Slashdot recently posted another couple links to recent stories about how the media (and Internet companies) practice self-censorship, which also highlights the ridiculous abuses of current copyright law (usually via the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, or "DMCA".)

The article references how, for a re-airing of one of their shows, CNN edited out footage of Bill Maher outing homosexual Republican congressman Ken Mehlman during a Larry King interview, and how the censored footage was later removed from YouTube, thanks to a cease-and-desist letter from CNN.

The slashdot article also mentions how the Washington Post recently revised a story that describes how Bush lied regarding his intention to accept Rumsfeld's resignation. The less accurate (and damning, to Bush) story includes no notice to the reader that the story was edited.

Information is the lifeblood of democracy. Without accurate, relevant information, the people cannot make an informed decision about who to vote for. That's why it is a travesty that with the technology that we have today, to exchange copious amounts of data over thousands of miles to millions of people in a blink of an eye, that government and corporations conspire to stymie the flow of that information to suit their own interests -- and that we the people, let them get away with it.

If you read geek/technology blogs like slashdot, you probably already have a bit of a clue that these issues exist and perhaps how important they are. Otherwise, you probably only have a vague notion of them, if that, because the handful of corporations that control the majority of the media that you're exposed to, want to keep you ignorant.

These interests want to keep your opinion of the DMCA limited to what you know about people downloading music or movies on the Internet. On the issue of net neutrality (without which, your Internet service provider would essentially be free to directly limit what you can and can't access online), they'd prefer that you know nothing at all.

These are not minor issues. I am not a conspiracy theorist, but what I see here is a conspiracy. It is how the powerful ensure that they keep (or grow) that power, and how they keep the "peasants" in their place, in the best way they know how to in a "free" society such as ours. The conspiracy is hidden in plain sight -- in the laws, the regulation, the de-regulation, the tax code ... most of it is right there for anybody who looks for it to see ... but few will ever bother to look. In the media, these issues are never talked about, or when they are, the issue/debate is usually framed in deceptive terms, with the wrong emphasis or with a subtle (but heavy) bias.

What is to be done about all of this? I am afraid, very little for now. You can be skeptical about how Big Media reports the news, but most people already think they're doing that, whether they are or not. You can attempt to chastise and shame them with letters of complaint or belligerent blogging (as I'm doing), but the truth is that will do little.

Ultimately, everything comes back to the broken backbone of our democracy, and that is our elections. I've already ranted long enough here, but the only way to ultimately address these issues in anything resembling an effective manner is to make sweeping changes to the way our elections (and campaigns) are handled.

Though I am heartened by the recent Democratic victories in Congress, the truth is, in many ways the are just as much a party of corporate shills as are the Republicans. They are, as many people will say (sometimes without even realizing why they are saying it), the lesser of the two evils.

Personally, I would like to get back to a country that is for The People and by The People, where The People actually know enough to form an opinion of the issues of the day and what the government is doing.

How about you?