Design Against Censorship

Well that blackout was fun!

The internet blackout in protest of SOPA and PIPA seems to have done its job for today... but the fight is not over yet...

Here are some results:

• PIPA Support Collapses, with at Least 13 New Senators Opposed
• In Fight over Piracy Bill, New Economy Rises Against Old

If you are a designer, architect, BIM'er, or computational guru and want a small banner on your site, I took a stab at a simple one. You can see I have a one on the side bar linking over to http://americancensorship.org

Here is a little act of computational design protest...via my Slingshot! Database Plug-in for Grasshopper...

Blackout!

The Proving Ground will be joining the blackout in opposition to SOPA and Protect IP tomorrow, January 18th starting at 12AM PST.... A free and open internet is essential for innovative, community-driven technology, tools, and design!

Dear readers,

For 4 years, I have used this blog as a medium for sharing some of the things I have been up to with regards to design, computation, Grasshopper, BIM, and so on. Blogging and the open sharing of ideas is a huge passion of mine and will continue to be so. I firmly believe that an open and uncensored internet continues to bring about new avenues for innovation and contributes to the betterment of society.

Without the basic idea of an open internet, I believe that the design tools we love to use and the communities that support and expand them would not have been able to come into being to the success that they are experiencing today (if at all).... No Grasshopper, No Blender, No Processing... No Kangaroo, No Geco, No Diva, No Slingshot, No GeometryGym... and the list goes on.

This may sound like an extreme assertion, but having spent much time in a country (China) that actively censors the internet and prevents their citizens from accessing social media sites like Facebook (and, yes, even blogger sites like this one) I can say that this is no joking matter.

This week, you may notice that some popular internet websites, such as Wikipedia and Reddit, are participating in a 'blackout' of services in protest of bills in the United States congress: the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA). While the intentions are to prevent internet piracy, the bills would also dangerously affect the DNA of the internet by making internet censorship a matter of law in the US...and possibly influence other countries to pass similar measures.

In support of the protest efforts.......(from Forbes)

Do you like the look of that? I didn't think so...

The Proving Ground opposes internet censorship in all its forms and supports innovation through the freedom and sharing of ideas.

Find out how you can fight SOPA/PIPA by visiting...

• http://americancensorship.org
• http://sopastrike.com/

And even if these bills are defeated, this probably won't be the last time we see something like this... so keep your eyes open.

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming... (for a long time to come, I hope)

Nathan Miller

The Proving Ground