Sopa Strike! Will you be doing this?

[The Dark Wizard]

http://www.sopastrike.com

Who is participating?

 

[Robert F Schmitz]

Interesting. I will check that out. Not to hijack your thread but to add to it, here is a group that Wordpress supports.

I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet--a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit:
http://americancensorship.org/posts/37802/uncensor


████ ███████ █████. ████ a █████ day ████. We are ████, we ████ ████ ████ ███████ us. We are ████████ █████ ██████ ██████ buy a █████ of Law and a ████ of our █████. Is ████ ████ for you?

 

[Robert F Schmitz]

By the way, are you?

 

[The Dark Wizard]

By the way, are you?

Yes of course. My entire community is against this due to the fact we write/RP even though it's all mostly original it's still a dangerous thing for us because some times people reference things that are copyrighted that we don't notice. For example using a name for a character that already exists in a book or story somewhere(Even though it may have been unintentional).

We have other massive traffic sites on our server which will be participating as well.

 

[Robert F Schmitz]

Glad to hear that.

 

[Pereira]

Controversial SOPA bill (effectively) killed in US Congress

The controversial Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) has effectively been stopped in its tracks. Virginia Republican Representative Eric Cantor killed the bill.

However, an equally controversial Protect IP Act (PIPA) which is being proposed in the US Senate may still get through.

Massive online protests against SOPA certainly played a role in killing the bill.

In addition a blog post by the Obama Administration calling for a more moderate approach to fighting online piracy gave the impression that the Administration was wholly against SOPA and it is believed they would have vetoed the bill had it passed.

SOPA more than any other piece of internet legislation effectively polarised the internet community.

Those against SOPA feared that it would lead to censorship on a scale never seen before and that it would disrupt the basic architecture of the internet and curtail free speech. Sites like GoDaddy saw hundreds of thousands of customers threaten to leave because of its pro-SOPA stance. Online news site Reddit threatened to black out on 18 January while Scribd made hundreds of thousands of pages on its site disappear before Christmas.

Those for SOPA, mostly Hollywood, saw it as an opportunity to defend their industry against widescale piracy of movies and music that they say is costing jobs.

Source - http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/25366-controversial-sopa-bill/

Sopa plans set to be shelved as Obama comes out against piracy legislation
Congress ready to drop Sopa vote after White House says it would not support legislation that threatens openness of internet

Congressional leaders are preparing to shelve controversial legislation aimed at tackling online piracy after president Barack Obama said he would not support it.

California congressman Darrell Issa, an opponent of Sopa, the Stop Online Piracy Act, said he had been told by House majority leader Eric Cantor that there would be no vote "unless there is consensus on the bill."

"The voice of the internet community has been heard. Much more education for members of Congress about the workings of the internet is essential if anti-piracy legislation is to be workable and achieve broad appeal," said Issa.

The news is a major blow for Sopa's backers in Hollywood, who had enjoyed broad support in Congress. But the Motion Pictures Association of America, one of the bill's biggest sponsors, said it would continue to press for new laws. "The failure to pass meaningful legislation will result in overseas websites continuing to be a safe haven for criminals stealing and profiting from America," the MPAA said in a blogpost.

The tech community has fought hard to stop Sopa and a rival bill, Protect IP, also known as the Enforcing and Protecting American Rights Against Sites Intent on Theft and Exploitation Act, or the e-Parasite act. Websites including Reddit and Wikipedia are planning to "go dark" on Wednesday in protest against the legislation. Issa said he remained concerned about Protect IP, which will go before the Senate on 24 January.

But both bills now look severely damaged after the White House came out firmly against their biggest proposals at the weekend.

"Let us be clear – online piracy is a real problem that harms the American economy, threatens jobs for significant numbers of middle-class workers and hurts some of our nation's most creative and innovative companies and entrepreneurs," the White House said in its first official comment on Sopa and Protect IP.

However, the White House said it would not support legislation that "reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risks or undermines the dynamic, innovative global internet."

The two bills aim to tackle online piracy by preventing American search engines like Google and Yahoo from directing users to sites distributing stolen materials. The bills would also allow people and companies to sue if their copyright was being infringed.

The White House expressed concern about both these elements and about passing legislation that threatened the openness of the internet. In the online statement it said any new legislation must be "narrowly targeted".

