I just got this in my school's academic email, and I don't want this law to be passed. Can you help, please?

  Internet Censorship Bill 

Thanks. 

More info:

rotect IP" and "SOPA") that would let the government or any corporation censor the internet, using the same DNS-blocking techniques as Iran or China.

More here: http://americancensorship.org/

The bills are ostensibly to stop copyright and trademark infringement, but they won't. Instead-- they'll let the government shut down almost any social media website, since any site can be shut down just for audio, video, text, or even *links* posted by its users. Any corporations will have the power to bankrupt any website or organization by cutting it off from payments, advertising and donations-- without so much as a court order.

The law is being pushed by some of the strongest lobbies in Washington, it has broad bipartisan support, and it's likely to pass in some form. I've been active against it: next week I'll be participating in a nationwide call-in day. Can you join me, and help me spread the word by forwarding this email?

Join me here: http://americancensorship.org/

Thanks!

Here are two great op-eds about the bills, followed by links to the bill text:

1. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/innovations/post/sopas-ugly-message-to-the-world-about-america-and-internet-innovation/2010/12/20/gIQATlhEYN_blog.html

2. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/16/opinion/firewall-law-could-infringe-on-free-speech.html?_r=2

3. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/text

4. http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/text

To get involved, the link is: http://americancensorship.org/

Crap, I can't believe that this is actually serious, but seems that it is... 

Yes, very shocking.  The repercussions of this bill will be felt around the world if it should be passed. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvXo4sGB7zM&feature=related

..and to think how many ppl  (Steam-lovers especially) laughed at me and Chris when we said:  'What if the US govt. closes the internet down"

Originally Posted By Caroline (18 JAN 2012 7:50am)

Yes, very shocking.  The repercussions of this bill will be felt around the world if it should be passed. 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uvXo4sGB7zM&feature=related

That video will be taken down if SOPA becomes a reality. 

A slightly more coherent rant about SOPA can be found here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhwuXNv8fJM 

While yes, it is heavily biased, I still strongly agree with what he says about SOPA & PIPA (don't forget about PIPA. It feels like everyone is so upset about SOPA that they forget that PIPA is there as well! Though that might have been the original intent of the creators of SOPA & PIPA, create something as extreme as SOPA so that they can slip PIPA through without anyone noticing, or make people consider them going with just PIPA and not SOPA as a victory).

Let's start our own internet  underground search engine...    :s

Anyway, I think the Wikipedia thing is in support of both SOPA and PIPA.

The guys of extra credits launched the idea to boycott E3 to oppose sopa and pipa:

http://penny-arcade.com/patv/episode/stand-together-the-gaming-community-vs-sopa-and-pipa

...

all this over-regulation will become our downfall if we don't put a stop to it, politicians far too often make decisions about things they know nothing about.

I just hope the next president of the US will be the right one, that puts an end too such ridiculous proposals

Telling you who that should be, would be against the forum rules, so i'm keeping my mouth shut. 

The argument for SOPA....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6x1sYYqKLY

The case against ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9oeJgrVrq0&feature=related

The possible future of the internet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SANdAbOsvwY&feature=related

SOPA sent back to the drawing board in wake of Internet protests 

PIPA is still there though, and there is a new suggestion for something that they call OPEN that might mutate into the next SOPA (it feels like they are trying to brute force this through). 

Hmmm...it appears as though PIPA is included, although it's hard to know what's true and what isn't these days...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2012/01/pipa-anti-piracy-bill-vote-postponed-senate.html

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-internet-piracy-20120120,0,3695348.story

Concerning the use of brute force to get something passed, why should they stop now?

I think I'd better shut up before I stray into no-no territory. 

Can someone help me out?  I'm confused.  Over the past few days I've looked at various sources that I consider safe for me to look at with my OCD and seems to be some things that aren't fully clear for me.  It's like this; I know they said that SOPA and recently PIPA have been shelved or whatever (too many things to list.)  But some of the sources say that on the day Wikipedia and other sites did the protest the government decided to bring back SOPA back and said their going to vote on it in Febuary. 

Normally I would read the links of the news stories posted here and other news sites but I feel unable to due to the possibility of being exposed to some other news story I don't want to know about and end up worrying about it over the next few days. (I want to enjoy this weekend.)

Can someone please sort this out for me.  Please no links to other news stories that I would have to see.

Never mind!  One of my safe sources filled me in with new details so I don't need help here.

Well, I guess that once again, money talks.  The fat cats in the gaming and music industry are probably prepared to invest quite a few bucks to push these bills though.. and yes, I've probably said more than I should, too. 

Btw, I really hate that huge list of smileys.  It takes ages to try and find the one you're looking for. 

