4 ms·

Nicholas Carr - Piracy and Privacy

12 points by bproper 15y ago

casca 15y ago
This is a spurious comparison. Restrictions on piracy are immediately visible to people. They get blocked from doing something, they pay more for music or films, they go to prison. There is a tangible effect that gets media coverage. Privacy and the loss thereof is almost always entirely invisible. So Google, Facebook et al collect all my browsing habits and use it to sell things to me. It's not an event that can make the average person upset. SOPA got the internets aflutter because it's something they (think they) can understand. Privacy - not so much.
- wladimir 15y ago
  I doubt it too. How can this "right to be forgotten" even be serious while the EU is lobbying for data retention laws at the same time?
- jnorthrop 15y ago
  > It's not an event that can make the average person upset. Not yet anyway, but public opinion is changing and faster than many think. Carr mentioned the updated European Data Directive due out today, but right on it's heels will be a report from the FTC[1] and one from the Department of Commerce[2] formalizing drafts released last year that outline privacy reforms in the US. Events like Google recording Wifi spots, Carrier IQ gathering data and even the story of Apple secretly recording location data are becoming more prevalent. I think we are only 12-18 months out before scattered public opinion changes to real momentum for privacy rights activists. [1]http://www.privacyrights.org/ftc-protecting-consumer-privacy-report-comments http://www.privacyrights.org/ftc-protecting-consumer-privacy... [2]http://www.iab.net/public_policy/1495162 http://www.iab.net/public_policy/1495162
cjoh 15y ago
This meme of "The Internet People are Organized and Powerful" is nuts and wrong. There would have been just as much hubbub had Wikipedia decided to run a national television advert during Modern Family asking people to call Congress. This was a lot of things, and it was certainly successful. But it wasn't because people are well organized or that there was some serious campaign management going on. There wasn't. And truth be told, efforts like this have almost a half-life to them. Think about Howard Dean's incredible run in 2004. Where are those activists now? Or Obama's 2008 list? Where is that now? People are fickle on the Internet and they get tired of causes quickly. And there's no "universal consensus" amongst "people on the Internet" Long story short, should Google try and somehow protest its own interests on Privacy, I suspect that you wouldn't see nearly as much universal consensus around that as you did around SOPA. It's hard to write legislation that lopsided or dumb, and even harder to generate the kind of public panic behind it more than once.
- cabalamat 15y ago
  > Where are those activists now? [...] People are fickle on the Internet and they get tired of causes quickly. What we need is a permanent, federated, worldwide organisation to fight for internet freedom. We could call it a "Pirate Party".
  - cjoh 15y ago
    I suspect most people believe that piracy is bad, and that free speech is good. The pirate party might have a problem in this regard.

12 points by bproper 15y ago

casca 15y ago

This is a spurious comparison. Restrictions on piracy are immediately visible to people. They get blocked from doing something, they pay more for music or films, they go to prison. There is a tangible effect that gets media coverage. Privacy and the loss thereof is almost always entirely invisible. So Google, Facebook et al collect all my browsing habits and use it to sell things to me. It's not an event that can make the average person upset. SOPA got the internets aflutter because it's something they (think they) can understand. Privacy - not so much.

wladimir 15y ago
I doubt it too. How can this "right to be forgotten" even be serious while the EU is lobbying for data retention laws at the same time?
jnorthrop 15y ago
> It's not an event that can make the average person upset. Not yet anyway, but public opinion is changing and faster than many think. Carr mentioned the updated European Data Directive due out today, but right on it's heels will be a report from the FTC[1] and one from the Department of Commerce[2] formalizing drafts released last year that outline privacy reforms in the US. Events like Google recording Wifi spots, Carrier IQ gathering data and even the story of Apple secretly recording location data are becoming more prevalent. I think we are only 12-18 months out before scattered public opinion changes to real momentum for privacy rights activists. [1]http://www.privacyrights.org/ftc-protecting-consumer-privacy-report-comments http://www.privacyrights.org/ftc-protecting-consumer-privacy... [2]http://www.iab.net/public_policy/1495162 http://www.iab.net/public_policy/1495162

cjoh 15y ago

This meme of "The Internet People are Organized and Powerful" is nuts and wrong. There would have been just as much hubbub had Wikipedia decided to run a national television advert during Modern Family asking people to call Congress. This was a lot of things, and it was certainly successful. But it wasn't because people are well organized or that there was some serious campaign management going on. There wasn't. And truth be told, efforts like this have almost a half-life to them. Think about Howard Dean's incredible run in 2004. Where are those activists now? Or Obama's 2008 list? Where is that now? People are fickle on the Internet and they get tired of causes quickly. And there's no "universal consensus" amongst "people on the Internet" Long story short, should Google try and somehow protest its own interests on Privacy, I suspect that you wouldn't see nearly as much universal consensus around that as you did around SOPA. It's hard to write legislation that lopsided or dumb, and even harder to generate the kind of public panic behind it more than once.

cabalamat 15y ago
> Where are those activists now? [...] People are fickle on the Internet and they get tired of causes quickly. What we need is a permanent, federated, worldwide organisation to fight for internet freedom. We could call it a "Pirate Party".
- cjoh 15y ago
  I suspect most people believe that piracy is bad, and that free speech is good. The pirate party might have a problem in this regard.