Two sad stories on the political front

Techdirt is reporting the obvious: big media is ignoring the SOPA/PIPA controversy.  The implication is that the self interest is preventing coverage. The big media conglomerates have a strong self-interest in ensuring the government protects their intellectual property.  Individual freedoms be damned!

It's sad when outsiders point out how large segments of the population, and the candidates they are selecting to run for president, choose ignorance over science.  But that is just what the folks over at The Telegraph have done in this article about the Republican primary process.

Has it come to this?

German hackerspace shack (Stutgart Hackerspace) has proposed putting its own satellites in space in order to maintain a free an open internet. 

Think it's crazy?  Spain just passed the Sinde Law, an onerous attempt to protect private IP rights holders.  Luckily, the tide seems to be turning on the US's similar effort, SOPA.

With western countries following China's lead on restricting the open internet, it's no wonder individuals will need to launch private satellites.

Why the UN should never be involved with the Internet

Underscoring and providing yet more evidence that the United Nations should have no role in Internet governance, the General of the UN's World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) says that the Internet would be a better place if it was patented and controlled.  BoingBoing has the sad story.