SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act)

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 12:04

So then, SOPA or "Stop Online Piracy Act." I have seen quite a number of videos on this in my youtube inbox recently and seems like its a sure fire way to destroy the internet unlike soap which just cleans you up and makes you smell all pretty. I read this morning that sites such as Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon and more are considering taking their sites offline for a day in protest against SOPA bill, some of them recently had black banners with "stop internet piracy" for a day on them.

SOPA opponents may go nuclear and other 2012 predictions | Privacy Inc. - CNET News

Quote:

The Internet's most popular destinations, including eBay, Google, Facebook, and Twitter, seem to view Hollywood-backed copyright legislation as an existential threat.

It was Google co-founder Sergey Brin who warned that the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act "would put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world." Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, Twitter co-founders Jack Dorsey and Biz Stone, and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman argue that the bills give the Feds unacceptable "power to censor the Web."
But these companies have yet to roll out the heavy artillery.

When the home pages of Google.com, Amazon.com, Facebook.com, and their Internet allies simultaneously turn black with anti-censorship warnings that ask users to contact politicians about a vote in the U.S. Congress the next day on SOPA, you'll know they're finally serious.

True, it would be the political equivalent of a nuclear option--possibly drawing retributions from the influential politicos backing SOPA and Protect IP--but one that could nevertheless be launched in 2012.

"There have been some serious discussions about that," says Markham Erickson, who heads the NetCoalition trade association that counts Google, Amazon.com, eBay, and Yahoo as members. "It has never happened before." (See CNET's SOPA FAQ.)

Web firms may be outspent tenfold on lobbyists, but they enjoy one tremendous advantage over the SOPA-backing Hollywood studios and record labels: direct relationships with users.

How many Americans feel a personal connection with an amalgamation named Viacom -- compared with voters who have found places to live on Craigslist and jobs (or spouses) on Facebook and Twitter? How would, say, Sony Music Entertainment, one of the Recording Industry Association of America's board members, cheaply and easily reach out to hundreds of millions of people?
Protect IP and SOPA, of course, represent the latest effort from the Motion Picture Association of America, the RIAA, and their allies to counter what they view as rampant piracy on the Internet, especially offshore sites such as ThePirateBay.org. It would allow the Justice Department to obtain an order to be served on search engines, Internet providers, and other companies forcing them to make a suspected piratical Web site effectively vanish, a kind of Internet death penalty.

There are early signs that the nuclear option is being contemplated. Wikimedia (as in Wikipedia) called SOPA an "Internet Blacklist Bill." Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales has proposed an article page blackout as a way to put "maximum pressure on the U.S. government" in response to SOPA.

The Tumblr microblogging site generated 87,834 calls to Congress over SOPA. Over at GoDaddyBoycott.org, a move-your-domain-name protest is scheduled to begin today over the registrar's previous--and still not repudiated--enthusiasm for SOPA. Popular image hosting site Imgur said yesterday it would join the exodus too.

Technically speaking, it wouldn't be difficult to pull off. Web companies already target advertisements based on city or ZIP code.
And it would be effective. A note popping up on the screens of people living in the mostly rural Texas district of SOPA author Lamar Smith, Hollywood's favorite Republican, asking them to call or write and voice their displeasure, would be noticed. If Tumblr could generate nearly 90,000 calls on its own, think of what companies with hundreds of millions of users could do.

If these Web companies believe what their executives say (PDF) about SOPA and Protect IP, they'll let their users know what their elected representatives are contemplating. A Senate floor debate scheduled for January 24, 2012 would be an obvious starting point.

"The reason it hasn't happened is because of the sensitivity," says Erickson, "even when it's a policy issue that benefits their users." He adds: It may happen."
Or it may not. It would change politics if it did.

Google, Facebook, Amazon May Go Black in SOPA Protest

Quote:

So, this one slipped by completely undetected late last year (no, I don't grow tired of saying that). CNet reported that Google, Amazon, Facebook, and similarly large, anti-SOPA companies are mulling over the option of taking their websites off the air to replace them with an anti-SOPA message, asking users to contact their elected officials.
The option to let popular websites that oppose SOPA go black as a sort of last ditch effort, a nuclear option if you will, has been bandied about on the web quite often. As it turns out, it's not just some wishful thinking among Redditors and the rest of the web - Facebook, Google, Amazon, and others are actually considering this option.

