Post SOPA rage here

[RedRockRun]

There is no way SOPA and PIPA are constitutional. If any of this gets passed it will be grounds for revolution. The American government cannot so blatantly defy the Constitution. If freedom of speech is destroyed so easily we will no longer be living in America.

 

[Megumi0505]

SOPA is bullshit...

PIPA is worse bullshit specifically designed to make SOPA look better in comparison.

Under SOPA you could easily have this site shut down for good. It has footage from copyrighted games *gasp*. I love the escapist, I would hate to see this site shut down or a significant portion of youtube removed. It's just bullshit that we're letting corporations run the government. Whoever has the most money gets bills passed? Really? What's democratic about that? Nothing! it's facist is what it is. Worse still this proves the Occupy people right! They were right, corporations are running our government it's clear as day if this passes.

Social networking sites will be shut down, user input sites like forums, gone. The internet will be a very dark place. But there will still be porn XD

 

[sgt. soap mctavish]

I think this should summarize my bottled up emotions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qG5Q58ecgc

 

[Seldon2639]

Something like SOPA will eventually pass, and some greater protections against piracy should pass. But being obstructionist isn't really going to help in the long run. Nor is it helpful to argue that we will circumvent everything. At the end of the day, the domain name registry is in the United States, and there's almost nowhere that a site could be located that is not subject to the Berne convention or the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties. We have to deal with this.

And it's not as simple as "companies should change the way they do business" or "they can't stop piracy, so they should stop trying", or any other easy canard about how "information wants to be free" and that this is the wave of the future. We don't stop throwing people in jail for stealing cars just because we can't stop all car thefts.

Copyrights should be enforced. That is not only a moral covenant, but a utilitarian one. Speaking as someone who enjoys both Sequence and Mass Effect, I can recognize that the latter would not have been made without copyright protections. The choice is not between "paying for games and music and movies and television shows" and "not paying for them", but between "paying for them" and "not having them".

You can argue that piracy leads to more sales, or that it's good advertisement, but the decision to avail oneself of that should be left to the content creator, not the public. You can argue that "artists" will make art no matter what, but I doubt anyone here believes that Dragon Age III gets funding if EA knows people will be able to pirate it without recourse.

If we aren't willing to play ball, to compromise, to offer better copyright enforcement without draconian measures, the draconian measures will happen. So, if we do eventually beat back SOPA, the next step is not jumping up and down and being happy, the next step is to actually go to EA, and go to the MPAA, and the RIAA, and the ESA and say "we get it, you need to enforce your copyrights. Let's figure out the best way to do that without hurting other things."

We have room to demand concessions, not capitulation.

 

[Shinomori]

I'd just like to type that, while I am glad escapist didn't participate in the strike, I think ppl might have gotten more worked up over not having their weekly ZP and Feed Dump fix.
They need to leave the net alone. They have no jurisdiction here and I don't think they realize how much trouble an organized internet society could be. Imagine if teh 'nets decided not to consume the products of the recording and movie industries that supported this if it were to pass.

 

[Jerre138]

Dear U.S. Congress,

Keep your bullshit laws within your own country.

Sincerely,

Fuck You

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

It's a dumbass bill run by people who don't care about what it enforces. All of this backlash, people digging out SOPA supporters' skeletons in their closets, pledging to not reelect supporters, writing and calling of them thousands of time is showing you that they simply do not give a fuck about you. There's a reason why approval of Congress is in the single digits.

 

[The Human Torch]

Nature nurture heaven and home
Sum of all and by them driven
To conquer every mountain shown
But I've never crossed the river

Brave the forest, brave the stone
Brave the icy winds and fire
Braved and beat them on my own
Yet I'm helpless by the river

Angel, angel what have I done
I face the quakes, the wind, the fire
I've conquered country,crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river

Angel, angel what have I done
I face the quakes, the wind, the fire
I've conquered country,crown, and throne
Why can't I cross this river

Pay no mind to the battles you've won
It'll take a lot more than rage and muscle
Open your heart and hands my son
Or you'll never make it over the river

It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river

It'll take a lot more than words and guns
A whole lot more than riches and muscle
The hands of many must join as one
And together we'll cross the river

Let's make sure that SOPA stays down this time.

 

[XMark]

The internet is getting too good too fast, and the old traditional media companies want to slow it down any way possible so they can stay relevant.

They already slipped DMCA under the radar of public awareness, and that was bad enough. But this is too far! The line must be drawn HERE!

