My opinion about the 4th box

Hey there,

I recently translated an article from Rick Falkvinge into the Dutch Language. I have written the translation, because I was kind of struck by this article. I would like to explain my opinion on it in this blog post.

Firstly, I think many of the facts told in that article are correct. The balance of power is sliding out of balance. But my personal opinion is, that the more it gets out of balance, the harder the other side will fight to regain the balance. That was in essence what I think he meant with the Pirate Parties trying to make the 2nd box working again.

There will always be power struggle, and there will always be one side at a certain time on the winning side. The balance might slide to one side, and then to another. Still, we must remain watchful of the events, because once the balance slides beyond a certain threshold, it slides out of control. Permanently. This is what in my opinion Rick has been trying to warn us from.

Of course, in regards to emotions, people sometimes go beyond what their rational mind may be thinking. This happens often, and is a factor which also shouldn't be neglected. At the time I read the article, I was shocked, and believed firmly in what it said. While many things may still be true, I am now of an opinion that the balance will eventually be regained, as long as we remain watchful and come into action if the balance of power is at the verge of sliding out of control. And at the moment, it's slowly continuing to slide towards a certain side, with only slow signs of slowing down.

But... There's hope. SOPA was delayed, and this might be a major sign that the sliding of the balance of power to the Copyright Lobby's side might be stopping. I encourage our civil rights activists to continue pressing the congress to refuse the law, so the politicians are aware that they must listen to everyone, not just one group. As long as the balance is kept, I'm not the one who will undertake any drastic actions.

That's all I wanted to say.