CNet talked to Markham Erickson, head of the NetCoalition trade association, which consists of, among others, Google, Amazon.com, eBay, and Yahoo. "There have been some serious discussions about that," he told CNet, "It has never happened before."

It would indeed be one heck of a campaign, with possible far-reaching consequences. If Google, Wikipedia, Facebook, Amazon, and others all went black at the same time, with a message urging US residents to contact their elected officials about SOPA, you can bet your sweet bum that the telephone lines in Washington would be red hot.

The impact of such an action would stretch far beyond that, though. Depending on how the blackout is implemented (i.e., will you be able to dismiss the message and continue to the site in question or not), it could even have a financial impact as people all over the world could not get at the right resources to do business, and if Reddit joins in on the fun, many a bathroom visit would become incredibly boring.

Still, it can be incredibly effective. I mean, a message on Tumblr generated a massive 90000 phone calls to elected officials - can you imagine what a message on Facebook and Google would achieve? I doubt mobile phone networks in the US could even carry that load without curling up in a foetal position. Thanks to the magic behind modern technology, it could be directed at US residents only so that the rest of the world can continue to search Google for unicorn pictures.

It's not all well and good - it could also backfire. If the message in question isn't worded carefully enough, people could simply assume the site in question is at fault, and the ire would flow in the wrong direction. I'm pretty sure that, aside from possible financial repercussions for Google, Facebook, and so on, this is the prime argument against a possible blackout.

We'll know for sure January 24, when the SOPA debate in the House of Representatives marches on. Personally, I hope they pull the trigger, since this is something Big Content can't counter. Also, January is generally boring anyway.

So what do we reckon? Possible end of the internet as we know it all because of soap? I mean because of SOPA? Must download as many torrents as possible....

golden_blunder · 4th January 2012, 12:12

thats too long to read, someone give me bullet points

cinc · 4th January 2012, 12:27

Quote:

Originally Posted by golden_blunder

thats too long to read, someone give me bullet points

Big media companies want to control what's happening on the net, so they pushed a bill in front of the US Congress that'd do that and many tech company (Google, Amazon, Facebook, etc.) are against it.

Many are protesting, and GoDaddy (a pro-SOPA webhosting company) has been hit when many of their customers (like Wikipedia) took their sites to elsewhere.

There are many protesting against the bill:

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 12:28

Basically websites such as Facebook, eBay, amazon, google and more are planning to close down all access to their sites for a day in protest of the SOPA (stop online piracy act) that the yanks are trying to introduce. Its a massive crack down on internet piracy should it be passed.

The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who requests the court orders, the actions could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime. with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for 10 pieces of music or movies within six months

Sites such as vimeo, flickr are expected to be closed if it gets passed and youtube would be hit hard by it. It poses a threat to sites where people upload content, stream content, use open source software.

More can be found in the linky link

Stop Online Piracy Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 12:30

Apparently those anonymous cunts are also threatening to attack the Playstation servers again as they were supporting it, after that and after coming under heavy fire from other companies sony have apparently withdrawn support of the bill but there are still companies attached to sony in support of it.

cinc · 4th January 2012, 12:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSparky

Apparently those anonymous cunts are also threatening to attack the Playstation servers again as they were supporting it, after that and after coming under heavy fire from other companies sony have apparently withdrawn support of the bill but there are still companies attached to sony in support of it.

Too little too late after the millions they put in the Congressmen's pockets.

Waltraute · 4th January 2012, 12:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by golden_blunder

thats too long to read, someone give me bullet points

'Sopa' is the Swedish word for (piece of) 'garbage'.
[Also commonly used as an insult, e.g. if Torres had a Swedish team mate, he would have shouted 'Din jävla sopa!' ('You piece of garbage!') when he missed the sitter.]

