The brutal deaths of the cartoonists, editors and journalists at Charlie Hebdo are a tragic loss.

As eloquently put by Joe Randazzo, a former Onion editor, “This is a loss for all of humanity. The victims, people who believed with passion and intellect that humankind can be better, were struck down in the birthplace of the Enlightenment, the movement from which the modern world emanates.”

At the heart of this story is the contrast between the peaceful freedom of expression and violence.

My focus fell on the bravery of continuing to work and maintain a sense of humor, while under the threat of imminent violence — even death.

The National Rifle Association’s opposition to the regulation of firearms isn’t only guided by the staunch position to protect the “constitutional rights” of gun owners. The NRA has received tens of millions of dollars from the firearms industry since 2005, which it in turn has lobbied against even the most common-sense gun laws. GOP pollster Frank Luntz found that 74 percent of NRA members and 87 percent of non-NRA gun owners support criminal background checks to qualify for purchasing a gun, yet the NRA continues to lobby against mandatory federal background checks, suggesting it has more than just its constituents’ interests in mind. The NRA has also been using campaign donations and lobbying to promote state legislation, such as Florida’s 2005 “shoot first” Stand Your Ground Law, which has now been adopted by half of the country.  All of this contributes to a legal environment where both ownership and the size of the firearms economy are as widespread and large-scale as possible, and the ability to use deadly force is given to any citizen who purchases a gun.

Post updated 24 Feb 2014

Using the the term “piracy” to describe copyright infringement is a pejorative metaphor that takes copyright infringement and file sharing, something that is relatively benign and non-destructive (though definitely disruptive to the way we currently distribute media) and maps it onto theft and violence. There are certainly still conversations to be had about content and media distribution and compensation, but these discussions would be best served by cutting out deceptive language like “piracy.” Aaron Swartz wrote on this misconception in a blog post, where he wrote:

 “Stealing is wrong. But downloading isn’t stealing. If I shoplift an album from my local record store, no one else can buy it. But when I download a song, no one loses it and another person gets it. There’s no ethical problem. The evidence that downloading hurts sales is weak, but even if downloading did hurt sales, that doesn’t make it unethical. Libraries, video rental places, and used book stores (none of which pay the artist) hurt sales too. Is it unethical to use them?” 

Swartz also elaborated on this topic in a cut NYT point/counterpoint.

This post was updated February 10th, 2014.