Holiday Break

I will be back the following Thursday After Thanksgiving.

I have all new articles and stories to post every Thursday up to Christmas, from Christmas to New Year I will be on Break. Beginning 2012 new articles and stories will post every Thursday except holiday weeks.

Stay tunes for more and thank you for your readership.

Editor and Chief
Patrick Lynch

(Guest Writer) - PIPA, SOPA, and The 10 Strike Bill, "A nightmare in the making."

Article by: Sir Rant A. Lot (Guest contributor)

13 years ago, in 1998, the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) was passed to protect websites and ISPs from lawsuits based on the activities of their users. It was considered a “Safe Harbor” for Website owners.

The new bill on Capitol Hill would circumvent that law leaving most of the World Wide Web open to a legal attack by the US government. Companies outside of the USA would have no legal means of defending themselves either.

Last year the senate introduced the bill S-3804, COICA (Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act). Fortunately for most Americans, it failed to pass thanks to Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR).

Back on May 12th of 2011, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced a newer version of this bill. S.968, PIPA (Protect Intellectual Property Act) which is aimed primarily at controlling Piracy and Rogue websites. The Senate’s Judiciary committee voted unanimously to pass it on May 26th.

Senator Ron Wyden managed to put a temporary hold on this act as well but the battle is far from over. He stated, “I understand and agree with the goal of the legislation…but I am not willing to muzzle speech and stifle innovation and economic growth to achieve this objective.” If a compromise isn’t reached the bill could go up for a full senate vote needing only a majority.

The DHS (Department of Homeland Security) would use this as the basis for their “Operation in Our Sites” which their Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) division created just before the holiday shopping season in 2010.

Let’s not forget February 11th 2011 when ICE attempted to shut down mooo.com in a child porn raid. The service provider FreeDNS at afraid.org was hit with the Internet kill switch and essentially 84,000 legitimate sites were shut down in a case of mistaken identity.

Two of PIPA’s biggest supporters are the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) and the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America). Former Senator Chris Dodd is also a strong supporter of this Hollywood-backed Internet Blacklist Legislation.

The Good

Unlike COICA, which targeted domain names in general, PIPA recognizes that legal action should be brought against the person responsible for the infringement before direct action is taken to shut down the website.

Officially, it also does not expand secondary liability. The Attorney General (or copyright holder) must send notice to those impacted, buying them time. Lastly it attempts to narrow the scope of those sites targeted through the phrasing, “dedicated to infringing material”.

The Bad

Unfortunately, The bill remains so vague about who is accountable that any site containing copy written material. Sites ranging from Amazon, E-bay and Facebook to Twitter and Youtube could be classified as illegal, and therefore shutdown permanently.

In theory, a fair trial must be held before action is taken to shut down a website. The Supreme Court has held that it’s unconstitutional to suppress speech without an “adversary proceeding”.

The loophole in the bill, however states that if the Attorney General “was not able to find” the owner of the sight or “no such person resides within the United States” then they can skip straight to seizing the website itself. 

A judge can decide whether to block a domain after hearing from only the government. It would allow courts to order any Internet service to stop recognizing a site even on a temporary restraining order…issued the same day the complaint is filed. The U.S. Department of Justice would have far too much freedom.

A group of ninety law professors signed a letter opposing the Protect IP Act. They described it as “the equivalent of an Internet Death Penalty”. They also pointed out that blocking entire domains could “suppress vast amounts of protected speech containing no infringing content whatsoever”. The Supreme Court compared it to, “Burning the house to roast the pig.”

Overseas domain owners do not even have the right to participate in the legal process or appeal the decision after the fact. Those affected may, however file a completely separate lawsuit after the fact.

PIPA also encourages ad networks, payment processors, search engines, ISPs (Internet Service Providers), and Registrars to take “voluntary” action against sites that they consider infringing. If a site is cut off under an incorrect belief of infringement, there is nothing they can do about it. Basically, they’re screwed.

Even more frightening is the thought that the Attorney General can obtain an order saying search engines like Google can no longer link to certain sites. Talk about meddling with The First Amendment and freedom of speech.

