The Silent Number

Posted: 2009-12-24

Mainstream media feeds information to the masses and opposes independent voices over democratic-- no, dare i say it-- anarchic mediums. Copyright crusaders want to take our rights to share and sell them back to us. Think tank, Copenhagen Institute for Futures Studies, says that the future will be free, belonging to what they call, an "anarconomy". Such a future has great potential, and already the internet has peacefully risen as a parallel anarchic society which profoundly impacts the real world. But how far will the powers that be go to stop it? More importantly, how can we fight back?

On one front, they erected the debate, if you can call it that, over network neutrality, a straw man designed to make us believe that bandwidth caps will eventually be necessary in order to restrict video streaming online and keep cable television a monopoly. They also call us pirates and claim that copied digital content is actually stolen intellectual imaginary property. If you thought the prospect of losing network neutrality was frightening, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) is far, far scarier.  So long as the internet exists, we will find ways to share; and when it comes down to darknets, they will try to legislate the internet to make it "controlled by and for big business, which can only be accessed by those willing to pay”. Even if we win on all of those fronts, they may have other tricks up their sleeve. They are still the keymasters and the gatekeepers, after all. This is entirely speculation, but without a necessary upgrade from IPv4 to IPv6 which they refuse to support, the internet may very well break down in just a couple of years. Where else could they be waging battles against the internet shaded from sunlight (said to be the best disinfectant)?

It's time to ditch cable TV. It's outdated and the internet can supply everything cable can, and do it better. Why pay pay for cable and internet when you can get everything you need online? Money talks; make a one-time investment in a home theater PC, and kick your cable box to the curb. You can build your own HTPC, that is, if you're savvy enough or, purchase one just as you would a normal computer. I personally recommend the Neuros LINK TVPC as it runs Ubuntu and supports Free and Open Source technology. The first Neuros LINK was Slashdotted three times and sold out pretty quickly, but the new ones are out. In time for the holiday season too, but of course i didn't get to posting this until Christmas Eve. Also, i have to mention the beautiful Boxee Box by D-Link, but the Boxee media center software is not entirely FOSS. The project is a fork from XBMC and uses proprietary additions.

Of course, there's more to do than just cancelling your cable subscription, but it's the first step. Really, if you give the slightest damn about these issues, why are you still giving them money for this?