Poll: S.O.P.A (The Real Story)

[Joccaren]

I think most people knew that it was meant to stop Piracy.
The main problem is that it COULD be used to censor the Internet.
That, and it would do nothing to actually stop piracy, so it fails at its goal and succeeds at possibly infringing on freedom of speech.
The sort of crap going on with Megaupload ATM is what we wanted to avoid, this is the sort of stuff most were fighting against SOPA to stop from happening on a larger scale. Personally, I don't care too much that Megaupload is down, what I do care about is the US government not announcing plans to take down Megaupload, resulting in me being surprised by it being gone today, and now missing several legitimate files I needed that I had stored on the site due to me running out of HD space. Thanks to the US government, I've got to redo a lot of work. Thanks.

A public warning would have been more effective.
It would warn Megaupload to get rid of their illegal content.
It would alert people to back up their Megaupload files so as not to lose them.
It would get people on your side telling Megaupload to take down their illegal files.
It would not come across as so much of a retaliation against the SOPA protests (Seriously, the day afterwords they take down Mega. I'm sorry, but that's sus)

Most importantly, they wouldn't look like such A-holes. What is one of the first things you are taught when growing up? When that kid over there insults you, don't go punch his face in, go tell the teacher and get them to deal with it. Communication over reaction. US government: Grow up.

 

[The Funslinger]

This quote is used way too much, but it just fits:

He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.

I've often wondered what Thomas Hobbes would have thought of that viewpoint.

I may be being completely thick but, I'll admit it, I have no idea what you are getting at.

He was a philosopher who believed all humans were inherently self serving, and that without a firm guiding hand, humanity would devolve into chaotic backstabbing. He saw the only solution to this to be if everyone surrendered certain freedoms and money (taxes) to a single, all powerful monarch in return for a secure society. Admittedly, we have elements of that in today's society with taxes and certain less inherent laws, but he was a bit more extremist.

 

[Chairman Miaow]

This quote is used way too much, but it just fits:

He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither.

I've often wondered what Thomas Hobbes would have thought of that viewpoint.

I may be being completely thick but, I'll admit it, I have no idea what you are getting at.

He was a philosopher who believed all humans were inherently self serving, and that without a firm guiding hand, humanity would devolve into chaotic backstabbing. He saw the only solution to this to be if everyone surrendered certain freedoms and money (taxes) to a single, all powerful monarch in return for a secure society. Admittedly, we have elements of that in today's society with taxes and certain less inherent laws, but he was a bit more extremist.

Ah, well then, I personally think he was an idiot. obviously the whole freedom for security thing shouldn't be taken too far either, people shouldn't have freedom to murder and whatnot.

 

[Something Amyss]

A lot of people (no idea why) seem to think that SOPA's main purpose is to censor the internet and make everything shitty with black bars all over their favourite sites stopping them from enjoying content.

It's not the "intended purpose" that people are worried about, so please don't phrase it that way. It's the outcome of hastily crafted, poorly thought out legislation.

Also, the question is whether it "affected" our opinion on SOPA.

 

[Flac00]

Snip

The major problem with the bill is this: It was created by the corporations that promote it (record industry, movie industry, etc.) so it inherently has major flaws. The issue is, the bill does not attempt to stop piracy, in fact it wouldn't because of the nature of piracy and the bill itself, but instead enforce major restrictions on copy-write infringement. This is fine on paper, but it means that if your video contains ANYTHING that has anything to do with the copy-written material you could go to jail. A video of 2 kids singing Justin Beiber? ILLEGAL. Thats just wrong. Stopping piracy requires a different kind of effort.
1: Change the culture on the internet to be less accepting for piracy.
2: Make a distinction between piracy and simple copy-write infringement. There should be a law making the two as distinct things that require different punishments.
3: Ensure that people that are innocent or have no connection to piracy are not harmed or punished for the actions of others.

SOPA and PIPA do none of this, instead they hurt innocent individuals who have no connection to piracy without ever addressing the real problem (see above).
The other reason for opposing this is it gives too much power to people we do not want to give any power to in the first place, corporations. If you think power corrupts absolutely in government, it gets a whole lot worse in the private sector. Giving them free reign to detirmine what is illegal and what is not will destroy the internet. Not to mention the 3rd reason, it gives the government the ability to shut down websites that they don't like legally. Those are the same tactics as China and Iran, we should not follow suit at all.

