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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
Roadtoad said:
Maybe they should quit watching Fox News.
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It's not just Fox News. Apparently the mainstream media have been pretty silent on the issue according to Mediamatters. Instead of talking about SOPA the news has been covering stuff on the Royal Family, Kim Kardashian and something called a Tim Tebow.

(Why are Americans talking about the Royal Family? Are you trying to curry favour points with them in case you need to join the Commonwealth or something?)
 
Wildy said:
It's not just Fox News. Apparently the mainstream media have been pretty silent on the issue according to Mediamatters. Instead of talking about SOPA the news has been covering stuff on the Royal Family, Kim Kardashian and something called a Tim Tebow.

(Why are Americans talking about the Royal Family? Are you trying to curry favour points with them in case you need to join the Commonwealth or something?)
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Thanks for the link.

Most of the time, I avoid the mainstream. Been reading Mother Jones of late, as well as listening to NPR.

No, I don't always agree with their editorial views. But that's the point. Same reason I liked Ray Taliafero on KGO.
 
Wildy said:
It's not just Fox News. Apparently the mainstream media have been pretty silent on the issue according to Mediamatters. Instead of talking about SOPA the news has been covering stuff on the Royal Family, Kim Kardashian and something called a Tim Tebow.

(Why are Americans talking about the Royal Family? Are you trying to curry favour points with them in case you need to join the Commonwealth or something?)
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You misunderstand, when Kim Kardashian, Tim Tebow, & the royal family are mentioned in the same show, the royal family refers to the cast of Jersey Shore.
 
I have a few questions about SOPA.

1.) First, can one get around it simply by typing in an IP address, instead of a URL?

2.) Second, is this bill targeting (perhaps not explicitly) websites that encourage user-generated content? I ask because it seems to me that user-generated content is a new kind of competitor for the big content providers. I watch more YouTube than the tube, and I bet I'm not alone.

If free "TV" was ever completely blocked, I wouldn't go back to buying cable. I'm just not interested enough. Peer-to-peer communication is not amenable to these big content providers' top-down, one-to-many business models, even after fifteen years.

Similarly, I bet that a lot of pirated material is stuff that people wouldn't have bothered trying if they had to pay for it, so estimates of lost profits are probably inflated for that reason alone.

3.) Finally, if I wanted to shut a site down, couldn't I just post some of my own copyrighted material to it and then report the infringement? Didn't Viacom do that on YouTube recently?
 
Roadtoad said:
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.
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Have you actually seen their front page? They didn't just shut down the site. They state quite clearly what they are doing and link to more information.

Also, here is a list of who in congress has taken a stand on SOPA/PIPA, for and against. I'm somewhat surprised by some of the names on both sides.

http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/
 
stokes234 said:
Webcomics seem to have taken to it -XKCD, SMBC, Wondermark, QuestionableContent and Ctrl-Alt-Delete are all either blacked out or have messages about SOPA. Penny Arcade doesn't mention it on the front page, which suprised me.

List of websites involved is here: http://sopastrike.com/
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Well, at the point of me writing this post, the front page is still Monday's news. Tycho usually tends to update that somewhere between 09-12 in his time zone. Probably a script that updated the Extra Credits episode, which does adress this..
 
Donal said:
Have you actually seen their front page? They didn't just shut down the site. They state quite clearly what they are doing and link to more information.

Also, here is a list of who in congress has taken a stand on SOPA/PIPA, for and against. I'm somewhat surprised by some of the names on both sides.

http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/
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Yes, as a matter of fact, it's one of the first things I did when I got web access today. It's wise to show why you're doing something, but, please, DON'T GIVE THE BASTARDS AN EVEN BREAK! Nail them, hard, time and again! Make damned sure you've covered EVERY base, and don't let the SOBs weasel out of it!

I saw that site, too. What's cringe-worthy is that people who damned well ought to know better are backing this abomination. Trust me, there's some money flowing to make this happen. We need to know who's getting it.
 
How is it an even break? They are showing some of the potential harm. they link to the information. there are plenty of other sites supporting them and providing even more info.
 
So it looks like most people feel the law should be scrapped, I think judicial review of evidence would be nice in a new version, prior to sanctions.
 
GreyArea said:
I have a few questions about SOPA.

1.) First, can one get around it simply by typing in an IP address, instead of a URL?
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I have this same question, because from what little I read, it talks about removing sites from DNS. So if you just used a foreign-based DNS service, it'd be very easy to circumvent. In fact you'd never even notice if a site was blocked due to SOPA.

ETA: Yes, would be easy to circumvent. http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygre...nding-easy-ways-to-circumvent-its-censorship/
 
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mortimer said:
I have this same question, because from what little I read, it talks about removing sites from DNS. So if you just used a foreign-based DNS service, it'd be very easy to circumvent. In fact you'd never even notice if a site was blocked due to SOPA.
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From what I've read it would only be useful to stop accidental piracy, or stamp down on "fair use". The prolific pirates would, at most, be mildly inconvenienced.
 
Dancing David said:
So it looks like most people feel the law should be scrapped, I think judicial review of evidence would be nice in a new version, prior to sanctions.
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I don't think that would solve many of the problems, as I noted before, the MPAA and other corporations would be having top of the line legal teams working for them, while a defendant would only have (almost literally) the first solicitor to walk in the room. It would be like an ant trying to fight against a lion.
 
Roadtoad said:
That's sad. I've been following this story for a few weeks now...
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Unfortunately, not everyone is as "informed" as you, therefore making necessary the blackout to raise awareness.


...and blacking out Wiki is not a "victory" for the other side, it is simply a "demonstration" of what might happen if this bill were to pass.
 
Dancing David said:
So it looks like most people feel the law should be scrapped, I think judicial review of evidence would be nice in a new version, prior to sanctions.
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Well sure, if you think obscure ideas like "due process" are worth wasting our time with.
 
mortimer said:
I have this same question....

ETA: Yes, would be easy to circumvent.
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Thanks, Mortimer.

Hopefully we won't have to use that work-around.


For the record, the main JREF website is at 67.228.115.46 , and the forums are at 67.228.115.45 .
 
So has everyone called their elected officials and told them you're against the law?
 
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