Simple Machines Community Forum

Simple Machines => News and Updates => Topic started by: LiroyvH on January 05, 2012, 10:17:15 AM

Title: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 05, 2012, 10:17:15 AM
Dear users and guests,


As some, and hopefully most, of you will know, a bill was introduced to the United States House of Representatives which is called Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).
Simple Machines would like to make an official stance on this bill. Whilst you may be used to us being completely neutral on many matters, such as politics, religion and many other aspects, this bill poses such a threat to the entire internet community, including possibly ourselves and yourself as end user of our software, that we figured it was time to raise awareness of the dangers and problems involved with this bill.

While we do wholeheartedly support the primary goal of SOPA, which is to protect innovators and copyright holders from infringement and piracy by malicious persons, the bill in its current form is highly dangerous towards day to day operations throughout the entire internet, even outside of the United States, and may cause innocent people and companies to be prosecuted under the United States law. People and companies may even lose their websites or get cut off from receiving funds from payment processors without due process or any discernible probable cause, as the terms on when such a block can be put in place is very vague.

Let us first tell you a little bit more about SOPA.
The bill was introduced on October 26, 2011 by representative Lamar Smith with 12 initial co-sponsors.
This bill will give the US law enforcement and copyright holders more abilities to block and stop the distribution of copyrighted material and counterfeits. (Note: related acts are PRO-IP and PROTECT IP Act)
However, the way it is handled leaves no room for proper defense.

Some of the main issues with the bill are:
- Threat to online businesses
- Direct threat towards Web hosting companies
- General negative effects to DNSSEC, DNS and internet security in its entirety
- Threat to online freedom of speech, the bill will make censorship very easy
- Destroying of the safe harbors in the current DMCA laws
- Potential criminalization of users uploading content (including jail time!)
- Threat to Open Source software
- Providers can be forced to deploy deep packet inspection to directly target users, which violates user privacy
- Providers can be forced to block internet access completely to individuals
- Search engines will be censored
- Payment providers can be forced to block funding to individuals without a legal process or having to check safe harbors
- DNS systems in the US can be forced to block your access to certain websites, you no longer have the rights to choose what you visit, regardless of whether a site is legal or not!

TL;DR: it will cripple the internet, free speech and free choice throughout the world.

This bill will change the fundamentals of the internet completely. Legal processes that would usually be required to get far reaching measures set in place towards malicious users can effectively be bypassed by SOPA, which means that completely legit users may also be attacked, simply because the SOPA bill has such a broad language inside of it that it can be interpreted in many ways and it leaves no room for payment processors, DNS providers and (hosting) providers to see what is true or false: they have no choice but to oblige. Why? Because when they cooperate voluntarily, they will be immune from persecution. If they do not cooperate because it is unclear: they can be held liable.

You do not have the power to "act in good faith" with SOPA, such as required in the current notice and takedown system of DMCA, primarily due to SOPA's broad language. The bill will allow corporations and the government more power over free speech and provide completely new methods of effectively starting internet censorship for whatever it is they see not fit as being on the internet. (Basically, what a corporation could see as slander, but free speech to the user, could lead to a request for blocks from payment processors and providers by the corporation which will have to be honored within a matter of days.)
Because there are no more safe harbors such as with the current DMCA system, third party and user-generated content providers (such as Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Google, online communities like our own, and even the SMF websites that you create and use!) will be the ones liable and thus undermines the current legal structures that have allowed some internet platforms to evolve.

Again, let me make it clear that the proposed goal, to protect owners of content (copyright holders) against infringement and piracy, is a very good goal. However, SOPA itself contains many errors that will cause major problems to the functioning on the internet, it will threaten internet service providers and it can be a threat to all of you: the end users of the internet.
For example, your website can be shutdown solely for giving a negative opinion on something, as little as ONE user posting a link to copyrighted content or actually uploading it to your website. Next to that, YOU will run in to big trouble.
This is also why giant internet tech companies such as Google, Yahoo, Facebook, AOL, Ebay, Amazon, etc. are taking a hard stand against SOPA and are even threatening to blackout for a extended period of time to show the world what could happen if SOPA passes.

Please consider all of this well and try to understand the major negative impact this bill will have on the entire internet and especially to potentially innocent users and companies whom merely wish to use their right on Free Speech.
Make a stand against SOPA now! Contact your local Congressional representative, or if you are outside the US, sign petitions that request your government to make a firm stand against SOPA. After all, this can negatively effect all business and individuals all over the world.

