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Stop Online Piracy Act

Do you support SOPA?

  • Yes

    Votes: 4 2.8%

  • No

    Votes: 126 88.7%

  • I use SOPA in my bath every Sunday night, whether I need it or not.

    Votes: 12 8.5%
  • Total voters
    142
WildCat said:
No doubt Congress will exempt itself from the law, per their usual practice. Laws are for the plebes, not the ruling elite.
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Perhaps, but I wonder if one were to report a congressman's campaign website, would it be immediately shut down pending appeal and review?
 
WildCat said:
No doubt Congress will exempt itself from the law, per their usual practice. Laws are for the plebes, not the ruling elite.
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Upchurch said:
Perhaps, but I wonder if one were to report a congressman's campaign website, would it be immediately shut down pending appeal and review?
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Ok, now you two have me scared. Imagine that congress exempts themselves, but then challenge an opponents site. This could be a new form of really dirty campaigning.
 
Upchurch said:
The Author of SOPA Is a Copyright Violator

The title pretty much says it all.
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That's delightfully hypocritical. However, this kind of copyright violation isn't covered by SOPA. SOPA requires that the work be of commercial value, and as the photograph is currently distributed under a creative commons license that merely requires a citation, and not cash, it is of no value.

I'd have more respect (hey, it's easy to go from "none" to "not none") for SOPA if it included all of the open source type licenses.
 
WildCat said:
No doubt Congress will exempt itself from the law, per their usual practice. Laws are for the plebes, not the ruling elite.
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Upchurch said:
Perhaps, but I wonder if one were to report a congressman's campaign website, would it be immediately shut down pending appeal and review?
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Probably not, and that's the hell of it. SOPA, as has been pointed out, is more about shutting down competition than actually doing a damned thing about piracy. And the worst of it is that while piracy is serious, hacking and the like do more damage.

I can look at some incredible videos posted on YouTube that have been uploaded by some incredibly talented people, but get yanked down because someone gets a bug up their ass. It's unfortunate, but that's where things stand now. Imagine how bad it will get once SOPA is signed into law.

And make no mistake, the people behind it are more than willing to put the money forward to make sure it does. There's too much of it to be made to NOT push it forward, to keep the small fry out. How many recording companies are there now? Three, maybe? The music industry is going through a contraction, as are a number of other industries. There will be an expansion at some point, but profits are there to be made if you can get ahead of the curve and control the content. Hell, look at what rap artists had to do just to get a toehold in the marketplace. Imagine what will happen once these clods get their hooks into this?

This is nothing new. Contrary to what some might think, it's the same damned thing that happened to Eddie Rickenbacker when he tried to start a car company: He built a car that had brakes on all four wheels, (a novel idea at the time), only to see the whole enterprise undercut by GM, Ford, the Dodge Brothers, Walter Chrysler, and who knows who else. They bought Rickenbackers, cut the brake lines, wrecked the cars, then claimed they were unsafe. (Preston Tucker should have taken note.)

Rickenbacker recovered, and not only paid off his debts, but went on to form Eastern Air Transport, later Eastern Airlines, with Ford Tri-Motors. (Oh, the irony...) But the country lost what might have been a stronger automobile industry because a few greedy SOBs got a little nervous that they might actually have to build a safer, better product.

Yeah, Congress is getting paid off to pull this one. Voting for anyone with the word "INCUMBENT" beside their name is approaching stupidity, (and it's gone beyond it for any number of members of Congress.) It's the kind of thing that starts to make the Pauls look electable. (I didn't say they were electable. Remember, they're still wing nuts.) I'd say to hang 'em all and take our chances with a clean slate, but at that point, they bastards behind SOPA would simply bankroll people who are even worse.

Yes. I'm against it. It won't do what it's claiming. Sort of like damned near everything else that's brought up for a vote on Capitol Hill.

Good luck stopping it.

Oh, and yes. The rug sucks. (Geez, how vain can you get?)
 
The response from the head of the MPAA regarding the protests:

Chris Dodd said:
Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.​
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Wow. Talk about your self-serving bleats. Thanks for that, Alareth.

As to Wikipedia's blackout: Thanks, guys, for handing the bad guys a victory. A small one, but a victory nonetheless.

Damn you.
 
The public backlash is a great deal larger than they ever expected, I'm sure, from both sides of the aisle.
 
ZirconBlue said:
I don't see how this is "handing the bad guys a victory". I know several people who've only become aware of SOPA because of the blackout.
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That's sad. I've been following this story for a few weeks now, and it's gotten to the point I can't avoid it. The horror of this is that's the kind of ignorance that helps the creeps.

To my mind, you don't beat them by playing their game. Instead, you start pumping out MORE information. Follow the money; who's behind this, and who got the money to back it in Congress? Let's find out and then vote accordingly. If they can do this, how long before JREF is blocked by Federal fiat? The thought that the wonder woos could make an accusation that would result in Randi silenced sickens me.
 
ZirconBlue said:
I don't see how this is "handing the bad guys a victory". I know several people who've only become aware of SOPA because of the blackout.
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Yup, and that's precisely what the blackout is for, to inform the millions of people who didn't even know about SOPA/PIPA until today.
 
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