Stop Online Piracy Act

Wikipedia "blacked out" the English version of its website for 24 hours last week in protest of the anti-piracy legislation under consideration in the US Congress. The enactment of this law would be extremely damaging to the internet as we know it as it will eliminate the right for free speech. Some sites thought to be affected include YouTube, Facebook and Wikipedia along with hundreds more.

The legislation is designed to crack down pirated US products overseas so if passed it would allow people to launch legal action against websites that allow the unauthorised distribution of material. This means that if people post content online that may not necessarily belong to the them the website can be shut down.

Site founder Jimmy Wales tweeted saying "Student warning! Do your homework early. Wikipedia protesting bad law on Wednesday!"

While the main goal is to prevent popular trends involving piracy, critics say it could hurt the technology industry and infringes on free-speech rights. As a result of the protest and the support from many websites, the SOPA act has been stopped.

However, there is now ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) which is an agreement that aims to establish international standards for intellectual property rights enforcement. If this were to get passed it could be detrimental to the Internet and the way it is used today.

While the main goal is to prevent popular trends involving piracy, critics say it could hurt the technology industry and infringes on free-speech rights.

Public Transport in Rural Ireland...

Waiting up to an hour and a half for a bus in Limerick City in the rain is an experience I do not wish upon anyone, but it is one that thousands of the city's residents have to endure every day. Simply put, Ireland's rural public transport system is disgraceful. It is under funded, neglected, and in need of a serious revamp. In comparison to Dublin Bus, Bus Éireann operate limited routes in Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Galway. Not only are the routes poor, but the efficiency of the service is completely unacceptable.

The introduction of waiting times at all the major bus stops in Dublin, as well as the new integrated Leap Card, further highlights the overshadowing that Dublin Bus has over it's Bus Éireann counterparts. The cities of Limerick, Cork, Waterford and Galway need an effective public transport infrastructure, not only to deal with the student population, but to combat the problems of social exclusion and rural isolation for social groups like pensioners and the disabled, for example.

With projects like the Metro North and DART underground services being shelved for the foreseeable future, perhaps the current government could do something to address the issue of public transport in these areas of the country. The current system is completely flawed and almost laughable in comparison to structures that exist in other EU countries.

Women lobby for bald Barbie to help children with cancer

Women lobby for bald Barbie to help children with cancer

Barbie may be best known for her long blonde hair, but a new campaign that is gaining popularity is pressurising Mattel to manufacture hairless Barbie's on a commercial basis. A Facebook group called “Beautiful and Bald Barbie! Lets see if we can get it made” was created a few days before Christmas, and already has over 114,000 “likes”.

The online movement was launched by Rebecca Sypin and Jane Bingham. Rebecca’s 12 year old daughter lost her hair after undergoing chemotherapy treatment for leukaemia. Rebecca said that children undergoing this treatment “take the hair loss harder than the treatment”. Jane also lost her hair after being treated for lymphoma.

Both women wrote to Mattel about the idea but the company replied saying that it does not accept ideas from outside sources.

I hope that Mattel will eventually turn around. The doll would make younger generations of cancer patients feel less conscious about their hair loss. It would highlight the importance of beauty through difference because beauty comes in all forms, and the production of these dolls would cement this fact in our minds. It is a great campaign that will ultimately raise awareness for the disease. If it ever does happen, lets hope that 100% of the profits go to the charity.

I also hope this encourages Mattel to make a whole range of dolls with different coloured skin and hair.

If you would like to join the efforts of having a Beautiful and Bald Barbie made, please click on the link below to “like” the Facebook page and join the campaign.

Posted By: Ruth

http://www.facebook.com/BeautifulandBaldBarbie