SOPA

[Nichi]

Really, I feel SOPA is one of the stupidest things that has ever been considered. The lingering threat of having everything I hold dear on the internet be ripped away from me is not very comforting in the least bit.

[Chocofreak13]

Stupid
Overbearing
Parents
Association

[IanDanKilmaster]

Nihil novi sub sole.

Not the first time a bill like this has been passed, and it most likely won't be the last.  That's not to say it is something to be readily dismissed, but it's not that new.  The PROTECT IP Act was a bill with very similar aims to SOPA but with a narrower reach that had been proposed before the introduction of SOPA.  Before that, Congress attempted to pass COICA, the predecessor to the PROTECT IP Act, just last year.  Of course, before all of this was the DMCA, with which I'm sure we're all familiar.  Despite all the failures so far, SOPA is something that should be taken seriously (but not to the point of reckless panic) because it's apparent Hollywood will keeping throwing money at our elected officials until they get what they want.  Let's not forget that we've got an election year coming up, and these people are doing everything they can so they can afford to bombard us with inane political ads until after the political season is over.

[NejinOniwa]

Fun fact: SOPA means sweep, or loser, in swedish.

[Chocofreak13]

@nej: gotta love how things like that sync up. :3
@IDK: yeah, anyone with enough money can get what they want.
and i'm not familiar with DMCA. :\

[IanDanKilmaster]

DMCA - Digital Millennium Copyright Act

It's an amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976 (the one that pretty much affirmed the idea of fair use), and is responsible for stuff like the copy protection you see on disc-based media today.  The intent of the bill was to level the playing field and allow the music and film industry a chance to prevent piracy of their work (the reason why these bills are presented so often is that lawmakers have no real notion of what the next generation of technology will hold, and thus, no real knowledge of how to protect content in the next generation).  The problem is, the DMCA is already abused thoroughly enough as is.  To give you an example, the old owner of ED tried to use it to get the new ED shut down when she started Oh!Internet.  I don't so much have a problem with the bills themselves as I do the wide field they permit for misuse.  They tend to be very poorly worded either intentionally or from straight up bureaucratic incompetence and wind up causing more harm than good.  I understand the need for copyright owners to protect their intellectual property, but it shouldn't come at the cost of intellectual innovation or consumers' rights.

[Chocofreak13]

what i see here is less protection of copyright laws and more a copy of china's green dam. people shouldn't rely on the government to inforce their morals. :\

[IanDanKilmaster]

It's not so much an enforcement of morals as it is legal protection of property.  Would you also say the same about laws regarding theft?

I just want to be clear that I'm not promoting a libertarian cause (even though it's damn close) - I just think the people who write these laws should know more about what the hell they're doing before they do it.  As it stands now, the only guide they have for writing legislation is money, which doesn't present a very balanced system for the rule of law.
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[Chocofreak13]

i agree with you. people shouldn't sign stuff without knowing what it says, that's how people get into bad cell phone contracts and piss-poor civil settlements.

however, i also think that this is likely going to be adapted by the more right-wing lawmakers to make a more "american" environment. whatever they mean by that is up for debate. :\

[IanDanKilmaster]

I feel compelled to point this out, but this isn't about left or right wing politics.

Much like the NDAAFY2012, the support for this bill is bi-partisan, as is the opposition.  This should go to show you that there is more at work than simple political agendas.  It's about money.  The citizens voicing opposition to this bill come from all backgrounds too.  This is one of the few issues that is really, truly polarizing.  So much so that it's even brought together seemingly diametrically-opposed groups like the Tea Party and the OWS Movement.  This isn't a time for political backbiting and finger-pointing because if this bill passes, we all lose.

[Chocofreak13]

well, yes. i wasn't citing the right wing specifically, i was just saying that people who want a more "christian" america might try to co-opt this bill to their own agenda. guess i worded it wrong. :\

that said, it's obvious that we're all gonna lose with this one. ><;;

[Bella]

IDK's right, there's absolutely no religious, nor right- or left-wing political motives behind SOPA, it's all about money... likewise, the opposition encompasses far left and right people and everyone in between, for the obvious threat it poses to everyone's liberty.

I don't think anyone plans to co-opt this bill into any sort of agenda, unless that agenda you speak of is bowing to pressure from the unbelievably corrupt and money-hungry entertainment industry. Though the incredibly slipshod manner in which they plan to "stop" piracy is quite suspicious, and I have wondered if it might not be a ploy to silence political subversion in the future...

[Chocofreak13]

eh, i'm just expecting the country to get some sort of version of green dam in the future, disguised as something less......censor-y.

i should also stop posting about politics when i'm tired. makes my arguement rather incoherent. ><;

[Nichi]

You know, the comparison to Green Dam remind me of a pic I uploaded to the gallery a while back involving Green Dam Girl, which sums up the invasion of privacy quite well

I hope it doesn't end up being like that...

[Chocofreak13]

with government intrusion, it always does. ><;