Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
This is some organization against controlling On-Line Piracy, but haven't read enough about it to see what exactly it represents or pertains to. Thought some of our more experienced computer Gurues might have some info on this! I guessit's a bill that if passed, it can shutdown certain sites for posting items that they don't rights to......................
Edited by Greenmohave (18 January 2012 @ 11:56 GMT)
Joined: Nov '11
Location: Poland
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 1090
Today Wikipedia in English is blackout because of SEPA protest... I don't know what USA want to do, but in this country lives extremely stupid people... SEPA will kill internet and freedom in internet...
Joined: Dec '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 38 (M)
Posts: 707
scrolling through internet and found this..this might go a wee bit to explaining
The only thing more terrifying than US congress trying to take an incumbent stranglehold over the internet is the apparent lack of care or concern exhibited by the general public.
To keep this as succinct as possible: SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) is a bill created and championed mostly by the bigs in Hollywood to stop the piracy and illegal sharing of copyrighted material. That sounds ok, but unfortunately the bill makes it illegal to share, or facilitate the sharing, of any copyrighted item (photo, video, text or audio).
It allows the owner of the copyright to nuke the offending site by pulling its domain from all US DNS servers (when you go to www.google.com a DNS server looks up the URL and finds that google.com belongs to the I.P 74.125.127.106. The I.P is the actual address, the domain means nothing it’s just a nickname). This means the site will technically be live, but it will be nearly impossible for anyone to find it (without knowing the actual I.P address).
The problem: This law extends to all content on your site, meaning if a user leaves a comment on your blog pointing to an un-authorized video, you could permanently lose all access to your own site. This will force all sites to refuse all user-generated content, and sites based entirely on it (Wikipedia, Twitter, Facebook…etc.) will have to shut down, or spend all of their time policing the content being added to their site.
This will effectively kill all social media. Any SM sites remaining will be forced to censor and monitor your online activities to the point of completely destroying any semblance of free speech.
Even worse, this law includes private email msgs (if they’re hosted on an online mail host). Meaning Gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo mail will all be forced to read and edit (or refuse delivery) of any msgs violating this law.
I’ve already been in more than one heated debate of SOPA, and not against anyone who’s actually in support of the bill. I’ve found most people have one of two reactions when informed of what SOPA means:
1) “Whatever, they’ll never pass that law”
Or the slightly more ignorant:
2) “That will never happen”
To clear up any confusion: 1) They are actively trying to pass this law as you read this. You’ll see where SOPA is in the law making process in the infographic below. 2) It can and is in the process of happening.
So if you like things like: Social media, blogs, reviews, streaming video, streaming audio, web-based email and the right to free speech, take a look at the infographic below and share it with as many people as you can.
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
Yeah! Learned a lot about this BS today and how it's one more thing the U.S. GOV is after to control or take away the U.S. citizens Constitutional Rights / Amendments. Damn! I'm so sick of this country's political BS / Communist ways. Hopefully this one falls through Congress! Don't know what else to say or am I allowed "Freedom of Speech" in the U.S. anymore. Any Foundries in the U.K.?
By the way thanks Admin / Mobsters for the feedback!
Joined: Mar '11
Location: Canada
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 1490
The sad fact is, that this Bill WILL pass. The government is a perfectly crafted system, run by crooks and cowards. The system is setup in such a way, that they force things that benefit themselves and infringe on our rights, often behind our backs, and under the guise that it's "for our good".
People need to wake up and see the real reason behind SOPA. Sopa has nothing to do with copyright infringement. It has nothing to do with hollywood wanting to make more money. It's all about the government tightening the stranglehold of control they have over us. By implementing SOPA, they reserve the right to censor us, limiting our ability to freely express ourselves. This is all about them wanting to quell free thinking and creativity. This is about them NOT wanting us to think for ourselves. This is about them being afraid that we are sick and tired of the b******t, and starting rallies/awarness meetings, occupy movements etc.
They know the masses are pissed off, they know if they don't do something soon, they'll lose control. Look at what happened in Egypt. Peaceful protests held by people fed up with their government. They got together and non-violently protested. They didn't break any laws or cause any harm. Yet their government shut down the internet on them, because they knew it would stop them from being able to form protests.
We rely on internet for basically the majority of our communcation now. If they censor it, it's just one step closer to oppression by a government that wants complete control over what we do, what we think, what we say and who we are.
Joined: Mar '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 6714
Was yesterday not the big day? Anyway, its BS, and IMO down to sites like Wikileaks, governments cant control themselves so they try to control others. I don't bye in to the "hollywood" idea, just a mask, like most things the US trys to pull they start by coating the truth in BS, they don't even try to be convincing anymore. Via my connection there are lots of sites blocked, I have been adding sites IP to my hosts file, simples. This will not stop piracy, only slow it down for a short while, but will cause a lot of damage to a lot of web based business that employ lots of people. Quote - retribution, "The government is a perfectly crafted system, run by crooks and cowards" Sure is...government to me = Pawns.
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1886
Until a few months ago I thought copyright law was a good thing and that piracy was the enemy of our cherished creative industries. Then I woke up.
