Jimquisition: Sony, Nintendo, EA and SOPA

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Aureliano

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Mar 5, 2009
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Oh Jim. I've not always been your videos' biggest fan, but you both had your heart in the right place and hit the nail on the head this time. Congress has been trying to get this kind of bullshit passed for years and it has to stop. It is literally good for nobody, and cannot but be spearheaded by people who truly do not understand what the internet is or how it benefits everybody in modern society.

A scorched earth policy is not the way to go whether you're trying to scour the world of pirates or of perverts. And it will bite you in the ass because there will be another, less censored internet created that you have cut yourself off from and from all the potential revenue stored therein.
 

MercurySteam

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Apr 11, 2008
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Sony, Nintendo and EA? Huh, looks like Microsoft doesn't feel the need to directly join the retard parade. At least not every corporation has jumped on this wagon. I don't actually know how they're 'indirectly' supporting this but let's just hope it goes no further.
 

008Zulu_v1legacy

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Won't this just mean that online publications/companies like The Escapist here, will just pick up and move to a different country?

Jim's right, this will kill jobs.
 

CD-R

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ultimatevideogamer said:
I heard that BSA (Business Software Alliance), a supporter of SOPA and associated with Microsoft and Apple, no longer supports it. Now if only there was a way to convince Sony, Nintendo, Electronic Arts, and the ESA about why SOPA should not be supported. I should also note that Nintendo of America and Sony are both members of the CEA (Consumer Electronics Association), who doesn't support SOPA, and CEA may cancel its membership to the United States Chamber of Commerce because it supports SOPA, just like Yahoo! did, and Google may cancel its membership to the USCoC as well.
There is a way. The same way everyone got EA to change the redonkulous EULA on their Origin service.

http://www.reddit.com/r/gaming/comments/js51f/ea_origin_spyware_issue_silently_boycotting_will/

Email and send letters to their PR departments and publicists telling them that you're never going to buy another product from them again if they continue to support this. Make sure you do this after you call an your senator/ reps.

I'm planing on including a link to this video in my emails to EA.

Basically I'm going to say that if this law passes this awesome video showing off the technical prowess of Battlefield 3 would be a felony. Do they really want that?
 

Jennacide

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Jimothy Sterling said:
BrotherRool said:
The passion was amazing, I hope it wasn't acted and it's hard to imagine it was
My voice broke like a squeaky little girl in no less than two places.

Not acted at all, otherwise I'd control that shit. :)
Jim, you didn't get nearly angry enough, honestly.

The bill is to "stop piracy," which is a stupid losing battle at this point, but the funniest/most offensive part is the pirates are already laughing at the bill, because it won't stop shit. They've already cited that the blocking methods used by other countries are easily circumvented by direct linking to the IP and ignores the DNS. And Pirate Bay has already started talks for a decentralized DNS system like they did with torrent hash tables. All this bill will be able to do is rape more jobs in a time where the country is in a complete shithole of unemployment already.
 

individual11

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Jim Sterling, you magnificent bastard.

It is heartening to see actual passion come across in relation to this corrupt piece of legislature.
The greedy shysters should hang their head in shame.

Also the name of it needs to be changed to more accurately portray what it is, personally, I think the "Corporate Underwritten Net Tyranny Act" would be more logical.

Bear in mind, a miniature version of this had been passed in my country, basically outlawing torrents as a data transfer protocol, it snuck into law at the same time as the "Civil Defence Emergency Management Act", in relation to a natural disaster.

Looks like we'll all be under a Deus Ex/ Ghost in the Shell/ System Shock/ Bladerunner style dystopia sooner than predicted; minus all the cool shit with all of the crap - exactly halfway between 'Brave New World' and '1984'.

Am I doomsaying and scaremongering? Maybe.

But it's on par with the massive kneejerk this bill/ act/ law/ whatever is based on.
 

Invadergray

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I feel the heart of Jim's message wasn't so much this bill is so fucking evil (though that was part of it), because any gamer aware of the bill already knows that. The title and content suggested the real focus was Sony, Nintendo, and EA (among others) hopping on board this bill against their own self-interest. They're showing their true colors as greedy, abusive, dumbasses who get sold on concepts too easily. These companies are at the top of the industry, they should be the ones defending gamer rights. Instead, they're supporting an evil evil bill that in all honesty works against them, not for them. They'd rather spit in the face of the people who make them their money and who have stood behind them for decades. WHAT. THE. FUCK.

