John McCain has launched an assault against the independent blogosphere by introducing legislation that would, among other things, make bloggers responsible for comments and copyrighted material posted on their sites, with fines of up to $300,000.
This legislation would have a huge impact on the bloggers in the US. Not being a net guru, I dont think I have much to say about this other than the fact that I view this with some trepidation. McCain has proven that he is no longer a maverick, and seems to have sold his soul for a shot at the presidency in 2008. He has been pandering to the extreme right wing base with not only his choice of words but also venues. The senator pretended to stand steadfast against the president when it came to the torture bill (and who had more credibility than him in the matter), but he finally buckled. Also, his stance on Iraq is the opposite of what over 70% of Americans desire (ok, thats no sin)- he wants to send more troops into a country that has descended into a full blown civil war and claimed almost 3000 American lives. What he thinks he can accomplish by doing that, well, thats another thing. For those who are wondering why this move seems to be politically motivated, keep in mind that the blogosphere is generally "ruled" by the liberals, just as the conservatives "rule" the airwaves. The 2006 election also clearly proved exactly how powerful it is, with MSM following the lead of the same. The "macaca" story was not picked up the MSM until it was virtually impossible to ignore the buzz on the internet- and that one seat cost the Republicans the Senate. And thats just one example. Now imagine the power of this medium if net savy democrats used the same (and in some cases the effort seems to have started) to organize, campaign, get donations etc!! Now that would stick a craw in some Republican eyes. What better way to shut this down by legislating boundaries limiting what net users can do with their own sites. Some might argue that there are issues of copyright infringement, and I am no lawyer- but I do think that as long as the individual is not profiting monetarily by posting content that is already freely available on the net, it should not be a big issue. Moreover, since the legislation includes user comments, this would require bloggers to constantly police their own pages, something which I think most of us do not have time to do. Just think how easy it would be for a troll to shut down a blog- all he would have to do was post some copyrighted material in the user comments section. Well, that last part is speculation, so I am not sure if it is entirely accurate, but I do think this effort of the politicians to police the blogosphere is absolutely unnecessary, would set a dangerous precedent if this piece of legislation is passed, and should be opposed!!
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