For more information, please visit the following links:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/sopa-hollywood-finally-gets-chance-break-internet
http://americancensorship.org/
http://savehosting.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act#Arguments_against
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act

To join in, read americancensorship.org and see how you can get involved. You may also wish to 'censor' your website.

As part of the protest against SOPA, Simple Machines has decided to move all our domain names away from GoDaddy on a short notice, which is to say: as soon as possible. While we have done flawless business with GoDaddy to handle our domain registration for multiple years, their recent behavior in supporting SOPA, a law that if passed will be in direct conflict with the interests of their clients, is completely unacceptable and we do not feel like we can trust them to handle in our interests any longer. We are aware that GoDaddy suddenly, in response to the major amount of negative messages and many people leaving them, changed their point of view and "dropped" support for the act, such a change can occur again without problems when their larger clients do seem to enjoy the bill. Hence, the trust is gone and we will move.

Thank you for your due consideration and helping put a halt to the enrollment of this bill!
We sincerely hope that you will do all you can to attempt to stop this bill from ever passing Congress!


Thank you.

- Simple Machines Board of Directors
- Simple Machines Members
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Deaks on January 05, 2012, 10:32:46 AM
shame there is no +1 for the post :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: gisfreak on January 05, 2012, 10:40:36 AM
totally agreed, banned godaddy *devil
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 05, 2012, 10:50:31 AM
Please be aware of the facts and avoid overly emotional responses.

GoDaddy is just fine as a domain provider. We have no issue with their service in that respect.
In previous years, they donated a large sum to the Simple Machines Forum project.

We have opted to withdraw our business from them as a form of protest against actions and intentions on the part of the GoDaddy leadership which we disagree with.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Robert. on January 05, 2012, 10:55:21 AM
Great post, couldn't agree more :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 05, 2012, 11:10:06 AM
Bravo!
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Oldiesmann on January 05, 2012, 11:33:25 AM
Quote from: Runic on January 05, 2012, 10:32:46 AM
shame there is no +1 for the post :)

https://plus.google.com/b/108050083330054948623/108050083330054948623/posts/cvULjJyXZ95

+1 it all you like :P
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Deaks on January 05, 2012, 12:36:16 PM
Quote from: Oldiesmann on January 05, 2012, 11:33:25 AM
Quote from: Runic on January 05, 2012, 10:32:46 AM
shame there is no +1 for the post :)

https://plus.google.com/b/108050083330054948623/108050083330054948623/posts/cvULjJyXZ95

+1 it all you like :P

and you fifnt even mention it on facebook ... Oldiesmann what we gonna do with you dude ....
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Oldiesmann on January 05, 2012, 12:42:48 PM
Quote from: Runic on January 05, 2012, 12:36:16 PM
Quote from: Oldiesmann on January 05, 2012, 11:33:25 AM
Quote from: Runic on January 05, 2012, 10:32:46 AM
shame there is no +1 for the post :)

https://plus.google.com/b/108050083330054948623/108050083330054948623/posts/cvULjJyXZ95

+1 it all you like :P

and you fifnt even mention it on facebook ... Oldiesmann what we gonna do with you dude ....

On FB now... :P
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Deaks on January 05, 2012, 12:43:22 PM
yeh only cause I posted it :P

Terrible you removed my post ... im gonna cry now :P
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 05, 2012, 01:20:30 PM
I been aware of this act for a while also. I have taken steps, hoping my voice is heard.

Quote
while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.
How do you measure damages, there is no way to measure damages to a site being pulled. Once you pull the site you kill it, visitors that the site once had never come back. Some real, BS in the bill there.

