Techdirt has a great overview of the problems with the Sopa bill now trying to get through congress.
There’s been plenty of talk (and a ton of posts here on Techdirt) discussing both SOPA (originally E-PARASITE) and PROTECT IP (aka PIPA), but it seemed like it would be useful to create a single, “definitive” post to highlight why both of these bills are extremely problematic and won’t do much (if anything) to deal with the issues they’re supposed to deal with, but will have massive unintended consequences. I also think it’s important to highlight how PIPA is almost as bad as SOPA. Tragically, because SOPA was so bad, some in the entertainment industry have seen it as an opportunity to present PIPA as a “compromise.” It is not. Both bills have tremendous problems, and they start with the fact that neither bill will help deal with the actual issues being raised.
I think that Steve Jobs would role over in his grave if this aweful law passes.
One of the main problems people have today is how to get videos that really show everything. So much of what’s out there gets censored by the media or by the government. They just don’t want you to see everything out there.
You may not have heard of the uncensored newsgroup world, but it is out there. In fact it was there before what we now know as the web existed. The usenet system allows for people to post in a manner like a bulletin board. The bulletin board can also contain what are called binaries. These binary files allow people to share videos and other content that they have produced.
The best thing is that the content is uncensored, which means you can see everything that’s posted there. It’s filled with every kind of content out there. If you really want to know what’s happening out in the world, you need to make sure you get some uncensored newsgoup access fast.
The iPad is going to be one of the hot gifts this year. While the Kindle has shown up as a real competitor now that they have the Fire version, the iPad is still the killer option for a great gift.
But once you have your iPad, how do you get some great content to fill it up. I suggest starting at AudiobooksforiPads.com as they have a site dedicated to audiobook content that will fill up your iPad in no time.
Once you have your audiobooks then it’s time to find some music and videos for your viewing pleasure. I find that the limitations of the iPad on viewing flash content to be a real problem for me. I don’t understand why Apple would not support flash, unless they are just trying to get everyone looked into the iTunes store and only use Apple content.
That’s one of the reasons I really like to support Amazon. They have a great and low cost mp3 store along with a killer video rental service.
I think the iPad is great for audiobooks and just watch this video to see how easy it is for kids to enjoy.
