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the Stop Online Piracy Act, or the I want to take the Internet away Act.
11-17-2011, 01:27 PM
“We can never undo what we have done. We can never go back in time. We write history with our decisions and our actions. But we also write history with our responses to those actions. We can leave the pain and the damage in our wake, unattended, or we can do the work of acknowledging and fixing, to whatever extent possible, the harm that we have caused.”
— On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Danya Ruttenberg
CattyNebulart
Unregistered
Re Dartz; With regards to the constitution it's a moldy old document to be ignored when it's inconvenient. America runs pretty much on the golden rule (he who has the gold makes the rules) and on the fact that they don't like brown people. They are a proper god-fearing nation, such as you would have found in the middle ages, or the current day middle east.
But always remember it's the land of the free and the bestest country ever, if you say otherwise we will shoot you.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
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The biggest issue is that it provides a big-ass club to the copyright holders that have always wanted places like YouTube to essentially be shut down. They can basically use it to force them into "review everything", which is hideously expensive at their current rate of content addition, since otherwise they can be said to be "encouraging" piracy.
Overall, though, it's about control. Control over what you're allowed to see for entertainment. Control over what gets actually put out there, versus all that's being done now in terms of content creation.
I fully expect to see a lot of efforts coming in between when the law is passed, and when a judge puts a temporary hold while it goes through the courts, from the copyright holders that have wanted this level of power for years.
Most of the issue with it, really, is it affects most people on the internet that are actually playing mostly by the rules, not downloading or uploading copyrighted content. It won't affect those who are out and out never going to pay a single cent and yet have a strong desire for the content.
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From the government who gave you Pizza is a vegetable.
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
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Quote:Overall, though, it's about control. Control over what you're allowed to see for entertainment. Control over what gets actually put out there, versus all that's being done now in terms of content creation.
It's also about control over the very culture. I've had this quote saved in a file with other similar material for several years. I can't verify that it's genuine and not a propagandist's creation (and it's just extreme enough that I suspect it is the latter), but if it's real it puts different, somewhat sinister, spin on this legislation: Quote:I just want to make it very clear -- the idea that the people own the culture is extinct. We own the culture. Without us there is no culture. We are the gatekeepers who determine what is allowed into the culture, we are the arbiters who determine what is of value in the culture, we are the distributors who determine who may have the culture, and we are the enforcers who determine who is to be deprived of the culture. No one has a right to the culture. They only get temporary access, as we see fit to allow it, at the price we see fit to set.
-- Jonathan Lamy, spokesman for the RIAA
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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The Electronic Frontier Foundation
11-18-2011, 01:38 PM
Has a petition you can sign online to be sent to your Congresscritter against this bill:
http://wfc2.wiredforchan.../public/?action_KEY=8173
“We can never undo what we have done. We can never go back in time. We write history with our decisions and our actions. But we also write history with our responses to those actions. We can leave the pain and the damage in our wake, unattended, or we can do the work of acknowledging and fixing, to whatever extent possible, the harm that we have caused.”
— On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Danya Ruttenberg
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From a blogger I read about the actual status of SOPA
11-22-2011, 02:04 AM
taken from: http://osewalrus.livejournal.com/972061.html
First, the Business Software Alliance (BSA) is breaking ranks with other
members of the IP Mafia and are reversing their previous support for
SOPA.
http://blog.bsa.org/2011/11/21/sopa-needs-work-to-address-innovation-considerations/
(previous supporting statement here)
Similarly,
this op ed in the Daily Caller is highly significant as it negates the
effort to persuade the Tea Party and other Libertarians opposed to
Internet regulation that SOPA is utterly benign and only socialist orgs
like my employer oppose it.
http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/21/sopa-is-a-threat-to-american-internet-leadership/
Next,
it is wroth noting how much damage SOPA is doing to our foreign policy
and pro-democracy initiatives. Russia and Al-Jazeera are saying the U.S.
now ranks with China in Internet censorship. http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111120/22021716846/how-other-parts-world-view-sopa.shtml
These stand in sharp contrast to efforts by the RIAA and the MPAA to downplay the problems with the bill:
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57320417-93/riaa-chief-copyright-bills-wont-kill-the-internet/?tag=mncol;txt
http://riaa.org/blog.php?content_selector=riaa-news-blog&blog_selector=RIAA%20QuestionTo-Rogue-Sites-Critics-&blog_type=&news_month_filter=11&news_year_filter=2011
http://blog.mpaa.org/BlogOS/post/2011/11/15/Rogue-Sites-Legislation-and-the-DMCA-.aspx
http://blog.mpaa.org/BlogOS/post/2011/11/16/Remember-the-iPod-.aspx
Finally, PBS analyzes how the Internet exploded over this issue, with a nice shout out to PK at the end.
http://www.pbs.org/idealab/2011/11/dontbreaktheinternet-how-the-web-became-a-political-force-vs-sopa322.html
“We can never undo what we have done. We can never go back in time. We write history with our decisions and our actions. But we also write history with our responses to those actions. We can leave the pain and the damage in our wake, unattended, or we can do the work of acknowledging and fixing, to whatever extent possible, the harm that we have caused.”
