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SOPA/PIPA

Richtofen

Richtofen

Nein, not ze puppies!
Premium
Soo...I'm a Canadian and through a couple friends I heard about this act that the USA is proposing to do to stop piracy and help protect IP addresses. I honestly don't know what to think of it other than it's going to cause a lot of problems for everyone who uses the internet as a source for information.

What are your thoughts on it? How will it effect the entire world with sensored sites? Discuss.
 
DreadnoughtDT

DreadnoughtDT

God of Hyperdeath
Premium
Supporter 2014
Dear god where do I begin? Hm... Well, I think basically, the entire world will no longer have free information. Sites like Myspace, Facebook, Wikipedia, and others will cease to exist, and that makes for one very upset dragon, I.E. ME!
 
Sparda's rejected son

Sparda's rejected son

For Edenoi!
Premium
Supporter 2014
I discovered this SOPA/PIPA thing yesterday because just about every site I went to was saying their "blacking out their website to protest this bill" thing. Can someone be kind enough to explain to me what harms this bill will case and will it effect DMC.org? If I lose this website because of this bill, Washington is going up in flames.
Lol Thank you. :p
 
cheezMcNASTY

cheezMcNASTY

Entertain me.
Premium
It's basically a reiteration of the COICA (Combatting Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act) bill that was shot down last year.

It would hand the internet over to the entertainment industry. Any website that "facilitates piracy" if not allowing piracy outright could be shut down by the US government, inaccessible by the rest of the world. No trial. What qualifies a website to be shut down is totally left to the discretion of corporations and the US government. If the RIA says that a lyrics website is violating copyright, the US government pushes a button and *poof* it's gone. Google, YouTube, Megaupload, Mediafire, Piratebay and many more would all be in danger of having their years of building reputation and credibility wiped off the face of the earth without a chance to defend themselves. If a website should be "switched off" so to speak, the owners would only get their due trial when they try to reverse the decision.

It's a breach of international law in that the website would be erased for the entire planet. It's a breach of personal liberties and free enterprise because most websites like Google only serve to index sites. Some call it "facilitating piracy" but I wouldn't say that's necessarily the case. YouTube does its best to take down videos if a copyright claim is made, but they can't catch everyone. Lastly it puts the US government in bed with corporate interests, which is bad no matter who you ask.
 
Richtofen

Richtofen

Nein, not ze puppies!
Premium
Well, I'm new to it as well but from what I can gather is that SOPA/PIPA are trying to stop people from 'illegally' downloading music/movies/information from books yada yada from the net. Wiki for example has a lot of information they gathered from different sources, if the bill gets passed no one will be able to access it through the net, you will actually have to buy a book and find what you need yourself. (or go to a library) Stuff like that I think...
 
Sparda's rejected son

Sparda's rejected son

For Edenoi!
Premium
Supporter 2014
Thanks for the info you two! :) Wow that is a stupid bill, I can't see anyone but companies supporting such a bill. First they ban Ronnald McDonald from McDonalds and now they want to ruin the fun of the Internet. Man I miss the 90's and early 2000's sigh... :(
 
Richtofen

Richtofen

Nein, not ze puppies!
Premium
Well I could care less about facebook and all but they are going about it the wrong way. They are cutting off everyone from everyone, is how I am seeing it. I've met some fantastic people online and if sites to help talk to them will be scrutinized for piracy in someway, they will be gone. I don't know about you, but I'd prefer to have a free conversation with them online rather than paying $1 a minute on phone with them.
 
Angelo Credo

Angelo Credo

Kept you waiting, huh?
Christ, I've written god knows how many tl;drs on the subject of SOPA/PIPA to people who don't quite understand how significant and damaging the two bills will be to the internet should they pass.

Needless to say, I'm heavily against it. I've put forward my official view to various petitions and the like which seem to actually be working.
A lot of politicians dropped their support of SOPA entirely after yesterday's string of website blackouts, so it proves we're, at the very least, getting somewhere and getting something done.

