Stop Online Piracy Act

[roo_ster]

I have sent the following to my congresscritters:

Howdy:

I expect you will do everything in your power to see that SOPA and PIPA are not just stopped, but killed, a stake driven through their hearts, their heads cut off, and set up on pikes as a warning to all those who would infringe on liberty.

I swore an oath to defend the Constitution, as did you.  Don't go all wobbly.

[red headed stranger]

SOPA shall return with a new name during a busy news cycle where folks might miss it...

Eternal Vigilance!

I wouldn't be surprised to see SOPA and/or PIPA language popping up in a "must pass" reauthorization or some sort of large omnibus bill. 

[TommyGunn]

Aaaand both Wiki and Google are under blackout.


Oh, and to a friend of mine who stated that Obama claimed he wouldn't support the SOPA, I replied: "Won't support" is not the same as "won't sign" or "will veto." He'll "refuse to support it" and then "reluctantly sign it."

Interestingly I brought up Wiki and looked up an article.  I got to the article, then the image blinked and was blacked out.  That was weird.  Google works but has a black rectangle over the header.
A news report I heard said Obama will  veto SOPA....for what it's worth to anyone.

[Nick1911]

Interestingly I brought up Wiki and looked up an article.  I got to the article, then the image blinked and was blacked out.  That was weird.  Google works but has a black rectangle over the header.
A news report I heard said Obama will  veto SOPA....for what it's worth to anyone.

Yea, wikipedia is driving off javascript.  The content is still there.

You can get around it if you press escape after the page loads, but before the block comes up.  Also by disabling javascript.

[Nick1911]

I like what xkcd did with it:



There's a background image hidden into it.  Here's what it looks like when contrast adjusted:

[TechMan]

Here is a funny tidbit.  Lamar Smith who is the sponsor of SOPA, has a SOPA violation on his website.

http://www.geekosystem.com/sopa-author-copyright-violator/

[Jamie B]

Here is a funny tidbit.  Lamar Smith who is the sponsor of SOPA, has a SOPA violation on his website.

http://www.geekosystem.com/sopa-author-copyright-violator/

Snort! *expletive deleted*bag!

I did my part today and emailed my congressdouches.

[Regolith]

[freakazoid]

From the Wiki article, "The second section increases the penalties for streaming video and for selling...  military materials or consumer goods."

 

[Seenterman]

Apparently Chris Dodd is very well versed in double speak.

Chris Dodd, former senator and current MPAA CEO, starts his statement under the guise of concern, saying sites participating in blackout day (such as Reddit and Wikipedia) are "irresponsible" and "resorting to stunts that punish their users." He goes on to say that these blackouts are a "dangerous and troubling development" and an "abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace."

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/18/2715892/MPAA-CEO-chris-dodd-statement-sopa-blackout-protest

This guy needs to go engage in the act of self gratification. If you catch my drift.

Compare and contrast that with this article and amount of whining and belly aching in this article and I'm starting to think I'm in bizzaro land.

“God knows how much money we’ve given to Obama and the Democrats and yet they’re not supporting our interests."

http://www.deadline.com/2012/01/exclusive-hollywood-moguls-stopping-obama-donations-because-of-administrations-piracy-stand/


It's an anonymous quote, but damn is it telling. Their talking about bribery. Its frakking bribery!!! Seriously I looked up the damned definition to be double plus sure.

"Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient."

Your talking about bribing the President of the United States, and your frakking upset it didn't work!!

In summery exercising your 1st amendment right via the web and your website is an abuse of power, but "donating" hundreds of millions of dollars to a politician is the new standard of lobbying for legislation.

[Harold Tuttle]

Hacktivists with the collective Anonymous are waging an attack on the website for the White House after successfully breaking the sites for the Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America.
In response to today’s federal raid on the file sharing service Megaupload, hackers with the online collective Anonymous have broken the websites for the Department of Justice, Universal Music Group, RIAA and Motion Picture Association of America.
“It was in retaliation for Megaupload, as was the concurrent attack on Justice.org,” Anonymous operative Barrett Brown tells RT on Thursday afternoon.
Only hours before the DoJ and Universal sites went down, news broke that Megaupload, a massive file sharing site with a reported 50 million daily users, was taken down by federal agents. Four people linked to Megaupload were arrested in New Zealand and an international crackdown led agents to serving at least 20 search warrants across the globe.
Less than an hour after the DoJ and Universal sites came down, the website for the RIAA, or Recording Industry Association of America, went offline as well. Shortly before 6 p.m EST, the government's Copyright.gov site went down as well. Thirty minutes later came the site for BMI, or Broadcast Music, Inc, the licensing organization that represents some of the biggest names in music.
Also on Thursday, MPAA.org also returned an error as Anonymous hacktivists managed to bring the website for the Motion Picture Association of America. The group, headed by former senator Chris Dodd, is an adamant supporter of both PIPA and SOPA legislation.
Universal Music Group, or UMG, is the largest record company in the United States and under its umbrella are the labels Interscope-Geffen-A&M, the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group and Mercury Records.
Brown adds that “more is coming” and Anonymous-aligned hacktivists are pursuing a joint effort with others to “damage campaign raising abilities of remaining Democrats who support SOPA.”
Although many members of Congress have just this week changed their stance on the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, the raid on Megaupload Thursday proved that the feds don’t need SOPA or its sister legislation, PIPA, in order to pose a blow to the Web.
Brown adds that operatives involved in the project will use an “experimental campaign” and search engine optimization techniques “whereby to forever saddle some of these congressmen with their record on this issue.”