IMHO lawmakers DO NOT have a place on the internet backbone and they should quit trying to modify something they DO NOT understand. They should focus their interest on companies that they think infringe on copyright law instead of missing up the internet infrastructure.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Angelina Belle on January 05, 2012, 01:31:17 PM
Here's a useful discussion of the bill by some law professors.
The first-page summary is a good read:

Law Professor's Letter on SOPA (https://www.eff.org/document/law-professors-letter-sopa)

GoDaddy says it was making efforts to improve the bill, but has since given up on it.
http://www.godaddy.com/newscenter/release-view.aspx?news_item_id=378

I think it will take a lot for GoDaddy to win back the trust of so many of its customers who have left or who are planning to leave.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: meetdilip on January 05, 2012, 01:43:30 PM
SOPA is going to pass then ?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 05, 2012, 01:44:00 PM
That is not certain yet, but the chances are huge that it will, yes.
That is exactly why we ask all of you to take action :)
Check out the links posted.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: MultiformeIngegno on January 05, 2012, 01:50:19 PM
I couldn't write a better post. Agreed 100%!
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Deaks on January 05, 2012, 01:55:12 PM
No-one online is really safe no matter what software you use, be it SMF, YaBB, vBulletin, Wordpress etc if SOPA as is passes,  now like many people in the forum I am not in USA, I am in Scotland, and even I worry what it means for SOPA passing, so even if you are outwith USA, its important that you also stand against it, many of the sites tell y ou how you can contact congress even if you are not from the US.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ARG01 on January 05, 2012, 01:56:37 PM
I have over 40 domains currently hosted at Godaddy. I will be moving them as soon as funds are available.

Thanx for the article CoreISP.  ;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Angelina Belle on January 05, 2012, 01:57:27 PM
It takes 3 big steps for a bill to become a law in the US
1) Passed by the HR
2) Passed by the Senate
3) Signed by the president.


This bill originated in the HR, and has not passed the HR.
There is time. Contact your US Representative, your US Senator, and the White House.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 05, 2012, 02:02:10 PM
Lets get real down to earth.

What do you think of the possibilities of Simple Machines site being pulled. Can you be 100% sure out of over 3 million post, 1000+ mods and themes, that even one of these doesn't violate SOPA. Remember all you need is a link to content that is suspected of copyright infringement as defined by this law.

What will be the value or compensation given back to Simple Machines which isn't in it for money. How can they give back to lost development time and even worse give back to the community that had to do without? How do you measure that in money? But this wouldn't effect Simple Machines only, but the entire community here, from the mod community to technical support. IMHO people will loose interest in Simple Machines and will sadly have to find a alternative solution. Even when Simple Machines comes back it will be dead in the water, no community involvement and lost time.

Like my previous post, you pull a site you kill it.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Deaks on January 05, 2012, 02:16:32 PM
nend no-one is disagreeing with you.  It is important that everyone stand against SOPA in its current format.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 05, 2012, 02:26:55 PM
Quote from: Runic on January 05, 2012, 02:16:32 PM
nend no-one is disagreeing with you.  It is important that everyone stand against SOPA in its current format.
I know, I just want everyone to realize what can happen. You know, give them that extra push to do something about it instead of just agreeing.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: playful on January 05, 2012, 03:00:17 PM
Thank You SimpleMachines for educating me about SOPA.

I found your statement beautifully coherent and cogent. Until reading it, I had not realized the sinister extent of that bill.

I am grateful that you took time out of your other tasks to compose this amazing statement. It affects people well beyond SMF, so I have forwarded it to a non-SMF friend.

Wishing you a beautiful day.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 05, 2012, 04:04:34 PM
Thank you playful, that is exactly what we hope to accomplish: make as many people aware of this as we can and try to give people just that nudge to take action :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: holodoc on January 05, 2012, 06:11:01 PM
I fear time will come when the Internet itself will be divided into several separate DNS zones completely isolated from each other. With SOPA alive that idea is certainly coming closer to reality - the Internet as we know it utterly destroyed and for what? Money and pure greed.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 05, 2012, 06:27:14 PM
The big problem with the lawmakers dealing with SOPA is they are well aware they are ignorant of technical items and are not willing to bring in experts to discuss issues.

The last big hearing before the committee had a bunch of pro-SOPA companies and Google. Google tried quite decently to warn about the damages of the bill, but when they are being described as a pirate site by the lawmakers dealing with the bill, you know things are well stacked in favor of getting the bill passed.

