SOPA/PIPA Indefinitely Shelved After Massive Protest

[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.