Note this does not effect the listserver.

We have nobody to blame but ourselves for SOPA/PIPA.

For years I’ve watched as the Internet has been a hotbed of blatant copyright infringement.  I’m not innocent myself in this, and I acknowledge my role in creating this monster.  But at the end of the day, we’re the ones that have given the media industry the tools they need to argue for the blunt force instrument coming from the SOPA and PIPA Acts worming their way through Congress.

Because by in large, those of us who spend our days building the infrastructure of the Internet.. and those of us who act as gatekeepers and moderators on forums.. have played a very tedious game of lip-service to the content industry’s complaints: and we must admit that while some of them are patently (pun intended) ridiculous, there are valid concerns hidden in the industry’s hubris. Some of us (and some way more than others) have made the “I don’t drop the Bomb, I just make it” argument like that really absolves us of any ethical responsibility when the tools we build are used for criminal copyright violations.

We all know what a joke it is to whine “But Usenet.. and Napster.. and BitTorrent.. and RapidShare.. and (insert technology of the week).. all have valid legitimate uses other than copyright infringement!” because no sooner are those words out of our mouths we open up Transmission and grab the latest Doctor Who episode.  We have never made any compelling story about what legitimate uses these services have outside the seedy underground of the Internet.. because, well, they don’t have any outside a few fringe groups precisely because most of the use (by bits per second) is violative.  How many of you can honestly say that you’ve used BitTorrent to download more open-source software and public domain media vs. “unauthorized copyrighted content?”  If the number of peers and seeds of Linux Mint vs. a recent Doctor Who episode is any indication, it’s laughable to even consider this argument.

So, we honestly didn’t expect the content industry to eventually strike back, and strike back hard with all the might that their billions of dollars can bear?

We picked this fight.  We had the power in our hands to use the Internet to better ourselves, to create a new society based upon open sharing of knowledge and communication.  Instead we used it to download Britney Spears and The Biggest Loser.  We created an Information Superhighway, and all we did was use it as a high-speed getaway van.

When the last unfiltered packet is passed along the backbone, we will only have ourselves to blame in the end.

EDIT: Thanks to everyone who helped, the bill is now MORE THAN PAID…

Oregon City has long been a mill town. Heck, part of the reason my apartment building exists was to house workers at this very paper mill. Tonight, it sits quiet. A victim of globalization, if you read the story in the newspaper. It’s apparently cheaper to buy recycled paper from China than to recycle it locally.

Even though I’ve lived in Oregon City for less than a year, I can sense the loss. Not just of the around 200 jobs (probably all reasonably well-paying factory jobs, no less). But the loss of a small piece of this town’s legacy. Like so many manufacturing towns all across the country, the closing if this factory not only means the loss of a few jobs: it also represents the loss of a piece of this sleepy town’s soul.

With the closing of the Blue Heron Paper Company this town just becomes another Portland exurb, eventually absorbed into the fabric of the Big City just like Kenton was at this time 100 years ago, or like Beaverton has become in the past 30 years. Our city government is eyeing the property, on the south edge of downtown with some wonderful views of Willamette Falls, keen on redevelopment. They see Oregon City being the next “transit town” for Portland.. doubly so if through redevelopment they can lure either the yet-uncolored Milwaukie light rail line or the extant Green Line to our humble little Oregon City Transit Center. A revitalized and redeveloped downtown Oregon City would certainly be a tempting carrot to dangle in front of the TriMet board, that’s for sure.

But are we selling our town’s soul to save it? I don’t really know. I just know that tomorrow morning when I walk down the Promenade I’ll be hearing the traffic of 99E instead of a whirring Industrial Revolution relic. And it won’t seem like the same Oregon City anymore.

The bad news: I needed money like two weeks ago.

So, in short, I’m short. I have the rent paid, but that’s about it. I need about $1,000 to keep lights on and other misc. expenses until I’m able to bill for the first milestone on my next project.

If you can help me out, I can pay you back. I’m hoping that a few friends step forward rather than having to mine one person’s pocket. I can pay you back within 30-45 days.

I also need some help from people who are capable of lifting heavy things this weekend. I have some bulky things in my storage unit near Hollywood that I want to move into the cheaper unit down here in Clackamas County. Please contact me directly on this one.

Lastly, if anybody has any boxes, let me know, I might need a few.

That does it, I’m using the damn VPN from now on.