"Any provision covering internet intermediaries such as online advertising networks, payment processors, or search engines must be transparent and designed to prevent overly broad private rights of action that could encourage unjustified litigation that could discourage startup businesses and innovative firms from growing," said the White House.

The Obama administration also came out firmly against any plans to target the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of internet security, in order to tackle sites accused of piracy. Any proposed legislation "must not tamper with the technical architecture of the internet," said the White House.

The move effectively scuppers Sopa for now, and puts pressure on legislators ahead of a Senate vote on the e-Parasite act.

This weekend Rupert Murdoch – whose News Corporation includes the Hollywood studio 20th Century Fox, took to Twitter to attack the Obama administration for its criticism of Sopa.

"So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy. Plain thievery," Murdoch wrote in a series of tweets that accused Google of hosting pirated material and selling advertising against it. Google dismissed his claims as "nonsense".

Art Brodsky, director for Public Knowledge, a Washington-based public interest group that has campaigned against Sopa, said: "You can't view this bill in isolation; it's part of a continuum. They will try to muddle through with something."

But he said the White House statement was "very helpful" and it was clear that any legislation that tried to make wide-ranging changed to the internet would now face tougher opposition.

Source - http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/16/sopa-shelved-obama-piracy-legislation

 

[Chimpie]

Let me preface my comment below by saying that I'm asking this humbly because I'm seriously confused.

If SOPA passes, the gov't has the right to shut down websites, preventing a normal user from viewing it. So in protest of this, people are voluntarily blacking their websites out for a day, preventing a normal user from viewing it. I don't get it.

 

[Pereira]

Let me preface my comment below by saying that I'm asking this humbly because I'm seriously confused.

If SOPA passes, the gov't has the right to shut down websites, preventing a normal user from viewing it. So in protest of this, people are voluntarily blacking their websites out for a day, preventing a normal user from viewing it. I don't get it.

I think the main aim is to somehow replicate its effect, yes. I have not read the bill in full and have seen so many conflicting opinions on it. All I know is that companies like Google, Twitter, Facebook etc who all have rather large legal teams, all seem to be against it in quite a big way.

 

[a legacy reborn]

Let me preface my comment below by saying that I'm asking this humbly because I'm seriously confused.

If SOPA passes, the gov't has the right to shut down websites, preventing a normal user from viewing it. So in protest of this, people are voluntarily blacking their websites out for a day, preventing a normal user from viewing it. I don't get it.

It is to show what will happen if SOPA passes. Once the users realize that they can't view their favorite sites and are linked to americancensorship.org they will voice their opinion against SOPA.

 

[Fred Sherman]

Its a publicity stunt because SOPA has nothing to do with censorship.

 

[Rho Delta]

Me not showing up to work will not affect whether SOPA is passed or not, but would probably get my ass fired. So no.

 

[The Dark Wizard]

Its a publicity stunt because SOPA has nothing to do with censorship.

Sigh. . . .Please do not derail your thread and leave the rest of us who actually care to our own thing.

 

[Fred Sherman]

Sigh. . . .Please do not derail your thread and leave the rest of us who actually care to our own thing.

As usual, opposing views are not welcome.

How about if you man-up and take this challenge. READ the bill and tell me which clause SPECIFICALLY allows for censorship.

How about it? Got the nads?

 

[John]

So many butthurt people in the world today...

 

[The Dark Wizard]

As usual, opposing views are not welcome.

How about if you man-up and take this challenge. READ the bill and tell me which clause SPECIFICALLY allows for censorship.

How about it? Got the nads?

This is not what this thread is about. Why don't you go make a thread made just for arguing this.

 

[Paul B]

There are other threads which are for debating the merits of SOPA.

This is simply a straw poll.

Please take the discussion to one of the other threads.

 

[Forsaken]

Me not showing up to work will not affect whether SOPA is passed or not, but would probably get my ass fired. So no.

You strike by blacking out your site, not by not showing up to work.

Its purely an online strike as the major opponents of SOPA are online.

 

[The Dark Wizard]

You strike by blacking out your site, not by not showing up to work.

Its purely an online strike as the major opponents of SOPA are online.

Indeed. We will be blacking out our site at midnight.

 

[Paul B]

Indeed.
If these tit-for-tat insults continue then the thread will be closed.

 

[Fred Sherman]

I didn't figure you'd take the challenge. I guess after engaging in insults, your intellectual capacity has been sapped.