Ownership of creativity only stifles it. The law protects the big companies not the individuals who create art. Copyright is simply a way to guarantee profit by managing scarcity. It allows companies to sell ideas like physical products. The last time Hollywood made such a big stink was the beginning of video. They complained that video would bring the film industry to bankruptcy but actually it made them richer and more powerful than ever because they were able to take over the new industry and monopolize entertainment and expression to an even greater degree than before.
The internet is a fantastic social revolution where producers and consumers overlap and can communicate without the media industries. Cue the capitalist fat cats and the government trying to quickly reestablish control over the media pathways. I'm only surprised they've let it get this far.
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Greece
Age: 47 (F)
Posts: 14136
If they manage to pass this, things will get to bad for the internet worldwide. Those americans can sit on their asses for once and not trying to make profit from everything.
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
I'm actually believing that after the enlightment that was brought to peoples attention yesterday (1/18/2012) pertaining to what the actual affects SOPA / PIPA were going to have put a stop to this.
I have found out that 13 Senators / 10 State Representitives have immediately reacted to the peoples reactions on this. I do know that it's something that will not happen soon, but will be looked at in February as along with other proposed laws, bills, etc.
If something is passed it will be written and defined differently to where it strictly attacks true piracy instead of what this initial bill / law was imposing or implying.
I must say I was totally ignorant of what was going on until posting here on BRM. Thanks to Admin and all other Mobsters for heading me in the right direction to follow-up on the subject.
Joined: Mar '11
Location: Canada
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 1490
I think it's completely foolish for people to think that these "protests" will have an adverse affect on the decision to move on this bill. Sure a handful of politicians "reacted" to the outcry, but their opinions can and will be swayed. They are, after all, politicians, and our society is driven by corruption and greed. This bill stands to make a lot of people even richer, and our silly little protests won't deter them from taking this opportunity.
Aside from the money, we're also talking about them asserting more control over us, and that's the goal of the system. Complete and utter control. They want us to be sheep, they don't want us thinking for ourselves. Until we truly band together and fight back and take down the system, we will never truly be free.
I know I come across as a crack pot, but that's what "they" want us to think. That anyone that tries to speak the truth is just "crazy".
Joined: Feb '09
Location: Canada
Age: 47 (M)
Posts: 241
you want to stop SOPA a good start would be to support Ron Paul for he is trying to stop the legislation from going through not to mention he is the last hope for America
Joined: Aug '08
Location: Canada
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 658
Posted by 911insidejob: you want to stop SOPA a good start would be to support Ron Paul for he is trying to stop the legislation from going through not to mention he is the last hope for America
4 realz.
In Canada we already have our Conservative Government passing a similar piece of legislation. They started it in '09. In Canada we dont have piracy issues so they have been using Child Pornography as the main reason for the law.
National Union wrote Specifically, the legislation would:
-free police to access information on an Internet subscriber, such as name, street address and e-mail address without a search warrant. -force Internet service providers to freeze data on hard drives to prevent subscribers under investigation from deleting potentially important evidence. -require telecommunications companies to invest in technology enabling them to intercept all of the Internet communications they handle. -allow police to remotely activate tracking devices already embedded in cell phones and certain cars. -allow police to obtain data about where Internet communications are coming from and going to. make it a crime to arrange with a second person over the Internet for the sexual exploitation of a child.
Here is another link from the national broadcaster in Canada. Be warned they are always slanted left of the middle.
This is a video showing a police raid to close www.thepiratebay.org down ... it didnt go so well the site is still up and running strong like never before. But is this the kind of behaviour we will have to live with in a near future ???
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1886
Posted by 911insidejob: you want to stop SOPA a good start would be to support Ron Paul for he is trying to stop the legislation from going through not to mention he is the last hope for America
I don't think one good policy is enough to justify a whole campaign of awful political views. I may be wrong but I believe this guy wants to make abortions illegal, he is against any taxing of the rich for the welfare of the unfortunate, wants to completely close off the united states to the rest of the world. And whilst I think that the US does interfere too much with world politics, withdrawal from the UN and NATO would be a disaster for everyone.
The truth is that most politicians, even those that believe the government should legislate less, are pro-capitalism and therefore support market regulation either by the government or industry. Either way its a case of society controlled by a powerful minority. Any form of censorship over the internet will be costly for society.
Posted by retribution: I think it's completely foolish for people to think that these "protests" will have an adverse affect on the decision to move on this bill. Sure a handful of politicians "reacted" to the outcry, but their opinions can and will be swayed. They are, after all, politicians, and our society is driven by corruption and greed. This bill stands to make a lot of people even richer, and our silly little protests won't deter them from taking this opportunity.
Aside from the money, we're also talking about them asserting more control over us, and that's the goal of the system. Complete and utter control. They want us to be sheep, they don't want us thinking for ourselves. Until we truly band together and fight back and take down the system, we will never truly be free.
I know I come across as a crack pot, but that's what "they" want us to think. That anyone that tries to speak the truth is just "crazy".
Protesting alone probably will not work. I have just read though that the US department of justice, the FBI, the record industry association and the motion picture association of America were all hacked yesterday in response to the US shutting down megaupload which it accused of breaking piracy laws. The hacker group Anonymous have threatened further attacks on anyone who supports SOPA. I for one support the hackers in whatever they can do.
And what it does, is that it SUCKS. More about it here: 
