ACTA, megaupload and kopimism: it’ll all be e-right, just don’t click download
The internet is looking pixelised. In the course of just a few months, the online community has downloaded an all-encompassing anger. The closure of megaupload marked the launch of an attack against piracy by various opaque laws and international treaties. The children of the internet are now searching desperately for the link which will take them to their favourite TV series, which form part of their virtual culture. The protests of citizens unable to find a balance between their rights and their responsibilities continue, expressing fear of the end of a system where ‘everything is free’. In times of uncertainty, some people worship the god of ‘copy’, others worry about the huge bill which they will have to pay when everything changes and others still envision the birth of e-rights. None of them are willing to lift their hands from the keyboard just because the authorities say so.
A future post 'consumption', that deadly 21st century internet disease
As the 'anti-counterfeiting trade agreement' (Acta) is discussed in public in the European parliament for the first time on 29 February, one Italian journalist imagines what it might be like if we have to pay for every online service. The consumer's copyright-protected future would be free no more
literature, gmail, internet, society, social networks, techno-media
Isak Gerson, founder of kopimist church: 'File-sharing' is not 'stealing'
‘We don’t believe in god at all,’ says Isak Gerson. However, this was no obstacle for the 20-year-old Swedish philosophy student to establish the missionary church of kopimism (from ‘copy + me’) – a church without hierarchy, whose 6000 followers actively encourage internet users to share all kinds of files
Megaupload, FBI, anonymous: internet battle over copyright
After a vast legal process in the American courts, the internet platform megaupload was closed down on 19 January. Is it a copyright struggle or the start of a third world war? One Frenchie looks for a more differentiated approach
Megaupload vs Sopa and Pipa: it'll be e-right on the night
Act one: stop online piracy. Act two: protect international property. Act three: shut down a famous file-sharing site. Act four: anti-counterfeiting trade agreement. We call for a bit of order in the debate on internet freedom versus intellectual property rights which has kicked off 2012
european parliament, freedom of speech, music, freedom of opinion, cinema, media, downloads, internet, techno-media
Are you confiscating my ipod? EU citizens against ‘Acta’ treaty
A proposed worldwide ‘anti-counterfeiting trade agreement’ (ACTA) would impose a legal framework on online intellectual property rights. The term 'internet' is not even mentioned once in the entire treaty, infuriating European citizens who fear for their freedoms and about censorship
