SOPA Storms Back

[madster11]

Google should've joined the blackout and threatened to make it permanent if SOPA passed

Bet that'd get some fucking attention considering Google hosts all the various US agencies servers.

 

[Hawk eye1466]

I shall sing you the song of my people


Seriously, it makes me feel bad about being american. When I visit the UK i'm going to wear a sign that says "I'm not your typical asshole American."

This is why I'm going to get an Irish passport so when I'm in Europe I can use it and not get treated like crap because of everyone thinking I wear a cowboy hat am 700 pounds and have a shotgun on standby.

 

[Erttheking]

Fuck, and I let myself get excited too.

 

[slackbheep]

Do not meddle in the affairs of geeks, for they are subtle and quick to anger.

 

[Reed Spacer]

All your little site 'blackouts' are doing is a short-term version of what you're going to get if the bill passes. If man one of you had any testicular fortitude, you'd just say "Fuck SOPA!" and continue on as normal.

Hooray for you. No, I'm not bring sarcastic or anything.

 

[Smokescreen]

If this passes, getting it undone will be a ***** and a half, AND the damage will likely already have been done.

If you've been active in getting this stopped, continue to BE active. It's the only way.

 

[Robert Ewing]

Fuck sake, I had just organised a massive orgy in celebration for this shit being pulled... Sigh... Suppose i'll kill myself now.

 

[Formica Archonis]

You know, when there's a law up that claims Canada and the Bahamas are part of the United States (PIPA) and then the proponent of a similar law (SOPA) plays the "dirty foreigners" card.... I don't know what to make of it. It's jingoistic nationalism run completely amok. It's the sort of thing you expect to hear out of screwball backwater dictatorships. And for the benefit of companies like Sony and EMI, which aren't even American at all!

Guys, I know the bread and circuses is great, but you really gotta get off your asses and start another revolution. The last one appears to have failed at founding a democracy.

 

[oktalist]

Section 103.4 states that you need to provide evidence that the site is "dedicated to theft". Which part of the Bill suggests that any post on a forum could be accused of causing a site to be dedicated to theft?

As you claim to have read the bill, you should know that (103.a.1) "An internet site is dedicated to theft of US property if it... is marketed by its operator for use in, offering goods or services in a manner that engages in, enables, or facilitates" copyright infringement. It took me five minutes to find this.

IANAL and neither are you, but my high school English comprehension skills tell me that this paragraph means that any site that in any way allows the even possibility of copyright infringement can be called a site dedicated to theft under SOPA. Is it possible to make a forum post that infringes copyright? Yes, of course it is. Therefore, all forums are dedicated to theft according to the SOPA definition.

And actually Section 103.5 states that the site can counter any actions taken if it, under penalty of perjury, has good faith in that it is not a site dedicated to theft.

Which is fairly pointless when you acknowledge that the definition of a site dedicated to theft covers pretty much the entire web.

Also, 103.4 and 103.5 are not even parts of the bill. Paragraph designators take the form "number.letter.number", not "number.number".

If was being accurate and honest, he would say "Chinese thieves" since they are the biggest problem in piracy and IP protection. But because he can't do that without pissing the Chinese off, so he says the ambiguous "foreign" instead.

But SOPA only applies to sites that can be accessed from the US. So it'd be fairly trivial for a Chinese site whose users are mostly Chinese to circumvent SOPA simply by blocking access to IP addresses in the US.

He's using the "foreign thieves" codephrase obviously to mean the Chinese, to play on voters' fear of an expanding China, but that's not what SOPA is really about.

I wish I could properly explain how the US Congress works to The Escapist community. How many of you actually know what markup is?

I'd look it up on Wikipedia, but...

from http://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/community/

Thank God that I Can Has Cheezburger? is taking a stand for freedom.

Also, Torrentfreak. What's a torrent site doing on that list?

Does anyone else find it funny that all these websites, in their haste to protest SOPA, are essentially doing its job for it by getting rid of their own content?

