SOPA: Your Opinion?

[Jared]

There is a bill floating around congress here in the US that will enable the government to censor all online activity in an effort to stop piracy. As a result, many websites are going on strike here in the US today. Wikipedia and Reddit are the main ones. They'll be blacking out their websites for 24 hours in protest.

More info: http://sopastrike.com/

What do y'all think? Should the government be allowed to do this? What could be an alternative?

[Inchante]

My opinion? I've already contacted the congressional offices of the senators and congressmen of my state. Here is the Address of the American Civil Liberty Union's action page on the topic:
https://secure.aclu.org/site/Advocacy?cm...20_SOPA_fb

[TommyinKY]

It's idiotic legislation that will just make it harder for people to share opinions and get information. All to keep money in the wallets of the entertainment industry by safeguarding their current formats instead of having them adapt to new technology. It won't stop piracy and will just cause more problems on the internet then there are now.

One benefit is less bandwidth usage in the future so your connections should be faster, but then you probably won't find much here to keep yourself entertained.

[Kiid]

TBH the US is seeming a bit weird ATM to me.

[fenris]

There is a bill floating around congress here in the US that will enable the government to censor all online activity in an effort to stop piracy. As a result, many websites are going on strike here in the US today. Wikipedia and Reddit are the main ones. They'll be blacking out their websites for 24 hours in protest.

More info: http://sopastrike.com/

What do y'all think? Should the government be allowed to do this? What could be an alternative?

If a government start to censor any kind of free Press.... be very careful. Reminds me in a very bad way in Germany 1933- restriction of freedom of the press. Link can´t be viewed today.
Such a law opens dor and gate for Censorship of the press in every part of life and prevents free expression and opinion formation

[Bowyn Aerrow]

I already stopped buying music - way back when the Napster was brought up on charges. Back then I would download songs that I never heard before - then end up buying the album. Using Napster pretty much caused me to buy a lot more music than I had before there was an internet music download.

I bought over a thousand CD's from record companies (I have them all in a box). you figure 4-5 dollars a CD - that comes to about $4,500.00 I spend over the course of three years for music. That is $1,500 a year. Napster was closed down what 11 years ago?

Seems to me the record companies lost a potential $16,500.00 profit from me.

No imagine if everyone had acted out at the same time....

But noooo, everyone allowed the Baseball players to strike - oh wait that is another boycott I got going on - I mean the Music industry to play their games.

We consumers have a lot of power, if we can organize and use that power we could change the world.

Think of the defunct WOW chips made with that special oil that you couldn't absorb. Because people didn't buy, the companies stopped making them.

IF we, the consumer, stopped buying records for just one month - the message would be sent loud and clear to the music industry.

Seriously, do we need the latest Lady GA-GA song this month - can't we wait just one month to put the Entertainment Corporations in their place?

Baseball: They went on strike, I haven't bought any items with a base ball logo on it, spent money on a game or anything like that. If more people did the same we could send a message to them. But we didn't. Shame on us.

[Inchante]

If a government start to censor any kind of free Press.... be very careful. Reminds me in a very bad way in Germany 1933- restriction of freedom of the press. Link can´t be viewed today.
Such a law opens dor and gate for Censorship of the press in every part of life and prevents free expression and opinion formation

That's really not what the law does. What it would do is allow the Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites that enable copyright infringement, especially foreign websites, (since the majority of copy right infringement of American intellectual material happens on websites outside of the United States). The court order would bar advertisers and payment companies from doing business with those websites. It is basically a "Stop stealing our shit, asshole, and pay for it like everyone else" type of law. But there is a fear that it could be overreaching and hamper other important and valid uses of the internet. Really, it is a big fight between Silicon Valley and Hollywood over who is liable for copyright infringement.

They just need to rethink the mechanics of the legislation.

Here is more information:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/17/technolo.../index.htm

[Inchante]

We consumers have a lot of power, if we can organize and use that power we could change the world.

I think people should pay the artists that they love for producing the music they love . . . could the music industry world wide be revamped to fit the times? Yep, but that is not an excuse for not paying for your product. Just saying.

[Zet]

Wasn't America the land of the free? (As free speech is one freedom)

[fenris]

That's really not what the law does. What it would do is allow the Department of Justice to seek court orders against websites that enable copyright infringement, especially foreign websites, (since the majority of copy right infringement of American intellectual material happens on websites outside of the United States). The court order would bar advertisers and payment companies from doing business with those websites. It is basically a "Stop stealing our shit, asshole, and pay for it like everyone else" type of law. But there is a fear that it could be overreaching and hamper other important and valid uses of the internet. Really, it is a big fight between Silicon Valley and Hollywood over who is liable for copyright infringement.

They just need to rethink the mechanics of the legislation.

Here is more information:
http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/17/technolo.../index.htm

It is NOW not what the law says.... but do you really believe that a censorship stops when a government see that it works with their citizens ? I think the copyright law is very clear and shows what is allowed and what is forbidden, there is no need for a censorship.