SOPA/PIPA Indefinitely Shelved After Massive Protest

[Sailor Steve]

Originally Posted by Dowly

Could this be a proof of intelligent life in the US Congress?

No, only that it's still possible for the individual to make a difference.

My feelings on this were mixed, but the deciding factor for me is that it's the Entertainment Industry that's behind it, and they (the music part anyway) is responsible for screwing artists out of more money than downloading ever will. They're upset that individuals are doing to them what they've done to musicians for decades. The 500-gallon pot is in this case calling the 1-cup kettle black.

[Platapus]

I still like the idea behind SOPA but did not like the current wording. I hope congress can fix the wording. In bills such as this, the devil is in the details.

"intelligent" "for the People" "US Congress"
One of these things is not like the others.
Can you guess which one?

[vienna]

An interesting take:

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2012/01...i-piracy-bills

[Hinrich Schwab]

Originally Posted by Sailor Steve

... but the deciding factor for me is that it's the Entertainment Industry that's behind it, and they (the music part anyway) is responsible for screwing artists out of more money than downloading ever will. They're upset that individuals are doing to them what they've done to musicians for decades. The 500-gallon pot is in this case calling the 1-cup kettle black.

Agreed. It is all about money and profit. It is not about combating actual piracy as it is the Entertainment Industry using the American Government as a brute squad to collect lost revenue. Given recent events, I suspect the entire SOPA/PIPA bill was just legal smoke and mirrors for the sole purpose of shutting down Megaupload. Given the date of the indictment and the time it can take to get paperwork, the architects of SOPA apparently expected this to pass with little trouble or problems. The move against Megaupload was going to happen. However, the Entertainment Industry did not expect the backlash to keep the bill from becoming law and made the raid ill-timed. The reaction to that from the internet was obvious.

[mapuc]

A friend of mine posted this on his wall

"What PIPA & SOPA mean- any copyrighted material on the internet will be blocked in the US and anyone providing copyrighted material on the internet will be arrested for 5 yrs minimun. (so wikipedia-gone, youtube- gone or changed until unrecognizable, same for google. any fansites? gone. tv shows on internet? gone. use a screenshot or a pic of a character on an account anywhere? account gone & IP address blocked)

ACTA is international cooperation to end online piracy. Of course the US is involved, but no one not-government in the country really knows much about it because 'The negotiations were classified as secret in the US on the grounds of "damage to the national security".' (see Wikipedia article) , so NONE of us knew until someone leaked a draft of it.

Ya know megaupload.com? Yeah, they shut it down arrested the owners in New Zealand and they're being extradited here to the US. Why? Because they had a small amount of stuff on a server in Virginia."

So if there wasn't a "spy" no one of us would have the knowledge about SOPA and PIPA.

It is no difference between our politician. Therefore I can say , that these two laws (Sopa & PIPA),will, once everything has cooled down, be put into the U.S. law, quietly and calmly.

Markus

[Platapus]

Why would Wikipedia be taken down? They have a pretty good system to ensure that copyrighted material is properly cited or a fair use statement is published.

[vienna]

Why would Wikipedia be taken down? They have a pretty good system to ensure that copyrighted material is properly cited or a fair use statement is published.

When you have a situation in which due process is ignored and the the accused is forced to prove their innocence rather than the accuser(s) prove their guilt, there will always be dangers. Imagine a situation where some individual with clout, say a media mogul, or some government agency takes umbrage at something posted on Wikipedeia, even if the posting is a true statement of facts. The person or agency could fish about on Wikipedia for some copyrighted bitthey 'own' posted on Wiki and, under SOPA/PIPA file a complaint. The wheels would be set in motion to implement all of the sanctions allowed under the laws and the website would be shut down and, possibly, the Wiki principals (and, perhaps, those individuals who contributed to the offense). Punitive actions would take place before there is even a trial or proof of legal guilt. If there is a trial, the onus would fall on the accused to prove their innocence rather than the state prove guilt (somewhat in the fashion of federal tax matters). A trial and the processes entailed could drag on for years, particulary if the one making the accusation is a private entity with an army of lawyers. If the accused is found not to have breached the law, the damage is already done, financially and in terms of reputation, etc. It all becomes, for the accuser, just a case of "Oops, my bad"...

[Dowly]

Just to clarify as it doesn't seem to be clear to everyone: SOPA doesn't allow
for easier take down of websites. SOPA is designed to get around the problem
of US not being able to do anything to offending websites that doesn't fall under
the US laws by means of blocking said site for US based users.

[antikristuseke]

Thoughthe means of blocking would not work and would put a large strain on the entiere internet infrastructure while creating more security problems for the end user.

[Dowly]

Originally Posted by antikristuseke

Thoughthe means of blocking would not work and would put a large strain on the entiere internet infrastructure while creating more security problems for the end user.

Yup, absolutely true.

[Jimbuna]

Well let us hope it is gone for good...but somehow I doubt it.

[Blood_splat]

It will never end.

[Blacklight]

I agree. This battle will never end. It's a war between the old way and the new way (and the old way has all the money and clout).
As far as MegaUpload. The guy who started that has been in trouble with the law all his life. He's no stranger to getting arrested and he's quite the slime ball. That said, I don't think they should have killed the whole site. At least not without a fair trial. I think even "Pirate Bay" got a trial.