Internet Blackout to oppose SOPA
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Wednesday, Jan 18 (tomorrow as of this post) many websites (Google, Wikipedia, reddit, among others) will protest the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) act that the entertainment industry is trying to push through Congress. Some sites will shut down completely, while others will post protest banners on their sites.
Is short, the bill is an effort to stop piracy by giving copyright owners the ability to shut down entire domain names without a court order because of one infringement. Under the proposed act, savvy users - and pirates - could still access the censored site via IP address, but who in the general public knows how to do that? ...yet many pirates would...
I try to stay out of politics, but I am opposed to this bill because many of the websites I visit daily are at risk. Take Shapeways for example - if a designer modeled a movie prop and offered it for sale on Shapeways (which does happen every so often), Hollywood could have the entire site shut down, including designers that are not at fault! As it is now, the Hollywood lawyers send a cease-and-desist letter to the designer threatening to sue, which usually works just as well to have the offending model removed.
I'm concerned that they'll get power-happy and the whole internet will suffer. I don't want to sound like Chicken Little here, but some of our members here at SCF like to model spaceships and other movie props, and I can see the lawyers coming after SCF for those "infringements" - even though SCF is not based in the U.S!
Here is a link to an organization opposing the bill, with info on how to contact state senators, which I have done. There is also info for concerned people not based in the US.
There is a nice writeup explaining the issue better here.
What do ya'll think about it?
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One of my websites will also be down in protest, not much of a protest as only about three people will notice
Join the protest here: http://moveon.org/blackout/jointheblackout.html?id=34811-12967336-uJGs6Lx&t=1
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SketchUcation, with its thousands of users, would raise awareness about SOPA if it placed an explanatory sign about what SOPA is about in the front page for 24 hours... even without shutting down.
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That's great, Pete!I agree, Miguel...or even better, an overlay banner on its logo since many of us come directly to the forums. This page tells how to add an overlay banner if the boss wants to.
Just found this infographic that explains the issue succinctly.
Edit: changed the annoyingly large image to a link -
I tried to raise awearness of this some time back, http://news.sketchucation.com/save-the-internet-before-its-too-late/
What I can do and have done is made this a Stickie Global.
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Ah, the Daily Catchup...I searched the forums before posting this to make sure I wasn't double posting, but I could have known you were on top of this already
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I've written my representatives. I'm all for the blackout.
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Don't feel it's a whole lot I can do. I announce on facebook and twitter. Added the blackout to my blog (none visit - but just for the sake of it). Though since I am not an American I cannot write to congress.
Really hope none of this nonsense is accepted. They are so manic in their ways of protecting themselves that they label everyone a criminal.
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I agree with it in principle, but am not sure it will have much effect with the hang 'em, flog 'em brigade that initiated similar overkill measures like the US Homeland Security setup.
The blackout is so easy to overcome anyway....just hit Esc as soon as the page loads, but before it goes to the blackout screen. -
@alan fraser said:
The blackout is so easy to overcome anyway....just hit Esc as soon as the page loads, but before it goes to the blackout screen.
Or just disable Javascript. But that's not the point either - it's just to make people stop for a second and draw attention to the matter.
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I think that the Wikipedia spokesman on the UK radio put it very well yesterday; he said,
"Image that the car was invented about 15 years ago, and now everyone is using them [they can't do without them!]...
Then a few people use cars in bank-robberies...
The government over react and bring in draconian new laws affecting ALL car users...
You protest...
You are accused of supporting bank-robbery [subversive!]..."
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The internet didn't stop Avatar from making a BILLION dollars globally. C'mon here! There is some bigger agenda. The government hates how the internet is the Wild West of our time. They want more control of it and are using the entertainment industry as a disguise.
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Lets face it if it was not for twitter and Facebook the Arab spring would never have sprung.
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@valerostudio said:
The internet didn't stop Avatar from making a BILLION dollars globally. C'mon here! There is some bigger agenda. The government hates how the internet is the Wild West of our time. They want more control of it and are using the entertainment industry as a disguise.
I'm thinking the same thing! However whatever they do manage to implement, I think the Net by its very nature and make up, will be difficult to fully control, thankfully.
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The government (aka congressmen,) are motivated by ONE thing. TAXES. They cannot collect taxes on music, movies, books, etc., (either sales or inventory tax,) for items that don't pass over the sales counter (either physical or virtual.)
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I disagree. This isn't government* doing this. This is the powerful entertainment and media industry in action bribing the government into creating this legislation.
Why?
Big Media says it's to protect against theft. They've already got the DMCA, encryption on DVDs, regular copyright law, fines and any number of other protections. Obviously they don't work. More isn't the solution.
It's not about theft, it's about control.
They want to control where music, videos and movies are released. They want to control how it is released, and they want to control who releases it. It's not about money to the government, taxes on media is no more or less important than any other taxable good.
It's about money to Big Media. If they control who, where, and how it is distributed, they can make money off each and every way it is handled, viewed or sold. That's what it's about. Want to link to something? Get permission and pay a fee. Want to spoof or lip sync an artist? Get permission and pay a fee. Ad nauseam.
*Lobbyists = campaign contributions or other kickbacks = legalized bribing. It is about government if you believe government is owned and run by Big Business lobbyists.
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@unknownuser said:
The government (aka congressmen,) are motivated by ONE thing. TAXES. They cannot collect taxes on music, movies, books, etc., (either sales or inventory tax,) for items that don't pass over the sales counter (either physical or virtual.)
Agreed, though it means something deeper. To steal all your money, your bank account, your home, your life. Your freedom by all means!
They don't listen, these people are elected by people, right? They don't represent voter's will. Such politicians are criminals of the worst kind. But I don't say IMO here. Just read the constitution of any democratic community-country you like. Carefully please!
I noticed, more and more people, these days, mentioning that democracy is a failure or something. Here comes the judgment day. Good luck to all of us.
It's just happening in 2012 and this makes me nervous
Make your voice louder, these politicians should start feeling this well known "fear". Fear of people, fear of god. Both are equally fine for me.
Sorry for the language barrier, I hope I made it clear enough.@EscapeArtist, this could explain the motivations of some politicians. This wasn't my point. They Do Not Have the rights to do this.
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I must disagree again. Politicians do not get a percentage of taxes as a bonus, so there is no inherent reason for them to view lost taxes as a personal loss should they be reduced or lost.
They do have the "rights" to do this, they were elected to do this and could change the laws as needed to do what they wish. We the people are ignorant of the process due to the complexity of the political system and the difficulty of obtaining clear and concise information about how these events affect us.
They are slaves to the corporate money that pays their campaign financing.
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Two very good videos from TED.
This one explains what the side effect of SOPA will be. http://www.ted.com/talks/defend_our_freedom_to_share_or_why_sopa_is_a_bad_idea.html
and this one shows how the fashion world thrives and makes money without copyright.
http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/johanna_blakley_lessons_from_fashion_s_free_culture.html -
I am hearing that this legislation is a bad idea--that there are better ways to handle the problem. That's all I hear. I wonder what some of the better ways to handle this might be? [Personally, I believe no politician will ever provide the ultimate solution, and too much legislation stifles most everything it attempts to regulate]
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