day 1089: Piracy Alerts

"Do Not Steal"

We have gotten slack and comfortable with piracy on the Internet.  Some of the piracy is obvious and we have been told many times that we are not to steal intellectual property from the Internet...especially music, movies, books, etc.  But, wherever you turn, we see examples of "borrowed" pictures, words, and still music, movies and books. There was a generation that were there at the origin of Napster (original Napster) where file-sharing became a norm, not an exception, that has had to be reeled back in. It is true that once the fire hose is turned on it is hard to stop the flow, but if we are to continue to make the creation of software and creative works part of the economic life-blood of our country we are going to have to continue to reinforce and enforce the protection of intellectual property and educate everyone that piracy is not okay. This past week the ISPs started revealing their alert systems.  The most comprehensive announcement to date has been from Verizon. They (along with the other ISPs) have created a 6-alert program. According to an article in Politico last week, Verizon will be doing this: "For the first three alerts, users will be notified that they've been flagged as pirating content. For alerts four and five, users will have to watch an anti-piracy video and acknowledge receipt of the notice. For the sixth alert, users will be subject to speed throttling, the details of which are still being worked out."  So, we should be ready as consumers, but also as employers to ensure that these alerts are taken seriously and not swept under the rug.






As believers, we need to pay attention to our behaviors more so than others. As we know, others are watching and evaluating. If we are pirating, even small amounts of music, or other items, then what example does that leave others to follow?  It seems such an easy thing to do, but it's really part of our cultural identity and another of those places where we have to be sure that we aren't just going with the flow.  Think about what you might be "stealing" that if you looked in God's mirror you would be ashamed.  These are the little things in life that do matter.  We live and work on a slippery slope so let's be sure that we are always alert and watching our footing.


Reference: Exodus 20:15 (New Living Translation)

day 132: Taking Ourselves Too Seriously

On our jobs we are constantly reinforced to be growing, developing and improving. In many companies each year we get set down with our boss or HR person and given an annual performance review. We have spelled out to us the things we are good at that we should continue and the areas we should improve. Together these become a grading of comparison of our peers and we get rated and ranked. If we do what we are being asked then we double down on ourselves and we take our talents and we try and become better and better. There is nothing wrong with that, to a point. When is it that the focus becomes too much on ourselves that it gets in the way of working well with others and living to our purpose? I recently made a reference from C.S. Lewis' classic, "The Screwtape Letters" and I want to do so again today. The book is a set of instructional letters on how to corrupt and gain control of the soul of a man. It is written from one devil (Screwtape) to another devil (Wormwood). On the topic of our talents and focus, Screwtape tells Wormwood this: "To anticipate the Enemy's (God's) strategy, we must consider His aims. The Enemy (God) wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world, and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact, without being any more (or less) glad at having done it than he would be if it had been done by another. The Enemy (God) wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favour that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor's talents." Wow. Of course, that is what God wants. He wants us to be selfless and never to take ourselves and our talents so seriously that it gets in the way of our caring for others and our love and relationship with Him. When we start to focus so much on ourselves that we begin to get in the way of others or worse yet, we become competitive, envious or jealous, then we know we have crossed the line. It's clear in the Ten Commandments that we are not to covet anything of others, that would be their talents and skills as well. So today, think through, just how seriously are you taking yourself? Is it healthy, or have you crossed over and begun to put yourself too far up the pedestal? If you find yourself making comparisons (position, title, salary) to others in your profession and fretting when someone else gets an assignment and you don't, or worrying about what it is going to be like if someone else gets promoted over you, then it is time to take the test of yourself and then stop taking yourself that seriously.

Reference: Exodus 20:17 (New Living Testament), C.S. Lewis, "The Screwtape Letters"