SOPA - the future of the internet is at risk

Tomorrow, the 18th, a number of sites will be blacking out in protest at the SOPA/PIPA legislation which in my personal opinion, and that of a vast number of others, threatens the very nature of the internet, the use of which we generally take for granted these days. The SOPA/PIPA legislation is basically an American issue but it has far reaching implications for everyone.

I did consider blacking out the whole LSF site but came to the conclusion that depriving spankos of reading material for 12 hours was not necessarily the best way to protest. Instead I have posted a banner on the home page which links to a site that explains what is likely to happen if this legislation goes ahead.

If spankos don't think it will affect them they couldn't be more wrong. No doubt a few will remember how Google decided to de-index all 11 million co.cc sites simply because a tiny minority were rogue sites, well this time we're not talking about de-indexing by a search engine, we're talking about sites being removed altogether. I hasten to add that there's no reason whatsoever for the LSF to be zapped, and we're not talking about Google this time but the US Government, but the example is applicable as who knows what will happen when you basically hand over control of the internet to Hollywood and the media companies.

I immediately sent in my opposition to the SOPA bill using the STOP SOPA site. I urge all other Americans to do the same.

I would like to thank Februs for posting the link. Like tiptopper, I too have responded to my representatives in Congress and urge all Americans to join in.

I fully agree. The whole crew of them up there on the hill are turning into a bunch of Nazis. If Americans think we still live in a Democracy they're wrong. We live in an oligarchy, which is ruled by few. Very sad...

This so true and you know the huge corporations, like Walmart are delighted with this proposal because it removes competition. sites like Craig's list will no longer be available. Bendover, you are right. we no longer live in a democracy. Each year I see less and less liberty. do speak out against this bill. everyone.
Islandcarol

As a spanking film producer of many years who has seen his works pirated on a commercial scale by people who have no interest in promoting and encouraging spanking film production but build sites to cash in on my hard work I fully support SOPA and any legislation that cuts off the funding to these scum.

Spanking films cost money to make and for many producers are barely commercially viable at the best of times. Commercial piracy where they see there latest film being offered and advertised for free within sometimes as little as an hour after it went live on the official site is now crippling these producers.

Every writer on here claims copyright on their work and would rightly object if I took all their stories and published a Kindle book of them to make money. You would quickly have Amazon 'censor' my book and remove it from their lists for infringement of your copyright. Why should I, as a film producer, not have similar protection from piracy and have sanctions available against sites that do not comply when told to remove my content?

SOPA primarily makes it illegal for US advertisers and payment processors to provide services and support to pirate sites. It means sites such as MegaUpload, a US based site, will not be able to take payments via PayPal and Visa etc. I fully support that because if the money was not there the pirate sites will close.

Sites like Google are driving the anti-SOPA hysteria because they are the largest pirate on the Internet and know how much money they make from advertisers by linking to pirated content. It is time that Google had its wings clipped re piracy.

I've never heard such utter nonsense. No-one is suggesting piracy is OK or advocating it but if you think the methods which are being proposed to combat it are in any way acceptable then I can only assume you've failed to understand the nature of what's being proposed. On top of that I wouldn't trust the media organisations, who appear to have a very unhealthy degree of influence over those in power, to be reasonable as history shows they've been anything but that to date.

If sites such as MegaUpload are causing a problem then deal with them individually. Suggesting the very way the internet works be tampered with to satisfy some media organisation is crazy. You're also entirely mistaken in regards to Google as they have been reluctant to participate in today's protests and personally I'd have liked them to do a lot more. It's time the media companies had their wings clipped, not Google, and that politicians distanced themselves from their frenetic lobbying.

This is what happens. A few outliers create a problem for well connected industry players. The solution? Far reaching legislation with many unforeseen and unintended consequences and a huge grant of power to plaintiff's lawyers and federal bureaucrats. I agree that piracy is a problem but it seems that this solution is like mole hunting with an elephant gun. Copyright infringement can be a complex issue. The use of clips as parody or political commentary would, for example, ordinarily be fair use, but if the domain of a site featuring such can be shut down based on the complaint of the copyright owner, the you effectively have a ban on free speech.Frequently the mere threat of litigation is enough. Small service providers can be run out of business. This is just another example of an overly aggressive and powerful federal government trashing the rights of the individual.

Here's the other point of view - if one person uploads a single story to the library that they didn't write then the entire library is treated as if it was a warz site and slammed. No, make that "if one person decides to say that someone uploaded one of their stories" we could be hit - because action is taken before investigation. Looking beyond that - the people enforcing those laws have demonstrated an anti-porn bias. This law gives them new tools to deal with sites that they do approve of by 'accidentally' slamming porn sites - which they will be able to do due to the lack of due process. All it takes is one person in the bible belt to send in complaints about porn sites ripping him off and they can be removed from search engines. And if the site wanted to fight then they would have to fight where the complainer is. I.E. if someone from Georgia and Alaska complained then they would have to have a lawyer fighting for them in Georgia and Alaska. And if someone from Maine complained after those complaints were dealt with, the site would then need a lawyer in Maine.

In regards to this free site - I can't see the owners routinely flying across the pond to deal with things - or having the wherewithal to hire law firms as needed. And if it can afford to fight then would lose by default.

Please see:
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/dont-censor-web.html
and
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/everything-you-need-to-know-about -congresss-online-piracy-bills-in-one-post/2011/12/16/gIQAz4ggyO_blog.html
for more information about the untended reaches of the bill.

Goodgulf

As a resident of Brazil I have no representative in American Congress but I look at the SOPA/PIPA legislation with real preoccupation. I understand the fear of piracy but the remedy can kill the patient. There must be a way to protect people and companies' work from parasites by measures that will keep Internet free for all the rest of us the way it's today.