Chronicling the depravities of the State.
Here’s a question to ponder for a moment, is your cell phone yours? You paid for it, you pay for the plan that makes it useful, you have it in your possession, and you store your personal data on it so obviously it’s yours, right? Wrong. Your cell phone belongs to the state, which is … Continue reading “Beginning Tomorrow Unlocking Your Phone Will Again be Illegal”
Representatives of the recording, publishing, and movie industries constantly gripe about Internet piracy. They claim rampent piracy will lead to the death of music, literature, and movies because individuals will no longer pay money for them. Considering this why don’t those industries gripe about another source of obtaining such media for free? You never hear … Continue reading “The Difference Between the Pirate Bay and the Library”
It doesn’t matter to the state if you’re black or white, rich or poor, young or old they will rob you: An anti-piracy company has found itself in the middle of a huge controversy. CIAPC, the company that had The Pirate Bay blocked by ISPs in Finland, tracked an alleged file-sharer and demanded a cash … Continue reading “The State Will Rob Anybody”
Agorism, as I see it, is a movement with two purposes. First there is the obvious purpose of bringing an end to the violent state by witholding resources, such as tax money, from it. The second purpose is to help your fellow individual. Many goods and services that are necessary for survival are priced far … Continue reading “Agorism Helping Those in Need”
While everybody was trying to fight the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) the United States government was acting like the law was already passed. The United States government seized the assets of Megaupload after accusing the company of assisting pirates. Now the government has come out and said even if the charges again Megaupload are … Continue reading “Just Because You’re Innocent Doesn’t Mean the State Can’t Take Your Stuff”
What happens when you’re a power-hungry state that wants to offer up some terrible piece of legislation but the people keep expressing distate for the legislation? Rename it and try again: Last week, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to reject ACTA, striking a major blow to the hopes of supporters who envisioned a landmark agreement … Continue reading “If at First You Don’t Succeed Rename the Legislation and Try Again”
Patents are a state granted monopoly on an idea and, as with any state institution, they protect the wealthy while preventing new innovators from entering the field. The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) put together an excellent chart that explains how the patent system work: Only the wealthy can afford to file for and defend a … Continue reading “How the Patent System Works”
We all know our “representatives” are bought and paid for but this fact is rarely shown openly. In a rather odd twist in the recent Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT-IP) drama the Motion Picture Association of American (MPAA) and openly … Continue reading “SOAP and PROTECT-IP are Bought and Paid For”
The Internet blackout did a good job of raising awareness of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act (PROTECT-IP, PIPA, or entirely absurd acronym). In fact so much awareness was raised and so many calls were made to “representatives” that both … Continue reading “SOPA and PROTECT-IP Were Irrelevant”
I’m always harping on government interference in our every day lives. Lately I’ve been looking at peoples’ desire to get the government further involved in Internet regulations. Well I’ve already shown the United States government’s incompetence in selecting people to work on Internet regulations when they put Mr. Series of Tubes, Ted Stevens, in charge. … Continue reading “Remember These People Make Regulations”