Post by Kalisiin Kumaki on Apr 22, 2012 15:57:37 GMT -5
I mainly created this section to discuss any cool indie projects...and pending Internet legislation which may impact indie programmers.
We defeated SOPA and PIPA, only to see it rear its ugly had once again, with the proposed CISPA legislation. (I think the only way these proposed pieces of legislation are going to go away...is if we run them out of letters in the alphabet...and then, they'll probably invent more letters!!) That, or really put the hurts to ALEC.
ALEC, for those who do not know...is the American Legislative Exchange Council...a right-wing think-tank that masquerades itself as bi-partisan...which, until recently, existed primarily to advance the financial interests of big business - (often at the expense of the consumer.) In more recent years, they have been co-opted by the Tea Party elements in our country, and have supported "Shoot First" laws, like Florida's infamous "Stand Your Ground" law, which almost allowed George Zimmerman to get away with the cold-blooded murder of Trayvon Martin.
They have also sponsored and authored many "Voter ID" laws, in many states, which, they claim...are intended to deal with the issue of voter fraud. voter Fraud is NOT a problem, anywhere, it has been demonstrated time and again, that there is no problem...and never has any amount of voter fraud ever turned an election. the REAL purpose behind this type of legislation is to suppress the vote of people who would traditionally vote Democratic (i.e. against their greedy plutocratic agenda) - namely, seniors, people of color, other poor people who are not likely to HAVE the required forms of ID...nor even any need for them, since they do not drive. It is the 21st Century equivalent of poll taxes and literacy tests, intended to suppress the vote of certain groups that would oppose the agenda of the rich and powerful. these laws are being pushed because they KNOW they cannot win a fair election, and thus do what they can to suppress the vote, and thus stack the deck in their favor. Anyone who reads about ALEC and is not outraged...is not paying attention.
I do not doubt ALEC had a lot to do with the authoring and supporting of SOPA, PIPA, and CISPA.
It is particularly distressing to me to see Mark Zuckerberg (yeah, that guy) publicly come out and support this - guess it goes to show you big bucks changes people!!
I am of the opinion that any internet legislation that would stifle creativity and the exchange of information is bad. The Internet remains the one place where we can go to get news and information - which is not spun and served to us by the Corporate Media...and serving the Corporate Agenda - which, in short is...make as much money as possible (primarily by doing their level best to quietly, and in the shadows, screw over workers and consumers to the benefit of themselves.) The more they can control the news and flow of information, the more they are able to work in secret to undermine working families and consumer protections.
Any legislation which allows corporations to decide what is fit and is not fit to be on the Internet...is definitely bad news.
Likewise, any legislation which does not provide adequate protection to indie game developers is bad for our future - indie game developers often hone their skills by creating "fan games" of popular commercially-released games.
These games are usually freeware, and the developers normally make no money off them, doing them as a labor of love, because they love a specific game...and/or to hone their programming skills. Yet, the big game producers would like to shut down such indie games, and claim massive copyright infringement against these developers...and basically sue them into oblivion!
That is a great recipe to stifle creativity, and stifle the development of future programmers - in other words, very short-sighted policy which, while it may "benefit" the big game corporations in the short term, it will definitely hurt them long term.
And it is very questionable that it would benefit them, even short-term, as many people buy the actual game on which a fan-game is based...after playing the fan-game. I personally can think of several examples where I bought the commercially-produced game only because I had played an indie fan-game based on that game and had enjoyed it.
SO...that is the basic reason for this Board.
We defeated SOPA and PIPA, only to see it rear its ugly had once again, with the proposed CISPA legislation. (I think the only way these proposed pieces of legislation are going to go away...is if we run them out of letters in the alphabet...and then, they'll probably invent more letters!!) That, or really put the hurts to ALEC.
ALEC, for those who do not know...is the American Legislative Exchange Council...a right-wing think-tank that masquerades itself as bi-partisan...which, until recently, existed primarily to advance the financial interests of big business - (often at the expense of the consumer.) In more recent years, they have been co-opted by the Tea Party elements in our country, and have supported "Shoot First" laws, like Florida's infamous "Stand Your Ground" law, which almost allowed George Zimmerman to get away with the cold-blooded murder of Trayvon Martin.
They have also sponsored and authored many "Voter ID" laws, in many states, which, they claim...are intended to deal with the issue of voter fraud. voter Fraud is NOT a problem, anywhere, it has been demonstrated time and again, that there is no problem...and never has any amount of voter fraud ever turned an election. the REAL purpose behind this type of legislation is to suppress the vote of people who would traditionally vote Democratic (i.e. against their greedy plutocratic agenda) - namely, seniors, people of color, other poor people who are not likely to HAVE the required forms of ID...nor even any need for them, since they do not drive. It is the 21st Century equivalent of poll taxes and literacy tests, intended to suppress the vote of certain groups that would oppose the agenda of the rich and powerful. these laws are being pushed because they KNOW they cannot win a fair election, and thus do what they can to suppress the vote, and thus stack the deck in their favor. Anyone who reads about ALEC and is not outraged...is not paying attention.
I do not doubt ALEC had a lot to do with the authoring and supporting of SOPA, PIPA, and CISPA.
It is particularly distressing to me to see Mark Zuckerberg (yeah, that guy) publicly come out and support this - guess it goes to show you big bucks changes people!!
I am of the opinion that any internet legislation that would stifle creativity and the exchange of information is bad. The Internet remains the one place where we can go to get news and information - which is not spun and served to us by the Corporate Media...and serving the Corporate Agenda - which, in short is...make as much money as possible (primarily by doing their level best to quietly, and in the shadows, screw over workers and consumers to the benefit of themselves.) The more they can control the news and flow of information, the more they are able to work in secret to undermine working families and consumer protections.
Any legislation which allows corporations to decide what is fit and is not fit to be on the Internet...is definitely bad news.
Likewise, any legislation which does not provide adequate protection to indie game developers is bad for our future - indie game developers often hone their skills by creating "fan games" of popular commercially-released games.
These games are usually freeware, and the developers normally make no money off them, doing them as a labor of love, because they love a specific game...and/or to hone their programming skills. Yet, the big game producers would like to shut down such indie games, and claim massive copyright infringement against these developers...and basically sue them into oblivion!
That is a great recipe to stifle creativity, and stifle the development of future programmers - in other words, very short-sighted policy which, while it may "benefit" the big game corporations in the short term, it will definitely hurt them long term.
And it is very questionable that it would benefit them, even short-term, as many people buy the actual game on which a fan-game is based...after playing the fan-game. I personally can think of several examples where I bought the commercially-produced game only because I had played an indie fan-game based on that game and had enjoyed it.
SO...that is the basic reason for this Board.