I think that's kind of the point. They're saying "this is what the web will look like if SOPA passes".

 

[Dandark]

Oh American goverment. Why do you want everyone to hate you?

 

[CoL0sS]

snip

snip

snip

Cheers!
First of all thank you for calm and eloquent response. I wasn't trying to argue his point (if there was any), only a way in which he tried to convey it. I agree that we need to keep a level head and make room for the smartest of us to battle these bills, but aren't they already doing that? A lot of smart and influential people are already on the "frontlines" organizing drives, letter-writing campaigns and surveys.

Considering how much has been written on SOPA & PIPA these last couple of weeks I think there are very few people that don't know what they're talking about. Community is free to voice their opinions however they want as long as it's clear whether they oppose (or support) these bills. Part of the blame for these exaggerated responses should be laid at irresponsible journalism that doesn't check its facts and leans heavily on sensationalism. As you said, only way we can be taken seriously is by proving we can think for ourselves and defying those who are trying to force this bill into existence.

 

[SurrealFactory]

Honestly, I'm kinda disappointed The Escapist isn't participating in the blackout today. With its generally intellectual atmosphere and support of creativity/freedom of speech. :/

 

[Reed Spacer]

I'd be disappointed if they were. It wouldn't accomplish a thing.

And trust me when I say I know what I'm talking about: when I was the age half the people on this site were, your parents had just reached second base.

 

[cikame]

For the record, The Escapist is the only website i came across that announced SOPA was gone.

Don't know what it is but there's almost always something weird about news articles on this website.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

It technically is participating - what with the black borders and the "Stop Censorship" overlay on the logo. For reasons that are probably purely Themis', they decided to not just up and shut down the site altogether.

 

[theultimateend]

I'm either deeply misunderstanding something or he's making no sense.

'Foreign thieves'? I thought SOPA only affected US citizens... and even if I'm wrong, it's still offensive.

If we break the internet we'll be breaking it for everyone.

That's the beauty of US Censorship, it impacts the world. Which fits the political theme here of governing everyone when the governors can't govern themselves.

That uh...that wording got confusing...but you get my point.

 

[Bara_no_Hime]

I wish I could properly explain how the US Congress works to The Escapist community. How many of you actually know what markup is? I can tell you that markup is NOT where proponents of this bill want it to go. I can tell you that its chances of revival in this congressional term are slim and that this is a huge setback.

But you won't believe me.

Because the internet is for OMG!, not intelligent conversation.

As someone who works in legislative law, SOPA and PIPA (by proxy) are dead. Of course, anything can rear its head again, but for now it is over. Good job. You people made my work SOOOOOOOOO much easier.

This. Well, I don't work in legislative law, but otherwise, yes this.

EVERYONE - PLEASE LISTEN!

That press release means nothing. It is a politician attempting to save face after getting stomped on. It doesn't mean SOPA is coming back. It means the _creator_ of SOPA wishes it would come back and wants to get some press out there saying that he's still trying - even though there's nothing he can do at this point (other than make a press release).

 

[Dr. Pepper Unlimited]

God, so tired of this fucking bill. I knew it was not gone forever, but good lord...

 

[Lord_Gremlin]

Ok, my hypocrisymeter just overloaded. Thankfully logic module is still working. Protect... American intellectual property from foreign thieves?


By blocking USA citizens from accessing "guilty" sites..

Conclusion: USA citizens ARE the "foreign thieves" in question.

 

[katsabas]

So, your way of dealing with foreign thieves that do 'sooooo much harm' on your economy is by putting people out of jobs, thus lowing the total tax dollars you are going to receive per year. Huh. That's logic.

He hasn't even met with the people he is supposed to be protecting! And I bet my fucking house on that! You cannot speak for the people since what you are doing does to them more harm than good!

If anybody I know from the internet attends this year's E3, I swear I am gonna send him an envelope with Anthrax.