Then there are the payment centers. Imagine having over a million small businesses suddenly unable to receive electronic credit card payments from organizations like Paypal. If you think the economy is struggling now, this would create a worldwide economic collapse sending every country into complete freefall.

If a search engine like Yahoo employs over 13,000 people, how many employees of other legitimate companies would suddenly find themselves unemployed due to government actions?

The worst fact about this law is that it grants private industry extraordinary powers to stifle new technologies and innovation because someone supposedly infringed on their copyrights. Simply put, it’s a form of Internet censorship.

In the twenties Thomas Edison tried to crush Nicoli Tesla’s discoveries (i.e. the light bulb). In the fifties Juan Trippe of Pan Am tried to crush Howard Hughes’ TWA. All through history people in Hollywood have tried to condemn the Record player, the Radio, the Television, the copy machine, and the VCR. Do we really need an all-new twenty-first century witch-hunt against technology?

By sanctioning government interference with the Domain Name System (DNS), such a precedent could be used as a justification for other countries to hinder freedom of expression online.

Many Internet engineers like Steve Crocker fear that this would open up Internet users to new potential security threats. By ordering legitimate DNS Providers like Comcast or AT&T to cease service, Many Sites would have to use offshore servers not subject to US law. The conflict of servers would create an Internet architectural nightmare. It would also make the net far less hospitable to malware.

For those innocent websites swept in as “collateral damage” this would be very dangerous. ISPs would gain far less data on cyber security threats and many could fall victim to con artists creating fake websites for banks, credit cards, social-networking sites, and more.

Google chairman Eric Schmidt in London said that even if both houses of congress and the President of the United States himself were to sign the bill, he would continue to fight it.

The God-awful

If you think the Senate’s bill S.968, the Protect IP Act is bad, wait until you get a load of the one just released by the House of Representatives last Wednesday, Oct 26 2011. Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX) who leads the house Judiciary Committee introduced the HR.3261; SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) also dubbed the E-Parasite Act (Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation).

In PIPA, the primary targets were described as those sites that were considered to be “primarily designed or marketed for infringing uses”, In other words, those who committed acts of piracy or copyright infringement.

Despite the PIPA promise of not expanding secondary liability, SOPA broadens its scope to include those sites whose operators “avoid confirming a high probability.” Can we get any more vague?

These would include advertisers, credit-card companies, ISPs, search engines and registrars. Such parties would be legally required to stop providing ads or payment services to any site accused of being, “dedicated to the theft of U.S. property.” They would now face liability if they do not disconnect service from such websites, even if they were outside the United States. I don’t see how they could even enforce that.

PIPA encourages these parties to take “voluntary” action against those sites they considered to be infringing. SOPA makes it a required duty of these parties to police themselves and their users. This sounds strongly like the rules pushed upon the Hitler Youth Parties of 1938. If they new that their neighbors were harboring a Jewish family, they were required to report it to their superiors or suffer the consequences. The house version effectively demolishes the DMCA’s “Safe Harbor” act.

Under the SOPA, the Attorney General could order ISPs to block access to sites while leaving no provision for the accused to challenge the ruling before being terminated. The attorney general could then take legal action against anyone who provides products or services designed to bypass such blocks.

Unlike the Senate bill, PIPA, with SOPA, no court would need to be involved, unless the site owner filed a counter notice stating that it didn’t fit the bill’s definition of a “dedicated infringer.”

Markham Erickson, executive director of the NetCoalition tech advocacy group, stated, “This bill is a direct attack on technology, technology that allows for sharing of information…it covers anything that could foster infringement.”

This act would basically threaten the functioning, the freedom, and the economic potential of the Internet. It would short circuit the legal system, creating a fast track to shutting down websites. By creating conflicts between “DNS” servers, it would make you more vulnerable to hackers, identity theft, and cyberattacks. 

By sanctioning government interference, it would censor the American Internet more strictly than even Russia or China’s limited access.

