As we can imagine, shutting down such a website has angered many internet users. Among those, the pirate association “Anonymous,” who launched a retaliation attack against the government by shutting down the FBI website among other. For more information on Anonymous and its actions, I invite you to read this article by CNN: “Anonymous strikes back after feds shut piracy hub Megaupload.”
Now let me be clear: even though I am convinced that repression is not the answer to illegal downloading and consider laws such as Hadopi (France) and SOPA/PIPA (US) as archaic and not adapted, I strongly believe that Anonymous’ reaction is no better. What are these people thinking about? Associating a website responsible for stealing artistic content with the cause of freedom is probably the most ridiculous thing that has been done in the history of internet. As a part of the retaliation, the entire catalogue of Sony Music has been made available online so that internet users could download complete albums for free. Is that really what people are fighting for? Internet users argue that the web 2.0 should not be censored so that discussions, information and exchanges can stay as they used to be, and I understand this point of view. I would be the first one to stand up and fight if anybody tried to deprive me from being free to access any content online. What I don’t understand is why associations such as Anonymous and immature “wannabe” hackers take pride in sacking artists and glorifying a website used mainly for piracy. In my opinion, stealing from artists and musicians and uploading their work for free is a much different objective than fighting for freedom, and a lame way to protest. Those who were using Megaupload to share personal and legal files such as pictures and videos of their friends and families have plenty of other platforms to turn to.
If Anonymous wants to fight for the freedom of all, maybe they ought to start with the artists, who have the right to decide whether they want their work to be distributed for free over the internet. Giving back their freedom to those struggling to make ends meet because they can’t earn enough money from their passion/art would be an ideal to fight for. Unfortunately, it’s not something Anonymous wants to stand for, as all they seem to care about is satisfying a few people that have no value anymore and want to feel like they are part of a cause rebelling against the government.
A French blogger sharing my views on the topic has tried to apply Anonymous’ approach to a real life context. The example is so well explained I decided to share it with you:
“What would Anonymous do in real life? They would go to their local bakery and force the owner to give away all the bread he has baked instead of selling it. The reason? Wheat flour producers are exploiting them and there is no reason one should pay for consuming bread anyway.”
He concludes saying that this puerile behaviour only causes prejudice to the Y (internet native) generation by making them appear as brainless and disrespectful of everything. I agree with this statement, and hope that some people of my generation understand the need to fight against censorship without taking artists and music labels as hostages in this war. Doing a riot seems exciting, but it’s important to do it for the right cause, with the right tools; and stealing albums or movies certainly isn’t the way to do so. It’s only a way to show the world that in the end, we are no better than the ones we are fighting against.
nattakingston 