What do you think of the Internet Censorship bill?

[OhWow]

There are more important things do worry about than this...pirating is really the least of our economy's problems. It's pretty ridiculous. Looks like a really bad idea.

 

[wickedtiger86]

Yeah, this is crap.

I hate all censorship. HATE it. I can't express how much it's something that I don't, and could never, believe in or support. Censorship to me just promotes willful ignorance. It makes me a little crazy. And it makes me angry that anyone would agree to that level of control over them.

And yes, there are about a million other things the government should be worrying about right now. This just seems like a way for the entertainment industry to get richer while everyone else gets poorer.

Wow. That is about as emotional I've ever gotten about anything on here.

Erm. /rant

😀

 

[hazzard]

i hate all censorship, and i think this bill is ridiculous. our freedom to think and speak and create without restrictions, including over the internet, should never be called into question.
there are so many more important thing happening in the world.

 

[WWGD]

Please take a few minutes of your time to learn about/help stop the SOPA bill.

These "internet censorship bills" (Protect IP and the SOPA Act) are some serious pieces of legislature that will have a massive impact on the internet, not only for the U.S. but for every other country as well. If you don't know about it use the following videos/links to educate yourself, and if you'd like to help the cause you can also use these links to write to or call congress and give them your two cents on the subject.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhwuXNv8fJM"]WTF is SOPA ? aka The American Government trying to ruin the internet - YouTube[/ame]

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/ <-- This video is shorter than the one above so you may want to watch this one first if you don't have the time.

http://www.americancensorship.org
http://tinyurl.com/writetocongress
http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet

 

[AmazingMrCross]

My understanding of SOPA is that it's vaguely worded and has no real boundaries to it. Plus it's being backed by the MPAA and RIAA, two major trade organizations known for complaining about how they've lost a bajillion dollars to piracy without any real evidence to back up their claims; they also like suing the pants off everyone for supposed infringement, including children and the elderly. They are big lobbyists in this whole thing... and without jumping entirely onto my soapbox (more like putting one foot on it) I have no faith left in the US government anymore and believe that money buys legislative decisions more than American citizens do.

So I think this whole thing is just bad news altogether. There are better ways to fight piracy than crippling the Internet.

 

[arabella]

While I am concerned about the potential ramifications of this bill, I do sympathize with the individuals/companies that have become so frustrated by having their media stolen via illegal downloads. We wouldn't even be talking about this if people weren't stealing music, movies, and tv shows on such a large scale. It is so simple to do and no longer involves going to the sketchy part of town and buying the knocked off product from some guy on the street corner. I have no problem with people being prosecuted for being in possession of stolen media or for making stolen media available for consumption. I wouldn't be bothered by a person who stole an actual cd being prosecuted, so doing it online is no different.

I don't want the Internet to be censored but it stinks that people are stealing and I wish there was a different way to address it.

 

[nightshade]

The SOPA internet strike is today: http://sopastrike.com/ Do you think this will help stop it or not make any difference to what is planned?

 

[david4wt]

All right, piracy is a problem for the entertainment business. But it's not like they're starvig to death, is it?

 

[dexeded]

Wikipedia has blacked out in protest, but if you have the Firefox add-on NoScript, then you can access it.

Google (only for the US) has a new Google doodle protesting SOPA. http://i.imgur.com/bXtID.png

And they've shelved SOPA for now: http://www.washingtonmonthly.com/political-animal/2012_01/putting_sopa_on_a_shelf034765.php
But there's still PIPA to worry about.

 

[sisterofmercy]

The SOPA internet strike is today: http://sopastrike.com/ Do you think this will help stop it or not make any difference to what is planned?

I think this is something that will stick in peoples minds, considering sites like Wikipedia are used globally. Although SOPA has been shelved for now, it doesn't stop it from resurfacing if the right people are behind it. So I think the fact that a lot of big internet names are protesting against it will help get the message across that the bill could have disastrous consequences (not just for the US but for a lot of us who use American websites as well).