And the funny thing is...Those bills aren't being pushed through to prevent piracy, not even close to it, SOPA and PIPA wouldn't even put a dent in piracy and corporate executives know it.
 
V

V

Oldschool DMC fan
I heard the SOPA/PIPA bill was defeated.

It doesn't seem that it makes much of a difference to Corporates' 'powers' over the internet, though. Megaupload is a site that just got shut down literally hours ago by the Feds with the co-operation of the New Zealand government and that in Hong Kong. They're charging the CEO and six other employees with embezzlement and profiting from piracy, but if you read the reason for indictment and investigation into the website they are vague at best.

The reasons apparently are:
  1. In practice, the "vast majority" of users do not have any significant long term private storage capability. Continued storage is dependent upon regular downloads of the file occurring. Files not downloaded are rapidly removed in most cases, whereas popular downloaded files are retained.
  2. Because a small proportion of users pay for storage, the business is dependent upon advertising. Adverts are primarily viewed when files are downloaded and the business model is therefore not based upon storage but upon maximizing downloads.
  3. Persons indicted have "instructed individual users how to locate links to infringing content on the Mega Sites ... [and] ... have also shared with each other comments from Mega Site users demonstrating that they have used or are attempting to use the Mega Sites to get infringing copies of copyrighted content."
  4. Persons indicted, unlike the public, are not reliant upon links to stored files, but can search the internal database directly. It is claimed they have "searched the internal database for their associates and themselves so that they may directly access copyright-infringing content".
  5. A comprehensive takedown method is in use to identify child pornography, but not deployed to remove infringing content. (item 24)
  6. Infringing users did not have their accounts terminated, and the defendants "made no significant effort to identify users who were using the Mega Sites or services to infringe copyrights, to prevent the uploading of infringing copies of copyrighted materials, or to identify infringing copies of copyrighted works" (item 55-56)
  7. An incentivizing program was adopted encouraging the upload of "popular" files in return for payments to successful uploaders. (item 69e et al)
  8. Defendants explicitly discussed evasion and infringement issues (69i-l)
The law is all about technicality these days so...

How and when was it a crime to discuss piracy or even evasion and infringement issues? When is it law that any site takedown policy applied to child porn has to be applied to copyrighted material as well? Can we have a definition of how much constitues a 'significant' effort to identify pirated files on a site as huge as Megaupload? Adverts show up on the page when someone is downloading a file and therefore they are profiting from piracy? Come on.

Just goes to show, they can and will do what they want if they suspect you... they don't need PIPA or SOPA to pass in order to 'come and get you', and you can only have your freedom of speech as long as that freedom of speech isn't within twenty lightyears of a pirated file.
 
A.$h!nati

A.$h!nati

$mok!n $!ck $tyle!
this is not going to success , they can't control the whole world with this SOPA thing , even the biggest game publishers don't support this campaign or what ever it's called like EPIC and EA so let them go F**k them selves and don't care .

My brother told me today that they closed megaupload.com , imagine all the file hosting sites are closed like rapidshare , megaupload , Filesonic , Zshare , Imageshack , Filedude and Fileape , would internet be useful anymore ?
 
V

Vergil'sBitch

I am Nero's Mom & Obsessed fan girl
Premium
^not really...

basically, all the good stuff would be gone, but the pron would remain (because even congressmen like pornz)
 
Blitz

Blitz

Heeeeey.
I had downloaded Two albums of music from Skillet, Two from Linkin Park, and a whole season of House, and BAM. unable to hear any of the songs, nor watch the episodes. Sucks doesn't it?
 
Tony_Redgrave

Tony_Redgrave

TimeLord Detective
Moderator
Let's face it. No matter what they do, no matter how hard they try, people will just create more sites like that. The majority of the internet community WANTS the internet to be like that. What they're trying to do is kill the internet. Hundreds of sites like Megaupload are born every day. And it's funny that they think this is for their good.

It's like the best way to advertise your products. If I see them on the internet and I like them, of course I'll buy them (provided I soon find enough money for you know..eat:p). But other than that I won't pay like 10 pounds for every movie that the cinema has to offer. No thank you:p
 
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