SOPA/ACTA Watch

[The Tom]

http://www.google.com/takeaction This will explain it better than I can. Petitions accomplish very little, but SOPA has me so angry that I'll do anything to vent my frustration. Thought y'all might like to know about it too. If you don't live in the US put 90210 as your zip code.

[Iamgoofball]

I'm dissapproving of SOPA, but I'm more annoyed about what the protests did to my beautiful sig.

[scribbane]

I'm dissapproving of SOPA, but I'm more annoyed about what the protests did to my beautiful sig.

Really? That's the whole point of the protest is to annoy you so that you do something about it. Just whining because your sig is messed up for a day or two is pretty pointless.

[JVElEven]

Also, the supporters are a bit hypcritic: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc

Disregard his beard and listen.

[warof7]

I really think it would have been awesome if Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Stumble upon would have blacked out. It would have annoyed a lot of people and proven their point. Also it would effectively stop the internet from functioning for a day without Google.

[Iamgoofball]

I really think it would have been awesome if Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Stumble upon would have blacked out. It would have annoyed a lot of people and proven their point. Also it would effectively stop the internet from functioning for a day without Google.

Google still works.

[JVElEven]

Facebook and Twitter couldn't have blacked out. THat would have rendered the protesters' opportunities to communicate almost impossible.

Als0: He said "If", Goofball.

[warof7]

I know it does but think of the outcry if it didn't. It would just about be the best protest in history. You would get all the people who don't really have an opinion have one due to them now knowing what could happen.

[scribbane]

Facebook and Twitter couldn't have blacked out. THat would have rendered the protesters' opportunities to communicate almost impossible.

Als0: He said "If", Goofball.

Not if they had announced it enough before hand. I mean, you black out for a day, or even 6 or 12 hours, and it gets your point across.

[Iamgoofball]

Darn, Even turning off Javascript won't let me into the LBP2blog.

[JVElEven]

Valid point, scrib.

I'm afraid that it'll kill the internet. I think there's not one website that doesn't infringe copyright in some way.

[scribbane]

Yeah, like I said before, even if SOPA and PIPA don't truly infringe on everything like we think it will, I believe it might open the door for more laws that will.

[JVElEven]

It will mean all of the internet would be governed by American Copyright laws.

I read an article saying it would probably mean that there would have to be made a European search engine, payment channel etc. Because of blacklisting.

Which, incidentally, MasterCard and PayPal etc. already does if it has infringing material. If they have proof of it. SOPA requires them to do so, even without proof. It would kill the internet, unless Europeans made their own network sites.

[Spiney]

I think tons of sites have already moved from Us to Eu servers in protest.

[JVElEven]

I'm genuinely scared. It could kill all the sites I frequent.

[Iamgoofball]

Moving to EU servers DOES NOTHING. The US can still block the IP adresses from search engines, you know.

And also, I forsee that this site will also get blacklisted by a troll reporting it for copyright infringement, and a large majority of our members will leave from it(including me.)

[Spiney]

Moving to EU servers DOES NOTHING. The US can still block the IP adresses from search engines, you know.

Well they can only do that to Us citizens.

And I believe theres ways around that.

[JVElEven]

Moving to EU servers DOES NOTHING. The US can still block the IP adresses from search engines, you know.

And also, I forsee that this site will also get blacklisted by a troll reporting it for copyright infringement, and a large majority of our members will leave from it(including me.)

Remember, if they're in Europe, Europeans will still be able to see it.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

I don't exactly approve of SOPA, but I like it's original ideals. I wouldn't bat an eye if anyone decided to shut down The Pirate Bay and other hubs where people download stuff illegally. People complain about the economy and jobs, but I can't imagine it helps jobs when hundreds of millions of movies are downloaded illegally...

[JVElEven]

I concur.

But it doesn't hit the Pirate Bay in its current form, and the collateral is massive.


Piracy CAN be bad for the economy. But so is SOPA and its current form.

Also, many of those who advocate for SOPA helped spread file-sharing devices in the first place.

[AddictedtoMorrowind]

Yeah, like CBS Viacom.

[AKB]

I don't exactly approve of SOPA, but I like it's original ideals. I wouldn't bat an eye if anyone decided to shut down The Pirate Bay and other hubs where people download stuff illegally. People complain about the economy and jobs, but I can't imagine it helps jobs when hundreds of millions of movies are downloaded illegally...

No it won't. No law will ever do anything about piracy. Piracy has been a problem since the first people started to write down artists plays to put them on for themselves. The problem isn't that pirates are dicks (which they are), it's that the industry is terrible at providing their services. One of the problems with people who don't believe this is true, is that people believe that piracy basically started with the internet. This is not the case. The industry will always be afraid of new forms of file sharing. No matter how bloody easy we make it for them, they will always kick and scream, complaining about how it's going to destroy their industries.

Piracy is, and always has been, primarily a service issue. If the actual product is easier, safer, better, etc... to acquire through legitimate distributors, most people wouldn't even consider piracy as an option.

[JVElEven]

And if the US think they can control everyone else with their Piracy laws, they do not remember how good Europe is at squabbling over stuff.

[Dark Lord Cam]

And if the US think they can control everyone else with their Piracy laws, they do not remember how good Europe is at squabbling over stuff.

No...

The US government doesn't want control. US Corporations do. Please keep that in mind.

[AKB]

Don't doubt for a second that the Internet will basically crumble without the US. While it's true that you can avoid it by being abroad and using websites with servers abroad, that still doesn't get around the fact that many of the largest websites in the world, and one of the largest markets of Internet users, are based in America. Without us, quite simply, the Internet will be basically barren.