Posts in "Domestic Policy"

A Response from Copyfighter Alan Wexelblat

aheram — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 19:56:39 +0000

Alan Wexelblat from Corante’s Copyfight blog responds to my SOPA-related post:

As I am not libertarian, I was interested to read their point of view. In particular, Aheram asserts that copyright itself, by virtue of its government-granted monopolistic status, is an illegitimate infringement on sovereign private property rights. I suspect that others - even other libertarians - might not agree there, though I see the logic that is being followed.
I am reminded of arguments made by Stewart Baker (whom I read through Volokh Conspiracy, itself often a home for libertarian thought). In an op-ed published in the Hollywood Reporter, Baker argues that Tea Party conservatives played a major role in swinging Republican sentiment against SOPA.
[…]
If Baker is right, then we really do need more pieces like Aheram’s to reach out to untapped or skeptical communities and help them see where their political freedoms and Internet freedoms overlap.

As I noted before, I really hope that young libertarians will realize that copyright laws are being used vehicles to develop the tools of oppression which will pose massive threats to free speech and private property rights. With the near-passage of SOPA, libertarians of all stripes cannot afford to remain ignorant of the Copyfight.

Michael Geist on the Global Copyfight

aheram — Tue, 07 Feb 2012 19:44:58 +0000

Michael Geist’s keynote address discussing “the role of digital activism in countering bills like SOPA and the ongoing copyfight over the use of WIPO, ACTA, and aggressive laws to promote restrictive copyright rules.”

America the Caged

aheram — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:26:56 +0000

Adam Gopnik writes about the modern-day shame of the American Prison State:

For a great many poor people in America, particularly poor black men, prison is a destination that braids through an ordinary life, much as high school and college do for rich white ones. More than half of all black men without a high-school diploma go to prison at some time in their lives. Mass incarceration on a scale almost unexampled in human history is a fundamental fact of our country today—perhaps the fundamental fact, as slavery was the fundamental fact of 1850. In truth, there are more black men in the grip of the criminal-justice system—in prison, on probation, or on parole—than were in slavery then. Over all, there are now more people under “correctional supervision” in America—more than six million—than were in the Gulag Archipelago under Stalin at its height.

The main thrust of the article is this: The detached bureaucracy -- and all its professional procedures -- lends itself to the brutal inhumanity and gross injustices of our prison system.

A Libertarian Primer on the Copyright Wars

aheram — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:21:41 +0000

On Jan. 18, the world was audience to the one of the most visible online activism yet in Internet history. Taking part in the 24-hour protest were thousands of websites and millions of Internet users going head-to-head with Hollywood to oppose a pair of anti-piracy bills — the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) — currently making its way through Congress.

Leading the charge were Wikipedia, Google, Craigslist and several other Internet heavyweights which blacked out their websites or otherwise called attention to the anti-piracy bills. More important than just calling attention to these bills, the many websites mobilized users to directly contact legislators’ offices.

Just how effective were the protests? According to the Los Angeles Times, 162 million people directly experienced Wikipedia’s blackout. Additionally, 8 million users looked up their representatives in Congress. Reports suggest that the online activism led to an avalanche of real-world activism as thousands took to calling their representatives’ offices.

Sure, you can buy a cigar in Boston...if you're rich enough.

Bonnie Kristian — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 17:15:01 +0000

The city of Boston has quietly banned all cigars which cost less than $2.50.

Translation: Blunts, no. Fancy Habanos, yes.

Second translation: Poor people smoking, no. Rich people smoking, yes:

The ban is effective February 1, 2012.
But for those upper class cigar aficionados, the elite few who are still allowed to smoke indoors at their pricey cigar bars, will still be able to purchase single cigars. A stipulation in the city ordinance allows tobacco shops to sell individual cigars, as long as they retail for $2.50 or more.

The city agency responsible for the ban, the Boston Public Health Commission, is composed of a seven person board. I hardly need mention, of course, that the board members all appear to have careers which have undoubtedly kept them far from poverty.

It is grimly ironic, though, that one of the board members specializes in “racial and ethnic disparities in health care.” Evidently he isn’t equally bothered by what will amount, thanks to higher levels of poverty among minorities in America, to a ban which will limit the purchasing abilities of minorities at a disproportionate rate.

Third translation: Government is not a friend to the poor.

KSU YAL Hosts 'The Case against the Drug War'!

Hans Schulzke — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 15:13:22 +0000

Our first event at Kennesaw State University this semester was the most successful we’ve ever had. Over fifty people showed up on a Wednesday night to hear LEAP speaker Jay Fisher give a constitutional case against the drug war. By the end of the night, there were people standing in the back, sitting in the front, and all engaged in a great Q&A session. We had a large number of people sign up for email and call-sheets, we launched a new SSDP (Students for Sensible Drug Policy) chapter on campus, and we had high-quality conversation exposing people to libertarianism, the ideas of liberty, and YAL.

