Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

[Alex p.]

That's quite frightening, and probably not too far out. Human nature is to grab for more money and power at every opportunity... if you had the chance to make all news depend on you, wouldn't you take it?

If nothing else, that means we've got a long fight ahead of us.

I've disagreed with and mocked just about everything Obama has said and done since entering office, but his promise to veto this is a singular bright spot. Still not enough to make me think highly of him.

Of course, who knows what "as written" means.

Lol, the first time someone takes my conspiracy ramblings at least a little serious.

But yeah, let's get serious. People think to "one sided" I think. What if this SOPA thing is just a precurser to what is to come, concerning internet rights. It's easier to impliment something like this step by step, than taking the most extreme step and ban everything right away, that would trigger too much hate and protets in the public.

 

[Sifer82]

The sad thing is, all major companies are mostly for this. They're wanting no sites up, except one that bring in a profit. But have you realized its actually unconstitutional? It blocks the freedom of press does it not? Take fox news, possibly one the most corrupt news channels, the government wont shut the site down. But why? Do they have such rights? I think not! i'm willing to take this to court and work my way up to declare this is unconstitutional!

 

[Roush_fan_99]

The sad thing is, all major companies are mostly for this. They're wanting no sites up, except one that bring in a profit. But have you realized its actually unconstitutional? It blocks the freedom of press does it not? Take fox news, possibly one the most corrupt news channels, the government wont shut the site down. But why? Do they have such rights? I think not! i'm willing to take this to court and work my way up to declare this is unconstitutional!

And in a way most laws are, we have the 2nd amendment, yet there are still laws preventing us from certain types of guns, and they think it'll cut down crime, criminals will always find away to get their hands on those guns

Point is that, it's almost as if a lawmaker sees a movie about.... Say about hacking and tries to solve a problem we don't have that he saw in a movie, then modifies it enough and gets a bunch of people on board, but the end product has more holes than swiss cheese and solves absolutely nothing and creates 5 more problems

And you said "most major companies are for this" and I'll add "so they try to buy their way through to make it pass" but that's not illegal?

 

[RACECAR]

Is it me or is there always a bill that seems to create more problems then it actually solves?

 

[AOS-]

Is it me or is there always a bill that seems to create more problems then it actually solves?

It's like they do it just to see how people will react and learn more about citizens.... for marketing research. "Aha! We know what you're like without the internet now! *plans a whole bunch of money-making things with pirate-related internet activities*"

 

[Mark T]

Stephen Fry just tweeted a link to a great article.

 

[Dmarc_Atl]

Lol, the first time someone takes my conspiracy ramblings at least a little serious.

But yeah, let's get serious. People think to "one sided" I think. What if this SOPA thing is just a precurser to what is to come, concerning internet rights. It's easier to impliment something like this step by step, than taking the most extreme step and ban everything right away, that would trigger too much hate and protets in the public.

Funny you should say that, theres a new bill called Protect Children from Internet Pornographers that could basically do the same thing as SOPA.Sneaky bastards know no one would protest a name like that.But I will.I dont support piracy nor Child Porn but there are thousands of better solutions to fix those issues.
It kinda makes you think just how many other poorly thought out bills have been signed and have contributed to the horrible state this country is in now.

 

[ChaosStar79]

Funny you should say that, theres a new bill called Protect Children from Internet Pornographers that could basically do the same thing as SOPA.Sneaky bastards know no one would protest a name like that.But I will.I dont support piracy nor Child Porn but there are thousands of better solutions to fix those issues.
It kinda makes you think just how many other poorly thought out bills have been signed and have contributed to the horrible state this country is in now.

No shortage of these in the US.

 

[Alex p.]

Funny you should say that, theres a new bill called Protect Children from Internet Pornographers that could basically do the same thing as SOPA.Sneaky bastards know no one would protest a name like that.But I will.I dont support piracy nor Child Porn but there are thousands of better solutions to fix those issues.
It kinda makes you think just how many other poorly thought out bills have been signed and have contributed to the horrible state this country is in now.

Exactly my point. (that they try to enter through the back-door so to say, always hiding true intentions)

 

[Danoff]

Funny you should say that, theres a new bill called Protect Children from Internet Pornographers that could basically do the same thing as SOPA

Exactly my point. (that they try to enter through the back-door so to say...

 

[White & Nerdy]

How could they use CP to shut down a site for copyright stuff?

