Why History Needs Software Piracy

I just wanted to share this article from PC World's website. There has been recent concerns over SOPA and PIPA, and even more significantly the closure of Megaupload and other download sites. This represents an erosion of many years of archiving by valued sites such as Snesorama and RetroMags, to name but two. The latter of which has lost 99% of its archives. These insidious actions by the governments and corporations of the world are tantamount to mass book burning. If that simile upsets a few people, then good, because the destruction of our electronic cultural heritage upsets me deeply. We are losing our history, people. Read the article, write letters, blog about it, don't let information be lost in silence.
<!-- <a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotX0xz4hiYnuE6jdFMZslX-aba4zrvUWW_Ib-hH8kOgALWFJ43ex9FQF3bssJudhyphenhyphenu504QRmXXGGnveC68253fhLFqkRNRYNFgSyJ7DP_t677XQQd5zNamMvJdg1N_YqysVyv_2arq-U/s1600/bb160.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 317px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjotX0xz4hiYnuE6jdFMZslX-aba4zrvUWW_Ib-hH8kOgALWFJ43ex9FQF3bssJudhyphenhyphenu504QRmXXGGnveC68253fhLFqkRNRYNFgSyJ7DP_t677XQQd5zNamMvJdg1N_YqysVyv_2arq-U/s400/bb160.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5703922920886599890" border="0" /></a>--><br /> I just wanted to share <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/248571/why_history_needs_software_piracy.html">this article from PC World's website</a>. There has been recent concerns over <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/248298/sopa_and_pipa_just_the_facts.html?tk=rel_news">SOPA and PIPA</a>, and even more significantly the closure of Megaupload and other download sites. This represents an erosion of many years of archiving by valued sites such as Snesorama and <a href="http://www.retromags.com/">RetroMags</a>, to name but two. The latter of which has lost <a href="http://www.retromags.com/forums/topic/7018-megauploads-shut-down-99-of-retromags-collection-unavailable/">99% of its archives</a>. These insidious actions by the governments and corporations of the world are tantamount to mass book burning. If that simile upsets a few people, then good, because the destruction of our electronic cultural heritage upsets me deeply. We are losing <span style="font-style:italic;">our history</span>, people. <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/248571/why_history_needs_software_piracy.html">Read the article</a>, write letters, blog about it, don't let information be lost in silence.