This bill is greater than the sum of its parts, it should never have been considered, and now it needs to be stopped.

 

[Pyro Paul]

S.O.P.A, (Stop Online Piracy Act) A lot of people seem to be protesting this bill heavily. Although I myself am not to eager for this bill to pass. It would be great if some of you actually knew what the objective of the bill is. A lot of people (no idea why) seem to think that SOPA's main purpose is to censor the internet and make everything shitty with black bars all over their favourite sites stopping them from enjoying content. That however is incorrect. The bill is meant to do Exactly what the name is, stop piracy. Protecting intellectual property is not the same as censorship; the First Amendment does not protect stealing goods off trucks. So why would it protect downloading things illegally from the internet. The only thing that makes me weary about this bill is the lack of clarity. I think it should be revised Heavily before anyone even thinks of passing it. Just remember to learn the facts before you make your decision on whether to Yay or nay this bill.

My thoughts on S.O.P.A

When it comes down to it, the Name or Intent does not matter.
What truely matters is what it acctually does.

You could call the Bill 'Pretty Butterflies Act'
Your intention could be to bring Peace to the world.

does that all acctually matter when the solution to that is to Kill anyone that disagrees with it? When it Abolishes Free speech and Civil Rights so that they have absolute control?

remember:
The road to Hell is paved with Good Intentions.

 

[smokeyninjas]

S.O.P.A, (Stop Online Piracy Act) A lot of people seem to be protesting this bill heavily. Although I myself am not to eager for this bill to pass. It would be great if some of you actually knew what the objective of the bill is. A lot of people (no idea why) seem to think that SOPA's main purpose is to censor the internet and make everything shitty with black bars all over their favourite sites stopping them from enjoying content. That however is incorrect. The bill is meant to do Exactly what the name is, stop piracy. Protecting intellectual property is not the same as censorship; the First Amendment does not protect stealing goods off trucks. So why would it protect downloading things illegally from the internet. The only thing that makes me weary about this bill is the lack of clarity. I think it should be revised Heavily before anyone even thinks of passing it. Just remember to learn the facts before you make your decision on whether to Yay or nay this bill.

My thoughts on S.O.P.A

Its seems like you haven't researched SOPA at all or what the far reaching implications of it passing would be to put it very simply its reverses the innocent until proven guilty to assuming everyone is guilty thereby forcing online services like youtube to police every bit of content before it gets uploaded as any infringement could get the whole thing pulled down without any trial or court proceedings this is just the latest step in whats been a twenty year long battle agaist are rights to share with each other going all the way back to mix tapes

 

[Xanthious]

S.O.P.A, (Stop Online Piracy Act) A lot of people seem to be protesting this bill heavily. Although I myself am not to eager for this bill to pass. It would be great if some of you actually knew what the objective of the bill is. A lot of people (no idea why) seem to think that SOPA's main purpose is to censor the internet and make everything shitty with black bars all over their favourite sites stopping them from enjoying content. That however is incorrect. The bill is meant to do Exactly what the name is, stop piracy. Protecting intellectual property is not the same as censorship; the First Amendment does not protect stealing goods off trucks. So why would it protect downloading things illegally from the internet. The only thing that makes me weary about this bill is the lack of clarity. I think it should be revised Heavily before anyone even thinks of passing it. Just remember to learn the facts before you make your decision on whether to Yay or nay this bill.

My thoughts on S.O.P.A

The only problem with this premise is that the bill will do fuck all to stop piracy. The government puts up DNS blocks and the pirates will simply use alternate DNS servers or access sites by their IP address. The government will take down sites and multiple new sites will pop up for every site taken down. Whatever the government thinks to do the pirates are prepared for multiple times over.

Piracy has always been around and will continue to be around for as long as people are making songs/movies/games/television shows. Trying to stop it is simply a fool's errand. The best way to lessen the effects of piracy is to offer a quality product for a fair price and not worry about what you can't control.

Above and beyond that though companies need to stop clinging to outdated business models. The times they are a changin' and companies that adapt with the times are rewarded by the consuming public while companies that cling to outdated business practices and models are left to suffer. You need only look to companies like Apple, Amazon, HBO and Netflix to see what right way is to do these things.

Bottom line is don't rely on lawmakers to save your outdated business practices. Either adapt or die.

 

[fenrizz]

Oh.. Now I get it.
SOPA is there to stop piracy and nothing else.

