Edit* "update from The Hill Congress news website" some one linked me this, thought I would share it, I am happy to see people are beginning to withdraw support for the this ridiculous bill....
thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-val…*sorry for all the constant updates, but I promised I would share anything I found regarding this SOPA and PIP issue*
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Just found this on tumblr...
www.yousaytoo.com/congressiona…: I don't even know what to say anymore....
from the same site
act.demandprogress.org/sign/so…www.yousaytoo.com/anonymous-al…I think from now on I am going avoid Hollywood movies and American music... I don't feel like supporting an industry that thinks it can manipulate the laws in its favour...
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Here is a video about it too
www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDX8Ly…The SOPA bill didn't pass but there is still another one one the way. The Protect IP act is still pending. You can still sign a petition against this, check links below. For more info
www.3news.co.nz/SOPA-internet-…www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_inte…www.publicknowledge.org/e-para…www.eff.org/spyed.deviantart.com/journal/R…Online petitions here
IP Act
www.change.org/petitions/stop-… <<<sign this one Protect IP act
SOPA
americancensorship.org/ &…;<<< this one didn't pass
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Edit*
I also found this site quite informative if you aren't quite sure what is at stake. arstechnica.com/tech-policy/ne… and
arstechnica.com/tech-policy/ne…Some interesting extracts
"The House bill is shockingly sympathetic to a narrow subsection of business interests. For instance, buried deep in the back of the >70-page document is a requirement that the US Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator prepare a study for Congress. That study should analyze "notorious foreign infringers" and attempt to quantify the "significant harm inflicted by notorious foreign infringers." (Talk about assuming your conclusions before you start.)
The report, which is specifically charged to give weight to the views of content owners, requests a set of specific policy recommendations that might "encourage foreign businesses to adopt industry norms to promote the protection of intellectual property globally." Should the bill pass, the US government would be explicitly charged with promoting private "industry norms"—not actual laws or treaties—around the world.
In the request for the report, we can also see the IP maximalist lobby preparing for its next move: shutting off access to US capital markets and preventing companies from "offering stock for sale to the public" in the US."
"The government can also go after anyone who builds a tool designed for the "circumvention or bypassing" of the Internet block. Such tools already exist as a result of the US government's ongoing campaign to seize Internet domain names it believes host infringing content; they can redirect visitors who enter the site's address to its new location. The government has already asked Web browser makers like Mozilla to remove access to these sorts of tools. Mozilla refused, so the new bill just tries to ban such tools completely. (Pointing your computer's browser to a foreign DNS server in order to view a less-censored Internet still appears to be legal.)"----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Under the new law, the US could force Internet providers to block any website on suspicion of violating copyright or trademark legislation, or even failing to sufficiently police their users' activities. And, because so much of the Internet's hosts and hardware are located in the US, their blacklist would clamp down on the free web for all of us. "
taken from Avaaz.org"Our view at deviantART regarding SOPA is that it's probably a bad idea. There should be better ways to deal with mass infringement on the Internet than this. This bill in our view can be seen as a threat to the open Internet itself and this is very hard to digest or support. "
$spyed DeviantArt"If SOPA were to become law, there is a long list of reasons why it would threaten the functioning, freedom, and economic potential of the Internet, but here are PK's main concerns:
By short-circuiting the legal system, it gives rightsholders a fast-track to shutting down websites.
By creating conflicts between "DNS" servers, it would make you more vulnerable to hackers, identity theft, and cyberattacks.
By sanctioning government interference with the internet, it would make the internet more censored, akin to that of China and Syria."
publicknowledge.orgBasically the American government wants to pass a law to 'censor the internet' or blacklist any sites they suspect are hosting/enabling users to post or share copyright infringing materials. Sites I can name of the top of my head that would most likely be blacklisted are sites like Youtube, Photobucket, Tumblr, and Devianart since the users often upload copyrighted materials.
I don't have much to say on the whole issue except that I am obviously against it, there are people telling me Obama will veto it if they try and actually pass the law but the fact people are trying to pass it in the first place is very scary indeed.