There are a few sane folks on the committee and they are doing their best to stall the bill and keep it from ever being voted in, but even that may fail. Hopefully Google, Facebook, Twitter, and PayPal will go through with their coordinated blackout in protest if the bill exits the committee.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 06, 2012, 10:45:35 AM
The irony is that if the bill does go through, it'll be just like all the other BS like DRM - legitimate users will be penalised and those who flout the rules will just work around it like they always do.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 06, 2012, 11:26:59 AM
Quote from: 青山 素子 on January 05, 2012, 06:27:14 PM
Hopefully Google, Facebook, Twitter, and PayPal will go through with their coordinated blackout in protest if the bill exits the committee.
That would be big if they did went with a blackout. What would one do on the internet, I don't know the extent of the Google blackout, but allot of my sites use allot of the Google and Facebook API's that allot of features would be gone off my sites if they blacked out. Also you wouldn't be able to eBay or many other online merchants, Google Checkout and Paypal will be offline. Revenue and data for my sites will be gone, no Google Analytics or Adsense.

These bigger sites are the backbone of allot of smaller sites which will not work correctly if they blacked out. If they blackout, I might as well blackout too since it would be allot easier to explain to users that we blacked out because of SOPA then the stupid SOPA bill caused all these problems.

Anybody know of the date of the blackout, one day without the net isn't going to hurt me too much if it is for the greater good of protecting the internet as we know it. It isn't like I am going to go on a full blackout just maybe a landing page with information.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 06, 2012, 01:00:58 PM
Quote from: nend on January 06, 2012, 11:26:59 AM
Anybody know of the date of the blackout, one day without the net isn't going to hurt me too much if it is for the greater good of protecting the internet as we know it. It isn't like I am going to go on a full blackout just maybe a landing page with information.

According to the latest news article I could find, here (http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2012/01/sopa-blackout-could-shut-down-internet-facebook-google-twitter-amazon-and-more-to-go-dark.html), the plan is for January 24. This happens to be the day that the Senate is scheduled to vote.

If you want to participate in things, check out Stop American Censorship (http://americancensorship.org/). They have tools on the site for participating in the protest.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Deaks on January 06, 2012, 01:15:56 PM
████████ ██████ █████ ██████████████████ as █████ █████ █████ for █████ to use in ███████ to █████████ ████ ████, ████ to ███████ ████████ █████████ for non us ██████ ████ ██████ and ████ for ████ to ███████ ████████ and do █████ ████ █████ all ████ ████ ██████ █████ ████████ ████.

I've censored the following, in protest of a bill that gives any corporation and the US government the power to censor the internet--a bill that could pass THIS WEEK. To see the uncensored text, and to stop internet censorship, visit:
http://americancensorship.org/posts/33365/uncensor (http://americancensorship.org/posts/33365/uncensor)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 06, 2012, 01:31:17 PM
Quote from: 青山 素子 on January 06, 2012, 01:00:58 PM
Quote from: nend on January 06, 2012, 11:26:59 AM
Anybody know of the date of the blackout, one day without the net isn't going to hurt me too much if it is for the greater good of protecting the internet as we know it. It isn't like I am going to go on a full blackout just maybe a landing page with information.

According to the latest news article I could find, here (http://blog.zap2it.com/pop2it/2012/01/sopa-blackout-could-shut-down-internet-facebook-google-twitter-amazon-and-more-to-go-dark.html), the plan is for January 24. This happens to be the day that the Senate is scheduled to vote.

If you want to participate in things, check out Stop American Censorship (http://americancensorship.org/). They have tools on the site for participating in the protest.

From article
QuoteMany consider the bill to be a form of censorship, similar to the way the China has blocked certain content from being accessed via internet. Now, major sites like Facebook, Google, Twitter, Amazon, Ebay, Wikipedia,Yahoo, Paypal, and more are planning to completely black out their services on January 23, instead displaying a message urging users to contact their reps and speak out against SOPA.

So it looks like the 23, it would probably be easier to set my forums in maintenance mode I think then hassle with the domain folder. Other custom sites I have I plan to put a include in the main script file which can kill the rest of the script. So it seems pretty simple to bring them down. I am debating about doing this myself.  ::)

I just posted on one of my forums, so I guess I am going through with it. This forum is heavy on API's so it might not work anyways if they go through with it.

My post @ my site

Title
QuoteOur stance on SOPA

Body
Quote
Amazon, eBay, Facebook, Google,  PayPal, Twitter, Yahoo, Wikipedia and many more have planned a blackout to show congress what could happen if SOPA is passed. The blackout will be for January the 23 of 2012 and all services from these providers will be halted.

This means on that day you will not be able to browse the internet as freely as you can now. You will not be able to check your Facebook, Google+ or Twitter status. You will not be able to shop eBay or Amazon or pay for a purchase at a site that takes PayPal. You will not be able to use Google or Yahoo search also. You will not be able to use any of the services provided by these sites.

