The End Of The Internet As We Know It?

And I don’t feel fine!

By Nathan Watts

Remember SOPA, the so called copyright act that went before Congress and was stopped cold thanks to the sound minded citizens of America? The TPP, or Trans-Pacific Partnership, is an alliance of 12 countries: the United States, Japan, Australia, Peru, Malaysia, Vietnam, New Zealand, Chile, Singapore, Canada, Mexico, and Brunei Darussalam. The TPP accounts for 40% of the world’s economic output. Well, around October 5th, 2015, The TPP signed an agreement proposed by the same corporations behind SOPA that could completely end the internet as we know it.

Under this proposal, internet providers will be required to police internet activity (i.e. police YOU), take down internet content, and cut off access for common user created content. Violations will be as simple as putting clips from other videos into a YouTube video or sharing said content on Facebook. Mandatory fines will be implemented for non-commercial use of copyrighted material, so simply downloading some music would be treated the same as a large-scale for-profit copyright infringement is today. Innovation and creativity would be stifled amongst the content creators of the internet as monopoly copyrights are extended. The agreement plans to extend copyright protection for corporations to a minimum of 120 years!

Thanks to digital locks, blind and deaf people will be cut off from closed captioning and audio software that they need to view certain material. That’s right, anyone out there who’s blind or deaf wouldn’t be able to use their phones, computers, or anything without assistance from someone else. Imagine a blind person unable to do something as simple as read this article! Without the liberties we hold today, the internet will become a barren wasteland conquered only by major corporations.

Soon to follow will be paid subscriptions to YouTube, your 5 hour marathon of Netflix interrupted every 15 minutes by Colonel Sanders shoving his ads down your throat, and complete annihilation of such content as Let’s Plays and video game reviews. Ask yourself, are you satisfied with this Orwellian internet of our possible future? Are you prepared to hide from Big Brother and write fanfiction in a secluded corner of your apartment? This writer is certainly not.