That huge list of smileys is a challenge Trav.  We can't call ourselves proper members here until we've used them all.  And posting them all in the one comment doesn't count!  

I'm not at all sure what I'd use this one for.... perhaps if I pretend the smiley cannonball is Mark....?

Money isn't the real problem, it gets fishy when giant corporations can influence politics and pass legislations that are only beneficial for themselves. A free market is not the same as a free market controlled by law and politics. 

Originally Posted By Caroline (21 JAN 2012 3:42am)

 

I'm not at all sure what I'd use this one for.... perhaps if I pretend the smiley cannonball is Mark....?

How sad, nobody seems to stop Caroline from pulling the trigger, is there so much hatred on this forum. 

Oh well seeing Mark cry is always a pleasure  

Originally Posted By markornikov (21 JAN 2012 4:15am)

Money isn't the real problem, it gets fishy when giant corporations can influence politics and pass legislations that are only beneficial for themselves. A free market is not the same as a free market controlled by law and politics. 

 

 

Excuse me for being cynical, but it will always be a factor (see The Godfather 2 to get an idea of what I'm talking about)

Of course, the degree that money talks will differ from country to country... and no market system is immine from it.  In communist systems, it's more a power thing, but there is also money involved; the two go hand-in-hand, usually.

Which reminds me of some articles I read recently on how Chernobyl happened and how it was hushed up by the Soviet officials.  It's an incredibly sad and scary story.  (Ok, it's not directly related to this subject; except in the sense that "Officialdom/government" didn't act in the interest of the general public there as well. )

Anyway, you don't honestly think SOPA and PIPA is to protect the general public, is it?  It's supposed to 'protect' IP holders mainly, isn't it?

Oh well seeing Mark cry is always a pleasure  

Heheh, and to see him retaliate...  ]

Don't worry, Trav. I've always enjoyed air travel.

Originally Posted By Traveller (21 JAN 2012 5:12am)

Originally Posted By markornikov (21 JAN 2012 4:15am)

Money isn't the real problem, it gets fishy when giant corporations can influence politics and pass legislations that are only beneficial for themselves. A free market is not the same as a free market controlled by law and politics. 

 

 

 

Excuse me for being cynical, but it will always be a factor (see The Godfather 2 to get an idea of what I'm talking about)

Of course, the degree that money talks will differ from country to country... and no market system is immine from it.  In communist systems, it's more a power thing, but there is also money involved; the two go hand-in-hand, usually.

 

Which reminds me of some articles I read recently on how Chernobyl happened and how it was hushed up by the Soviet officials.  It's an incredibly sad and scary story.  (Ok, it's not directly related to this subject; except in the sense that "Officialdom/government" didn't act in the interest of the general public there as well. )

 

Anyway, you don't honestly think SOPA and PIPA is to protect the general public, is it?  It's supposed to 'protect' IP holders mainly, isn't it?

 

 

point taken. I agree that PIPA is not there to protect the general public, just a dangerous tool in the hands of big corporations and governments

I don't like where this is going, even if SOPA and PIPA are voted against, i've got the feeling our freedom of speech is in danger

I just wish that this subject was addressed with more balance. The forces that are/were behind PIPA & SOPA were not just big corporations, but also smaller indie operations that, particularly more in the past than present, would have included entities such as adventure game developers. Piracy is a fact. And the wholesale copying of both major & minor works of art and the transmission over the internet of same is rampant and potentially smothering/stifling creative productions that operate on a low budget.

However, having said that, there's no doubt in my mind that these laws were more like an axe when an approach on a par with using a scalpel would be better. The trick will be to meet both the need to limit piracy as much as possible without hobbling the positive elements of the internet.

Originally Posted By SirDave (21 JAN 2012 7:13pm)

I just wish that this subject was addressed with more balance. The forces that are/were behind PIPA & SOPA were not just big corporations, but also smaller indie operations that, particularly more in the past than present, would have included entities such as adventure game developers. Piracy is a fact. And the wholesale copying of both major & minor works of art and the transmission over the internet of same is rampant and potentially smothering/stifling creative productions that operate on a low budget.

 

However, having said that, there's no doubt in my mind that these laws were more like an axe when an approach on a par with using a scalpel would be better. The trick will be to meet both the need to limit piracy as much as possible without hobbling the positive elements of the internet.

Yes, agreed.  Hopefully a better way can be found than shooting a gnat with a bazooka.  

@Markornikov.   I see you're playing Marble Drop.  I loved this game on my W95 pc but when I tried it on my WXP it won't play the music sound effects.  Any ideas how I could tweak my system to play this fun casual (time-wasting) game?