Oh, what to pick…
Reporting from Beta Blogs.
I’m having a bit of a thinky-thoughty moment (yes, I have thoughts. Hush), and I have narrowed my thinkiness down to two specific categories.
1) due South fandom.
2) Copyright law and the Internet - or, rather more specifically, s92(a), 92(c), also known as the Guilt Upon Accusation proposed law change in New Zealand.
Which shall I pick to chat about today… But first, and out of the cut because I don’t want it to be missed:
This lovely webcomicker’s house just burnt down. Yes, really. The gal has nothing, and that’s not cool, but she does have a paypal account, and that is cool. So if anybody feels like visiting the site and helping her out, that’d be seriously awesome. Every penny helps, right?
So.
Guilt upon accusation is, in a very real and legal sense, worse than something like reverse onus (in which the burden of proof is for the accused to prove innocence, rather than for the prosecution to prove guilt). Reverse onus should not have a place in a fair legal system (hello! This is the inner idealist, and yes, I know perfectly well that there are actually quite a few laws in place with reverse onus as one of the aspects), but here is something that’s more fitting of a Witch Hunt.
Guilt upon Accusation. You have no chance of a fair trail, no chance to plead your case, no options, no nothing.
You’re an individual, you’re a business, you’re an educational institution, you’re a hospital.
You have no options.
Wireless access at a Starbucks? Gone. Airport email-checking? Not anymore. Why? Because of the fear that somebody might download something that could possibly be construed as falling under the purview of s92.
You may as well just take the entire last twenty years out of existence. Bam! goes the Internet, Bam! go computers, Bam! goes making a mixed tape for your boyfriend or girlfriend? Could be, if this goes through.
For a country with laws and ideas that are often internationally regarded as pretty liberal we’re suddenly swinging rather far into the opposite direction. One might even say ‘dangerously far’.
What’s next? Banning fanfiction? Ooh, I know, not letting DJs create music playlists or remix tunes using turntables!
Go here to join the fight against this outrageous law change.
Ethically, this one’s a bit of a conundrum for me. My chosen profession remains policing, but that doesn’t mean I’m expected to agree with every law.
I will enforce this proposed change, should it become law. But under no circumstances shall I agree with it.
And now for the second part of things for today.
I think…
-crickets chirp-
Ah, bugger.
Okay.
I feel that we’re starting to spiral. As in going around in circles. And while that’s fun on a desk chair, you get to feel all woozy after.
Okay, I fail at analogies. Let’s try again!
My dear and most awesome dS-related peoples: I think we have a problem.
Okay, take it back, I think we all think we have a problem. What we really have is a currently-missing solution. Which is not quite the same thing. No, the solution is not a baseball bat. It might just be playing chess in a park, though.
Guys, you know what this kinda reminds me of? A war of attrition. Trench warfare at Christmas. It shouldn’t be happening.
You know what happened at Christmas along trenchlines? The bombs would stop. There’d be Silent Night being sung somewhere, on both sides, in different languages.
Hands up everybody who’s feeling a little bit like the innocent bystanders of Belgium at the moment. Newbies too. Yeah, I’m a newbie as well. Your point?
Deep down, we all love each other too much - despite our differences of opinion.
A little while ago, Vee hosted a Mixer thread. I think it’s time we all went back to that and read through things.
I’m having a bit of a thinky-thoughty moment (yes, I have thoughts. Hush), and I have narrowed my thinkiness down to two specific categories.
1) due South fandom.
2) Copyright law and the Internet - or, rather more specifically, s92(a), 92(c), also known as the Guilt Upon Accusation proposed law change in New Zealand.
Which shall I pick to chat about today… But first, and out of the cut because I don’t want it to be missed:
This lovely webcomicker’s house just burnt down. Yes, really. The gal has nothing, and that’s not cool, but she does have a paypal account, and that is cool. So if anybody feels like visiting the site and helping her out, that’d be seriously awesome. Every penny helps, right?
So.
Guilt upon accusation is, in a very real and legal sense, worse than something like reverse onus (in which the burden of proof is for the accused to prove innocence, rather than for the prosecution to prove guilt). Reverse onus should not have a place in a fair legal system (hello! This is the inner idealist, and yes, I know perfectly well that there are actually quite a few laws in place with reverse onus as one of the aspects), but here is something that’s more fitting of a Witch Hunt.
Guilt upon Accusation. You have no chance of a fair trail, no chance to plead your case, no options, no nothing.
You’re an individual, you’re a business, you’re an educational institution, you’re a hospital.
You have no options.
Wireless access at a Starbucks? Gone. Airport email-checking? Not anymore. Why? Because of the fear that somebody might download something that could possibly be construed as falling under the purview of s92.
You may as well just take the entire last twenty years out of existence. Bam! goes the Internet, Bam! go computers, Bam! goes making a mixed tape for your boyfriend or girlfriend? Could be, if this goes through.
For a country with laws and ideas that are often internationally regarded as pretty liberal we’re suddenly swinging rather far into the opposite direction. One might even say ‘dangerously far’.
What’s next? Banning fanfiction? Ooh, I know, not letting DJs create music playlists or remix tunes using turntables!
Go here to join the fight against this outrageous law change.
Ethically, this one’s a bit of a conundrum for me. My chosen profession remains policing, but that doesn’t mean I’m expected to agree with every law.
I will enforce this proposed change, should it become law. But under no circumstances shall I agree with it.
And now for the second part of things for today.
I think…
-crickets chirp-
Ah, bugger.
Okay.
I feel that we’re starting to spiral. As in going around in circles. And while that’s fun on a desk chair, you get to feel all woozy after.
Okay, I fail at analogies. Let’s try again!
My dear and most awesome dS-related peoples: I think we have a problem.
Okay, take it back, I think we all think we have a problem. What we really have is a currently-missing solution. Which is not quite the same thing. No, the solution is not a baseball bat. It might just be playing chess in a park, though.
Guys, you know what this kinda reminds me of? A war of attrition. Trench warfare at Christmas. It shouldn’t be happening.
You know what happened at Christmas along trenchlines? The bombs would stop. There’d be Silent Night being sung somewhere, on both sides, in different languages.
Hands up everybody who’s feeling a little bit like the innocent bystanders of Belgium at the moment. Newbies too. Yeah, I’m a newbie as well. Your point?
Deep down, we all love each other too much - despite our differences of opinion.
A little while ago, Vee hosted a Mixer thread. I think it’s time we all went back to that and read through things.