Wikipedia & SOPA / PIPA

Several people noted yesterday that it was significant that Wikipedia was joining today’s internet blackout – given the fact that Wikipedia are pretty hot on honouring IP copyrights. This Jimmy Wales interview reinforces that fact. I still despair at the rhetoric being traded – of course collaboration is needed to improve the wording of any bill – none of the bill content I’ve actually heard quoted seem at all unreasonable, the criticisms are simply being generalized. Freedoms (of speech and others) are a separate issue. The problem as ever is mistrust of authority applying its powers fairly. There can be as many self-policing arrangements as people want, but law enforcement is still the last resort. In the final analysis legal enforcement of copyright needs to have teeth where crime is committed.