Instead of going through businesses to try to tell the government what the citizens think, and besides writing or calling politicians, what can we do?
At the end of the day, all companies have is customers. If the customers stop utilizing their services, the companies are forced to stop pushing their anti-consumer agendas into legislation. Part of this is utilizing the Internet, as it now is, to circumvent the old ways of doing things.
Essentially, while it is free, startups should be focusing on helping consumers circumvent traditional industries.
We all hate banks as they are. Let's reinvent them.
We all hate telecoms. Let's try to create startups that can compete with them.
We all hate loan institutions. Let's disrupt the loan structure, allow people to privately invest in one another on a micro scale. Hell, it's already being done for 3rd world nations.
We have a real opportunity to change things and make them better. Get out from under the institutionalized world we grew up in. Why not?
We cannot ignore the ways in which government is broken.
Is there a reason for that? To stop loan sharks, for example? (Which is a highly valid reason).
As far as loan institutions go and trying to create something that lets people invest in one another, the UK already has something along those lines: http://uk.zopa.com
I think the idea is great and wish Zopa got more press than they do.
Have everyone turn off their tvs, stop paying for cable tv, stop listening to popular music, stop going to the movies and such ?
Good luck with that... Definitely need to focus on govt. maybe a OCCUPY Capitol Hill and other SOPA supportErs' premises is what is needed?!??
http://insidetv.ew.com/2011/11/30/tv-ownership-declines/
It is certainly possible to buy DRM-free tracks, and indeed this should be encouraged. Creative commons music exists too. Movies are another matter, although I don't think discouraging people from movies altogether is too unrealistic, that could just be because I'm not big on movies in general myself.
Occupy The Internet!
#define competition illegal
is bad, m'kay?
