#023 - Information wants to be free.

A few words on SOPA, which there is of course worldwide protests against today.

It is of course, the wrong thing to do, and could potentially see a lot of important people who do good things (such as key whistle blowers) go to jail. Internet censorship is never going to be a viable option for the western world, nor should it be. Remember: Information wants to be free.

By that I mean that with every development of modern technology, it becomes easier for information to be accessed by the public. From the print press through to the ipad, more and more people have been able to find out what they way to know. And why not? Knowledge is there to be shared.

The problem comes with copyright. How do artists and creators protect their work against theft? Internet file sharing has seen worldwide copyright acts left behind, with no solution in sight.

My feeling is that the answer lies in individual industries evolving to create business models that work with the internet, rather than fighting its users. Censoring free speech will not work, and will do nothing to deter information's unstoppable bid to become free.