I think SOPA is very aptly named from a Swedish perspective.

Skywarden · 4th January 2012, 12:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSparky

Apparently those anonymous cunts are also threatening to attack the Playstation servers again as they were supporting it, after that and after coming under heavy fire from other companies sony have apparently withdrawn support of the bill but there are still companies attached to sony in support of it.

Sony is still a part of Entertainment Software Association, who supports SOPA.

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 12:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Skywarden

Sony is still a part of Entertainment Software Association, who supports SOPA.

Ah right, I had read something else saying that they had pulled support but they still had subsidiaries supporting SOPA

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 12:43

How effective would this be though? I've seen sites get shut down and then move to another server in which they are outside US jurisdiction and you can access it again. Also, people use programs like Expatshield to mask their actual IP and act as if they're in another country.

cinc · 4th January 2012, 12:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edmeiste

How effective would this be though? I've seen sites get shut down and then move to another server in which they are outside US jurisdiction and you can access it again. Also, people use programs like Expatshield to mask their actual IP and act as if they're in another country.

Now, imagine that with youtube.

Team Brian GB · 4th January 2012, 12:57

We need effective copyrights online.

Scrumpet · 4th January 2012, 13:09

This is what the mayans foretold.

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 13:14

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinc

Now, imagine that with youtube.

A bit more problematic. They're a worldwide entity. It would simply be unavailable in the states. Like how china doesn't have google but instead have their own version of it.

Team Brian GB · 4th January 2012, 13:17

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edmeiste

A bit more problematic. They're a worldwide entity. It would simply be unavailable in the states. Like how china doesn't have google but instead have their own version of it.

It is an American company owned by another American company.

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 13:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Team Brian GB

It is an American company owned by another American company.

Worldwide in terms of consumer consumption.

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 13:23

If this goes through then would it be like the same as having no internet or an extremely limited internet governed by american dictatorship of the internets?

Biscuit1871 · 4th January 2012, 13:59

Why wouldn't Amazon support it?

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 14:02

I embrace both sides of the argument. A part of me is a bit worried if this goes through in terms of the control the government will have over our internet use. Something that has always been thought to be 'free'. I just think something fishy is going on behind the scenes. Mainly because I've always been skeptical of how our government does things. I'll never forget the day reports came out that millions of dollars had been lost by the government and no one knew where it went.

This bill will just give them more control and who knows what they can do after that. Could be interesting.

narnar · 4th January 2012, 14:33

Most importantly, does redcafe support it?

Hectic · 4th January 2012, 14:48

SOPA will kill the internet if passed. Of course we don't support it.

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 15:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hectic

SOPA will kill the internet if passed. Of course we don't support it.

Is this the official line from redcafe on SOPA?

Hectic · 4th January 2012, 15:26

Yes.

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 15:29

What makes it officially official?

girish · 4th January 2012, 15:30

it's still a major talking points in sites like 4chan and 9gag.

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSparky

What makes it officially official?

Hectic.

Hectic · 4th January 2012, 15:30

Should I do a RAWK and change everyones taglines to reflect the message?

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 15:33

It should be the unofficial stance until Niall makes it official himself

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 15:40

the more i read up on this, the more discomforted i become

this is serious.

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 15:44

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edmeiste

the more i read up on this, the more discomforted i become

this is serious.

Yep, its pretty fucking shit tbh

I started reading up on it after seeing some youtube videos in my subscriptions about it and the scale that this could affect user uploaded content and more its pretty fucking bad really.

Hectic · 4th January 2012, 15:48

How anyone supports this is beyond me. Before the day is out Edmeiste, you won't be embracing their side of the argument.

cinc · 4th January 2012, 15:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edmeiste

A bit more problematic. They're a worldwide entity. It would simply be unavailable in the states. Like how china doesn't have google but instead have their own version of it.

No, Google, Facebook and every other tech company would move out from the States.

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 15:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by cinc

No, Google, Facebook and every other tech company would move out from the States.

Good point. Christ, that's scary!

