SOPA hearing yesterday: There are not enough /facepalms in the world

[Viking67]

I think its pretty damn funny. You gotta love people who have absolutely no clue about modern technology pretending they do/wanting to influence it anyway.

But hey, its you guys voting these fuckers into place. Considering how much the internet influences the modern world, its beyond me how someone can think its a good idea to put an old fart who cant even use a TV remote properly in charge of it.

It's pretty much voting for these fuckers or another set of fuckers though. It's not like there's a Senator Wyden running for congressional office in every state.

Oregon FTW!

He was also one of the few senators also voted against the National Defense Authorization Act. I was looking up the roll call for it, ready to send a scathing letter, and I was pleasantly surprised that both senators from my state voted against it, so I just sent them a thank you instead

 

[I.N.producer]

I think it would be good if every representative was given a test when they were elected. This test would determine what subjects that they know nothing about. Based on this test, the blatant idiots would have their vote disregarded.

"Oh, this senator thought a USB was a government agency. No tech-related votes for him."

Never going to happen and probably unconstitutional, but it would be nice to have an idiot-proofed legislature to avoid this crap.

 

[McNinja]

Congress needs to be replaced with people who know things. Not old dudes so enraptured in politics that they can't fathom life without it.

Do you know how much America hates people who know things?

Not America in general, just the government, mainly because the old dudes think no one else knows anything and that they are the best at deciding what is right for the people they represent.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

What the hell?! Why did I get a warning for my post literally as soon as it was posted? What the fuck is this?

Chalk it up to the bugs.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

Here's a list [https://boycottcensors.wordpress.com/] of the supporters of this bill. You know, so you can shop appropriately.

For game companies, I see Nintendo, EA, and Sony on there.

If I recall correctly EA and Nintendo is up there because they are in a group(forgot it´s name) that support the bill, I think both of them have backed out of that group as it stands right now and isn't supportive of the bill.

I thought that was Microsoft. I remember reading about how they were originally in favor of it, then quietly stopped being in favor of it.

What is the bet these business didn't really know what was in the bill?

I fathom someone, likely a politician aid if not someone from the group that wrote this bill, sent a memo that stated: Support bill HR... (can't remember the number, add it here)... as it is increasing the protection of copy-written material. As a company that produces such material, they likely all jumped on board without question. Only now, with public becoming aware of the exact nature of this bill, did these companies take an actual look at the bill itself and came to the same conclusion as the rest of us: It is a bad piece of legalization that could cost the economy millions of implemented.

 

[Phisi]

I think what'll do if it is passed is... move the majority of internet services out of the US of A as well as the companies and lots of people would become unemployed because companies just cant run the risk and piracy would survive because the pirate's servers are not in the US to begin with. That and the forces of chaos will rise and take over. Happy Christmas America from Australia, please don't cause Youtube to go down for some weeks because I wanna watch TB sing Santa Baby.

 

[Varitel]

Not enough facepalms in the world huh?

Well, better get started then.

Spoiler

Now that that's out of the way, even if the House and the Senate pass it, I don't think that the president will allow it through. If he vetos it, both the House and the Senate need a 2/3 majority to actually get it to pass. Though, if Obama doesn't veto, he isn't getting my vote this election. Don't lose hope just yet.

 

[Jinx_Dragon]

That doesn't make sense. Socialism and fascism are both, by their very definition, the antithesis of each other. I think the word you're looking for is simply fascist, and I'm going to go further and assume from your statement that you're completely unaware of what socialism actually is.

Seconded... I hate people throwing around the word socialism without even knowing what it means. Same with communism from yesteryear, they had no clue what it meant but the anti-communism crowd told them it was bad and that was all they needed to know. They lack the understanding of the subject enough to realize that 1) these groups are full of shit to begin with and 2) the countries trying to claim communism or socialism status where full of shit.

That's Bullshit. You've never heard of Ghandi? are you aware that without the consent of the people, a government cannot function?

I have to disagree with you here. Ghandi was in a unique position that made it possible for a non-violent protest to actually do something. The British government had neither the finance, local military power or the popular sentiment, both at the international level as well as back home, to weather the PR nightmare a brutal crack down on the protesters. It was standard process up till that time for the British to simply execute such uprisings through their empire... the US know this very well. The rebel side was also very willing and prepared for violence, meaning if the non-violent protests failed they would have gone to civil war next.

But without the means to do so in this case, the British decided not to enter into an unsustainable civil war with the Indian population and Ghandi technically won. He would not have been successful if a number of different factors where not on his side, if the British where in a stronger position military wise or the whole cracking down on uprisings lethally hadn't become something 'civil people just do not do.' Ghandi would of been shot dead, India would of erupted into a civil war and Brittan would of bombed their cities.

