Go Dark for SOPA

posted on January 20th, 2012, 1:07 am

I find this disgusting with what they have done, even more so with the New Zealand government who didn't even protect their citizens, no site owner no matter how larger or small can totally police a site or be responsible for what their members and guests post/upload. People have to be responsible for their own actions, something that is far less common these days.

This I feel is no longer about piracy and stopping it, it's about control and oppression. Why did our forefathers fight in the World Wars? It was a total waste of life if it's just happening again through laws rather than force of arms. Something needs to be done to stop this, all our governments have too much control over our lives and can do whatever the hell they want. I am one who believes there needs to be laws, but this arrest has just shown me they have too much control and need to be brought down a peg or two, the governments need to learn they are elected by us, they work for us, and should have our best interests at heart something obviously they don't, just the rich greedy companies.

[Dircome]

posted on January 20th, 2012, 2:37 am

Last edited by Dircome on January 20th, 2012, 2:43 am, edited 1 time in total.

BBC News - Sopa and Pipa protests not over, says Wikipedia

You know the backers of this bill just get better and better. They accuse wiki and the others of skewing the truth and follow that up with launching their own advertising campaign.

This kind of "heavy handed law" is part of the reason that America came into existence its a shame to see politicans/executive's and lobbyists forget that.

posted on January 20th, 2012, 5:40 pm

Megaupload has been shut down.

posted on January 20th, 2012, 5:43 pm

Megaupload has been shut down.

[img width=300]http://i3.kym-cdn.com/entries/icons/original/000/000/015/orly.jpg[/img]

So, with the internet rejoicing at giving big media companies a bloody nose over sopa, they killed megaupload:

BBC article

looks like they won't get the message and go f**k themselves after all.

posted on January 20th, 2012, 7:24 pm

If SOPA was a law I would be off to the slammer.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=meTtNnEo4-8&feature=related[/youtube]
You probably can find a clearer clip on Fear Factory - The Daily Show with Jon Stewart - 01/16/12 - Video Clip | Comedy Central

What John Stewart as a joke, is a real threat.

What hes pointing to is to compete with China a country that abuses there people to make cheap products, You would have to abuse or people and to compete.

- Now look at a law like SOPA and laws like it, you can see they would be needed to make a even playing ground with china.

- Now look at the modern corporations organizations with a sole designed to produce at all costs, what most corporations are focused on is money.

So what we see for the future is more laws like Sopa and some that are even more destructive, UNLESS some people are willing do stand up for a world that works for every one.

posted on January 20th, 2012, 9:00 pm

Some more from Spain:
http://torrentfreak.com/website-blockin ... nt-120102/
http://torrentfreak.com/us-threatened-t ... aw-120105/

posted on January 21st, 2012, 12:15 am

Hary Read tweeted the bills to censer the net, voting had bean delayed indefinitely.

posted on January 25th, 2012, 5:17 pm

A few words from Will Wheaton (the famous Shut Up Wesley!  ) about SOPA and PIPA. Wil Wheaton Says Chris Dodd Is Lying About Lost Jobs; Says MPAA Accounting Creates More Losses Than Piracy | Techdirt.

I confess I didn't know he was an advocate for a free internet.

posted on January 25th, 2012, 5:29 pm

go wheaton.

For those of us in europe, there is a far less well known agreement, similar to sopa, but far wider reaching, called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

This agreement is made directly between governments of countries, the negotiations have been conducted in secret. the usa/canadian/australian/japanese/new zealand governments already signed up their people without telling them anything about it.

the european union hasn't signed yet, and the european parliament (elected by the people) has the final say on whether they do so. even the european parliament has been excluded from the debate and negotiations on acta. the european commission (not elected by the people) has been doing all the negotiating. europeans can still contact our representatives (known in english as MEPs), and let them know that when the vote comes, we want them to reject ACTA.

See an anti acta campaign here: https://www.accessnow.org/page/s/just-say-no-to-acta

the internet beat sopa, we can beat acta to a degree.

posted on January 25th, 2012, 5:54 pm

My god. Do politicians still think they can hoodwink the public, especially the internet.  >:(

posted on January 25th, 2012, 6:21 pm

They do believe that, because the majority of people are ignorant and want to remain so.

posted on January 25th, 2012, 6:46 pm

They think like that because they have done so for centuries. They start wars without the consent of people and they put our sons in uniform to fight those wars while they just stay safe and counting money. They can shut down a Internet site or put in jail whoever they want, ask the guys of Megaupload, but I believe they are not the problem, the problem is us, We let them do it and do nothing about it. 

posted on January 25th, 2012, 9:40 pm

The issue with wars is a huge problem with executive vs. legislative. Letting the President do whatever he wants with our troops was something that the constitution was supposed to prevent. Actually having a vote in congress to go to war would probably help a lot with our overly militaristicness.

Megaupload needed shutting down (money laundering, paying users who were known to infringe). The issue of course is that some of the things in the indictment could easily apply to sites that shouldn't be shut down. Employees asking each other for Seinfeld episodes or uploading a few shows isn't exactly something an entire company should go down for. And when not having a search feature for users, or trimming off infringing material from where it's easy to find are evidence of intending to promote infringement, I think that makes quite an issue with forcing site design.
Then there's the issue of why Megaupload was targeted. That's what really worries me, that the *AAs were fighting some legal battles over stuff they had no right to control, then soon after the site involved gets its crimes found out about. I don't trust the DoJ to be unbiased in its pursuit of justice, and I hav every reason to believe they are heavily influenced by the *AAs.

[sectoid]

posted on January 25th, 2012, 10:00 pm

Last edited by sectoid on January 25th, 2012, 10:06 pm, edited 1 time in total.

go wheaton.

For those of us in europe, there is a far less well known agreement, similar to sopa, but far wider reaching, called the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA).

This agreement is made directly between governments of countries, the negotiations have been conducted in secret. the usa/canadian/australian/japanese/new zealand governments already signed up their people without telling them anything about it.

the european union hasn't signed yet, and the european parliament (elected by the people) has the final say on whether they do so. even the european parliament has been excluded from the debate and negotiations on acta. the european commission (not elected by the people) has been doing all the negotiating. europeans can still contact our representatives (known in english as MEPs), and let them know that when the vote comes, we want them to reject ACTA.

See an anti acta campaign here: https://www.accessnow.org/page/s/just-say-no-to-acta

the internet beat sopa, we can beat acta to a degree.

I would rather be wrong, but it seems, that EU Council already approved ACTA:

EU Council Quietly Adopts ACTA, By Hiding It In An Agriculture And Fisheries Meeting | Techdirt

and

EU Council

It must still be approved by EU parliament though.

posted on January 25th, 2012, 10:10 pm

afaik the eu council is the upper house of the european parliamentary system, like the house of lords or many countries' senate houses.

they have passed it, but now it has to be passed by the democratically elected european parliament (the lower house, similar to the house of commons).

quote from your first linked article:

Similarly, ACTA will now be passed to the European Parliament for a vote.

from the last paragraph. This vote is the one we can influence by telling our meps we dont want it. if the european parliament rejects it, then it's most likely over and the eu won't sign. if the european parliament gets ignored, then the whole idea of a democratically elected european parliament dies.

EDIT: you edited your post while i was typing mine. that european parliament vote is the one i'm saying we need to win.