The Stop Online Piracy Act... In an effort to not have to do any work at all themselves, massive Hollywood trade organizations (RIAA, MPAA, et. al.) are pushing through this draconian legislation which would effectively place all the burden on the content hoster, i.e., google would become responsible to police the copyrighted works of Sony/BMG on sites like youtube. The DMCA (and PROTECT-IP), as you might recall, left the onus on the content owner, i.e., Sony/BMG had to issue a take-down notice. Now, if the RIAA claims copyrighted material is on youtube, the entire site can be taken down (DNS blocked) while the lawyers go at it. New DNS standards will now need to involve content providers in the discussion. Hollywood deciding how to implement internet protocol standards? What could possibly go wrong? Naturally congress is assenting to this deal thanks to well-funded congress critters. In a display of perverse irony, they also stacked the deck 5-1 during the hearings, effectively censoring a hearing on a bill about censorship. More to the point, analogies (such as those offered by the AFLCIO) that piracy is theft are simply fallacious. If anything constitutes a good analogy to theft, it's the MPAA/RIAA lobbying efforts that have destroyed the public domain by extending copyright well past a reasonable point. The EFF has a comprehensive list of statements against the bill, from all over the political and technical spectrum. ZDnet has a good take as well. From wikipedia: This is a bill written by Hollywood, for Hollywood, supported by legislators with massive ties to Hollywood. Yay democracy.
I hear that opponents of this law have filed the companion legislation Piracy Is Like Liberty Act (PILLA) to modify the more onerous parts of SOPA. They hope to merge the two laws into one. (sorry, couldn't resist)
The argument I'm hearing in favor of SOPA is that it will better protect from "cyber-attackers" and other national security rhetoric. I haven't and will not read H.R.3261. Am I missing something in the legislation other than the breach of so called "net-neutrality?" Are there provisions of any merit that would add necessary protections against hackers or any liabilities other than lost MPAA/RIAA revenue? Night clubs privately hire and coordinate security teams. Why shouldn't Hollywood have to police their businesses similarly?
Wait, is our government fascist or socialist? Because in other threads we got people worried about creeping socialism.
Definitely fascist. Business and government are a partnership. People may cry socialism, but I don't see government stepping in and taking ownership of the means of production. I see business and government controlling industry for the benefit of big business.
Don't forget the use of imperalism and military force for business interests, besides Iraq, one can see a similar trend in Latin America, we've been harassing Nicaragua for the last century or so.
The irony train continues - massive web firms take out a print ad to get more attention for their plight.
This is precisely the point. Trademark and copyright claims are enforced by the content owners - that's the way the law works. In the internet age, this is expensive, time consuming, and ultimately futile. So the asshats in Hollywood are using congress to pass the buck. And we'll all pay as the web is neutered into oblivion, while piracy still runs rampant anyhow.
Government of the corporations for the corporations. This bill will give them the power to block ANY website from US users. And they expect us to believe that this is due to internet piracy? It is about controlling us and taking away our freedom. Vote Ron Paul to bring back freedom.
I think it's amusing an industry built around patent evasion is now trying to call some shots in on "pirates". (Hollywood is where it is only because of its distance from Edison's New Jersey base). it begs the questions, if a pirate robs from a pirate who is robbing from a greed mongering corporate baron, where does that leave us?
Welp, wikipedia and reddit are down. Today is officially the most boring and uninformed day in the history of the internet.
Better than 2012 to the end of time being the most boring and uninformed age in the history of the internet.
boingboing, the entire cheezburger network (failblog) are also out. Take the time to read this, it's worth it.
I know we have members from all over the country. Is there any list that shows who is projected to vote Yea and Nay on H.R. 3261: Stop Online Piracy Act so they can call their reps?
I think SOPA has been effectively killed, it's PIPA in the senate that is still floating about in the legislative ether. And no, I don't know the answer to your question.
