For me, the surprise is the expectation of privacy at this point. Using acts like SOPA, PIPA, ACTA, DMCA, etc., both political parties in Washington have deep-pocketed interests in controlling the internet for corporations and regulated by the FCC. This way, we get back to the AOL/Compuserve days of the internet where -- like radio and TV -- where the only way it will be any good is if you have to pay for every little thing that's worth seeing.
Right now, Google, Facebook, Twitter, Microsoft, and Apple (among a few others) are determined to erect walls around their corner of the net. Congress will keep sending SOPA clones to the floor until they get one through, and then they'll "amend" the law year after year after that until the internet is just as crappy as everything else we find. Obama has already set in motion the
Internet ID [PDF] idea, where law enforcement has first dibs on your ID, your location, what you're viewing, where you go, who you like, etc. It's already
extremely difficult surf the web anonymously using various methods. Tin foil hat? You can fit me for one. And if you don't agree to hand your "right" to privacy (long gone), then you'll be labeled someone who aids and abets terrorists and pedophiles.
- Free apps from Google? Only if we can use all online info for our benefit. (And if asked, we'll gladly hand it over to the police if they ask.)
- Want friends or your business on Facebook? Only if we can rape your life; you don't own your online life, we do.
- Want to enjoy Apple products? Only if you pay for and buy into our ecosystem completely. No questions asked.
Everything good seems to get turned to shit, mostly because of corporations or jerks like the US or Chinese governments. I have to go now. I think I hear the FBI breaking down the door.