Argh Matie, We're No Pirates.

Tell me, what's your opinion of SOPA and PIPA? Acronyms are so misleading aren't they? I mean SOPA could sound a little like a bad rendition of an Italian soap commercial while PIPA could be misconstrued to be about a peeping tom. Actually PIPA is the Senate's version of SOPA, the House bill covering Internet piracy. Okay, now I'll bet you're in favor of them, aren't you? Well unless you've been watching the news or got cut off from your favorite wickapedia searches or googles. Yet it seems Hollywood and the Recording Industry are fer it and the Internet Providers are agin it. It's like the Hatfields and the McCoys all over again. Well, all except for the shooten and killen. But there's one court case where a couple of guys are being sued for $80,000 and $22,500 for pirating some songs. Now I don't think it's right to copy something that somebody else made without paying for it. The folks that make songs and movies have a right to be paid for their work and their talent. I'm just not convinced any song is worth $80,000 per listener, but the artist should be paid. But that's not the question about the congressional bills. The question is, will they, if they become law, will they cut too deeply into our freedoms and our privacy in order to enforce the laws? You, and I, use a computer. You may even know how to download songs and or movies. I wish I did. If I skip a few days, I've got to get somebody to show me how to turn the dumb thing on. Sometimes I have a problem finding this blog in order to write another entry. But that's another issue. The thing is, Uncle Sam is already a partner in nearly everything I do or say. Who knows when they might be listening to me rant or complain to some poor customer service representative. I know the company does. How many lists am I on? Am I on a watch list because I have a beard? Or might it be because I only "rarely" complain about Congress. At least one news agency suggests that if anyone copies any part of any news article printed in any paper, that person can be subject to litigation. Do you realize that in this post, there are words that were in at least one of their news articles? I'm doomed for opening my mouth. Or in this case, I'm doomed for punching a few keys. Is there a way to slow piracy without becoming overreaching?