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Here in the United States we’ve always had a little bit of a problem reconciling the way we apply our ideologies at home and abroad. We have great expectations for foreign governments implementing the values we hold sacred in this nation, like democracy, self-determination and free speech. Unfortunately, our government sometimes feels less comfortable asserting these values domestically.

The most recent expression of this dialectic is in the US government’s approach is in it’s signing of a statement supporting a UN report asserting that access to the Internet is critical to individuals being able to enact their human rights. This occurs concurrently with a series of bills and industry regulations that would limit expression and free speech on the Internet domestically. The most important of these are:

1) SB 978, or the “10 Strikes” bill, which makes a minimal amount of unlicensed streaming a felony charge carrying a maximum of 5 years in prison.

2) SB 968, the PROTECT IP Act or PIPA, giving the government power to “seize” domestic sites and force search engines, ISPs, and other “information location tools” to block foreign “rogue sites” accused of copyright infringement.

3) A “3 Strikes” Policy not a law, but a dangerous industry agreement between ISPs and copyright holders to restrict the bandwidth and access of users who have been accused of infringement. The agreement would be based on 3 incidents of infringement.