Second thoughts on SOPA

[perro]

Posters have expressed concern about the "Stop Online Piracy Act" bill being contemplated by the US Congress. There's quite a bit of opposition to it in the USA and Congressmen are beginning to feel the heat. The opposition is coming from both the political left and right so there is a good chance it will not become law (at least in its present form)

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news ... n-sopa.ars

"The public outcry over the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act seems to have gotten so loud that even members of Congress can hear it. On Thursday we covered the news that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was expressing second thoughts about SOPA's DNS provisions. He said he changed his mind after he "heard from a number of Vermonters" on the issue.

On Friday, several Republicans started backpedaling as well.

SOPA sponsor Lamar Smith (R-TX) announced that he would be pulling the DNS-blocking provisions from his own bill. “After consultation with industry groups across the country, I feel we should remove Domain Name System blocking from the Stop Online Piracy Act so that the Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision," Smith said in a Friday statement.

Meanwhile, six GOP senators who served on the Senate Judiciary Committee (which unanimously approved the legislation last year) wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking him to postpone a vote on PIPA to give them more time to study the legislation.

'We strongly believe that the theft of American intellectual property is a significant problem that must be addressed," they wrote. But since the Judiciary Committee last considered the legislation, "we have increasingly heard from a large number of constituents and other stakeholders with vocal concerns about possible unintended consequences of the proposed legislation, including breaches in cybersecurity, damaging the integrity of the Internet, costly and burdensome litigation, and dilution of First Amendment rights.'

Another member of Congress that has been feeling the heat from voters is Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). After reddit members raised $15,000 in 48 hours for his anti-SOPA challenger, Ryan came out with a clear statement of opposition to the legislation.

Washington insiders hold disproportionate sway on Capitol Hill. But members of Congress are ultimately chosen by American voters. When enough of them express a strong view on an issue, members of Congress do pay attention.

[trini]

Hate SOPA and want to join the Jan. 18 blackout? There’s a WordPress plugin for that

By Stephen Chapman | January 13, 2012, 11:32pm PST

Summary: Joining the Internet blackout movement on January 18th in protest of SOPA/PIPA can be as easy as downloading and installing a small plugin on your site!

Unless you’ve been living under a rock lately, you know that SOPA and PIPA are all the rage. (If you don’t know what they are, it’s your duty as an Internet-loving citizen to read about them here.) Likewise, sites like Reddit have decided that they will black out on January 18, 2012 in protest of these two acts which would allow the U.S. to effectively censor the Internet in fairly atrocious ways. And by “black out,” I mean they will cease to function as usual and instead provide educational resources about SOPA so as to create awareness.

Gaining steam is the notion that sites like Facebook and Google need to black out to create ultimate awareness/impact with the general public about these two acts, but let’s not discount the smaller sites and communities around the Web! If you are one such site or community and you want to join the blackout that will occur on January 18, head on over to the main site of your Web site’s platform and search for a plugin!

For example, searching the WordPress plugins page for “SOPA” yields a number of WordPress plugins like “Simple Stop SOPA”. This particular plugin will black your site out and display the following message in white text:

This site has been blocked in protest of the SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act) two bills which will allow the government censor the intenet. Find out more at americancensorship.org or the video below. This website will return at 8pm.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/seo/hate-sopa ... -that/4490

[wutang]

Another member of Congress that has been feeling the heat from voters is Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). After reddit members raised $15,000 in 48 hours for his anti-SOPA challenger, Ryan came out with a clear statement of opposition to the legislation.

I think it was also Reddit members that forced GoDaddy into dropping its support.
The fact that most of the major info-tech/internet companies oppose it shows how negative its impact will be on the net.


PS: Has this story got much traction in the states?

A Sheffield student can be extradited to the US to face copyright infringement allegations, a judge has ruled.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-so ... e-16544335

Kind messed up that its not a crime in the UK, and apparently the site isnt registered in America, so how come he is being prosecuted in the States? and as he pointed out he has done nothing that Google or Yahoo doesnt do.

[perro]

At this point SOPA is a bill, not a law. Posters unfamiliar with the US political system may be unclear on the difference between a bill and a law, and the process by which a bill becomes (or doesn't become) a law. This cartoon does a pretty good job of explaining it in clear easy to understand language.

[perro]

PS: Has this story got much traction in the states?

