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Is Arts+Labs a Threat to Piracy or Privacy?
By Dave Peterson | October 3, 2008
It used to be mildly amusing to listen to senators who had never mastered the art of sending an email speak glibly about monitoring all Internet traffic for illegal material. That was once a harmless pipe dream voiced by people who didn’t know any better. But leaps ahead in technology, and certain key companies forming partnerships, have made the concept of a filtered, sanitized and corporately monitored Internet spookily possible.
Leslie Shapiro has written an excellent and detailed article on DVICE about the lobbying efforts of an organization called Arts+Labs to end the trade in illegal files through methods that would almost certainly involve scrutinizing file traffic for material that infringes on copyright. That will mean scrutinizing all the files that aren’t illegal as well. Privacy on the Internet has always been a chancy proposition, but this sort of initiative will make the concept virtually non-existent. But so far it’s just a well-financed lobbying effort backed by some of the biggest corporations in the technology business and run by some politically well-connected people. If that makes you a little nervous, you might want to go read the article.
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