Much the same as rifles are manufactured for hunting only.

Surely that could never go wrong.
Because who would ever dream of abusing an innocent, fully automatic rifle (with a scope, laser targeting and explosive bullets)?

 

[darthotaku]

It isn't that the bill would actually censur the internet, as it would make it impossible for any website to remain up. emagine how much it'd cost if the escapist was forced to go through every link and block out the ones that lead to international sites and sites that could show how to copy content. the sheer resources needed to do it would crush the escapist, as would the punishment for not being able to.
It isn't that fighting copywrite piracy is bad, its that the way they were going about it are impossible for any website to uphold. therefor, either the bill goes unenforced and just costs taxpayers millions, or it is enforced and any site that doesn't have the ability to throw away millions of dollars will be unable to stay up.

 

[Icyheart]

If there's one thing about people I've learned while on this earth, it's that no one cares what the intentions of an action are so much as its affect on them directly. Case in point: taxes; this is a necessary invention to keep our roads in tact, our schools running, and our government functioning, but all people want to acknowledge is the fact that the money is coming out of their pockets. The SOPA bill is the same way. People don't care what its purpose is, only its implications.

 

[RatRace123]

In a sense, I agree. The problem with SOPA was that the bill was worded so vaguely and it gave so much power to the government and copyright holders that they could censor the internet and place black bars over everything.

If it passed, we would essentially be relying on them not to abuse the power that they totally could legally abuse without any drawbacks if they felt like it.
I guess the web community was just nervous about trusting the "nuke the internet" button to people who seem to only be able to see the world in dollar signs.

 

[BabySinclair]

I don't doubt that many of the politicians that were supporting the bill honestly thought that they were protecting IP holders and the economy. What they didn't understand was that the lobbyists that paid them to support the bill knew full well the abuses it would allow and were trying to keep that out of the public's eye so the bill would be passed and then abused to kill the newest "threat" to the entertainment industry, much like they tried with DVD's, VHS, and MP3 players. Sure some of them probably knew but they're asshats that need to be voted out of office.

 

[evilneko]

If there's one thing about people I've learned while on this earth, it's that no one cares what the intentions of an action are so much as its affect on them directly. Case in point: taxes; this is a necessary invention to keep our roads in tact, our schools running, and our government functioning, but all people want to acknowledge is the fact that the money is coming out of their pockets. The SOPA bill is the same way. People don't care what its purpose is, only its implications.

Well I'd kinda hate to live in a world where people only considered the purpose of an action. I think it's pretty safe to say anyone would.

 

[ElPatron]

If anyone around here is over 18, just admit you have pirated a lot of material before "everyone" had internet. Getting on high horses is not the way to deal with this.

You can't defend SOPA because it gives power to the corporations. It's censorship.

 

[Kopikatsu]

This is my problem with the entire debate:

I have not seen one SOPA protestor quote the bill and say 'This section will lead to -blank-'. I have seen SOPA supporters quote the bill and say 'This is why -blank- won't happen, and here is where the punishment for abusing -blank- is spelled out.'

 

[Al-Bundy-da-G]

My concern with SOPA isn't internet censorship. It simply allows too much power and authority to corporations in dealing with use of copyrighted material on the internet.

When you allows an entity the power SOPA or PIPA grants, the end result is always the same. Who ever the bill benefits will abuse the power as much as possible for as long as possible.
Even going as far to pull string within the government to allow them to hold power for a longer period of time.

 

[AT God]

I already knew a lot about the bill. Ironically, the name actually should trick people in to thinking the bill isn't bad. I had to deal with some people who thought anyone who opposed SOPA supported piracy, I no longer speak with them. It is an annoying trick, naming a bill for a good cause but then making the bill awful. Its like making a bill to stop drunk driving, only to hear the bill outlaws alcohol, (Not technically what sopa does but similar principal)

I am glad the bill is being fought, and I hope it can be defeated legally, instead of requiring the big guns of Anonymous to fight it. Hopefully we can beat them at their own game this time.

 

[Jodah]

It's goal is noble but the potential for misuse far outweighs it. Particularly because it will do zero to prevent piracy.

 

[sanzo]

snip

I think you should watch this. Seriously, I know its like 14 mins long but seriously take some time and watch this video. It states exactly my views, my concerns arn't this law, but the side effects of this law.

Interesting watch

Kudos for posting that video