The Day the Internet Stood still

[Dialga_Palkia]

http://americancensorship.org/

 

Basically the American government is trying to block every single website across the world and count as a felony for copyrighting material. In other words, we're all going to jail even if it's a piece of fan art, listening to a song we enjoy, sharing something online. Message boards, youtube, twitter, facebook , etc. and the like are all targets and will result a felony of five years, even for a single action. It's ludicrous. It's not likely to pass, but lets pray it doesn't. Hollywood just needs to shut the hell up for once. I am thoroughly disappointed how Nintendo, Sony, EA, and some companies support this.  Basically, this is the internet kill switch. It's like Lavos erecting out of the inner tubes of the  net destroying every IP in its path. Remember that C&D years ago? Oh yes, that's pretty much like that too. We need to fight for the cause and prevent this, for every man woman and child! No one wants to be in prison for something they love to do at home. And this will cause the economy to go into ruin; the lack of manufacturing and food products, patients in hospitals will die without the right type of doctors if they're arrested, people wont be in school. In fact, the majority of the jobs here is at stake; nevertheless, Obama better vetoes this. But wait, here's the irony here. Doesn't the government themselves also have pages that advertise them like on youtube? I'm pretty sure they're breaking the law as well then. Anyways, discuss.

[Lord J Esq]

Prison reform will become a big issue once we're all locked up there.

Anyhow, we are seriously going to lose many of our Internet freedoms if we do not do more to defend them. It's a travesty, and all the more so because most people don't really care.

[tushantin]

I mentioned this in this thread before, and indeed, it's a horrid (and ignorant) decision on the part of lawmakers.

Not just that, but influential databases like Project Gutenberg will also be in danger, even if the database isn't "illegal" in any way. Which means all our efforts to information, all years of efforts, destroyed by idiots in armchairs. And all because guys at Sony and the like want to protect their profit margin.

You can even sign a petition here: http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet_d/?ciSZkcb

[tushantin]

Now here's a weird deal: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2011/11/the-sopa-act-continues-to-get-dirtier/

In a move that is almost so bizarre it makes you wonder whether or not we’re actually living in some really bad sitcom - one so bad you definitely wouldn’t pirate it – the American House of Representatives has barred all opponents of the bill – from civil rights groups to some of the worlds leading technology corporations – from testifying.

The only groups who are allowed to testify at the hearing are those who support the bill – the Hollywood studios, the American Chamber of Commerce and Pharmaceutical companies running scared from their drugs being sold online at reasonable prices.

[alfadorredux]

If you happen to be American, signing this might be more effective—at least it will block the bill for a couple of additional seconds while your name is read into the record.

[Lord J Esq]

We gotta get Tikki Tikki Tembo-no Sa Rembo-chari Bari Ruchi-pip Peri Pembo in on this.

[Truthordeal]

I'm just gonna repost what I said when tush posted that link earlier:

Eh. Every time one of these comes up the Internet gets hysterical for a few days and then nothing comes of it. So I'll cut out the middle man this time and just not worry.

Let's face it: The government is not gonna shut down Youtube, or Google, or Facebook. It's not gonna shut down any of the major torrenting sites or file hosting sites either. It's not gonna shut down 4chan(not that it could if given the legal power to do so.) and it's not gonna shut down Firefox or any of the browsers; all of these things can aid in "pirating" things. So if it's not gonna do any of that, what power does it have to begin with?

[Acacia Sgt]

Who knows. That kind of passiveness may be what makes it go through during the Nth attempt. Then again, I can't say how this whole thing works...

[Dialga_Palkia]

Now they're trying to bribe into the government into thinking it's all due to the Job Crisis in America. I don't recall the last time I've heard of a crisis as of 2 or 3 years ago. Good god Obama veto this or get impeached. The internet was a place for discovery. Just like looking into beta stuff of Chrono Trigger for example, or looking at photos dating back to 1930's in color ( neogaf ) , or perhaps trying to get in contact with some and share some cool stuff like artwork, but the government wants to take it all away from us.    It's like they're the true final boss of the world. It's funny, America was found for freedom and yet these old blokes are trying to take it away. Isn't there a game where a country that serves for good just suddenly goes downright corrupt and a band of heroes must stop them for turning the country into ruin?

[Acacia Sgt]

Isn't there a game where a country that serves for good just suddenly goes downright corrupt and a band of heroes must stop them for turning the country into ruin?

Funny you say that. One that comes to mind that closely follows that is Fire Emblem Genealogy of the Holy War.

But it's more like it 'gets taken over', rather than an abrupt 180 from it's leaders, but close enough.

[Truthordeal]

Well, from what I understand Congress only convenes on Tuesday/Wednesday/Thursday, so you all now have three days to finish up downloading your porn or torrents, and keeping the 99% beta of Crimson Echoes(which totally doesn't exist if anyone important is reading this) safe on someone's flash drive.

[Acacia Sgt]

I'll assume that post isn't implying it has already passed? Either way, a defeatist attitude doesn't help either.

