SOPA/ACTA Watch

[Sloady]

Vote to rejoin the UK if this passes.

Vote to post relevant comments or GTFO. This isn't a joke, and shouldn't be treated like one.

[Kerr]

Vote to rejoin the UK if this passes.

Vote to post relevant comments or GTFO. This isn't a joke, and shouldn't be treated like one.

I agree don't post stupid things like this. Anyway i'll sign and share this.

[DorostheConqueror]

That WASN'T a joke. AFAIK, the UK isn't pushing through any SOPA legislation of their own. If the Irish government is going to screw it's citizens over, kiss it goodbye.

Hell, if the US government decides to pass SOPA, I'll be first in line to turn the Colonies back over to the Queen. Maybe you don't quite get how serious an issue this is, but ANY government that's willing to undermine free expression on the internet and hand the reigns over to copyright holders is not a government that should be supported!

At the very least, if enough Irish people threaten to do this, that should get the fat [&@%!]' attention.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

I think you're taking things a little too seriously, Sloady. Of all things that could happen to a country that is considered a "travesty", blocking people from pirating music isn't a big one on the list.

[Kerr]

That WASN'T a joke. AFAIK, the UK isn't pushing through any SOPA legislation of their own. If the Irish government is going to screw it's citizens over, kiss it goodbye.

Hell, if the US government decides to pass SOPA, I'll be first in line to turn the Colonies back over to the Queen. Maybe you don't quite get how serious an issue this is, but ANY government that's willing to undermine free expression on the internet and hand the reigns over to copyright holders is not a government that should be supported!

At the very least, if enough Irish people threaten to do this, that should get the fat [&@%!]' attention.

We'd probably go to war with the UK before rejoing the union or after.

[Frost Mage]

I think you're taking things a little too seriously, Sloady. Of all things that could happen to a country that is considered a "travesty", blocking people from pirating music isn't a big one on the list.

Unfortunately, that's not what SOPA would do. It would completely take away any rights and any fun you could possibly have on the internet. But I do agree with you, I think this should be taken lightly, seeing as this would most likely not pass, and that most people won't want to live in a country with no internet.

[Kerr]

http://www.contact.ie/ You can use this website to contact your local TDs.

[Sloady]

If that's all it would do Matt, that's fine. But that's not what'll happen. What this allows for is the censoring of people's facebooks, twitters, etc. etc. because they post something people claim is copyrighted. Not only is it against copyright law in the first place (fair use), but this is a complete reversal of the justice system - innocent until proven guilty. If this passes, copyright holders can accuse you of uploading pirated content, and take down - what? Your website? Your facebook profile? Maybe even facebook itself? Not only does it break the very nature of the internet, and promise to put hundreds of people out of work when tech companies finally decide to pull out because of the insanity copyright holders can get away with, but it's an affront to freedom of speech and the freedom of the internet. Not to mention it's not even going to be discussed as an issue in parliament because of the fact it's a statutory instrument, which means that a minister can sign it into law without it having to pass a vote.

TL; DR, yes, it is a travesty.

[Veck]

That WASN'T a joke. AFAIK, the UK isn't pushing through any SOPA legislation of their own. If the Irish government is going to screw it's citizens over, kiss it goodbye.

Yeah, because after hundreds of years of fighting for independence that's still tearing my ancestral lands apart today, the Irish are going to march right back into Westminster because of online piracy legislation.

I think you're taking things a little too seriously, Sloady. Of all things that could happen to a country that is considered a "travesty", blocking people from pirating music isn't a big one on the list.

It's like you've ignored every single post that's been made on SOPA ever.

[Jeff]

Don't blame the companies that are having their products stolen.

Don't blame the Governemts, who's job it is to protect the interests of the people, which includes the comapanies who are having thier products stolen.

Blame the Pirates. Protest the Pirates. Help to put the Pirates out of business. Then there would be no need for SOPA, or anything of it's kind... If there were no Pirates.

I am not saying not to sign petitions to prevent SOPA, or any of it's kind from passing... but until "We the People" help to stop the Problems which are putting our Internets at RISK, then things like SOPA will continure to happen.

[Arch-Mage Matt]

I think Jeff just said the most sensible thing I've heard about SOPA.

