SOPA/PIPA: What and why
 

So today you may have noticed some weird things going on. Google has a black bar doodle, some sites have gone dark and so on. These two bills, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA), are supposed to be bills that stop individuals from posting copyrighted material (e.g., music, TV shows, movies) and that if they do post it and someone reports them as posting it, that all search engines and advertising partners must stop providing links and/or payments to those sites.

Here's the catches: the site that hosts them and the ad sites will also be held liable. And, those actions have to occur BEFORE any verification and without warrant issued that a site is indeed doing "bad things".

Now, personally, I don't give two shits about copyright violation. In the grander scheme of things, most of the music and video that has been "shared" out there is crap. Pure and simple and an utter waste of time. I will buy legit DVDs of good TV shows and movies; and spend a near fortune on decent music from iTunes.

But I have a serious issue with these two proposed laws. As someone who remembers that the Internet wasn't meant to be an advertising platform but rather a place to share ideas and learn (why I remember when the internet was only in text and didn't have any of these fancy fangled pictures). This ideal of sharing ideas and learning is actually still the core of internet behaviour. This site is a good example.

And this site is a prime example of a site that could be shut down because someone didn't like what a member posted. It could kill us, to be very honest. We don't take advertising and we're more word of mouth but our provider would be required to shut us down if someone posted something (intentionally or otherwise) that is copyrighted **OR** someone reports us as doing that (whether true or not).

And to add to this (for those of you who live elsewhere and think it won't apply.. err.. it will). Part of what makes these bills challenging is the way that they define "domestic" and "foreign": it goes based on the name of the site. For example, my personal site is hosted in Canada (I was too lazy to move it to the US) but the domain name (syrlinus.com) was created here in the US (SOPA defines all ".com" names as "domestic", regardless of which DNS server hosts it). That means if I "violated" copyright (maybe I post up a picture or words to a song) then my site could be shut down. So how can I voice my opinions and views if I'm shut down and have no avenue to address?

So take a few minutes and write your Senatorcritter or Congresscritter and tell them that you don't want these bills as they are written. They are too vague and too broad in their attempt to address the issue they want to. I've provided some more links below, including Google's link to a petition you can sign.

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Wikipedia's Entry on SOPA/PIPA

Google's Entry on SOPA/PIPA (petition here)

Reddit's breakdown of SOPA/PIPA

Thanks for the links!!!

I went to wikipedia this morning and used their search to locate my representatives and have already sent my letters via email (fitting, yes?). I'm printing out hard copies to snail mail this afternoon.

Didn't know about the google petition, headed over there now.

Thanks again!

They are always presenting these fucking witch hunt bills. I think its more about censorship then anything else. People scream copyright violation but don't realize that they cut their own nose to spite their face.

OMG don't get me started! lol I am so over the US! Our government does nothing but engage in organized crime. I see an acceleration of control especially lately as the rush to the next election. Obama has sold out and it make me ill to think who will step in next.

This bill is super scary.

To think that I could wake up one morning to a message from our hosting company that our content has been blocked because of someone's complaint (that hasn't been investigated) makes me sick.

The fact of the matter is that this bill will put a lot of power into the hands of malicious trolls and people with with axes to grind. This site has already been the target of at least 2 trolls who contacted our hosting company with ridiculous bogus claims of "internet bullying" (which our host investigated and found that both people had zeros basis for their claims except for butthurt feelings over getting banned).

This bill means that anyone on this site making reference to a movie by posting a link to a trailer, or quoting a song or part of a book would essentially put the site in jeopardy of being shut down.

In the grand scheme of things, it will stifle our freedom of speech.

This bill means that our internet will become very similar to how the internet operates in China, where the government has most of the control over the content of what people see.

It is imperative that we sign this petition.

Thanks so much for the links.
This bill is so very Scary for all of us. :(

Medusa have you thought about a mailing list for members that elect to join? Names, addresses and even phone numbers (for phone blast updates) ?
I would want my name on it. In the event anything happens we network like they did in the old days- remember mail? lol

Does anyone remember BBS systems? I owned a few back in the early 90's. 32 phone lines coming into my house, all accessing the same PC. I honestly have my doubts that this will get passed but seeing what is happening in the GMO and food safety front (doesnt matter how many people petition) it could. I think we should be prepared to keep our community together.

I think we can. We'll have to look at email providers outside of the US with an alternate domain (e.g., butchfemmeplanet.ca) so that SOPA cannot reach the list and shut it down. One of the bigger challenges that I see is that while the current White House has said no to it, if Obama is turfed out and a Rep president comes in, they'll likely bring it in since they were one of the main advocates of the changes to the 4th Amendment..