There are four main behaviors or decisions to which I credit the successful turnout:

1. We prepared in advance. We contacted LEAP (www.LEAP.cc) in December to schedule a speaker. We reserved the room before the first day of classes. We had a flyer produced in the first week of class. We had an advertising plan, a solid event plan, a Facebook page produced, and a committed ground crew for advertising long before the week of the event.

TSA Illegally Detains Senator

mvwindsor — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 23:33:01 +0000

Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky was detained for four hours at a Nashville airport on Monday, January 23rd, after declining a TSA request for a pat down. Believing that his first attempt at the scanner had triggered a false alarm, he asked if he could walk through the scanner once more. He was then denied a second attempt and briskly escorted by local police into a detention cubicle where he remained for four hours, missing his flight as well as his commitment that day to speak in front of a crowd of 200,000 at the March for Life rally in D.C.

After his release, he was allowed to board another flight after he went through the scanner again without setting off the alarm a second time.

Though the TSA argues that it acted properly and objects to the use of the word "detainment" to describe Paul's treatment, according to Article 1, Section 6 of the Constitution it is illegal to hold in custody Congressmen who are traveling to and from Congress:

They [the Senators and Representatives] shall in all Cases, except Treason, Felony and Breach of the Peace, be privileged from Arrest during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same.

This is not to say that members of Congress are above the law and are not subject to the same security measures as non-office holding citizens while traveling under regular conditions.

Why do so many members of Congress support SOPA?

Elliot Engstrom — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 17:19:46 +0000

Remember social studies class in high school, when you learn about how there are three branches of government that balance against each other, and one of those is the legislative branch which is supposed to represent the will of the people (originally the will of the people and the states, but you know what I mean). If anything should show us just how perverted this system has become, it should be the difference in the support in Congress for the Stop Online Piracy Act vs. the actual support among the various congressional constituencies.

Let's start with the rationale for supporting SOPA. Why do it? DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz, one of the most prominent supporters of the bill and its highest-ranking Democrat sponsor in the House, thinks that we need the bill in order to "protect Americans from companies that profit by stealing and repackaging other people's work." Ahh yes. We need to deprive Americans of an important freedom in order to protect them from a vaguely-stated threat. Where have I heard that sort of talk before...?

Well, okay. The congresswoman (and others like her) say that they support (or supported until they realized it was unpopular) this bill because it protects Americans. Let's start with the (false) assumption that members of congress are generally good and honest people. Certainly we shouldn't just automatically disbelieve anything they say, right? Perhaps there is evidence that suggests another, more concrete reason that Wasserman and her compatriots support this bill.

Why SOPA Doesn't Matter

jonathan.mollet — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:32:49 +0000

SOPA (and its equally dangerous cousin PIPA) could if passed be the death of the internet as we know it. As such they have sparked a massive viral campaign of "Friday"esque proportions. Every site which allows any sort of user uploading, or commenting is in a mad frenzy. Finally it seems that the general population has realized that our government has to be stopped.

Too bad it'll be all for nought. I'm not saying the bill will pass; that's actually rather irrelevant in this case. The seas will be calmed as the millions of once furious internet users return to their daily routine of listening to illegally uploaded copies of Justin Bieber and torrenting poorly translated copies of the Romanian release of "Tropic Thunder."

This is all good fun and the general population will surely remove themselves from the nasty world of politics. And this is where we will fail.

Last month the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) was signed into law allowing for the indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without trial. The internet barely let lose a hiccup in contrast with what SOPA has caused. Why is this, you ask?

The Internet Goes Dark

BenLevine16 — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 17:30:12 +0000

Those who would give up Essential ██████ to purchase a little Temporary safety, deserve neither ██████ nor safety.

The sponsors of SOPA & PIPA want you to forget about your inherent liberties. Don't let them black that out, too. Contact these cosponsors and tell them to stop the attack on our liberty!

House cosponsors. Senate cosponsors.

YALiberty.org may be shut down for good...

Bonnie Kristian — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 22:11:34 +0000

...if SOPA passes and this copyrighted image stays up:

We're pretty sure this particular artist wouldn't mind, but if they chose to prosecute, SOPA could easily shut this site down.

Learn more about the enormous potential for censorship and abuses SOPA will usher in if we allow it to pass.

"I chose my son over him."

BenLevine16 — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 15:36:20 +0000

Sarah McKinley had a choice to make on New Years Eve: To shoot or not to shoot the men at her front door who were attempting to break in. She was holding a 12-gauge shotgun when the door finally swung open after one of the men forcefully broke the lock with his shoulder.