[Frost Mage]

The thing is that the government knows their lying, but they choose to act as if SOPA would be a good thing if passed. Why can't we take more precautions on media sharing sites?

[Sloady]

http://www.contact.ie/ You can use this website to contact your local TDs.

Thanks, I emailed the Dublin South West TD's.

Don't blame the companies that are having their products stolen.

Don't blame the Governemts, who's job it is to protect the interests of the people, which includes the comapanies who are having thier products stolen.

Blame the Pirates. Protest the Pirates. Help to put the Pirates out of business. Then there would be no need for SOPA, or anything of it's kind... If there were no Pirates.

I am not saying not to sign petitions to prevent SOPA, or any of it's kind from passing... but until "We the People" help to stop the Problems which are putting our Internets at RISK, then things like SOPA will continure to happen.

No. That's not what this is about. Jeff, I don't know whether you pay any attention to the media industry, but they make record profits year on year. Their CEO's continue to get huge bonuses, and they continue to make more and more money. This isn't about them being stolen from, this is about greed. The same thing happened when the VCR came out - the MPAA and others kicked up a STORM about people copying videos, calling it the devil itself. They are not afraid of losing their content, their afraid of losing their stranglehold on the media. They want us to be sitting at home, watching their stuff on the television, and nothing else. No free internet entertainment, no downloadable music, nothing. They want to control the media, as they always have done. And they shouldn't be allowed to. The piracy is just an excuse.

Links for record profit claims: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... office.ars

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... a-plus.ars

[Jeff]

I fully understand... but if you take away thier excuse, then they will have nothing to go on.

[DorostheConqueror]

That WASN'T a joke. AFAIK, the UK isn't pushing through any SOPA legislation of their own. If the Irish government is going to screw it's citizens over, kiss it goodbye.

Yeah, because after hundreds of years of fighting for independence that's still tearing my ancestral lands apart today, the Irish are going to march right back into Westminster because of online piracy legislation.

With any luck. And it's NOT about "online piracy", as others have said, and as I'm sure you yourself are well aware. The international community already has laws in place to combat piracy- things like the DMCA. SOPA is an entirely different beast; it gives sweeping powers of oversight to copyright holders, overturns more than a thousand years of legal precedent by presuming guilt, places unreasonable burdens on webmasters and ISPs, KILLS the notion of data privacy, undermines the design principles upon which Web 2.0 rests (essentially making the era of user-generated content, such as this very webpage, a thing of the past), seriously disrupts the ability of "hacktivists" to operate and keep information flowing within explicitly authoritarian regimes, and worst of all, grants copyright holders, in practice if not entirely in theory, the ability to create, interpret, and enforce copyright laws as they see fit, rather than keeping them beholden to the law, a loophole that's kept them from arbitrarily enforcing their will for well over a decade now (and longer, if we view this recent spate of attacks within the broader framework of historical copyright laws). SOPA, if passed, would kill the world's largest and fastest growing industry, costing millions of jobs, and not just "phantom" jobs that the MPAA and RIAA claim are being lost to "piracy". It'll doom whatever nation's adopt such measures to the dustbin of digital history.

It's not like every Irish person wants independence from the rest of Britain anyway. That's why the conflicts are still going on! I'm just pointing out that, if the Irish government adopts SOPA and the British does not, it'll be in the best interest of every Irish citizen to put aside his or her political hangups and rejoin the Kingdom.

Let's put it this way: if the Stormcloaks instituted SOPA, and the Empire did not, would it not be in every Skyrim citizen's best interest to hand the province back over to the Empire?

[Kerr]

That WASN'T a joke. AFAIK, the UK isn't pushing through any SOPA legislation of their own. If the Irish government is going to screw it's citizens over, kiss it goodbye.

Yeah, because after hundreds of years of fighting for independence that's still tearing my ancestral lands apart today, the Irish are going to march right back into Westminster because of online piracy legislation.

