MacDara Conroy: Self, aggregated
Microlog
A response to Sean Sherlock’s Drivetime interview on Ireland’s SOPA
Someone needs to be challenging Minister Sherlock (and the rest of the Dáil) on these matters directly. That Radio 1 interview made a hames of it, IMHO: he simply wasn’t confronted with all the facts. Permalink ·
Ireland’s SOPA to permit three strikes; TDs asked to debate something they haven’t seen
Incidentally, adds TJ McIntyre, the move contradicts the minister’s own Programme for Government which states that “The situation can no longer be tolerated where Irish Ministers enact EU legislation by statutory instrument. The checks and balances of parliamentary democracy are by-passed.” And they say trust in government is rising? Not with me it isn’t. Permalink ·
Ireland and EU to sign controversial ACTA treaty
This is what happens when politicians think they know what they’re signing, but don’t understand its wider implications. Permalink ·
Marco Ament on ‘the next SOPA’
The web censorship bills might be shelved for now, but will no doubt return in this or some other form — unless there is an aggressive push for campaign finance reform, and a recognition that unless we stop giving money to the MPAA et al, they will keep coming back. Permalink ·
Why SOPA and PIPA Must Die
Waxy.org’s Andy Baio on his personal reasons for opposing the web censorship bills. Also: Matt Haughey outlines how they could be used to silence important web resources such as MetaFilter with a chilling story. Permalink ·
Dan Gillmor: Stop Sopa or the web really will go dark
The journalist and author of We the Media fame makes the case in The Guardian for net neutrality and electronic freedom (be sure also to check The Guardian’s SOPA page). Permalink ·
A SOPA/PIPA Blackout Explainer
Wired’s Threat Level blog lays it all out in point-by-point form. Permalink ·
You Say You Want a Devolution?
“Since 1992, as the technological miracles and wonders have propagated and the political economy has transformed, the world has become radically and profoundly new. (And then there’s the miraculous drop in violent crime in the United States, by half.) Here is what’s odd: during these same 20 years, the appearance of the world (computers, TVs, telephones, and music players aside) has changed hardly at all, less than it did during any 20-year period for at least a century. The past is a foreign country, but the recent past—the 00s, the 90s, even a lot of the 80s—looks almost identical to the present. This is the First Great Paradox of Contemporary Cultural History.” I’ve been saying this for years! Finally the world is catching on [c/o Fimoculous]. Permalink ·
AV Club primer on autobiographical comics
Love this. I dig Joe Sacco’s style in particular; those who criticise him for being biased obviously don’t understand the concept of activist journalism or reportage. Permalink ·
What Editors Think of Writers
The biggest surprise for any new writer/journalist/whatever is when an editor corrects their work. It’s not about ‘taking away their voice’; it’s always about bringing out the best in the writer, and polishing it up nice for the reader. In my own experience, the most precious about their writing were the worst writers. Permalink ·
No Copyright Intended
“Remix culture is the new Prohibition, with massive media companies as the lone voices calling for temperance. You can criminalize commonplace activities from law-abiding people, but eventually, something has to give.” I half agree with this; remix culture (fan edits, supercuts, etc) is one thing — and a good thing at that — but the apparent misapprehension of copyright among young people (that it’s just a means of attribution, not of protection of artists’ livelihoods) is another matter entirely. Permalink ·
What Good Is Google+ If My Friends Don’t Use It?
I’m still figuring it out. The free Picasa photo storage is a very nice addition, though. Permalink ·
Umberto Eco: ‘People are tired of simple things. They want to be challenged’
Remind me to read more Eco please. I’ve only read Baudolino, and that was years ago. Permalink ·
The Complicated Ethics of the Unborn
“Human cloning… has proven especially troubling, ethically. The bans are fascinating, because they are effectively saying ‘we don’t know how to unravel the ethics of human cloning, so please don’t confront us with the problem.’” Permalink ·
One thousand diners: Britain’s biggest restaurant opens
Say what you want about gluttony, poor quality, etc: what the farmers’ market/street foodie crowd doesn’t get is that it’s about bang for your buck. I love the richer textures and flavours of superior produce, but it doesn’t half cost a bomb. Give me a cheap all-you-can-eat buffet with a gazillion choices any day. Permalink ·
Macrolog
Stop Ireland’s SOPA
When it rains, it pours.
In the wake of the SOPA/PIPA furore, up bubbles ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement which, as Forbes reports, contains provisions “just as pernicious as anything we saw in SOPA” and has already been signed or ratified by most of the developed world.
What are the consequences? Well, aside from enforcing food and drug patents that are crippling to the developing world, which is bad enough, the agreement also “bypasses the sovereign laws of participating nations, forcing ISPs across the globe to adopt [its] draconian measures.” Oy vey.
If you thought SOPA would break the internet, ACTA is much worse. And it could become law across the global economy without so much as a murmur of opposition.
That’s just super.
Meanwhile, and closer to home, people are kicking up a fuss about a sneaky little piece of legislation that’s been dubbed ‘Ireland’s SOPA’.
TJ McIntyre’s IT Law in Ireland blog has a concise overview of the Government’s plans to legislate for Irish courts to block access to websites accused of copyright infringement (and possibly other things) at their own discretion.
Going Dark in Support of a Free Internet
Update: The web censorship bills have been shelved for now, but as Marco Ament writes, they will no doubt return in this or some other form — unless there is an aggressive push for campaign finance reform in the US. How us non-Americans can push for respect for the autonomy of our own laws, however, is another matter…
Yesterday, this site went dark as part of a worldwide protest at the proposed Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and PROTECT IP Act which, if passed by the United States Congress, would give the US government and the entertainment industry extraordinary powers to control what is supposed to be a neutral space, effectively censoring the internet for everyone in the world. That’s right: everyone in the world.
To put it simply, this is bad legislation being pushed hard by corporate interests for their own benefit alone, and written so broadly that it sets us all down a path we don’t want to be travelling by.
Macrolog: Recently
Thinking Out Loud: Democracy and its Vilification Thu 29 Dec 2011
Weeknotes #526-532 Sun 04 Dec 2011
Mike Watt + The Missingmen, June 2011 Mon 31 Oct 2011
Weeknotes #517-525 Sun 23 Oct 2011
A Referendum Conundrum Fri 21 Oct 2011
More entries in the Archives »
About
This is the personal website of MacDara Conroy, a production journalist and mediavore in Dublin, Ireland. Read more »
Message
Status
What am I doing?
At the moment, I’m
Agenda
22 Jan 12: Henry Rollins at Vicar Street
04 Feb 12: ESTEL at The Grand Social
24 Feb 12: Fubar/Sickener at The Lower Deck
02 Mar 12: Mick Foley at the O’Reilly Theatre
04 Apr 12: Avenue Q at the Grand Canal Theatre
Listening
Most recent tracks from Last.fm:
Reading
The Information by James Gleick
Equations of Life by Simon Morden
Power Slam #208
SFX #217
The Wire #332
Watching
Botchamania (YouTube)
Community s01 (D/L)
The Killing II (BBC Four)
Millennium s01 (D/L)
Mad Men s04 (D/L) [on hiatus]
Saturday Night Live (Netflix)
The West Wing s02 (DVD)
The Wire s04 (DVD) [on hiatus]
Playing
LA Noire (Xbox 360)
MLB Power Pros 2008 (Nintendo DS)
NBA Jam (Xbox 360)
World of Warcraft (Mac)
Etcetera
I read books. I take photos. I contribute to the hive mind. I collect images and things. I watch movies and videos. I look after my health. I go on adventures. I work on projects. I once wrote a thesis. And more besides...