— On Repentance and Repair: Making Amends in an Unapologetic World by Danya Ruttenberg
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Dartz Wrote:From the government who gave you Pizza is a vegetable. Technically, a tomato is a fruit.
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I kinda doubt that quote's real. At the very least, I'd expect to find it somewhere else online if it were.
Anti-piracy measures that inconvenience the non-pirate while not stopping the pirate shouldn't be a surprise anymore. I can't even think of an example where it worked otherwise.
(Sony's actions with the PS3 really stand out. In response to a linux-based security breach that didn't allow running copied games - or much of anything else in fact - they disabled linux support in a system update. They took away a feature from legitimate users, which might actually have been part of what they bought the system *for*. The actual ability to run copied games came along not much later, and didn't even require a linux-capable system. I think I've heard that hackers have even managed to re-enable linux now. Of course, that still leaves people with the choice of being able to play games they bought on a system they bought, or use a system they bought for a purpose it was advertised as being able to do but not be able to play some games that they could buy. A group of regular customers gets screwed, piracy isn't stopped.)
ETA: Oh, and here's a story about Warner Brothers sending takedown notices for things they haven't looked at or don't even own. Including but not limited to free software posted on hotfile by it's creators and " http://hotfile.com/contacts.html and give them the details of where the link was posted and the link and they will deal with the @sshole who posted the fake."
-Morgan.
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Morganni Wrote:I kinda doubt that quote's real. At the very least, I'd expect to find it somewhere else online if it were.
Anti-piracy measures that inconvenience the non-pirate while not stopping the pirate shouldn't be a surprise anymore. I can't even think of an example where it worked otherwise.
(Sony's actions with the PS3 really stand out. In response to a linux-based security breach that didn't allow running copied games - or much of anything else in fact - they disabled linux support in a system update. They took away a feature from legitimate users, which might actually have been part of what they bought the system *for*. The actual ability to run copied games came along not much later, and didn't even require a linux-capable system. I think I've heard that hackers have even managed to re-enable linux now. Of course, that still leaves people with the choice of being able to play games they bought on a system they bought, or use a system they bought for a purpose it was advertised as being able to do but not be able to play some games that they could buy. A group of regular customers gets screwed, piracy isn't stopped.) The whole GeoHot fiasco is a big part of why I won't buy from Sony ever. As well as the music CD rootkit fiasco. Well, OK, overall, Sony has basically been trying to paint it as you never, ever, ever, own your own hardware, and worse, that Sony effectively gets to own anything they didn't make just because you want to run their content on it.
I was amused when they seemed to start reaping what they had sown via the myriad of hacking incidents they suffered, most notably the PSN shutdown.
Morganni Wrote:ETA: Oh, and here's a story about Warner Brothers sending takedown notices for things they haven't looked at or don't even own. Including but not limited to free software posted on hotfile by it's creators and "http://hotfile.com/contacts.html and give them the details of where the link was posted and the link and they will deal with the @sshole who posted the fake." And this, overall, is reason why the powers should not be expanded. They're already engaged in scatterfire approaches, and attempts to make the process automatic, and otherwise trying hard to stretch the letter of the law well and truly beyond the spirit of the law in an effort to protect their now outdated business models.
I'm pretty much predicting that, if they manage to get SOPA past the veto pen, we'll have efforts made to finally shut down places like YouTube that have, so far, played by all the rules placed on them and avoided being run out.
I've been talking today to Mike about the whole issue with piracy of copyrighted material. It's not just money. In many cases, it comes down to availability, either of the product itself, or of the product in a form you want, like the BBC cut of a Top Gear episode versus the BBCA cut of a Top Gear episode, or the American release of a game versus the sanitized release that Australians get of it. Or a movie DVD that doesn't nag you with ads for upcoming releases and "buy the game too!" like the commercial releases have become annoyingly thick with. Or even that the media in question has been out of print so long that the surviving copies don't turn up very often at all, and the seller wants a premium for the privilege of ownership.
It also comes down to fair price. I know Valve has extensive data now of how much sales explode when the price is $10 lower, and the heavy implication that $60 is way too much, and the market could blow the top off their sales figures by hitting the $45-50 price point on new release games instead. To say nothing of the digital download side of the house. And that isn't even necessarily conversion from piracy, either, which I sincerely doubt would be even a 10 to 1 ratio in certain categories when you get down to it.