 

[david4wt]

[MENTION=10446]sisterofmercy[/MENTION] Sorry I forgot to write down all of my opinion :-D Business industry should find another way of making money..I can't remember if it was Lady Gaga or someone else who said that nowadays an artist can't expect to make that much money only with the product, art shouldn't cost so much! An artist should organize tours and shows if he wants to make money.
Also, times are changed. Very few people go to the cd shop to look for some new cool music, buy the disc and maybe don't even enjoy it. But still there will always be people who buy the things they like. I bought, like many on this forum, all the Buffy DVD set even though I could have downloaded it in a second.

Times are changing, people can't expect to make much money out of copyright. Hollywood golden ages are far away. It's like trying to sell ice to the eskimos to my eyes.

 

[dexeded]

Although SOPA has been shelved for now, it doesn't stop it from resurfacing if the right people are behind it.

http://torrentfreak.com/sopa-is-baaack-120117/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Looks like you're right. SOPA is back...

Oh, and imgur has blacked out too.

Also, interesting thing on SOPA and PIPA: http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html

 

[SlayerFest]

I don't like it one bit. The internet is a lot less dirty/sketch than it used to be, that's for sure. It seems pretty unnecessary, and as someone else said before, poorly thought out. Isn't there a way that they can crack down on all of the child porn sites or something? I mean why can't they keep track of those sites? Why can't they just outlaw them? I'm actually pretty confused. I'm not entirely sure what the exact point of the bill is. I'm just making slightly uneducated guesses.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

As far as I was told, the internet used to be under US goverment control, then Obama let a non government company run it.
A censorship change was going to be introduced. But it was so badly worded I was told it broke 5 or 6 of the American Ammendments.
Also, if it had gone ahead in the form that it was written in at least 40% of all sites could have been closed, immediately.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if the US government told the people who run the internet not to proceed with the proposed changes.
The way it was written a lot of US companies could have lost their world wide marketing overnight. The result would be a lot of unemployment, and a possible backlash that could have be directed at the US government for letting those people run the internet.

If written effectively, censorship changes can be good.

 

[strawberryeve]

I get how piracy is a big problem for the entertainment industry. I'm so not the most knowledgeable on this subject, but while I'm not necessarily for this bill, I'm definitely not surprised it's being put forward. This is another step being taken by the entertainment industry to fight the change in how media is shared around the world. For example, there are a ton of musicians who, while not rolling in the dough, have opted for label-free albums because signing under a record company often means they give up the right to do what they want with their music. If an artist just wrote up a little song that they want to share with their fans on YouTube or whatever, which they don't plan on putting on their album, they often can't as a part of the contract they signed. I know musicians like Amanda Palmer refused to write a single new song until Roadrunner Records decided to drop her.

Sorry for the tangent, but anyway, the Entertainment business sees that there is a change in the way people want to obtain/view/share content, and they're fighting against it. This bill seems to be just another way for them to do that. It's understandable, but I don't think this is the way to go about doing that.

This bill is a way for the entertainment industry to get richer. I have no sympathy for the fat cats getting fatter and using our freedoms to do it.
This bill will give the US gov the power to censor the internet just like they do in Iran and China.
They will also be able to shut down any website without trial - any small company shut down that does not have the money to fight it will simply not be able to do biz on the web anymore
If you are a political group say, I don't know, Occupy Wallstreet or a subversive political candidate and the government wants you to go away, they can just shut down your websites - no trial, no charges, nothing.
This bill encourages other companies to rat out companies who use "so-called" piracy by penalizing anyone who knows of this piracy and does not report it (ever heard of McCarthyism?)
I don't understand much about internet technology but from what I've heard, the bill prevents free exchange of information, therefore inhibiting educational sites like Wikipedia and hindering the development of new computer technology.
These things are not necessary to protect poor defenseless "hollywood" it is destructive to the very fabric of what makes the internet and goes against the "freedom" that the US is supposed to stand for
At least this is my understanding, whoa, heavy stuff 😱

---------- Post added at 01:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:58 AM ----------

I don't like it one bit. The internet is a lot less dirty/sketch than it used to be, that's for sure. It seems pretty unnecessary, and as someone else said before, poorly thought out. Isn't there a way that they can crack down on all of the child porn sites or something? I mean why can't they keep track of those sites? Why can't they just outlaw them? I'm actually pretty confused. I'm not entirely sure what the exact point of the bill is. I'm just making slightly uneducated guesses.