Anyway, I do wonder, if/when it passes, how exactly would it affect the Compendium? I'll admit I don't know too many details of the bill itself, but even so I'd be asking this anyway. Pretty much it'd get impacted in many ways, isn't it?

[Truthordeal]

It hasn't passed yet, and it probably won't. The markup meeting for the bill is December 15th, so my facetiousness got the timeline wrong even. It is also odd seeing as the Congressional Schedule has the adjournment date for the House at December 8th. Still, it won't get marked up in under a day, and Congress will have a mini-rebellion if they have to stay and do work over the Christmas holiday, so it won't get passed any time this year.

So, 2012 starts with January, which is when the Republican presidential primaries start as well as the Democratic lower office primaries. It is going to be a contentious election year, and there isn't a Congressman with enough balls to stick their neck out during an election year, except Ron Paul, who is lacking in brains to know when to quit anyway. The bill will get tabled again and again, until its either voted on(and it will lose) or it gets forgotten like COICA was. If it does pass, then it has to go through President Obama's veto(and he will veto it because its an election year and Obama's not completely fucking stupid) and a 2/3 majority, which it will fail to get.

So it's not gonna pass.

But if it does, let me list some people who are on our side:

Opponents of the bill include Google, Yahoo!, Facebook, Twitter, Reddit, AOL, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla Corporation, the Wikimedia Foundation, the Brookings Institution and human rights organizations such as Reporters Without Borders,[94] the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU and Human Rights Watch.[95][96][97]

The first 10 basically run the Internet. There's pretty much nothing that you use that isn't hosted by one of those entities. Then there's the ACLU and the EFF. If any action is actually taken under the bill, heads will roll by the sheer volume of lawsuits that will come up.

So my attitude isn't defeatist. I'm certain of our victory. There's no way in hell this thing is going to pass in Congress with the state of things in our government, and even if it does, our allies are powerful enough to sweep aside just about any other lobbying group. Considering the petitions, activism, blah blah blah yakety schmakety that this thing has already blown up this past week, I'm not worried, and neither should any of you be.

[Lord J Esq]

One of my senators, Washington's Maria Cantwell, is one of the few active opponents of the legislation in the Senate. The other, Patty Murray, is a member of the Democratic leadership and could do a lot to stop the bill. However, she has not yet delcared her opposition. I wrote her a letter:

Dear Senator Murray:

I write to you to voice my concern over the threats facing the Internet as we know it in the United States. I ask that you join Senator Cantwell in opposing the Protect IP Act in the Senate. I also ask that you wield your leadership powers in the Senate responsibly and effectively to assure that this dangerous bill, or its House equivalent, never even comes up for a vote.

As a writer I have many concerns about digital abuses of intellectual property, but looking at these Senate and House bills leaves me with only one inescapable conclusion: This legislation is not intended to protect the intellectual property rights of content creators. This legislation is far too heavy-handed, far too broad-reaching for that. It is an attempt to end the Internet as we know it, to censor free speech and curtail socialization. It is an enemy of liberty and enterprise alike. Many websites I know and use will be threatened existentially through no fault of their own by the provisions in these bills, and even my own perfectly legal participation online would be altered and curtailed.

In short this legislation is unacceptable, and if it becomes law you will be one of the people responsible for forcing millions of Americans to become criminals simply for living an American lifestyle, and forcing millions of others to give up the freedoms they do not have the energy or resources to protect from governmental abuse.

It is unfathomable that a Democratic Senator, Patrick Leahy, could be the primary sponsor of this bill in my Senate, and unfathomable that another twenty or so Democrats have signed onto it as cosponsors. I take it as a given these days that Congress can't get anything done with the Tea Party controlling the House, and yet somehow this legislation to destroy the Internet has bipartisan support?

To be perfectly blunt, Senator, I think some of you people in D.C. have lost your minds.

During the fight for healthcare reform, I conditioned my future support of you on the passage of a public option, which we did not get. I changed my mind and voted for you anyway because the law that did pass is a promising one. Once again, however, I find myself pushed into the corner of warning that I will condition my further support of you upon your opposition to the Protect IP bill. And this time, I will hold you to that. If that bill in any form, or anything else like it, passes...then I will not vote for you again. I'm not a rich lobbyist, so maybe that doesn't mean anything to you, but, for goodness' sake...you're a Democrat representing Washington State. You should know what is on the line here.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for listening to my concerns and the concerns of millions of Americans on this issue, and please hear my wish that we will soon see the day where the United States Congress isn't pushing legislation so evil that it threatens to wreck the country.

Sincerely,

[Lord J Esq]

I also wrote Senator Cantwell a letter expressing my support of her opposition and asking her to do what she could to stop this damn thing. If you're reading this, Radical_Dreamer, here's some Joshalonian outrage for you. Destroying the Internet as we know it is not cool.

Incidentally, the Compendium would be highly vulnerable and exposed to the censorship provisions in this legislation, were the legislation to become law.