With her 3-month-old son in the house the choice became fairly easy. In her own words: "I chose my son over him." McKinley fired her shotgun and killed the man who was armed with a 12-inch hunting knife and was high on hydrocodone; his accomplice ran away and is now being charged with an array of crimes.

Now, I find this case very compelling for a few reasons. Although it is entirely anecdotal, it cannot be ignored that the right to own a firearm became a matter of life or death for McKinley and her young boy. There are those who will nevertheless argue that all guns should be banned -- although people more often argue for a ban on handguns or other limitations -- but then I wonder this: Would they rather have this innocent woman and her 3-month-old son killed?

Allow Us to Opt out

Bonnie Kristian — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 18:01:58 +0000

By Jack Hunter, YAL Director of Outreach

The greatest problem with Social Security is that there may be no more Social Security, or as Human Events’ John Hayward noted early last year: “According to new projections from the Congressional Budget Office, Social Security will officially go bankrupt this year, paying out $45 billion more in benefits than it takes in.” Hayward added: “Until now, Social Security defenders have briskly assured us this would not happen for twenty or thirty years, but those who ignored the political spin and looked at the actual numbers knew it was coming much sooner.”

Virtually every government prediction about the cost of Social Security has proven false. The Democratic Party’s solution is to stay the course—that is to say, they offer no solutions. When the few Republicans brave enough to try to save Social Security by reforming it dare speak out—as Rep. Paul Ryan and Sen. Rand Paul have attempted to do—they are excoriated by the media and liberals for trying to “end” Social Security. This is absurd. What will truly end Social Security is doing nothing.

The youth non-profit organization Generation Opportunity conducted a national survey last year of young adults ages 18-29. Those surveyed represented political viewpoints from across the spectrum. When asked: “in your opinion, is your Social Security money safer with the federal government or under your pillow?” 66% of young voters indicated the money is safer under their pillow. Most young Americans simply do not believe given the current state of the program coupled with the mountain of debt our government keeps piling up, that they will ever see Social Security. And they’re probably right.

Americans who have spent the majority of their lives working hard, playing by the rules and paying into Social Security deserve exactly what they’ve been promised. Yet today, there is serious question as to how long these promises can be kept given the chronic recklessness of our federal government. Sen. Paul has suggested as part of his Social Security reform that the retirement age be raised for those currently under 55, that we apply means testing and that younger Americans be allowed to opt out. Each is a reasonable and practical solution.

For a majority of young people, opting-out of Social Security is not so much a question, but inevitability. Most young Americans would simply prefer to opt-out before the bottom drops out. And we should let them.

The FCC: 'Let us be your remote.'

BrianMUGA — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 23:47:33 +0000

Remember when you were young and there was always that one kid on the playground that had to complain about everything? "Mom! The slide has dirt on it!... Mom! I can't push myself on the swing!... Mom! I stepped in a puddle and now my shoes are dirty!"

Well now that kid has grown up (sort of) and he spends his free time complaining - not to his mother, this time, but to the government.

And here we have just another example of government paternalism hard at work while issues like the economy are simply "overlooked."

On Tuesday December 13th, the FCC approved new rules which would require all television commercials to be broadcast at the same average volume of the program they punctuate. Those TV providers who do not comply will face fines. Since 2008, the FCC has received close to 6000 complaints for loud commercials, which caused FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski to state affirmatively, “This is an issue people care about.”

Is he serious? Find out here.

The Real Cost of Christmas Cards

BrianMUGA — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 22:28:30 +0000

Don't get excited -- I'm not talking about the monetary cost of purchasing colorful Hallmark cards for your third cousin's spouse's aunt, among others, that you met that one time at a family reunion.

Instead, I'm talking about the cost that the government imposes on our liberty through its simultaneous support and regulation of the United States Postal Service -- the government-granted monopoly for mail-carry.

Though for a monopoly, the USPS is not doing so well, deciding to cut around 3000 of its post offices nationwide. Leave it to Congress, however, to jump in the fray and to try and find a solution:

Rather than simply allowing the USPS to make these cuts, Congress asked for time“to complete an overhaul of the cash-strapped agency’s operations.” USPS officials complied, delaying the cuts five more months for a congressional solution that will likely only do one of two things: 1. cost taxpayers more by bailing out the USPS or 2. make things worse (not that the two are mutually exclusive).

Will Congress find a real, free market solution? Probably not, judging by its record, but I suppose Christmas miracles happen every now and then.

In any case, here is my take on the history of the situation itself and my solution to solving the woes of the USPS: Happy Holidays.