(P.S. This may not have been Jim's message, it was my interpretation of it, and at the very least I think it's a good point.)
 

Haagrum

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As obnoxious as this Bill is, I don't see it becoming law. Maybe my relaxed attitude is due to being in Australia, which has already rejected any concept of an internet filter (shame about the gaming classifications, though).

Yes, it could conceivably become law. Yes, it is far too broadly framed and should be severely cut back - if not outright dropped - if the legislators responsible are genuine about their stated objects. Yes, it could be used in an utterly draconian manner, and in the ways that Jim Sterling asserts. I'd be much more worried about the privacy and reporting aspects of the Bill, which seem much more likely to get through in a modified format.

portal_cat said:
they don't have a leg to stand on. And don't forget the fact the Supreme Court will probably help kill this bill because it violates the First Amendment right of free speech.
This was my first thought when I read the Bill. There is no way in hell it could operate as broadly as asserted without violating the First Amendment, even if it does become law. The power to shut down sites depends on obtaining a court order, and that's going to be hard act to pull off. The SCOTUS won't let it through unless the conservatives on the bench suddenly abandon all sense of principle (I can't see Scalia doing that, and I think Thomas would act similarly). I'm no US constitutional scholar, but my understanding of the First Amendment is that it wouldn't allow such uses of such a law unless the company's property rights were so badly affected that the infringement of free speech was justified. Given some of the previous decisions on freedom of speech, you'd pretty much need to be decimating the company's sales to have a solid case (at least, for domestic sites). That said, my understanding is that it wouldn't necessarily prevent someone from being liable for copyright infringements, and it may not prevent foreign sites from being shut down or rendered inaccessible from within the US.

Some of the other provisions - particularly regarding the "avoidance of confirmation" aspects of the Bill - are absolutely chilling. The protectionist elements of the Bill should have the low-regulation conservatives screaming (unless they're hypocrites). It's a potential job-killer, not just for media-based sites and organisations, but for prospective investors and existing tech companies (by creating the possibility of new and ill-defined commercial liabilities). The message that the Bill sends is antithetical to the concepts the internet promotes and the essential dynamics of a capitalist system. As much faith as I have in the justice system to resolve things appropriately, aspects of this Bill need to be removed (or voted down like a raise for company directors) and the thresholds for bringing actions under this Act need to be substantially raised.

PS: Just in case it got lost in the text... well said, Jim. Maintain the rage, because crap like this is exactly what any responsible government is supposed to prevent.
 

Not G. Ivingname

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Therumancer said:
First thing is first.

Jim, I don't know how much your acting for effect but I think you overdid it a bit this time as you seemed a little bit off your rocker and a little incoherant at times. You might want to sit back and try and re-record this message a bit calmer and elaborate a bit more.... also the whole "Streaming God Of War for Charity" thing was kind of "WTF" because honestly giving away someone elses game for a charity (which might not even be genuine despite what was claimed) would be pushing it.
I think by streaming he meant "playing it live like the Desert Bus crew," not "torrenting it."
 

AsurasFinest

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Zachary Amaranth said:
DisasterArea42 said:
Y'know, if it takes some exaggeration to point out the problem, he should go for it. The problem of this act is seriously dangerous for the internet as is. Companies would go crazy blocking sites left and right. Legislation like this shouldn't even be written. There are already copyright laws in place to punish the kind of things this act would be used to go after first. Piracy is a problem, but banning the internet isn't the way to stop it.
But fabricating a panic scenario simply makes him look like he's making shit up and undermines the problem.
But its not a panic scenario. This is literally what will happen. There's no fabrication, no lies, nothing
There is absolutely no way the industries involved in trying to make this a reality will not abuse it, because the way its written allows them to do everything he said they could and more.

Its not exaggerated and if you think corporations won't do this, then your naieve. We already see this in our own industry with EA testing the waters on digital consumer rights, which is small compared to the crap other industries get away with. Read up on it, instead of accusing Jim of spreading false information
 

Arppis

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sir.rutthed said:
Whoa, hold the fuck up. The ESA supports this shit? What the fuck? After our big win earlier this year I thought those guys were the shit. Now it turns out they're just shit! The fuck?!

