speech can suck online. The article which supports a levy I disagree with (as a voice for an ISP) was never the less well thought out . The author a lawyer named Marian Hebb had proposed that

Copyright infringement has become a habit for many ordinary Canadians—at school, at work, and at home. When they scan a short story or an article, or download a photograph from a Web site and send it to family, friends, and colleagues without permission, they are infringing copyright.

Ms Hebb who advises writers on copyright had suggested that writers were entitled to credit or compensation for works used or downloaded online through a collective licence. Not a radical proposal , if perhaps the thin edge of the wedge for the imposition of similar levies on consumers that may or may not see any benefit from such fees . However what struck me most was the all too common and nasty comments from the internet freedom fighters who snipe endlessly, under a cloak of anonymity, at all who carry different views from theirs.

Brian1234 for instance suggested that Marian was ... nothing but another levy-promoting do-gooder trying to dig your hand into as many Canadians' pockets as you can. If your profession is not paying you enough, get another job. I certainly won't miss reading tripe like this.

Pounder (one can only guess at what he pounds besides his head againsts brick walls) argues even more eloquently that The author looks to be the age of most politicians who are behind these various corporate lobbied bills; and whom have not a clue about how the internet in general is used by people under the age of 45. I suggest doing some reading on the issue Ms Hebb before writing anymore ridiculous commentaries that only show your age and ignorance of the information superhighway.

Right on Pounder you tell the oldster to get stuffed. (Hint she is younger than me buddy).Seriously if we are into tossing names as a substitute for debate what kind of moron that proports to comment on Copyright has to call himself Pounder? Is Pounder hiding behind a fake name in fear that Marian might come over to his Mom's basement and spank him. How fearless. Freedom fighter indeed.

So is this is what the fight for net neutrality is all about? The right to opine in 140 characters or less and to boil down complex debate into nuggets like "you suck". Great. With all the opportunity for enlightenment that the Internet offers we get"Pounder" and his ilk instead.

Perhaps a quote from Thus Spoke Zarathustra by Friedrich Nietzsche says it all about what passess for intellectual discourse from those that lurk anonymously online

Life is a well of delight; but where the rabble also drink, there all fountains are poisoned.

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