Stop SOPA!!!

[NeverMore]

My rare rant...

Basically, if SOPA or PIPA is passed copyright holders could shut down any website that embeds or links to their property. That means, if someone, knowingly or unknowingly, posts a copyrighted image to this forum the owner could have the site shut down.

This is important people. I seriously doubt Halloween.com is going to want to investigate every image and link posted to this forum to see if it's possible he could be sued. It would be easier for him to disable all images and links.

While the laws are intended to stop online piracy, history shows that those laws will be bent to suit those with the most money or clout. The MPAA and RIAA are pulling the strings here folks. THEY are trying to make YOUR congressmen do their bidding.

Make your voice heard... https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

Worst part is, these laws are unlikely to stop piracy. People will still be able to access the sites through the IP address, just like in the days before the World Wide Web. There's already a plugin for Firefox to get around these laws. But, unfortunately, most of this is beyond regular Internet users.

Tomorrow, the 18th of January, websites all over the Internet are staging protests. Some sites, such as Wikipedia and Reddit are even going so far as to blackout their sites for 24 hours. I'll let you in on a little secret though, if you absolutely have to search for something on Wikipedia tomorrow, just hit the escape key before the site goes black.

[Li H'Sen Chang]

I hear this on news about blackout.

[Pumpkin_Man]

That doesn't make any sense, because web sites, especialy if they're business web sites want their links on as many other web sites as possible in order to drum up more business. However, because I tink this is a bad law, I do work in Media, and I do have a lot of stock photos that I worked my rumpuss off over the years to get. I would very much resent it if some one stole one of t hose images to use it to his advantage without paying me a license fee for it's use. I also prodjced a few videos, that I would probably sue some body if he or she used it without my permission and without paying to use my work. By the way, I am NOT super rich, and I do NOT work for any major corporations, and I am NOT rolling in the money big time. But when you pirate a video or a photo, YOU ARE STEALING, pure and simple. You are RIPPING OFF all the photographers involved in producing the images you illegaly use. You are ripping off all the set designers, all the lighting technitions, all the cinematographers, all the musicians, and everyone else, ORDINARY WORKING STIFFS LIKE ME, when ever y ou pirate a video or a photo.

I would sue for copyright infringement, and I can't really say that I would blame anyone else for suing for copyright infringement. I do agree, however, that this is a very bad law, and like you pointed out, it won't do anything about video, photo, music or internet piracy. The thing to do is to enforce all existing laws.

Mike

[NeverMore]

I feel for you Mike, and for anyone that produces content. The big problem is that the music and movie industry is being extremely greedy. They want to keep raking in the dough like they always did but they refuse to accept that times have changed.

Remember how you always used to hear about people downloading music from Napster and other music sharing sites? Now you rarely hear a peep. That's because some little company called Apple came along and showed a better way. Remember how the music industry called foul when audio cassettes and CDs came along then went on to record profits? Netflix and Hulu and other sites are now trying to do the same but the movie industry is fighting that too.

People are always going to steal others' material. Call it human nature. That's why the creators need to be vigilant. Making the website operators responsible is just plain wrong. It undermines the whole idea of the World Wide Web. This is censorship plain and simple. It would make us no better than China or North Korea.

Now if you want a good laugh on this blackout Wednesday, check out this article on Gizmodo... http://gizmodo.com/5877167/follow-all-t ... -one-place Seems some people have no clue what's going on, even though it's been all over the news. I worry about the youth of today.

[Spookymufu]

the RIAA and that dip-wad from Metallica had a lot to do with the whole "not a peep about music downloads" as well.

And your posts on this was the first I heard about this, I guess the "main stream media" is keeping out of it

[NeverMore]

the RIAA and that dip-wad from Metallica had a lot to do with the whole "not a peep about music downloads" as well.

People still pirate music, it's just so easy and affordable now to do it legally that it's not worth the chance of getting caught. Doesn't stop the RIAA though, I just read about them going after a video on Youtube because someone in the background was whistling a copyrighted song.

And your posts on this was the first I heard about this, I guess the "main stream media" is keeping out of it

It's been all over the TV and news sites. Maybe it just stood out to me because I'm such a geek?

Gizmodo has pretty good coverage. They are reporting that one of the co-sponsors of PIPA has backed out, Microsoft is now against it, Mark Zuckerburger has spoken out against it, and Congress members' websites are crashing because they are getting such a huge flood of protest email. Last month Go Daddy changed their stance because their customers started moving their accounts to another service.

This just shows that THE PEOPLE can still make a difference.

[Spookymufu]

It's been all over the TV and news sites. Maybe it just stood out to me because I'm such a geek?

yeah I was referring to regular local TV news, I havent seen anything about it on TV.

