The OPEN Act.

Today Wikipedia is dark as well as Reddit. Google is wearing a black armband. It is a full-on protest over the Anit-Piracy legislation Congress will vote on on Jan 24th. Very exciting to see a concerted effort to get Washington's attention. All of this protesting is refreshing. We still have people Occupying City Hall where I live.

My main complaint about the Tech community is that they created an online environment that facilitates CRIME. Now that Congress has decided to step in, they are outraged. I believe the Acts are the result of a void created by the people running Google, Reddit etc. I think there was an opportunity to see this day coming and get in front of the Anti-Piracy Train. They missed that opportunity and I wonder why? What else were they occupying their time with??

Greed is on both sides of this issue. Maybe less greed than was involved in the Sub-prime crisis but greed and hubris. The Tech community thinks a lot about themselves.

I have seen the Open Act which purports to be a more reasonable response to Piracy. It amends the Tariff Act of 1930 and addresses unfair trade practices relating to infringement of copyrights and trademarks by certain websites. I have not compared it to SOPA but will do so and come to some understanding of the differences.

Not to be repetitive but why wasn't this Open Act already passed years ago. I think it is because the Tech community talks the talk but only acts when their pocketbooks are in jeopardy...just like Washington.

We have been sliding down the slippery slope of deterioration of the protections surrounding Intellectual Property. SOPA and PIPA may be extreme responses to that slide but at least Washington acted. What has Silicon Valley done?