And really, would it be possible to get sued for making a video about a car and not blurring the logo? If anything, you'd think they'd be paying you for the advertising...

 

[Danoff]

How could they use CP to shut down a site for copyright stuff?

And really, would it be possible to get sued for making a video about a car and not blurring the logo? If anything, you'd think they'd be paying you for the advertising...

I think the idea is that if someone were to upload CP to say... youtube... you could get youtube blacklisted.

 

[Northstar]

How could they use CP to shut down a site for copyright stuff?

It wouldn't, but SOPIPA could just get tacked onto it, no congressman in their right mind would try to argue against a bill that fights child porn or terrorism even if a bill they don't like it tacked on.

 

[sems4arsenal]

MegaUpload has Been Shut down (is this the Beginning ? )

 

[Northstar]

MegaUpload has Been Shut down (is this the Beginning ? )

Nope, napster was.

I don't see anything wrong with sites like that being shut down to be honest, piracy is indeed wrong and sites that host files and don't do anything to prevent it shouldn't be shocked when men in suits come to their door.

 

[nk4e]

I wonder if other like sites will now enforce their " no copy right material" rule now.

 

[Alex p.]

I knew it -.-

 

[White & Nerdy]

I'm actually quite surprised by the number of bronies NOT fighting this. Their beloved pony videos have been pulled off YouTube on several occasions by supertrolls posing as "Habsro Inc.". SOPA would do that, permanently, and take the rest of YouTube with it.

I also doubt the one-world elite will get their way here and now. They're being very agressive, and if I read entrails correctly there's enough fighting spirit left in the average American citizen to cost them.

 

[sems4arsenal]

Nope, napster was.

I don't see anything wrong with sites like that being shut down to be honest, piracy is indeed wrong and sites that host files and don't do anything to prevent it shouldn't be shocked when men in suits come to their door.

Couldn't The same be said about Site like Youtube, People Download Songs/Videos from there for free as well.

 

[Crumpet]

What would happen to the YouTube community if this took place? I know a lot of higher class YouTubers produce videos containing copyright material. Will all these channels be taken down if this happened, or YouTube itself?

I like to watch Wangan Midnight videos on that site, it will be very difficult for me to obtain the series here in the UK, since I won't be able to watch it online.

 

[Alex p.]

I'm actually quite surprised by the number of bronies NOT fighting this. Their beloved pony videos have been pulled off YouTube on several occasions by supertrolls posing as "Habsro Inc.". SOPA would do that, permanently, and take the rest of YouTube with it.

I also doubt the one-world elite will get their way here and now. They're being very agressive, and if I read entrails correctly there's enough fighting spirit left in the average American citizen to cost them.

As I already mentioned, I am a huge conspiracy guy (or nut like other members would like to say)

So I follow this whole "ZOMG TEH WORLD IS GOING TO END WE GOTTA KILL TEH ILLUMINAZIS" thing and one of the few recent developments is this: there are more and more powerful people, organizations and secret societies fighting the so called "Elite" and trying to bring the truth to the masses. One of the things happened is that two major underground secret bases have been destroyed. Sounds exciting, but I'm still skepctical about many of those things./off topic

 

[Sharky.]

@Jai: Youtube itself, which is why this law cannot be allowed to pass.

As for Megaupload, the government here in NZ is desperate to get in bed with the States so I'm not at all surprised they acted on US orders and sent the boys in blue to the guy's mansion. We already have a mini-SOPA three-strikes copyright law because the US wanted us to have one...

 

[Joey D]

The government has some pretty big cojones to go after MegaUpload the day after the black out. I guess these fools have learned nothing.

 

[Terronium-12]

First the song and now the entire website.

As I keep saying... and they wonder why piracy exists. It's not because people don't want to pay for your products, it's because you're giving them no real reason to buy your products. There's such a thing, and a good deal of pirates do this, as pirating something you don't want to risk wasting money on only to like it and then actually purchase it.

This is becoming quite a dystopian/cacotopian prospect.

 

[ChaosStar79]

First the song and now the entire website.

As I keep saying... and they wonder why piracy exists. It's not because people don't want to pay for your products, it's because you're giving them no real reason to buy your products. There's such a thing, and a good deal of pirates do this, as pirating something you don't want to risk wasting money on only to like it and then actually purchase it.

This is becoming quite a dystopian/cacotopian prospect.