The Utterly Insane

Also placed on the floor May 11, 2011 by Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), John Cornyn (R-TX), and Christopher Coons (D-DE) was S.978, The 10 Strike Bill. This one is as retarded as they get.

The bill states that if you engage in “public performance” 10 or more times over a 180 day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works, then you can potentially get fined and sent to prison for five years. Can we get any more Draconian, with the punishment for something that should be a God given right? It basically makes it a felony to stream or embed copyrighted material.

Technically a child could lip-sync a favorite song in a school play, the parent could videotape and post it, but once the eleventh person clicked the link to view it would become a crime, and the parent could go to prison while the child was taken away by the state. Do you want to be the one to explain that to your eight year old?

The definition of “Public Performances by Electronic Means” is dangerously broad. 10 “Public Performances”, could refer to 10 embeds, 10 streams, or 10 listens.

It is also considered a crime if the economic value of those 10 performances exceeds $2500 or if the owner demands over $5000 for performance rights.

One writer stated that the bill was so poorly written, that it could criminalize a night out singing Karaoke because it specifies “public performance” as an infringement. Does that mean that if Lady Gaga charges $200 per seat at a concert and you sing Pokerface for a drunken bunch of 13 or more friends at a party, you’ve just committed a felony?

It would also ruin shows like American Idol, America’s Got Talent, and X-factor where many dreamers go to try out while singing someone else’s songs. A lot more than ten people view those shows across the country.

Whenever I go to Bigfish Games or Macgames I often download the one-hour trial of a video game before deciding to buy it. Removing that option would lose them a lot of business.

I know that most all of my friends on Facebook have posted links to favorite songs and videos at one time or another. Most of them have a lot more than ten friends who have looked at these links.

In the 1950s, half of Hollywood were falsely accused of being communists and ordered to appear before a government committee for criminal offenses. Don’t let them start another witch-hunt over something so inoffensive. Our prisons are already overpopulated and the taxpayers have to pay for it.

For those who remember what its like to live in a truly free country, do not let them pass any of these three bills. I doubt you want your children to be blind, deaf, and dumb to what’s going on in the world today. The censorship of knowledge created by these bills would wipe out the first amendment and freedom of speech.

A hearing for these bills has been scheduled for November 16.

I might get in trouble later for quoting Albert Einstein, but here it goes. “A single drop of water helps to swell the ocean.” E-mail your local congressperson and let your opinion be heard before it’s too late.

Blessing and Forgiveness and Gratitude

Article by: Patrick Lynch

In this time leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas it is time before the closing of the year to be "Grateful, have blessings, and give forgiveness", for all of us spend time in our lives either being a force multiplier or a victim. As people we are taught by many people, by examples, by life itself, but to break away from the negative is hard.

There are statements we say to ourselves, usually learned throughout life that cross our thoughts. The ego does this and the subconscious also does this. Thoughts like:

“I am never going to get this right.”

“I always screw things up.”

"I 'm only one person and what do I matter!"

'I'm not that good at ______ ."

These statements have been made by any number of people. But why do we do this to ourselves. We cannot know how others lives are, we can only know our path. In this we shape our world on much of the perceived. It isn’t what you know, but how you know it.

"Never making assumptions, and not talking things personally"

There are ways to break the cycle, throughout live those negative force can come into play. We find ways to reinforce our negative beliefs. The cycle of beating ourselves up for small things, now think of yourself as a ship on the sea. You make a tiny correction of course, but this change was unintentional over a large distance you go off course. In a way the small self-sabotage we do with statements like “I’m not good enough” for example is like that unintentional change in course.

How do you perceive your life?

Your life isn’t the clothes you wear, it isn’t the house you live in, it isn’t how much money you have. If someone told you all your life that knowledge is how you show you are successful. You wouldn’t be slaving yourself to something to gain it, or would you? The saying it takes 30 days to create a habit, but an entire lifetime to undo, this though does hold water. We cannot unlearn what we have exposed our minds to. You are the force of change in your life!

"If one knows that candlelight is fire, the meal was already cooked a long time ago."

