the reason banning movies is stupid.
written: 3:15 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2005

Now, instead of worrying about my payment not going through because it's my first time using PayPal (Veronica, I gave my first time to you), I can be content with worrying about it getting through Singapore's crazy customs and coming out unscathed.

PLEASE DON'T OPEN MY PACKAGE. PLEASE DON'T OPEN MY PACKAGE. IF YOU OPEN MY PACKAGE PLEASE BE GENTLE AND DON'T CONFISCATE IT.

If something goes wrong and I end up wasting S$90, I'm leaving this freaking country for good, and I'm never coming back.

You know, I think one of these days I may just drop a letter to the President or even the Prime Minister and inform him/them of the utter ridiculousness of banning movies. Banning porn is still understandable, even to a leftish, liberal mind like mine; but banning movies? Even movies as innocuous as Oliver Stone's Any Given Sunday, which I watched on HBO? You're not stopping these "undesirable" media from coming into Singapore, because people nowadays know how to download. Downloading ability basically negates whatever attempts by the authorities to keep out "unsavoury" materials, and since you're not going to stop it, you might as well honour intellectual property rights and allow these DVDs into the country and regulate their sales!

Seriously. I try to not to flout IP laws as much as possible, but I'm not going to waste my money ordering Quills off Amazon.com just to have it destroyed (according to MDA's website) or returned, and so I will stick to downloading, thank you very much. You're losing on two fronts: One, these materials are still enjoyed by the very vulnerable and highly impressionable citizens you actively seek to over-protect; and two, you're contributing to the violation of intellectual property laws, because you're deterring IP law-abiding citizens from purchasing a DVD of a banned movie and causing the said citizens to resort to downloading.

So that's my little "banning movies is stupid" speech for the morning. Now I will go back to reading mugger notes on causation, remoteness and defences - which I aim to complete before I sleep. It's currently 3.24 a.m.

Major good luck to me. I am so going to fail Torts and Contract.

* balloon animals - a veronica mars reference; more specifically, a logan phrase <3

before sunrise // before sunset

Previously:
- - Tuesday, Aug. 29, 2017
I'm moving. - Sunday, Jul. 11, 2010
In all honesty - Tuesday, Jul. 06, 2010
What I want for my birthday... - Sunday, Jul. 04, 2010
On Roger's behalf. - Friday, Jul. 02, 2010