The idea of graduated response, or “three strikes” just won’t die.

In Germany, while still celebrating the enactment of a law that will create infrastructure to censor arbitrary content on the net, conservatives are drafting their government program for the next legislative period after the elections this fall. In the draft they are advocating a graduated response solution “like the ones in France and the UK”, celebrating the ingenuity of those ideas. All while failing to even acknoledge that the french “Projet de loi favorisant la diffusion et la protection de la création sur Internet” (aka HADOPI) already has been declared unconstitutional by the french supreme court.

Speaking of it, Mr. Sarkozy has issues acknowledging that as well, it seems. Yesterday while addressing the french parliament (as first president in 150 years) he assured the lawmakers that he will go all the way (”J’irai jusqu’au bout.”) to get HADOPI or a similar law “protecting artists” enacted for real.

It’s frightening to see the exact same language and talking points used in these debates, be it in the UK, Germany or France. The Internet is always portrayed as a “area of lawlessness”, “ein rechtsfreier Raum” or “zones de non-droit”. It’s a dangerous place, where anarchists plan terror acts, perverts rape little children and pirates steal billions of dollar without fear of getting caught.

It’s a place that only exists in the minds of old(-minded) politicians, middlemen and publishers. A place that ceases to exist if you get your ass up and learn to internet. A fictional place that thrives on ignorance, arrogance and fear of losing power.

To those who don’t want to get up and work on making the future a brighter, more free and more fair place for everyone, but pride themselves in demagogy and incompetence in basic cultural techniques of the 21st century, I’d like to extend the following: GET OFF MY LAWN, OLD FART.