A Sheffield student can be extradited to the US to face copyright infringement allegations, a judge has ruled.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-so ... e-16544335

Kind messed up that its not a crime in the UK, and apparently the site isnt registered in America, so how come he is being prosecuted in the States? and as he pointed out he has done nothing that Google or Yahoo doesnt do.

No, it's not a big story in the US. I think the UK judge should have denied the extradition request. American writers have some legal protection against British libel judgments.

It's a little like the two British racists who were imprisoned for things they posted on a US website. In the US the statements were protected speech and not illegal. They fled to the US and requested asylum but were returned to the UK where they were convicted and imprisoned.

[trini]

How do you know when a politician is talking;

Fat wallet, lips moving

[trini]

Hmmmm The plot thickens

White House to oppose Internet-piracy bills

AP

Last Updated: 2:02 PM, January 14, 2012

Posted: 12:52 PM, January 14, 2012

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration raised concerns today about efforts in Congress that it said would undermine "the dynamic, innovative global Internet," urging lawmakers to approve measures this year that balance the need to fight piracy and counterfeiting against an open Internet.

White House officials said in a blog post that it would not support pending legislation that "reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk" or undermines the global Internet, cautioning the measure could discourage innovation and startup businesses.

"Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small," the White House said.

The administration was responding to measures that would allow the Justice Department to target offshore websites — through Internet service providers — that offer illegal copies of music, movies and television shows online. The Senate is expected to consider similar legislation later this month.

Tech companies such as Google, Facebook, Yahoo and others have questioned the legislation, warning in a Nov. 15 letter that it would force new liabilities and mandates on law-abiding technology companies and require them to monitor websites. "We are concerned that these measures pose a serious risk to our industry's continued track record of innovation and job-creation, as well as to our nation's cybersecurity," the letter stated.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/o ... z1jTbMNpmG

[perro]

Fading congressional support and a likely presidential veto. Unlikely to become a law at this point.

But proponents can always try again later.

[perro]

Posters are still discussing SOPA so this thread might need a bump

[SaintNickers]

Posters are still discussing SOPA so this thread might need a bump

So where does this PIPA thing come into it?

I am not clued up on all this U.S thing, but its obviously affecting us cos I can`t use wiki to disprove Canny`s post. Extremely frustating day.

[perro]

PIPA is the Senate version of the bill. SOPA is the House of Reps version. Both houses of Congress have to pass a bill and the President must sign it before it becomes law (the little cartoon above explains it). The Pres has already said he will not sign it.

You can't get into wiki because they are protesting the bills. It is a voluntary thing from the people who run the website. They are not being forced to go dark.

The bills are way too broad and keeping the pressure on Congress is a good idea. But it looks at this point that it will NOT become law.

[Maddog]

Perro, it seems your Jr Senator has withdrawn his support of the bill.

[perro]

It's like rats from a sinking ship at this point

[Big Fat Frosty]

lots of tears and wailing in the offices of riaa and mpaa today
some big shot hollywood moguls are throwing toys outta the pram
stopping campaign funding
gawd its fucking hilarious

im so happy i could shit a rainbow right now



U.S Senators withdraw support for anti-piracy bills as 4.5 million people sign Google's anti-censorship petition

18 senators withdraw support for controversial bill
Senate websites collapse under emailed protest

Google's petition signed by 4.5 million people

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg opposes laws and describes internet as 'a powerful tool for a more open and connected world'

7,000 sites across the net joined protest
Wikipedia back online at 5am today after 24 hour blackout


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z1jvdWXedp

[Maddog]

lots of tears and wailing in the offices of riaa and mpaa today
some big shot hollywood moguls are throwing toys outta the pram
stopping campaign funding
gawd its fucking hilarious

im so happy i could shit a rainbow right now



U.S Senators withdraw support for anti-piracy bills as 4.5 million people sign Google's anti-censorship petition

18 senators withdraw support for controversial bill
Senate websites collapse under emailed protest

Google's petition signed by 4.5 million people

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg opposes laws and describes internet as 'a powerful tool for a more open and connected world'

7,000 sites across the net joined protest
Wikipedia back online at 5am today after 24 hour blackout


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... z1jvdWXedp

Just goes to show, that when people decide they don't want something over here, they have the power to stop Congress.