With any luck. And it's NOT about "online piracy", as others have said, and as I'm sure you yourself are well aware. The international community already has laws in place to combat piracy- things like the DMCA. SOPA is an entirely different beast; it gives sweeping powers of oversight to copyright holders, overturns more than a thousand years of legal precedent by presuming guilt, places unreasonable burdens on webmasters, KILLS the notion of data privacy, undermines the design principles upon which Web 2.0 rests (essentially making the era of user-generated content, such as this webpage, a thing of the past), and worst of all, grants copyright holders, in practice, the ability to create, interpret, and enforce copyright laws as they see fit, rather than keeping them beholden to the law, a loophole that's kept them from arbitrarily enforcing their will for a decade now. SOPA, if passed, would kill the world's largest and fastest growing industry, killing millions of jobs, and not just "phantom" jobs that the MPAA and RIAA claim are being lost to "piracy". It'll doom whatever nation's adopt such measures to the dustbin of digital history.

It's not like every Irish person wants independence from the rest of Britain anyway. That's why the conflicts are still going on! I'm just pointing out that, if the Irish government adopts SOPA and the British does not, it'll be in the best interest of every Irish citizen to put aside his or her political hangups and rejoin the Kingdom.

Let's put it this way: if the Stormcloaks instituted SOPA, and the Empire did not, would it not be in every Skyrim citizens best interest to hand the province back over to the Empire?

You know little about the history of Ireland.

Re: Internet Censorship

Dear Gerald Nash, Séamus Kirk, Gerry Adams, Fergus O'Dowd and Peter Fitzpatrick

I write to you over the sensitive issue of internet censorship. I would hope as my representative in the Dáil you shall be working against the careless law that Sean Sherlock wishes to pass for such a law would damage the freedom of the Irish people to use the internet.
-Ryan Kerr

Thinking of sending this email what ya think?

[Eltee]

Very nice, I think.

My useless MP has yet to reply.

[Avron the S'wit]

And Avron said to the people of the Irish SOPA thread, "Let ye have a timeout to cool down."

Seriously. We're not here to discuss Irish politics or to be insulting toward the people. And furthermore, you can really expand on our already existing SOPA thread...don't need half a dozen on them. Come now. Please don't abuse us allowing political and current topics by acting so immaturely.

[DorostheConqueror]

You know little of history of Ireland.

I know little about the history of Ireland, you mean. And I actually know more than a little, but this thread is about the present and future of Ireland, so if you'd like to get into a discussion on Irish/English relations, I'd suggest starting a new thread.

As for SOPA, and the naysayers who still don't quite realize the stakes we're playing for here, check out this video released by two heroic nerds behind the Tor project. Tor is one of the things that would be explicitly outlawed by SOPA legislation, regardless of what it's used for.

[Lindai]

This country is already getting on my tits. Following on from and agreeing with every single agenda of the American gov't. Letting American jets land and refuel in Shannon Airport. Psuedo-Switzerland. If this passes, I shall emigrate, and take a British/Caribbean passport instead.

I'll send my knob-article of a TD, Michael Moynihan, and angry [&@%!] email. Bollocks better do something other than eating a 5 course dinner up at the Dáil and doing [&@%!] -all else. DorosTheConqueror is being rational. This country has been [&@%!] for all time 'cept for the 90s and early 00. Our own founding fathers would be absolutely disgusted with this horse [&@%!] ball-cradling of the American gov't that we're currently engaged in. Sorry for the cursing. Just tired of this crap. We needed lame-old Obama to come and assure us with the cheesy old "IS FÉIDIR LINN!" to give the population any bit of hope. Spiraling into a slurry pit, this country is.

[Frost Mage]

So when I was watching the Sate of the Union today, I noticed that Obama stated that he will be putting more effort into "pirate control" on the internet, IIRC. I'll have to watch it again, but it sounded like he would be willing to continue on with SOPA and PIPA. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

[Dark Lord Cam]

Just because a politician says he supports piracy control, it does not mean he supports SOPA and PIPA. Correlation does not mean Connection. I'd suggest holding your breath until the president actually comments on the issue directly.

[Dark Spark]

There's a difference between supporting piracy control and supporting an overreaching piece of legislation penned to support one side— all without regard to the difficulty everyone else will have to achieve a practical or economical means of compliance.

[Eltee]

Jeez, Frosty. You should make a thread entitled 'Frosty's Kooky Korner' and post your continual quasi-thought provoking take on innocent comments instead of making a new thread every time a politician sneezes.

[Dark Lord Cam]

Jeez, Frosty. You should make a thread entitled 'Frosty's Kooky Korner' and post your continual quasi-thought provoking take on innocent comments instead of making a new thread every time a politician sneezes.

Hey, there's no need for that. Be nice.