This week saw widespread blackouts on some prominent websites, including this one.

The blackouts were in protest to the now, possibly defunct Sopa and Pipa movements chaired in the US law system. The bill had now been dropped or at least put on the backburner for now, but the Internet is changing.

On Wednesday, the file sharing website MegaUpload was shut down by the FBI and it’s creators arrested and it’s content destroyed, the people behind the action was once again the MPA and the copyright Nazi’s.

Now I hate people stealing my work as much as the next person but the US administration is going after the wrong people. They’re fighting the site owners, data centre’s and hosting companies and accusing them of breaking the law, when they didn’t put the content there it was the users who did.

Yes, you can argue that they should be more proactive and stop users uploading copyrighted material but it’s not as easy as that.

Take this website, the servers are US based so therefore we fall under their jurisdiction and have to adhere to their laws, however its developed and ran in the UK so has to adhere to the UK’s laws too, so where does it stop?

Do we need to adhere to everything to keep everyone happy? In short, yes but that’s practically impossible.

Just expect more sites to disappear over the next few months as the governments fight a loosing battle, and a backlash is likely to rise.

Hello again dear reader,

I have once again endeavoured to write a Christmas message not filled with hate and aggression but with joy and frivolity, but looking at my notes this certainly isn’t the case.  For me this has been an interesting year, both for this website and in my life.  I’ve started new ventures, met some great people through twitter, became even more obsessed with it and started to write more articles that are less angry, but still the purpose of this site remains the same.

For 2010, the plan is to expand the site more and also make sure that I continue with the pod-casting, I appreciate that they aren’t all that regular at the moment and I’m sorry that there won’t be a Christmas edition, I just simply don’t have the free time at the moment.  I’ve barely found time to post in the past few months. I will be making a change in this area.  I have plenty of ideas of what to write about in the next few months, so you can expect a post every week from now onwards!

Well this year has been a funny one, not much has happened per-say, I mean the world is still revolving and the sun still shines but nothing of merit has occurred, except maybe Rage Against the Machine getting to number one in the U.K for Christmas something which I am incredibly pleased about.  I dislike over produced pop-crap so much it make my blood boil.  I don’t think I could stand to listen to Joe McElderry for any longer than thirty seconds without wanting to extract my eyes with a blunt penguin (yes I imagine that would hurt a fair bit). I truly believe that RATM getting to number one is a triumph for music and proof that the Public are not as stupid as we think they are.  Of course, if you do like X-Factor you probably are a bit ‘Special’.

We shall see what 2010 brings, it’s going to be an interesting year.  So sit back, relax, have a drink on me and enjoy/endure the season of goodwill with just that.

Merry Christmas

You’re stupid.  Over the past few days the silliness of people has hit me like a train.  We’re getting dumber.  It would seem at an alarming rate.  Gone are the days that we could all string together an intelligible sentence and gone are the days that people read for recreation.  I love to read; anything in fact.  I love to peruse a book with a nice cup of coffee preferably in a Starbucks.  (I’m going for sponsorship by name dropping; or at least a free cappuccino).

I think people really need to start to read again.  There are so many wonderful books to read out there and that they’re not even expensive, you can even get them free from this place called a library; you have t0 return them though.  Last week I was on the train taking one of my usual jaunts down to Cheltenham.  Just a few months ago you would see scores of people reading on the train enjoying the brief moment of downtime before their lives started up again in a raucous fashion.  On this train journey there was none of that.  Just a carriage full of nothing.  People staring blankly into the distance as the train sped on it’s journey through the country side.

I like to see people reading.  It gives me faith that the human race is not in a slow decline into nothingness.  I beg of you please get a book and read it.  Enjoy it.  Make the pictures in your head as you read the words on the page.

Happy valentines one and all we’ll all make sure we stick together and make sure we’re all miserable together.

Snowing again… Maybe I won’t be able to get to work… I doubt it.

Has decided to stay at home and enjoy the warmth of a lovely fire and a nice cup of tea.  Seriously, no-one can believe the amount of snow we’ve had over night in Birmingham, about 2 inches where I am this morning.

Information about school closures can be found at: http://www.brmb.co.uk/Article.asp?id=349317