[Blakenzy]

It's an anonymous quote, but damn is it telling. Their talking about bribery lobbying. Its frakking bribery lobbying!!! Seriously I looked up the damned definition to be double plus sure.

"BriberyLobbying, a form of corruption legal corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient."

The US AFAIK is the only country that has such a system of openly legal bribery, excuse me, lobbying. Just think of what that says about our system of government. It's legal to give money to lawmakers and Government officials.... and yet we keep on hoping our elected representatives will represent our interests just because we wrote their name on a piece of paper. Name on a little piece of paper vs. $Big FAT check$... which wins?

[kgbsquirrel]

The US AFAIK is the only country that has such a system of openly legal bribery, excuse me, lobbying. Just think of what that says about our system of government. It's legal to give money to lawmakers and Government officials.... and yet we keep on hoping our elected representatives will represent our interests just because we wrote their name on a piece of paper. Name on a little piece of paper vs. $Big FAT check$... which wins?

I tried suggesting once that campaign contributions should be limited to only a hundred dollars from people actually eligible to vote for the congressman or senator as an intermediate method to curb the legalized bribery (and if you were to ban donations entirely, you would end up with only the wealthy being able to mount election campaigns). I was decried by members on this forum for infringing on the first amendment.

http://www.armedpolitesociety.com/index.php?topic=27334.msg534798#msg534798

[Monkeyleg]

I watched some video last night of congressional debate on the bills. These clowns have no idea what anything on the web is about, how it got there in the first place, where the web is going or, in some cases, how to unzip their flies.

It's terrifying that these people are legislating something they don't understand, whether it's the internet or war or jobs.

One after another, they kept saying they needed to get some "geeks" to testify. 

[roo_ster]

I watched some video last night of congressional debate on the bills. These clowns have no idea what anything on the web is about, how it got there in the first place, where the web is going or, in some cases, how to unzip their flies.

It's terrifying that these people are legislating something they don't understand, whether it's the internet or war or jobs.

One after another, they kept saying they needed to get some "geeks" to testify. 

Keep in mind, most of those assclowns were educated in the "best" schools and are the elite of our country.  Or, at least have a credential so saying.

[longeyes]

Too many lawyers.

There are a few canaries in the coalmine.  One is talk radio.  Another is the internet.  A third is gun confiscation.  If they "blunder" into serious encroachments in those areas they will have created the very monster they fear most.

[MicroBalrog]

The US AFAIK is the only country that has such a system of openly legal bribery, excuse me, lobbying. Just think of what that says about our system of government. It's legal to give money to lawmakers and Government officials.... and yet we keep on hoping our elected representatives will represent our interests just because we wrote their name on a piece of paper. Name on a little piece of paper vs. $Big FAT check$... which wins?

Nope. Donating money to political campaigns is legal in every decent country in the world. Money doesn't buy elections.

[Monkeyleg]

Prior to 1977 there were no limits on how much someone (or some corporation, IIRC) could give to a candidate. The system worked as well as could be expected.

In the aftermath of Watergate, campaign finance laws were passed. And the money still found its way in, just like water.

Along came McCain/Feingold and, lo and behold, the money found a different route.

Are there politicians whose votes can be bought? No doubt about it, but I don't think there's many. Their votes go the way that offers the best chance of re-election.

Let's put the money issue in perspective. In 2010, the amount of money spent in all political race from local school boards on up to the presidential election was less than the amount of money spent in the US every year on potato chips.

I'd like to go back to no limits on contributions, but with full disclosure. I suspect it would make things more honest.

[Seenterman]

Oh *expletive deleted*ck us. There at it again just this time with a name you cannot oppose.

The Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011.

If your against it , Your FOR the child pornographers!

the firm that sells you Internet access would be required to track all of your Internet activity and save it for 18 months, along with your name, the address where you live, your bank account numbers, your credit card numbers, and IP addresses you've been assigned.

...doesn't require that someone be under investigation on child pornography charges in order for police to access their Internet history -- being suspected of any crime is enough. (It may even be made available in civil matters like divorce trials or child custody battles.) Nor do police need probable cause to search this information. As Rep. James Sensenbrenner says, (R-Wisc.) "It poses numerous risks that well outweigh any benefits, and I'm not convinced it will contribute in a significant way to protecting children."

http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/the-legislation-that-could-kill-internet-privacy-for-good/242853/

I don't want to live on this planet anymore.

[41magsnub]

Or..  preaching to the choir here.. we could just make child porn illegal?  Sort of like murder and armed robbery should be illegal.  Oh..  wait