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 15:59

Quote:

Originally Posted by iSparky

Yep, its pretty fucking shit tbh

I started reading up on it after seeing some youtube videos in my subscriptions about it and the scale that this could affect user uploaded content and more its pretty fucking bad really.

Hmm can you PM me some of those youtube vids? Like to take a look so I can pass it on to my friends. This worries me also because for the most part, people are just mere consumers of the products they use. This is why you hear the mantra that 'smartphones will replace desktops' which is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If people actually made a point to think about what they're saying, you would never come to that conclusion.

Albeit, that's the way the world is now and it makes me think the government if passed, is trying to put this one under the carpet. Credit to the tech companies for at least thinking of taking such action because I don't think there's a better way to influence users than that.

In the words of wilkins, 'My word.'

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 16:00

well hectic, let's just say that I dont any longer. It's easy to embrace their side from a casual point of view. Then you dig deeper.....

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 16:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edmeiste

Hmm can you PM me some of those youtube vids? Like to take a look so I can pass it on to my friends. This worries me also because for the most part, people are just mere consumers of the products they use. This is why you hear the mantra that 'smartphones will replace desktops' which is the dumbest thing I've ever heard. If people actually made a point to think about what they're saying, you would never come to that conclusion.

Albeit, that's the way the world is now and it makes me think the government if passed, is trying to put this one under the carpet. Credit to the tech companies for at least thinking of taking such action because I don't think there's a better way to influence users than that.

In the words of wilkins, 'My word.'

No problem, will look them up and send them to you in a few minutes

hungrywing · 4th January 2012, 16:06

This is what happens when people with 120 IQs try to legislate for systems designed by people with 150 IQs on the nominal behalf of people with sub 100 IQs.

Edmeiste · 4th January 2012, 16:09

Just got em, thanks Sparky

iSparky · 4th January 2012, 16:11

No problem

Sir Matt · 4th January 2012, 16:17

SOPA is a bill that's been bought and paid for by Hollywood and their lawyers, written by old people who have no idea about the internet, and going to be supported by the same. Those who actually have some brains are opposing it but the Judiciary Committee has a majority of morons so they deny any attempts to make the bill reasonable. In Washington, tech companies are less important than Hollywood and lawyers so they tried to keep experts on the internet out of the hearings. However, they delayed the debate so tech companies will have some say in the hearing when it happens.

It's a joke of a law and a demonstration of how worthless Congress is.

Team Brian GB · 4th January 2012, 16:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edmeiste

Worldwide in terms of consumer consumption.

That is not relevant, it is an American corporation owned by another American corporation and is based in California, if something like this comes to pass they would have to comply or move abroad and perhaps change ownership.

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4th January 2012, 12:12	#2 (permalink)
golden_blunder Manager Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: In the shadows fighting e-crime Posts: 63,901	thats too long to read, someone give me bullet points

4th January 2012, 12:28	#4 (permalink)
iSparky No longer iBender Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 36,362	Basically websites such as Facebook, eBay, amazon, google and more are planning to close down all access to their sites for a day in protest of the SOPA (stop online piracy act) that the yanks are trying to introduce. Its a massive crack down on internet piracy should it be passed. The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who requests the court orders, the actions could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime. with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for 10 pieces of music or movies within six months Sites such as vimeo, flickr are expected to be closed if it gets passed and youtube would be hit hard by it. It poses a threat to sites where people upload content, stream content, use open source software. More can be found in the linky link Stop Online Piracy Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

4th January 2012, 12:30	#5 (permalink)
iSparky No longer iBender Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 36,362	Apparently those anonymous cunts are also threatening to attack the Playstation servers again as they were supporting it, after that and after coming under heavy fire from other companies sony have apparently withdrawn support of the bill but there are still companies attached to sony in support of it.

4th January 2012, 12:43	#10 (permalink)
Edmeiste First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: In a land far far away....playing Fifa Posts: 6,963	How effective would this be though? I've seen sites get shut down and then move to another server in which they are outside US jurisdiction and you can access it again. Also, people use programs like Expatshield to mask their actual IP and act as if they're in another country.