 

[Swyftstar]

The sad thing is all of our rage probably means nothing. SOPA is getting pushed because of companies exerting influence over congress. It is getting pushed back because other companies are crying BS and exerting their influence over congress. Besides, I'm too old for raging, it's bad for my blood pressure.

 

[Reaper195]

Tried to use Wikipedia. And a couple of forums I go on. They're down for SOPA protesting. DAMMIT! It's like it's already happening!

Edit: But bloody Captcha is still up: Boorivi Bemused. Is he now?

 

[CleverNickname]

I think this should summarize my bottled up emotions: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_qG5Q58ecgc

Ironically, I cannot watch that video in my country.
That's already the most annoying thing about greedy bastards having some control over content on the internet. I cannot and do not want to imagine how much worse it would be with SOPA.

Dear U.S. Congress,

Keep your bullshit laws within your own country.

Sincerely,

Fuck You

... and a million times this. The most aggravating thing about this whole SOPA business is reading about it for months now and being unable to do anything about it because I'm on the "wrong" side of the Atlantic. Cuz the EU already told the US "Please don't" and the US being the US said "That's nice, we'll do whatever we want, *****".

I regularly read precisely two websites in German, and neither of them are very good. The internet is international, no country should be able to regulate content as much as SOPA would allow.
Isn't there like a treaty that nobody can claim the moon, or parts of it? [citation needed] Nobody ever fucking goes there. Lots of people go on the internet, yet that is fair game.

In fact, everybody goes on the internet - except Members of the US Congress (except to Tweet when they're bored, I guess).

 

[Aeonknight]

Ok, for all the people who are content to make passive aggressive comments about people protesting SOPA, calling us ignorant and the such, why don't you come out of the shadows and actually debate the point?

And do try to be better at it than Cool Kid. I'm rather tired of the:

"None of you understand this bill
"*educated counter arguement*"
"You made all that up. Also all of my statements have no evidence either."

paradigm of arguement.

 

[Irridium]

Something like SOPA will eventually pass, and some greater protections against piracy should pass. But being obstructionist isn't really going to help in the long run. Nor is it helpful to argue that we will circumvent everything. At the end of the day, the domain name registry is in the United States, and there's almost nowhere that a site could be located that is not subject to the Berne convention or the World Intellectual Property Organization treaties. We have to deal with this.

And it's not as simple as "companies should change the way they do business" or "they can't stop piracy, so they should stop trying", or any other easy canard about how "information wants to be free" and that this is the wave of the future. We don't stop throwing people in jail for stealing cars just because we can't stop all car thefts.

Copyrights should be enforced. That is not only a moral covenant, but a utilitarian one. Speaking as someone who enjoys both Sequence and Mass Effect, I can recognize that the latter would not have been made without copyright protections. The choice is not between "paying for games and music and movies and television shows" and "not paying for them", but between "paying for them" and "not having them".

You can argue that piracy leads to more sales, or that it's good advertisement, but the decision to avail oneself of that should be left to the content creator, not the public. You can argue that "artists" will make art no matter what, but I doubt anyone here believes that Dragon Age III gets funding if EA knows people will be able to pirate it without recourse.

If we aren't willing to play ball, to compromise, to offer better copyright enforcement without draconian measures, the draconian measures will happen. So, if we do eventually beat back SOPA, the next step is not jumping up and down and being happy, the next step is to actually go to EA, and go to the MPAA, and the RIAA, and the ESA and say "we get it, you need to enforce your copyrights. Let's figure out the best way to do that without hurting other things."

We have room to demand concessions, not capitulation.

Only, we have. We have done exactly that. Look up OPEN (Online Protection and Enforcement), it basically does what you said. Gives them the ability to enforce copyright, without stomping out the internet as we know it.

All of the supporters of SOPA/PIPA are against it.

We have offered compromise. They are not willing to do the same.

 

[Marcus Kehoe]

The government never helped the internet, and they aren't gonna start now.

 

[Truniron]

Found this on their Facebook-page. So true, so true.

?I really wish everyone would act a little more composed when they oppose an idea. There is no need for cursing or joking banter at the name of the enemy. This is serious business so let us all act like serious people in a mature and compromising manner. Spread the awareness, not the language.

No one is going to listen to a bunch of people that act like a group of whining needy people. Study the facts, speak the truth. We are America, the land of the free, the home of the brave.

Thank you.? ? Nathan Dean Trimboli

(Source: Facebook.com/antiSOPA.com)

 

[Truniron]

Again, Really sorry, like 100 times

 

[Truniron]

Appologize about tripple post. The lack of a proper internett, makes the post mulitply