This statement is in itself a message of deep wisdom and reflection, for it has many meanings. To change the ships course it to stop all together and find the gratitude and joy in the moment. No matter how bad a situation is, everything ends, another day will come if it is in your destiny. The saying:

"Do onto others as you would want done unto you."

Most know this, but how many of you do this? When was the last time you paid a kindness forward? When was the last time you help a poor person on the street, or helped a person you knew with a problem? This all comes back to us in many ways.

All societies throughout the ages have a version of Karma. Karma is nothing more than a lesson, a learning tool, not a punishment. The physic principle of “For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction”, explains this in terms most can see in action. The physical test of this is a visual that make the non-visual a concept that is understandable.

It as if we belong to one great soul, much like cells in the human body. This is known as “The Collective Unconsciousness”. One soul many people. The thought that humans are apart of this great collective is quite profound; each human life is in part only a small part of the vast whole. We all share a planet and even though we come from different places and cultures, we are all human!

It is sad that humans are so adversarial. The human need to conquer to be aggressive, this is a part of the being, which is to be human, but it is not the driving force. Humanity needs to awaken from the sleep of many ages, in a way to peer through the glass darkly into what once was and what can be in the many tomorrows. This is to say that what our ancestors had in the abilities of the mind. Remember there was no television, no Internet, no electricity, these were people who lived by nature, with nature.

This would take seeing beyond, to a point of great peace, one of peace of soul or spirit, a peace in lifestyle, a peace in society. Seeing beyond could bring a greater peace, and just maybe stem the tide of warfare, hatred, destruction, discontent, fear mongering, and negativity.

Humans walk through life like sleepers who have not yet awakened. When the sleeper awakens their past comes into focus. This is not only the physical linear past, but also all the pasts that came before. All becomes crystal clear, in a way you are no longer a part of the matrix, but something else entirely, the glass darkly in transformed into a glass of clarity and understanding, one of enlightenment and guidance. This is a powerful transformation, one in which you get out of your own way. Living to ones potential and becoming awakened to possible, able to create those possibilities.

"Eyes wide open, hands held high, ever grateful."

Finding gratitude, blessings, and forgiveness isn't always easy. Life can be a trial by fire, but think about how many times in life you have heard the story of a victim of a great tragedy tell their sorry to then them saying: "I forgive the person or people involved, or I am grateful just to be alive."?

"It is time to move into the future without holding onto the past."

It is time for humanity to move into the future. Time to let go of the fear; this fear is the one of change. The fear of change is founded in the unknown. That which is unknown is scary due to uncertainty. The fear of uncertainty is holding many in the world back; another fear generator is religious dogma. Dogma is the ritual or routine of shame and fear use to keep people in line, this is called "Domestication". Fear is that which can kill the mind, body, and soul; this keeps one imprisoned and chained.

Fear can sap the soul of precious energy; it can also be carried from lifetime to lifetime. If you can awaken to these past traumas the process to cut the chains can begin. How do you awaken to these and start the process of healing?

"The steps of breaking the bondage”

The first step to this process is “Forgiveness”. Being able to forgive yourself, it is easier to forgive others versus forgiving ourselves. The key is to being able to let go and advancing forward. Nothing anyone does is because of you. They make their own choices.

The second step to this process is “Love”. Now this is use a lot and told to people as the fix all to all problems. Love is the most misunderstood thing humans express. Being unconditional is a form of love, being forgiving, being present, accepting yourself; these all constitute love. The love part isn’t easy, especially if you are holding onto past pain and trauma.

The third step to this process is “Charity”. Again this one is misunderstood; charity isn’t just giving money to the poor, passing on spare pocket change. It is so much more. Charity starts with yourself, this might sound selfish but it isn’t. The charity is the ability to allow yourself to let go of those things, which give you the greatest pain. Once you can let go you can pass on to others positivity, this is the start of charity. As this positivity grows in you, then you are able to do more for others without expectation.

