The 18^th of January 2012: Wikipedia is down for 24hrs. The site’s servers have not crashed, there are no technical problems. Instead, Wikipedia has shut down in order to protest the United States government, more specifically the ‘Stop Online Piracy Act’that lies before the United States Congress, waiting to be passed.

The bill is designed to curb illegal downloading and protect the pockets of major Hollywood media companies that have seen their profits threatened by the internet in recent years. The argument goes that piracy, or rather free, unlimited access to information, destroys jobs because it deprives content creators of income. Free information means content creators do not get proper compensation for their labour. With free media, or piracy, supply of content is abundant, driving prices down to nothing, or next to nothing. The legislation in the United States is designed to protect people and, supposedly, create jobs. Unfortunately what the bill amounts to, in my humble opinion, is censorship. Petition the State Department by signing HERE.

In addition to Wikipedia’s protest against the bill, Facebook and Google lodged a formal complaint last November, saying

We support the bills’ stated goals. Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities (and) mandates that would require monitoring of web sites.

The United States government, and the proponents of this bill want to stop piracy but they do not understand how to do it. Wikipedia shutting down raises awareness about the issue and includes the whole world in the struggle for free access to information. Wikipedia is down globally, not just in the United States. The struggle against free flow of and access to information by profit minded media will continue on many fronts. The United States Congress will not be the only battlefield, and neither will the internet—I don’t think.

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

 
Source: CNN, Wikipedia
Words: Jason Shark

ISSUE 23 BREAKDOWN

one small seed is proud to announce the launch of the application for Picture This, our photography publication, for iPad and iPhone. Picture This has 12 digital magazine editions to date, each comprising over 100 pages of breathtaking photography created by one small seed network members. Picture This published its first print edition in late 2010. Now, in March 2011, we have launched the first free downloadable app. And in just its first four days online, it has had a massive 4500 downloads.

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This collection is a virtual gallery dedicated to the astounding contributions from the members of our creative networking site, onesmallseed.net. This iPhone and iPad edition features a selection of the best photography uploaded by our members over the past few months, a body of work that is of such an undeniably high standard that it demanded its very own publication.

So, if you were waiting for a reason to buy an iPhone or iPad, here it is: the Picture This application. A collection of beautiful photography to browse through, save to your phone, use as a wallpaper, or send to a friend. The app has search functions that allow you to search by photographer or title. The format fits to horizontal and vertical frames, with easily scrollable touchscreen functionality.

Download the app right .

www.picturethismagazine.co.za

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ISSUE 05 FEATURES:

ARCHITECTURE: INSTANT HOUSING
ARCHITECTURE: FROM RURAL POVERTY TO CREATIVE COMMUNITY SPACE
PHOTOGRAPHY: WARWICK SAINT
PHOTOGRAPHY: POINT OF VIEW – JONATHAN TAYLOR
PHOTOGRAPHY: STREETHEART – BRETT RUBIN
PHOTOGRAPHY: THE KAROO
FASHION: THE DENIM INSTITUTE
FASHION: EMO CHIC
FASHION: PASCHOAL RODRIGUEZ
FASHION: CREATURE COMFORT
GRAPHICS: MASTER BEAR-WRANGLER
GRAPHICS: DISTURBANCE DESIGN
GRAPHICS: SOME KIND OF MIND
GRAPHICS: DIVINE INSPIRATION – DYLAN JONES
ART: BUFFY BRAVE ART
ART: ATTACKING FROM WITHIN
FILM: CROSSING LINES – GREGG WATT
TECHNOLOGY/DESIGN: HELLO COMPUTER
MUSIC: MTKIDU
MUSIC: TEAM SPIRIT – MAX NORMAL
MUSIC: SWEAT.X
MUSIC: LOVE JONES