SOPA

[IanDanKilmaster]

Stop Online Piracy Act or Sons of the PATRIOTs ACT

I would assume at least a few of you have heard of this bill, as it has generated quite the shitstorm on the internet.  It would seem there is a media blackout on the bill as only a few mainstream sources have bothered to address it at all.  So, for that reason, I would assume there are just as many of you who haven't heard of it.  Anyway, I had no intention of stirring up any kind of drama - whether it be fevered panic or intense debate.  I mostly wanted to throw a bit of information out that I thought everyone here should know.  I want to preface it by saying I know we all have different views on piracy and how it affects the entertainment industry, but the importance of this bill extends beyond that.  It's not simply about whether piracy is right or wrong because this bill is about more than piracy - it's about free speech.  It's also about how far we are willing to accept the legal reach of the United States.  There's a great deal of vagueness about the wording of this bill and how far its influence does extend.  That's why it is so divisive.  That's why along with internet giants like Google, Facebook, and Twitter, even Microsoft has problems with SOPA.  So this has essentially become another case of Hollywood vs the Internet - a group of people passing legislation on something of which they haven't even bothered to attain an understanding.

The problem with SOPA in its current form is that it intends to censor the internet in order to "protect" copyright, but by doing so, also allows for the quelling of free speech in regards to copyright owners.   Fair use would mean even less than it currently does.  In a nutshell, it's a more restrictive version of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

The good news is, due to all the hard-to-dismiss opposition of the current version of the bill, Congress has decided to postpone any voting on the bill until after their winter recess.  In the meantime, certain crafty nerds have been coming up with ways to bypass any "protections" that may be brought on by SOPA.  I wouldn't be surprised if more articles like these get proliferated on social networks like Facebook, so I thought I'd go ahead and post my own link here, and offer a fair word of warning as well.  While what these people are proposing isn't really that advanced (indeed, it would appear the authors of SOPA know little to nothing of how the internet works and what the most appropriate way to censor it would be), if you trust the wrong person's information, if you accept help blindly from someone without any knowledge of what you're doing - things could end very, very badly.  Please do be careful when tinkering with your DNS as you could easily wind up being spoofed, and that could really open your computer up for some serious problems.  That is all.

[Red-Machine]

What most people don't know, and you accurately point out at the end, is that SOPA will break the internet.  It will require ISPs to redirect traffic away from certain websites to some sort of SOPA page, which again as you said opens up the opportunity for unscrupulous individuals to hijack it for their own devious means.

Thankfully, if this is passed, it will not affect me personally.  But I oppose it nonetheless purely because it's an attempt to shackle and monitor something that is supposedly legally protected as being free and open.  Neither Hollywood, nor your government understands how badly this could fuck up the internet.  And I thought those who represented the people were supposed to be knowledgeable about the subjects they debated and not rely on others to argue the other side for them...

[Bella]

I'm actually the one who posted at OSC first about SOPA, about a month or so back when news first broke of it ...

This is one of the most terrifying things I've ever heard. Even if it doesn't pass, the mere fact that something like this is being CONSIDERED is too much.

And I thought those who represented the people were supposed to be knowledgeable about the subjects they debated and not rely on others to argue the other side for them...

They're supposed to be, but they aren't. The only thing our representatives are knowledgeable about is prostrating themselves before special interest groups and corporations.

[Red-Machine]

It's times like this I'm most grateful for being British.  Our politicians actually research their shit.

[Krizonar]

Thankfully, if this is passed, it will not affect me personally. 

Yes it will.

As stuck up as all of you are, this will still affect everyone equally.

[IanDanKilmaster]

Well, any feeling that this may not affect you, Red, is unwarranted.  As I stated earlier in my post, the bill is far-reaching, and even if the bill didn't directly address how American IP is handled internationally, there would undoubtedly be a powerful ripple effect worldwide.  Keep in mind, I'm not saying that out of some prideful jingoistic notion that America is at the center of everything.  I'm simply stating it as fact because in this case, it's very, very true.

If you don't believe that SOPA will indeed have an international impact, read the text of the bill I linked earlier, or this.

[Alex S]

What I'm most afraid of about this is not what the U.S. government will be able to do, but what the Internet, and specifically Anonymous, will do if this passes.

This bill may as well mark the first time since WWII that the U.S. has declared war via Congress...

[Red-Machine]

Thankfully, if this is passed, it will not affect me personally. 

Yes it will.

As stuck up as all of you are, this will still affect everyone equally.

It only applies to US citizens.  If a SOPA-weilding corporate decides to block piratebay, I will still have access to it.  If congress tried to apply one of their own laws to the entire world, there would be a political shitstorm.

[Bella]

It only applies to US citizens. 

What about all the US-hosted or based websites that could potentially die off if SOPA gets passed? YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, dA, Wikipedia, possibly even Google, even if SOPA is only enforced in the US you can't say you won't be affected by it.

[Krizonar]

It only applies to US citizens. 

What about all the US-hosted or based websites that could potentially die off if SOPA gets passed? YouTube, Facebook, Tumblr, dA, Wikipedia, possibly even Google, even if SOPA is only enforced in the US you can't say you won't be affected by it.

You mean these sites are based in the U.S. and if they go down there, they're blocked everywhere on Earth because they simply don't exist anymore? pure blasphemy.

[Bella]

I wasn't talking about those sites being blocked, I'm talking about those sites being shut down by the people who own/manage them because of copyright issues and the threat of legal action.

[IanDanKilmaster]

What I'm most afraid of about this is not what the U.S. government will be able to do, but what the Internet, and specifically Anonymous, will do if this passes.

This bill may as well mark the first time since WWII that the U.S. has declared war via Congress...

I have absolutely no remorse for what may happen to Congress or the US Government if this passes.  Pardon if I go biblical for a moment, but you reap what you sow, and Congress has been sowing for a pride-obliterating bitch slap for quite some time.

[Krizonar]

I wasn't talking about those sites being blocked, I'm talking about those sites being shut down by the people who own/manage them because of copyright issues and the threat of legal action.

I guess my wording wasn't clear then, because that's what I meant too.

If there are no youtube servers, doesn't matter where you are, there's no youtube.

[Chocofreak13]

dark days indeed. maybe it's just the situation in society in general weighing over right now, but to me this almost feels like the calm before the storm. like europe in the 30's, where everyone knew something bad was coming, and they knew what and who, but not much on what to do about it. i can feel a dark cloud coming over my vision, perhaps in response to the public's clouding of minds and the government's clouding of thought.

that said, if the day ever did come that i had to ask someone for help in accessing the internet, i'd trust you guys to help me think of a solution.


the only silver lining to this is that while the US doesn't realize the value of something till it's gone, they will fight tooth and nail to get it back once it is. :\

[NejinOniwa]

As the progenitor calls. The world is certainly in need for a nice storm of chaos to stir things up...
The balance has been kept for too long.