The fourth step to this process is “Joy and Happiness”. This one thing is the hardest to do. What makes you happy or gives you joy? These come from a lot of things in our lives, but when it comes from in you is then real. Things make us happy, or people, or situations, but if there isn’t joy and happiness in us these things soon leave us unfulfilled. This takes looking into yourself honestly and loving the person you are, excepting you unconditionally.

The fifth step is "Gratitude and Blessing". This is one of the steps which take immense courage and breaking the cycle of self abuse. You matter and you are worth being happy. None of us have all the answers but we are not alone either. In a time when people are losing so much it is hard to be grateful, but if you know you have your life and friend, family, and community, you have more than anything you own will ever be worth, that is the priceless part of life.

"Awaken to a new reality, open your eyes. May peace, love, serenity, and joy be with you all during this holiday season."

Food for thought in this day and age!

Article by: Patrick Lynch

What I am about to say is more than likely to bother some and be an annoyance to others. Well to bad is what I say! Words speak to ideas, ideas lead to thoughts, thoughts lead to actions, and actions lead to change. In most cases people tend to hide where it is safest by doing nothing, not upsetting the balance in their lives. I pity those whose gall is to be unnoticed or over looked as so stay safe in their little bubble. I know why most say nothing, it is not they are weak, it is because they are afraid!  

For all of us, we say "My voice does not matter, or that I am only one person." I feel for you and those who refuse to change and stand for what is right. I see a serious problem with this country! A problem you say, if you hide behind ideology or economic place then you have no idea to what I speak to!

Let me say this, on November 5th, Guy Fawkes Day, you will have to think! "Remember, remember the fifth of November, the gun powder treason and plot?" if can finish this then you understand why the "Occupy Wall Street" protest is important, and how one voice can create change.

If Greece defaults on Friday November 4th, then all the markets will tumble and a repeat of 2008 and 1929 will happen again. B of A (Bank of America) just learned how powerful the people are. If you haven't clue to which I speak then I urge you to do your home work and get your head out of the sand. An informed person knows what they need to do, where as an uninformed person runs in fear.

You for the most part are the 99% and those of you in the 1% of the wealthy, you are thieves! Every person is due the right to make a living, have adequate health care, and the right to eat, take care of their families, education, and none interference from the government and the law.

We all share this planet and no person owns it! "If you think they do then I want nothing to do with you" .. This sounds harsh, but the truth is all people are equal in the eyes of the creator, whatever that "god or deity" is to you. For in all of life, 7 billion people who share this world, those 1% consume more than everyone else.

I ask all those who read this to wake up other people and fight for what is right for all mankind. I do not expect socialism or communism as a path to a healthy society, nor does capitalism work. We need a balance of people who understand what the poor, middle class, and working person needs. Our leaders have wealth and got to their positions through money.

No person running for office cares about "John A Doe's" plight. They listen to money. In the U.S we need a labor party, not a tea party; "Tea Parties" are for little girls not grown adults! We all are not going to agree on all ideas or laws, but in the interest of the future, we need to come to a agreement and not let special interest drive us into a dark age!

There are many religions and peoples who share this land, tolerance and understanding will be the path forward! Ignorance and hate only lead to isolation and indifference. It is the 21st century and it is time to listen, be understanding, and let old ideas die.

Do I have all the answer? "Ah NO!" But I do speak from my heart. Help others, be kind, let things go, do not make assumptions, and be a decent person. This will change you and others. An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth would leave all of us blind and toothless. These old ideas of retribution and ignorance need to be laid to rest. We are a modern society and what worked in the 1950’s or the 19^th century have no place in the world today.

We are a wired society! We speak to people every day from other land and other cultures. Where I live and I can say after seeing 38 countries, people are people. We all sleep, eat, love, have families, and grow. Please try to be a part of a solution, risk something, be a voice of positivity, and be a leader.

I have had a hard life and I could be bitter, but I wake everyday with the thought how can I create change and positivity? I am not perfect and no person is, but you matter and so does your voice! Stop the hate, indifference, and intolerance! Be a force for good, especially in this coming holiday season and for all the tomorrows.