Not saying that you look for it or anything, but when's the last time you saw child porn on the internet - it is illegal. This is just propaganda.

---------- Post added at 01:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:00 AM ----------

All right, piracy is a problem for the entertainment business. But it's not like they're starvig to death, is it?

No, they have so much extra cash that they can pay an actor 20 million $$ for 6 weeks of work. They have so much cash that they can pay to have outrageous legislation pushed through Congress and choose who gets elected to office. They have enough money to make people believe that they are poor defenseless "artists" who are being cheated out of well deserved money. This whole thing is a bunch of hooey.

 

[Spikefan31]

I think that it's stupid.

 

[xfivebyfive]

I'm outraged by these bills and I particpated in Tumblrs black out (blacked out my page) and I wish more sites had done it then just Wikipedia. If Google or Youtube had shut down for a day it would have made a really big impression.

Is Piracy a big problem? Yes. But it always has been. People have always found ways to get their hands on things illegally. I know that if I watch something and then love it, I go out and buy it. I watched all of Smallville and then went out and bought every single season. People downloading things illegally doesn't necessarily mean theyre not then going out and buying it. Everytime a new episode airs on television that people then download thats just to keep up with the current season. It'd be the same thing as if they watched it on TV when they aired. And then went out and bought it once it came out on dvd.

Regardless of the piracy issues. This bill would make sites like youtube, tumblr, mediafire, twitter, unaccessable to people in the us because Illegal content is put on them daily. Take youtube for example, there are thousands of fanvideos uploaded every week. Not to mention all the television shows and music that have been uploaded for people to listen to and watch. If the site was shut down though thats not all we would lose, what about all the people who use Youtube as their jobs? People like ShayCarl, Shane Dawson, RayWilliamJohnson.

The bill isn't just effecting people pirating, regardless of what you think about that, this will effect everyone.

 

[Kean]

Looks like megaupload just got shut down because of this.

This is a farce.

 

[Nix]

As Kean said...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16642369

For information !!

 

[zobothehobo]

I'm surprised megaupload wasn't taken down earlier. I mean, it makes perfect sense that it was... I'm surprised it hadn't been already. I'm not worried about it though. I feel confident it'll be back soon enough under a slightly different url. All the best sites go through this. Hell, the sites I use where the links are posted to my shows every night... they've changed their names so much.

The timing of megaupload's deletion from the web is interesting though, the day after the blackout... seems like the government is trying to send us a message.

But what I'm more concerned about, is the DDOS attacks from Anonymous. This is cyberwar. It's crazy, but it is. I'm not sure what it will all accomplish other than standing up... and it's probably hella fun for the hackers... but it's interesting. It's a message being sent. I'm curious to see what's going to happen next.

As for the piracy issue... I don't understand why the entertainment industry doesn't change the laws to work WITH the internet. I mean, if netflix redid it's licensing so that they could have their entire collection on instant (and jacked up prices a bit: I wouldn't mind paying more than 8 bucks a month for that), if networks started posting streams night of not day to week later, and computers came with TV tuners in them... movie and TV piracy would be DRASTICALLY decreased. If the laws evolved to protect both the people and the entertainment industry, think of how much better entertainment could be? I feel like the music industry made it's fatal flaw by working so hard against the internet, and I feel like no one's learned anything. The industry is rashly lashing out at the people and not thinking for a second "is there a way to fix this where everyone is happy?" I think you'll find most people (myself included) would like to legally do/have things if it was easier. Like I said, I wouldn't mind paying more for netflix. I wouldn't mind watching a couple commercials if the networks posted streaming links night of airing. I wouldn't mind a lot of compromise. I do mind a "THIS IS THE WAY IT IS AND WE WILL NEVER CHANGE!" Things change, they progress. And I think the mentality that they shouldn't is the biggest problem this country has.