He got lucky on the timing if you ask me... not to say his mentality can not be used in this day and age successfully, it still is considered 'impolite' to openly kill protestors after all. However, the US is making it so people won't blink if you lock them up en-mass which is the first step to bringing back the 'simply kill them so we don't have to deal with it' mentality... so it would be interesting to see how such protests turn out in the future.

 

[Robert632]

I just want to try something. Just ignore this post.

 

[Robert632]

I knew it. Only when the next poster posts does the previous post appear.

 

[Filiecs]

Why does everybody keep saying this is Democracy's fault? America is a Democratic Republic, not a Direct Democracy.
Personally I feel that, with the current level of technology, America should replace it's current representatives and begin progressing more toward a Direct Democracy. I mean, we have the entire internet, why not use it to give the people more representation with online voting?

Also, didn't the Committee adjourn without a vote and postpone voting until Wednesday? At least, that's what Demand Progress and Wired said.

 

[Filiecs]

(I really hope this isn't a double post)
(God Damn it...)

 

[Varitel]

I knew it. Only when the next poster posts does the previous post appear.

[off-topic]That is weird. I had wondered why my post didn't show up[/off-topic]

 

[Varitel]

Congress is passing this bill to distract the world from America's hotbed of corrupt, warmongering old men.

I think you're reading a bit too much into it. Those in the House and Senate who are arguing for SOPA are most likely simply being coerced by lobbyists representing the interests that support the bill. It's wrong, but it isn't a conspiracy to distract anyone from anything.

 

[2733]

I think its pretty damn funny. You gotta love people who have absolutely no clue about modern technology pretending they do/wanting to influence it anyway.

But hey, its you guys voting these fuckers into place. Considering how much the internet influences the modern world, its beyond me how someone can think its a good idea to put an old fart who cant even use a TV remote properly in charge of it.

It's pretty much voting for these fuckers or another set of fuckers though. It's not like there's a Senator Wyden running for congressional office in every state.

Oregon FTW!

He was also one of the few senators also voted against the National Defense Authorization Act. I was looking up the roll call for it, ready to send a scathing letter, and I was pleasantly surprised that both senators from my state voted against it, so I just sent them a thank you instead

Maybe we Oregonians should pick all the congressmen. now if you don't mind I have to curl up in a little ball and cry out of fear for a while.

 

[NerfedFalcon]

I'm Canadian and I fucking hate SOPA. I can't do anything to fight it! I just have to sit up here and watch and hope that it goes alright, because America seems to be trying to turn itself into some dystopian horror.

Same here, except I'm Australian, so I have to sit down here and watch and hope.
AM I FUNNY YET

 

[kebab4you]

I'm Canadian and I fucking hate SOPA. I can't do anything to fight it! I just have to sit up here and watch and hope that it goes alright, because America seems to be trying to turn itself into some dystopian horror.

Same here, except I'm Australian, so I have to sit upside down here and watch and hope.
AM I FUNNY YET

Fixed it for you :3

OT: How many people are in the house anyway? I saw like 30~40 of them wrote the 2 bills ...

 

[NerfedFalcon]

Same here, except I'm Australian, so I have to sit upside down here and watch and hope.
AM I FUNNY YET

Fixed it for you :3

You just won an internet. But that doesn't mean you get to regulate what happens on it: that should be left to the thoughtful, intelligent people in the United States Congress and the corporations who fund their campaigns.

 

[Monsterfurby]

Ah, the unadulterated tenor of "they are old people".

Seriously folks - the problem with the American system is not the fact that "you have to be old to be a politician", it's that nobody goes into politics until they are 30+ and have already had a traditional career. This is not only to be blamed on the system - it is very much a result of the youth being raised to not give a crap.

Folks, I am 23 and European. I have held elected office on university level four times (twice as undergrad student rep, once as member of the student guild/parliament, once as postgrad student rep) in two different countries, on party level twice (regional representative) and on communal level once (local council). This is *not* because I am in any way rich (I am certainly not, and neither is my family) or want to make a living as a politician. It is just because I CARE about the decisions politicians make, and the only way for me to influence them is to play the same game.

In the US, people seem to be raised to stay away from politics. Where is the cure to the systemic illness going to come from if not from young people participating in an open and progressive political dialogue? It is not "us versus them" as much as "them, period." To change it, you must become "them."

tl/dr: if you want to CHANGE POLITICS - GO INTO POLITICS. It does not have to be a full-time job.