Black March
February is over and it’s time for Black March to begin! Let’s show these international corporations that try to spy on and control our behavior in order to preserve a rotten and outdated copyright system that we can live without them, but they can’t continue to exist without us! Let’s show them that the more they try to force their will upon us, the more we will fight back and the worse off they’ll be! Let’s show them that the more money they try to make, the more they’ll actually lose!
Remember: The protest’s aim is to prove to these corporations that we can survive without them, so this is not a simple call not to legally purchase any content that such an international corporation holds the rights to, but one to completely avoid obtaining any such content for the entire month of March. Yes, this means that “pirating” any such content needs to be equally avoided, because this is the only way to show them that we don’t actually need them, so don’t start any file-sharing application unless you’re certain that all the content that will be transferred will be legitimate, don’t visit any “pirate” sites, don’t even watch any copyrighted content on YouTube! Stick to what you already have and wait at least until April to get anything else.
On the other hand, keep in mind that this is not a movement against content creators, and perhaps not even against all distributors, but strictly against those international corporations that try to push through laws like ACTA, SOPA and others like them. So if you have any money to spare this month, if you can afford to do so, you could donate to those who create quality content, be it software, music, books, movies or anything else of the sort, and make it available for free. You could look for and make purchases from authors who make a living by selling their works but at the same time accept that those who can’t afford them or are simply not yet certain enough for a purchase should also be allowed to enjoy them freely. And you could also look for independent content creators who have clearly expressed their opposition to such laws and purchase something from them, perhaps discovering a hidden gem or two while you’re at it.
There is no point in making all pay for the crimes of a few, so keep in mind both parts of this movement. Hurt those who want to hurt us for their own petty interests, but at the same time try to support those who provide enjoyment and entertainment, those who create and share, and still manage to be reasonable about it. See content creators and small, local distributors as being in between us and the large international corporations that are bent on being our enemies, look carefully to figure out which side they support and return the favor, if you are able to do so, to those who are on ours. The only way to win this is if we work together with them, promoting, supporting and defending each other, as an army of Davids against a squad of Goliaths.