Word. I do this frequently to "try before I buy". If half of everything produced and sold by the film/music industry was not absolute crap, they wouldn't be in this mess to begin with. I don't mind paying for a quality product, but I'm done paying for crap that should not have been released to begin with.

 

[Joey D]

First the song and now the entire website.

As I keep saying... and they wonder why piracy exists. It's not because people don't want to pay for your products, it's because you're giving them no real reason to buy your products. There's such a thing, and a good deal of pirates do this, as pirating something you don't want to risk wasting money on only to like it and then actually purchase it.

This is becoming quite a dystopian/cacotopian prospect.

And judging by the amount of crap bought off Steam I'd say the computer geek crowd (the main demographic of piraters) people aren't pirating games like they used to. You know why? Steam actually offers deals, it is easy to use and have some pretty obscure titles. I know I've bought probably 200 or more games off of Steam.

Sites like Pandora, Spotify, Netflix, Hulu and what not also combat piracy. I mean if I can stream it to my phone, tv or computer then why do I need to go through the hassle of downloading it? If they offered more media online through ad sponsored services I'm sure the drop in piracy would continue.

I'm also not convinced the media industry loses as much as it claims do to piracy. They also don't take into account pirates that wouldn't buy the product anyway. If you weren't going to buy it in the first place then the company wouldn't get a sale regardless if you pirated it. I'm not justifying piracy here but rather pointing out that the industry seems to be making a bigger issue than it really is.

 

[nk4e]

When are products are released as Trials or if not teasers. We aren't happy, then we also think about the market about reselling the product and how strict some laws are. ( IE. selling a computer game..Gamestop..FYE) We do not get a good portion of our money back.

 

[ChaosStar79]

When are products are released as Trials or if not teasers. We aren't happy, then we also think about the market about reselling the product and how strict some laws are. ( IE. selling a computer game..Gamestop..FYE) We do not get a good portion of our money back.

Plus the demo versions of games rarely represent the actual experience that you will have while playing the game, so you aren't even trying the actual game that you will pay for.

Also I agree completely about Steam. They are bringing the products to the correct demographic in a way that will sell. There's little or no overhead for buildings, shipping, production materials, and far less employees to pay than if you were to buy it at a normal store, so they give much better deals and that's how it should be. However, their customer service is terrible. But still, there is no reason that a game should cost the same amount when it's downloaded as it would if you went to a store and bought a physical copy of it. Just the companies trying to squeeze more profit out of the consumer, because that is a familiar price point and most people don't consider it.

 

[MatskiMonk]

As I keep saying... and they wonder why piracy exists. It's not because people don't want to pay for your products,...

Errm, it is in many cases actually, I know a bunch of people who haven't paid for music, or bought a DVD/BD in years. In fact, I don't know any people that 'pirate' anything, then go on to pay for it... 50% (like me) have an idea if they want something, buy it, then enjoy,.. the other 50% see something pirated for free, take it, enjoy it, and never pay anything for it... it's not even this thats a big deal to me, it's part of a bigger picture...

We have a massive "Gimmie, Gimmie, take take take" culture in the UK, there's a massive portion of the population that don't want to earn the things they want, it's no surprise to me that the 50% of people I know that happily download films and music and never actually buy anything, are the same 50% that are happy to rely on the government to support themselves and their families, yet sit there watching/listening to their pirated media on their £400 smartphones.. It's a mentality I can't stand.

Is SOPA a good thing? not that I've managed to find an unbiased view, most people seem like panicy idiot #4 from the Poseidon Adventure, or are merely spewing propaganda - but to me it doesn't seem to address the situation in the correct way... does something need doing to protect copyright and IP on the internet.. absolutely.

 

[RACECAR]

Errm, it is in many cases actually, I know a bunch of people who haven't paid for music, or bought a DVD/BD in years. In fact, I don't know any people that 'pirate' anything, then go on to pay for it... 50% (like me) have an idea if they want something, buy it, then enjoy,.. the other 50% see something pirated for free, take it, enjoy it, and never pay anything for it... it's not even this thats a big deal to me, it's part of a bigger picture...

Just because you don't know people who do that doesn't necessarily mean there aren't any. Infact, there's actually a video where one author specifically mentions people aquiring some his books online without paying, then deciding to share with others and then purchasing his books. That is an actual mindset some people actually have. Not all people have malicious intent with pirating, they simply use it to try something before they buy.