SOPA, PIPA, and the fact that it's a logical conclusion

Sooner or later, SOPA/PIPA are going to be brought into effect in the United States, if not worldwide. Well, relatives of them are. You see, they are the end results of two runaway trains that started long ago (and the DMCA didn't help it at all) and both are likely going to crash soon.

The first train was special favors from the government. The minute one group of individuals or corporations gains special permissions and laws (copyright holders, in this case, and with the DMCA) or realize they can through lobbying, democracy has become unbalanced and is on its route to being undone. SOPA and PIPA are not just results of corporate greed, they are the result of a lack of regulation of government. Under normal (and under an ideal Libertarian government) law, a copyright holder has no recourse other than the legal court of law to prosecute copyright infringement. They gain no special rules or permissions beyond what any person would normally have. This is how it should be, with everybody upon equal legal footing. However, the United States government (and many others worldwide) are in the habit of granting special breaks and favors to particular industries, companies, and groups. The RIAA and MPAA know this, and have taken advantage of this in the past. They are taking advantage of it now, to gain extra-legal powers that are unconstitutional and very similar to the powers of a bully on a school playground. Because there is no longer a limitation on government power (and there hasn't been one in awhile, despite the Constitution limiting many powers), they realized if you grease the right palm, you can get all sorts of goodies. Amongst these goodies are things like the ability to block and censor websites. Really, it's the logical conclusion of ANY system that grants special favors and rules. Those with the most resources and money will, in the end, control your life.

The second train is that of any government with far-reaching powers. A government is a figure of coercion. This fact cannot be denied. When a government begins to gain more and more power, it will need tools to hold onto that power. It cannot, by definition, allow anybody to defy its will. If it did so, the government would reveal that its power is limited. Once you realize this, you realize that censorship is the logical extension of this. The easiest way to quell dissent and defiance among a population is to limit their ability to communicate ideas, information, and thoughts. SOPA/PIPA are only one step on what I firmly believe is now a very short road to outright internet censorship in a country where television and radio censorship are already the norm. Print censorship is also something that is still practiced by many governments here. This is only one step from the internet joining the other industries in being blocked and censored.

Stopping SOPA and PIPA from passing are only really the first step. Bringing the population out of a state of denial and illusion is what really needs to happen, as denying the nature of government and the policies they have sought after isn't fixing it.