More Internet Censorship On The Way In Good Ol' USA?

As with most news that we really NEED to be paying attention to, the "Protect IP Act" is something the mainstream media is NOT covering much in its "news" programs. While billed as another attempt at stopping music and movie piracy, it definitely has the earmarks of something far more sinister.

Having worked in the electronics and IT-related industries, I have read much about the "Protect IP Act" recently - but for those of you who are uninitiated, here's a quickie 3-4 minute video that explains what could happen quite soon:

http://mgelei.eu/2011/10/the-great-firewall-of-china-might-move-to-the-usa/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=the-great-firewall-of-china-might-move-to-the-usa

Kudos to Mate Gelei for putting this up on his blog!!

I am completely against piracy of other people's intellectual property and hard work. However, this looks like a tool more useful for social control, curtailing free discourse, and manufacturing consensus, rather than for protecting copyrighted work. As pointed out in the video, media companies already have a powerful arsenal of laws and regulations to use against piracy. This is akin to burning down the house because you found two or three roaches in the kitchen.

So, what can we do?
Besides boycotting companies who are spearheading this, there IS technology available to help.

A while back I wrote about "mesh networks" - which are a stealthy way of creating Internet access which bypasses the regular government or corporate controlled network infrastructure.
http://inkarlslab.blogspot.com/2011/06/wanna-beat-internet-censorship-build.html
Just as truckers use CB radios to warn each other of adverse road conditions ahead, such a stealth "internet" could well be about the only way the common man (or woman) will be able to get REAL news and information at some point. Just look at the conditions in China, the recent commotion in Egypt, ... for examples. In these situations even cellular and land line phone networks were mostly shut down. Another possible scenario where a mesh network could really help is a natural or man-made disaster that could take down normal communications services. During such emergencies, mesh networks and amateur radio could really make a huge difference in helping ordinary folks.

Such "mesh" or ad-hoc networks could span anywhere from a city block to a large metropolitan area - perhaps farther using some creativity. These would be relatively hard to control or shut down, and would be fairly robust even in situations that would knock out standard DSL, cellular and land line phone, or cable access.

Along with shortwave radios and amateur "ham" radio, this is something every freedom-loving person might want to look into.