I dont really do too much web news site surfing so I missed it. I did sign the petition tho, hopefully they toss this in the crapper

[jadewik]

I've been hearing snippets about it here and there for a while. Yesterday, my paranormal blog decided to join in on the blackout. I'm glad to see there is such a huge following across the interwebs.

I was actually wondering how long it'd take for this info to get here.

... and have you checked out wikipedia today? That's another BIG website involved in the blackout.

[Boogeyman]

It's been all over the TV and news sites. Maybe it just stood out to me because I'm such a geek?

yeah I was referring to regular local TV news, I havent seen anything about it on TV.

I dont really do too much web news site surfing so I missed it. I did sign the petition tho, hopefully they toss this in the crapper

That is because the corporations that own the networks support these bills. Nevermore is correct. If the goal was truly to shut down the sites that sell pirated or fake merchandise, that could be done with one call or move. These bills will allow the Department of Justice to call the internet providers to stop traffic to the sites, then call the search engines, to have the questionable sites removed from the search results, then call the <deleted> companies to withhold the money that the pirate sites would be making from purchases. It is all about power, plain and simple. Most people want to stop the selling of fake purses or watches, but this is not the approach.

[Pumpkin_Man]

Okay, when you look at it from the stand poing of going after some one wor whitsling a song, that does seem pretty rediculous, but I SERIOUSLY DOUBT that anyone who likes that song is going to settle for some 'regular joe' whistling it in the background of a YouTube Video. He's going to want the original recording.

Now I can understand your point about Internet censorship, but you do need to remember that the vast majority of people who make their living in the various media undustries, such as movies or music, are just regular working stiffs like you and me. A lot of the jobs in Hollywood are suprisingly very low paying. When you pirate a movie or a piece of music, you are ripping THEM off just as much, if not more so then you're ripping off the stars, producers or CEOs of those major outfits. The <deleted> reality is that for every highly successful, weathly movie star, there are about 10,000 struggling working stiffs who are living from paycheck to paycheck. Is it fair to deprive them of an oportunity to earn a living?

I agree that common sense has to be used, but a web site owner does have to obey the law like everyone else. Web masters are every bit as liable for copyright infringement as anyone else.

Mike

[Boogeyman]

Okay, when you look at it from the stand poing of going after some one wor whitsling a song, that does seem pretty rediculous, but I SERIOUSLY DOUBT that anyone who likes that song is going to settle for some 'regular joe' whistling it in the background of a YouTube Video. He's going to want the original recording.

Now I can understand your point about Internet censorship, but you do need to remember that the vast majority of people who make their living in the various media undustries, such as movies or music, are just regular working stiffs like you and me. A lot of the jobs in Hollywood are suprisingly very low paying. When you pirate a movie or a piece of music, you are ripping THEM off just as much, if not more so then you're ripping off the stars, producers or CEOs of those major outfits. The <deleted> reality is that for every highly successful, weathly movie star, there are about 10,000 struggling working stiffs who are living from paycheck to paycheck. Is it fair to deprive them of an oportunity to earn a living?

I agree that common sense has to be used, but a web site owner does have to obey the law like everyone else. Web masters are every bit as liable for copyright infringement as anyone else.

Mike

What don't you get? There are already copyright laws to protect artists and manufacturers. This bill is not needed. It is a pure power grab. You realize the danger? The potential is there that if someone does not like something that is posted on this site, they can report it, and it could get shut down.

Imagine you were an alcholic, and you decided to get in your car and go the bar. This bill would permit the government, when a friend or family member calls the Dept of Justice to alert them that you are an alcoholic going to a bar; to call Onstar or any of the other similar services to prevent your car from starting. The government would then be able to call the bar to tell them to stop serving you, and then call your <deleted> company to cancel you cards. Does that seem extreme? Well this bill would allow that type of intrusion in to your private life.

[Pumpkin_Man]

I didn't say I agreed with that bill 100%. But I do think that the reason for this bill, and other badly thought out legislation is because so many people are breaking copyright laws. It's just like gun control. Because so many criminals use guns to commit violence, the legislation feels that outlawing gun ownership to law abiding people will make everything okay.

Hey, this IS a very bad law, and it will creat a lot of problems, but I can also sympathise with the copyright holders. That's all I was trying to say.

Mike

[NeverMore]

Mike, you'll be happy to hear that Megaupload.com got shut down today. Megaupload was well known for allowing copyrighted materials to be shared. It was also used for legitimate purposes but I guess the people that relied on it will have to find another way.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... INDICTMENT

[Spookymufu]

Mike, you'll be happy to hear that Megaupload.com got shut down today. Megaupload was well known for allowing copyrighted materials to be shared. It was also used for legitimate purposes but I guess the people that relied on it will have to find another way.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/ ... INDICTMENT

one of my wifes fav TV show "catch up" site.......she isnt too happy about it

[Li H'Sen Chang]

How will they police the whole internet?