4th January 2012, 12:57	#12 (permalink)
Team Brian GB Baby Cameron loves X-Factor Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 16,056	We need effective copyrights online.

4th January 2012, 13:09	#13 (permalink)
Scrumpet First Team Sub Join Date: Aug 2010 Location: Ipswich Town (SM) Posts: 8,334	This is what the mayans foretold.

4th January 2012, 13:23	#17 (permalink)
iSparky No longer iBender Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 36,362	If this goes through then would it be like the same as having no internet or an extremely limited internet governed by american dictatorship of the internets?

4th January 2012, 13:59	#18 (permalink)
Biscuit1871 Banned Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: SODMG Posts: 29,217	Why wouldn't Amazon support it?

4th January 2012, 14:02	#19 (permalink)
Edmeiste First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: In a land far far away....playing Fifa Posts: 6,963	I embrace both sides of the argument. A part of me is a bit worried if this goes through in terms of the control the government will have over our internet use. Something that has always been thought to be 'free'. I just think something fishy is going on behind the scenes. Mainly because I've always been skeptical of how our government does things. I'll never forget the day reports came out that millions of dollars had been lost by the government and no one knew where it went. This bill will just give them more control and who knows what they can do after that. Could be interesting.

4th January 2012, 14:33	#20 (permalink)
narnar Needs Help Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Let me please introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste Posts: 10,952	Most importantly, does redcafe support it?

4th January 2012, 14:48	#21 (permalink)
Hectic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mike Phelan WILL kill you. Posts: 6,845	SOPA will kill the internet if passed. Of course we don't support it.

4th January 2012, 15:26	#23 (permalink)
Hectic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mike Phelan WILL kill you. Posts: 6,845	Yes.

4th January 2012, 15:29	#24 (permalink)
iSparky No longer iBender Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 36,362	What makes it officially official?

4th January 2012, 15:30	#26 (permalink)
Hectic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mike Phelan WILL kill you. Posts: 6,845	Should I do a RAWK and change everyones taglines to reflect the message?

4th January 2012, 15:33	#27 (permalink)
iSparky No longer iBender Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 36,362	It should be the unofficial stance until Niall makes it official himself

4th January 2012, 15:40	#28 (permalink)
Edmeiste First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: In a land far far away....playing Fifa Posts: 6,963	the more i read up on this, the more discomforted i become this is serious.

4th January 2012, 15:48	#30 (permalink)
Hectic Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Mike Phelan WILL kill you. Posts: 6,845	How anyone supports this is beyond me. Before the day is out Edmeiste, you won't be embracing their side of the argument.

4th January 2012, 16:00	#34 (permalink)
Edmeiste First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: In a land far far away....playing Fifa Posts: 6,963	well hectic, let's just say that I dont any longer. It's easy to embrace their side from a casual point of view. Then you dig deeper.....

4th January 2012, 16:06	#36 (permalink)
hungrywing First Team Sub Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Your Left Ventricle Posts: 5,561	This is what happens when people with 120 IQs try to legislate for systems designed by people with 150 IQs on the nominal behalf of people with sub 100 IQs.

4th January 2012, 16:09	#37 (permalink)
Edmeiste First Team Sub Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: In a land far far away....playing Fifa Posts: 6,963	Just got em, thanks Sparky

4th January 2012, 16:11	#38 (permalink)
iSparky No longer iBender Join Date: Oct 2006 Posts: 36,362	No problem

4th January 2012, 16:17	#39 (permalink)
Sir Matt First Team Sub Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: LUHG Posts: 9,294	SOPA is a bill that's been bought and paid for by Hollywood and their lawyers, written by old people who have no idea about the internet, and going to be supported by the same. Those who actually have some brains are opposing it but the Judiciary Committee has a majority of morons so they deny any attempts to make the bill reasonable. In Washington, tech companies are less important than Hollywood and lawyers so they tried to keep experts on the internet out of the hearings. However, they delayed the debate so tech companies will have some say in the hearing when it happens. It's a joke of a law and a demonstration of how worthless Congress is.