What to do if SOPA hits.

[Sparrow]

You know what I hate most about SOPA? That acronym. I keep typing 'SOAP' accidentally. My friends keep getting messages from me like "Fuck soap, I don't support it's use!"

On a more serious note, if SOPA does hit I can't see it being around for long. Right now all the housewives who support it are thinking "Yeah! Show it to them pirates!", but when it hits it'll be more like "WHY CAN'T I ACCESS MY FARMVILLE ACCOUNT?!"

 

[Alphakirby]

Nuke Hollywood.

Firstly, genius, nuke what America loves the most to get it's brain to turn on and shut this damn bill down.

Secondly, add more to your post before the admins get you.

 

[Blackout62]

Assumedly someone will just petition for a repeal of SOPA if it passes giving provocation for if not repeal then a deeper look at the bill and potential amending.

 

[spartan231490]

Yeah, btw, no website is going to put a blanket block on the nation that consumes as much as, and has a population as big as the USA. It's a bad business move.

I find it interesting that we're talking about this and one of the latest content posts is "Sweden Formally Recognizes Piracy as Religion". Anyways...

Actually, if SOPA DOES pass, I agree it will be repealed within days. Hell, to keep it from passing, all one has to say to Congress is this:

"The way SOPA is worded right now, I cannot say ANYTHING about any copyrighted work, good or bad, because the act will punish me for doing so...which I feel is a violation of MY civil rights! In fact it is so badly worded, SOPA might actually make it possible to punish a child for wearing a costume of his favorite cartoon character!"

I very seriously doubt that the SOPA would be repealed if it passes. And I strongly suspect that it will pass. This act may screw most people, but politicians don't give a shit. They're bought and payed for by the corporations that this act empowers.

 

[TheSYLOH]

You know slippery slopes are a generally a bad argument but this might be the top of an actual one.

1) SOPA Introduced
2) Pirates start using foreign DNS servers, completely by passing the legislation
3) MAFIAA see this lobbies congress to start blocking foreign DNS servers.
4) SOPA II introduced, blocking foreign DNS servers
5) Pirates start running pirate DNS servers abroad, DNS security is in shambles but at least it's still free.
6) MAFIAA see this lobbies congress to demand to criminalize any DNS server but the ones they specifically allow.
7) SOPA III, structure of internet re-written, only certain DNS servers may be contacted.
8) Mass filtering of the Internet occurs on the DNS level, pirates are now sending IP addresses by email and over MMORPG chat, pirate websites switch to more static IPs.
9) MAFIAA sees this, demands USA's internet be isolated from the rest of the world
10) SOPA IV introduced, The United States stands alone.

 

[spartan231490]

I would laugh at you americans a bit more... Then I would get on with my life.

You rarely contribute to a thread, do you? If you'd do more than bashing the United States of America, then that'd be immensely helpful.

Anyways, as part of a highly respected military family, my family is also up in arms about the issue of SOPA. We're actually discussing ways to handle it if it does happen, such as leaving the military, rejecting the federal government, and possible drastic actions to take that can involve rioting or worse. Why? Because the very constitution my family, and I soon will be, sown to protect is being infringed upon yearly by actions of the Government. Patriot Act, SOPA, Protect IP, etc, these very actions are destroying the American way of life, and I know quite a few other personnel who will be considering action against the United States should these become passed as well, as we refuse to live in the novel 1984.

Some people don't see it, but those who have been noticing the government's sneaky bills over the past decade are nearly declaring war on the people with how they're trying to act towards us, and we do not appreciate it. Lets hope it just gets shut down way before anything is necessary, as I am too lazy to want to do anything unless forced.

What about the NDAA? I mean sure, the patriot act did exactly the same thing as the NDAA, but i still can't believe that someone can be more upset by the SOPA than they are by the NDAA. And yet, you don't even mention it, despite the fact that it is not only worse than SOPA, but it has already become law.

 

[CrystalShadow]

From the content of this thread, I'm under the impression that the majority of the posters on the Escapist are British children under the age of eighteen.

Hmm. Quite off topic here, but anyway...

While I don't know about the under 18 bit (I've seen a fairly large age range here, about 14-40 would seem a reasonable estimate), but you have to consider the implications of any website which is entirely in English.

While many Europeans can speak English, as can the inhabitants of several other nations, English is the native language of only a fairly small number of countries.

America, Canada, The United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, and perhaps Jamaica and Singapore, (as well as Hong Kong possibly)

Of these, The US has 300 million people, The UK 65 million, Canada 33 million, Australia 20 Million...

And the others each have populations under 10 million.

By numbers, that implies that if a person on this website isn't American, the UK has roughly as many people in it as the remainder of English-speaking countries combined.

Anyway, as interesting as that pointless fact is,

It's obvious that this is getting out of hand. The EU needs to get off it's ass and do something here, because no-one else really has the capacity to take on the USA.
No individual country can stand up to the US bullying it, but the EU collectively is large enough, and well-developed enough to have the biggest chance.

It's nothing personal against the American people, but this kind of nonsense really has to stop. And the rest of us most assuredly have to stop copying stupid US laws. (or allowing ourselves to be pressured into doing so.)

Pretty much every time laws like these spread, they start in the US. And we all bend over and cave in to the pressure to do it too? I don't think so.

The EU needs to get it's act together, because as a group Europe could stand up to this, but as individual nations we'd probably cave in, one by one.