OT: Preach it brother! Call out those assholes! I'd just assumed all the publishers and industry groups were lining up against this shit, but I guess I was wrong. Fuck those assholes, and fuck this shitty legislation!

Don't know why, but I feel this is appropriate in a completely non ironic way.

But... how does it end? :(

Damnit!
 

spartandude

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Nov 24, 2009
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why on earth are companies like EA, Sony and Nintendo surporting this?

well in the case of EA (in case anyone doesnt know i hate EA atm which is why im targetting them in this post) we all know about the spyware part of Origins, but what some of you dont know is that as soon as you go on to EA's websites they cna veiw you computer's files, and its leagal for them as its in their terms for using the website (which you must go on their website to find).
Now imagine this bill is passed (somehow) assuming you're in america (thankfully im not)and gaming websites are unavaliable, so no reviews. EA could host these reviews on their sites but only host the good ones, they control what is said about their games, to increase sales, and can still make money off selling your personal info to other companies
 

viranimus

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Nov 20, 2009
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surprisingly, I think I am the first to leave this here.


Seriously. Thank you Jim. Please keep doing this and saying what they do not want to hear.


One question, to those who say "why are you worried,It will never get enforced. Why would you willingly take that chance that it might if you didnt have to?
 

Ford-Prefect

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Jun 26, 2008
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Though not American there are things I can do. I will make a concious effort to avoid buying products from companies that supported that bill. I will try to inform friends and family of said companies desires to remove even more rights from law abiding honest consumers. I will actively encourage independents and cooperatively run publishers by purchasing their products.

That's all I can do, it probably drop in the ocean but from small acorns mighty oak grow.

However to do anything you need to make people care and for people to care you need to communicate to them so I applaud Mr Sterling for contributing to raising awareness. Now if only we could get a Face book campaign going, some virals on youtube a few choice tweets you know truly wield the power that these corporations wish to control.

Unfortunately easier said than done, most consumers (myself included) buy the hype, rather put up with then do without and prefer to be ignorant of the facts. The truth that free service are paid for by the personal data, or there high-street clothes manufactured by 3rd world children.

well that's my opinion voiced.

Oh and Jim I have enjoyed all of your videos on the escapist and I thank your gods for Jim Sterling
 

k-ossuburb

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This is an honest question so please don't jump down my neck for being ignorant about the subject, but if this goes through would boycotting help?

If they're going to be dicks, we can be dicks as well.

Ishigami said:
I don't live in the USA so I don't give a fuck.
If it happens in America it WILL effect you. Like it or not, America is the biggest first-world nation on the planet and if they do something then other countries are going to follow their example.

Even if they don't, you're still not going to be able to have anything to do with copyrighted materials because a very large portion of the sites that require various types of media to run (Facebook, Flickr, ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, Machinema, Youtube, RoosterTeeth, Veoh, Newgrounds, DeviantART etc.) are going to vanish off of the web and cost people their jobs which will also have a knock-on effect on the economy, raising taxes and making products in your country all the more expensive.

This will also mess with domain names that share a similar syntax to any blocked website are also going to be shut down which will completely mess with internet security, search engine databases and, to top it off, it won't even put a dent in internet piracy in the slightest, so the act is completely pointless other than to make companies have even more control over your freedoms than they already have.
 

CaptainOctopus

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Oct 5, 2011
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Dear Jim.

I thank you for your existence, keep up the good work.

Best regards.
A relatively sane person of the planet earth.


PS. The people at Sony, Nintendo, EA and all the other companies that supports SOPA can go suck a bag of dicks.
 

spartandude

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Nov 24, 2009
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k-ossuburb said:
This is an honest question so please don't jump down my neck for being ignorant about the subject, but if this goes through would boycotting help?

If they're going to be dicks, we can be dicks as well.

Ishigami said:
I don't live in the USA so I don't give a fuck.
If it happens in America it WILL effect you. Like it or not, America is the biggest first-world nation on the planet and if they do something then other countries are going to follow their example.
interesting concept here. in europe we have quite a few internet restrictions but these actually tend to take power away from coporations to keep people safe. yet this bill takes power away from people to keep coporations safe (somehow). would be interesting to see if europe follows