SOPA / PIPA / ACTA and Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri

[sisko]

As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.

It looks like the writers for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri were deeply prescient ...but we already knew that.

For those of you who don't know what these SOPA / PIPA / ACTA are all about, please watch this TED video:

[Buster's Uncle]

It seems to me that the real problem here is that they learned nothing from the rampant abuse of DCMA to suppress free speech.  The basic idea is sound enough - ideas have value, and creators should have rights - but the execution just keeps turning out sloppy, and in a way that the bosses profit people with grudges can throw their weight around and bystanders suffer.