It’s impossible to list all the things the internet is used for. Even if I attempted to write it all down in a numbered list, by the time I hit the bottom, there would be another 10,000 new things to add to it (if that even makes sense). Hopefully I can just try to describe it in one sentence:
The internet is used to upgrade life to version 2.0
By “life,” I mean every possible thing that encompasses being alive on this planet, from intellectual, to emotional, to spiritual, and everything in between. The internet is an attachment to life. You could think of it as an extra brain. Its uses are endless, just like uses of you as a person.
These unlimited possibilities tie directly to the issue of freedom of speech on the internet. Unlimited possibilities also means the possibility of vulgar, harmful, and terrible actions on the internet. While there are talks of the government imposing regulation of the internet, I feel like very little has been done. It may be because the government is full of old people who don’t understand the internet very well, and therefore are writing ineffective laws against it. It may also be because the internet is so vast that it would be impossible to stop every offender, so why bother trying? It’s like the police attempting to arrest every underage drinker at a Gator game. In the end, they’re still going to miss 80% of offenders, so why even bother? How do I know? Because I’ve photoshopped and uploaded many pictures of people into obviously fake and possibly offensive pictures, and never once been sued.
This picture of Bernie Machen could be considered slanderous, but it doesn't matter because chances are he will never see it.
I personally feel like any effort to regulate the internet is futile. It’s too large to be regulated. Even though largely blanketed and obvious laws are imposed now (downloading music for free is illegal, no matter how you got it or what you plan to do with it), there are too many small websites that will go ahead and just do it, because they know they probably won’t get caught. That’s why I’m not really worried about government regulation of the internet. If they make something illegal, we’ll just do it anyway. Once you’ve been spoiled with total freedom, there’s no going back.
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I like the way this post plays out. People given a taste of the wine and cheese of freedom would certainly be unwilling to go back to bread and water (Read: Communist Manifesto)
Do you think America will ever lose its copyright law enforcement like many Asian countries as well?