No Linus I mean REAL MAIL- the kind you put a stamp on? lol I know its a distant memory but its going on!

an email list is fine but snail mail at least is a back up for networking, events, socials etc. A

also you could, if it came down to it, set up a computer BBS with forums, chat, etc. Today with the voice over internet phone services, allow people to dial in. Have you ever been in a BBS system before? Most are ansi but pretty much the same- forums, newsgroups, chat, etc.

hmmm I wonder by using a VOIP phone dialed direct into a one computer means it part of the internet? Hmmmm not if you had a bank of number and people called in using their own voip service. My brain is hurting now, I'll stop. lol

I use to operate worldgroup which was called glacticom way back then. I'm sure you can still get bbs software. The key is making it independent of internet.

People could play games, upload pics, pretty much everything you see without all the GUI interface. Users purchased credits to become members.

As someone who has worked in the world of music for about 20 years, I'm very sensitive to issues concerning copyright and intellectual property.

I hear a lot of uproar against SOPA and how bad it is but what would be your solution to stop piracy then?

People who work in the music, artistic industries should not work for free... and I'm not talking only about the artists per say... Many people are involved, from the guy who work in the CD packaging to the seller in a store...

Just my .02 cents

I sent my emails this morning. Grrrrrrr... the irony to me is how many republicans are for these bills. Isn't their whole platform supposed to be LESS government??!! Grrrrrrr....

Okay, I do understand that these bills have democrat and republican support and in fact are being sponsored by representatives of BOTH parties - but I never understand why republicans care so much about the government getting involved in these types of things (I include gay marriage in my wondering, but that's another issue) when their whole platform is 'LESS government'. Grrrrrrr....

The reality is that copyright infringement/piracy will never stop. The internet really caused this to explode and be more visible but it was done before the internet and will continue well beyond the current way the way the internet is. Part of it is cultural and part of it is technological. The reality is that this law is too broad.

I think that perhaps things aren't being address accurately. It has to be addressed two ways:

1. With things stored locally
2. Things stored outside of borders.

Locally (federally) can be address in regards to local laws. If the law had a mechanism where verification was done to ensure that reports were valid and that even the whistle blower wasn't a target (which under SOPA they could be). The realm of the FBI's white collar task force would be an appropriate law enforcement arm to work on this (since it would cross statelines due to the nature of the internet).

Internationally, treaties and in-state police task forces would be a better way to deal with those outside the border. Each state needs to create laws to address this and it should match what is agreed to on the treaty and should have similar minimum sentencing rules. Again, it should be based on verifiable information and not just because someone blows the whistle.

A bad law to address an issue is not better than no law to address it. If anything, it makes things worse.

I also worked in the arts industry for a long time.

I don't really have an answer except to say that theft has always been a part of the industry. Many movies have been piloted through the ages. I can't tell you how many friends of mine made tapes for me off of records and other tapes. And at the time, I never even thought of it as theft. Listen to Lady Gaga and then Madonna (especially the "Express Yourself" song) and you can see how much 'borrowing' is going on. It used to be if someone shoplifted a CD, the people hurt were the storeowners and employees. With the internet that hurt has gone directly to artists more often.

I don't have an answer, but most artists I know wouldn't want the internet to shut down sites - without thorough and proper investigation - to protect them. It is very hard to be a successful artist without free speech and not being able to speak on this 'site' is a form of sensorship.

And one more side note. Pricing is based on expected theft. The reason everything is so expensive is because the industry now understands that there will be theft and they make up for it. I doubt that things will become cheaper for us to buy once we can't get onto our favorite websites.

Thank you Linus (and Medusa)!
 

I signed the petition.

So basically, there is no real solutions.... Good thing I left the music world... that was the main reason actually, sick and tired of seeing people not respect intellectual property and so on... in order to save a few dollars...

I switched to science, being the naive person I am, but no difference. I was looking today at sites and people writing about a specific subject... citing studies but with no actual sources

Hopefully, people will learn at least to cite their sources on internet sites... For me, it is a way to show some respect to intellectual property.

Again my 0.02 cents

Laws that exist about not killing others hasn't stopped people from doing it. Even extreme solutions to those actions hasn't stopped them. While I wish that people were more respectful of each other, human nature is what prevents this.

We could try to control a person's life from start to finish to ensure that they are perfectly made so that they do not do the things we like but that isn't a solution either as that will stifle the creative spirit as well. When I was a professor I was insist on citing sources but few do that. I actually had to educate 3yr and 4th yr students. In college. :blink: I knew that in grade 9 so I wasn't sure what happened to education since when I graduated to current times other than information being even more freer.

The suggestions I put forward as ways to address this are potential solutions but there is no perfect solution. That is unrealistic. But I still stand by the fact that these laws do not help and, in fact, hinder -- particularly smaller entities who could effectively be shut down and not have any mechanism to recover. How is that better than what exists now?

ETA: and, I realized I should have asked one more question: in your opinion, how would this be better addressed? Do you think that SOPA/PIPA are sufficient or do you have a better solution on how to protect IP/copyright?