Per aspera

Joel Johnson went on a web show sponsored by OCP, ostensibly for a conversation about gadgets, but went off and wouldn’t stop talking about Robocop.

Yesterday, I was invited to talk about gadgets onThe Hugh Thompson Show, a television-style talk show sponsored exclusively by AT&T for distribution on the online AT&T Tech Channel. I eventually did talk about gadgets, but in light of AT&T’s shocking and baffling announcement of their plans to filter the internet, I thought that a much more interesting and important topic.

So that’s what I talked about.
…

That’s the point—I wasn’t being a twerp just for the sake of being one. This is a critically important issue, one that deserves as much attention as can be drawn to it, especially in a venue where AT&T and its customers are sure to listen. And as the reaction of the crowd to my questions showed, no one wants AT&T rifling around in their communications. The only way to stop them from doing so is to speak up whenever we have the chance.

Right on. It may seem like a little thing, but I think this was ballsy and important. Ideally, people get organized (into, say, a government) in order to defend their rights and provide a check on the kind of stuff AT&T wants to pull. But of course, people aren’t going to stick their necks out unless they have to, and there are a lot of other rich, powerful people and organizations who will do whatever they can to see that it’s in most people’s interest to go along to get along, not to do the work of protecting rights. Which means people have to keep speaking up. Keep the pressure on. Let their allies know they’re not alone, and let their antagonists know about all those allies. Sometimes the stakes are high and cause urgent and vital. But I think even this little thing, as I said, is important.

(via Making Light)

UPDATE: Edited for clarity