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"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
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Oh no, let them go ahead and go through with this. The moment they do, the entire fucking Internet as we know it is gonna leave American shores for greener pastures. Privately held domain name servers will go gang-busters. Foreign relations will improve once we stop bombarding them via the Internet with our social media (Islamic countries in particular). And China will sit back and have a good laugh as they'll crow "Who's the pot and who's the kettle now, bitches?"
Oh, and I can't imagine Anonymous taking this lying down, either. WARNING! WARNING! Shit storm is imminent. Please don your Gallagher-style splatter shields for your protection against the rotary spreading implement. This is not a drill.
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I should note that the Supreme Court has generally not looked favorably on laws to censor the Internet; if this actually gets signed into law somehow, expect an injunction to prevent its enforcement until it can go all the way up the Federal court system to the Supremes.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
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I'm also given to understand that Obama isn't intending to sign it into law. Hopefully they won't get enough votes to override him, and thus it'll be moot.
Really, though, all I expect is that, if it becomes law and stands as law, they'll use it to bludgeon YouTube out of existence (competition they really don't want), but otherwise it'll just become whack-a-mole on a significantly larger scale.
Oh, and I fully expect that the websites of pretty much all the entertainment companies who signed on will go dark at some point or another from Anonymous.
--
"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
CattyNebulart
Unregistered
Yeah they will shut youtube down and one of the competitors somewhere else that does not have a .com will take over. I for one think SOPA is great Europe could use some more jobs and Internet mega companies. (No not really, but even if it does happen it will just displace the companies. Google might just move from silicon valley to Ireland. They already have an Ireland HQ for tax gimmicks anyway.)
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
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I can just see Obama's tweet. "Congress wants me to sign SOPA into law. lolwtf?"
CattyNebulart
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nah Obama and Biden are big buddies with Hollywood, if anything he would likely ask for seconds.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
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If they're such big buddies of Hollywood, they'd get them together and tell them exactly why this bill will be bad for business, and the legions of hacktivists that come after RIAA and MPAA with the digital equivalent of pitchforks and torches is only gonna be a small part of the bads.
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The bill is dead.
Quote:"While
I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am
confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House.
Majority Leader Cantor has assured me that we will continue to work to
address outstanding concerns and work to build consensus prior to any
anti-piracy legislation coming before the House for a vote,” said
Chairman Issa. “The voice of the Internet community has been heard.
Much more education for Members of Congress about the workings of the
Internet is essential if anti-piracy legislation is to be workable and
achieve broad appeal.”
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
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It's not dead, but certainly on life support. Pressure needs to be maintained to ensure it stays off the House floor, or at least doesn't stand a chance if it does get there.
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"You know how parents tell you everything's going to fine, but you know they're lying to make you feel better? Everything's going to be fine." - The Doctor
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Y'know thinking on SOPA and PROTECT IP got me thinking 'Gee, just what the world needs yet another US law that can be used to affect non-US citizens' then with more thought I realised that it could end up being worse than most people think. Say for example certain corporations or copyright trolls wanted to make all online mentioning or presence of a item/product/idea go away, well if how the DMCA has been used is something to go by then, yes that's what they'd be using SOPA for.
Which means that in my mind if SOPA was enacted, Harmony Gold would go after every single English-language web site that contains Macross information and get it removed from the internet.
--Rod.H
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Exactly why this and PIPA need to die a horrible death, one so horrible that all other bills like it will be deterred from ever setting foot in the Rotunda.
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Anyone got a proper list of the Blackouts for tomorrow? I'm trying to explain to my folks just WHY this is bad.
I had to go with: "You won't be able to see video of your grandkid online because the site got destroyed 'cause a 16 year-old could theoretically use it to "pirate" a Lady Gaga song. By singing it."
''We don't just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat
them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.''
-- James Nicoll
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Well according to http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/17/google_sopa/ it's Wikipedia, Reddit, tucows, boing boing, Internet Archive(wayback machine), ICanHasCheezburger.....heck http://sopastrike.com/ has a listage.
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Steve Jackson Games is going to be doing something, according to today's Daily Illuminator...
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them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Angryoptimist
Unregistered
Rod H Wrote:heck %[link=http://sopastrike.com/]http://sopastrike.com/] has a listage.
Checking today, I see that Google is on the list now, linking to http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-0 ... sures.html]this article. I'm not sure it'll be a proper blackout (I wish! What a splash that'd make!) but Google will be participating.
Foxboy Wrote:Anyone got a proper list of the Blackouts for tomorrow? I'm trying to explain to my folks just WHY this is bad.
Might I ask where in your argument you begin to lose them? - %[link=http://xkcd.com/1288/]XKCD #1288]
- %[link=http://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/foxreplace/?src=search]FoxReplace for Firefox]
Two great tastes that go great together!
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