It has not been determine if the blackout level will affect any of the API's hosted by these services. If it does then any site that uses an API provided by the sites that are in the blackout will not work at all or will not work properly. So this means any site you see the Facebook, Google, PayPal or Twitter logo will not work properly or not at all. The API's for most of these sites also extend to external applications, such as those you find on your Android, IPhone or even your PC.

We have determine it is in the best interest of this website and internet as a whole to support these sites as they descend into the blackout. On January the 23 if any of these services are off line meaning they went through with the blackout, the chances are that we would of have pulled the plug also.

If you plan to take action against SOPA or need more information on SOPA please visit the links below.
https://www.eff.org/action
http://americancensorship.org/
http://savehosting.org/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PROTECT_IP_Act

We know how much of an inconvenience this may be to you and we should be back on the 24th. Please understand this blackout is a attempt to show congress what could happen if they pass this bill. This bill affects are freedom of speech on the internet and it must be shot down.

Sorry for any inconvenience,
SI Team
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 06, 2012, 02:18:19 PM
I could have sworn the article said January 24 when I read it. Oh well, January 23 then. Should be fun to see if they go through with it. Having tumblr down earlier resulted in the House of Reps phone system overloading, I can't imagine what will happen if sites with a much wider audience do this.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Thantos on January 06, 2012, 02:24:02 PM
What we really need is for the House's and Senate's upstream provider to block those sites on a copyright violation claim.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: InfoStrides on January 06, 2012, 05:20:58 PM
This is a pressing issue. I will advise all SMF users to campaign against the BILL our various forums.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Antechinus on January 06, 2012, 06:04:51 PM
Quote from: Thantos on January 06, 2012, 02:24:02 PM
What we really need is for the House's and Senate's upstream provider to block those sites on a copyright violation claim.

That would work, and I bet they would have some content that would provide an excuse.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Oldiesmann on January 07, 2012, 12:06:22 AM
I have a feeling there's some shady business going on here as well, given the political clout and deep pockets that some of the supporters have. I'm sure a few of them have "encouraged" their politicians to support the bill with the promise of a large donation to their election campaign. Teamsters in particular has a lot of influence as far as politics go.

I can't figure out why some of these groups are supporting it though - how to the FOP, Mastercard and Visa benefit from this bill? Less work for them to do as far as fighting piracy?

One way we can help though. I just found a site that includes contact info for every organization supporting COPA :D

http://companiessupportingsopa.com/list-of-companies-backing-sopa/

Click on a company and it'll give you info on how to get in touch with them.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: JBlaze on January 07, 2012, 01:20:53 AM
Personally, I think SOPA is the proverbial wool over our eyes. It was introduced as a means to keep us distracted while they (the Congress/House of Reps) draw up an even more sinister way to censor the internet and other things.

I hope to every deity that I am wrong. But, I've noticed that I am not alone in feeling this way either.

Also, in regards to the proposed "blackout" on January 23rd, I have only one thing to say about that...

(http://i.qkme.me/35nqwq.jpg)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 07, 2012, 01:25:35 AM
Quote from: Oldiesmann on January 07, 2012, 12:06:22 AM
I have a feeling there's some shady business going on here as well, given the political clout and deep pockets that some of the supporters have. I'm sure a few of them have "encouraged" their politicians to support the bill with the promise of a large donation to their election campaign. Teamsters in particular has a lot of influence as far as politics go.

Think of how well this would have worked against sites like Wikileaks.


Quote from: Oldiesmann on January 07, 2012, 12:06:22 AM
I can't figure out why some of these groups are supporting it though - how to the FOP, Mastercard and Visa benefit from this bill? Less work for them to do as far as fighting piracy?

To some degree. FOP will always want to look tough on "crime" of course. As far as Mastercard and Visa, there are many websites out there that sell fake cards, holographic seals, and other items that can be used for credit fraud that costs them quite a bit.

Of course, this law is a bad way to go around counterfeit and otherwise illegal goods, but that won't stop any company that has a vested interest from taking what they can get.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 07, 2012, 01:44:54 AM
I can't access anything Google right now, anyone else experiencing this. Arghh right in the middle of some Android development and can't even read the docs. :(

My ads are showing on my sites, strange but My G+ connect does not work. Did they do a early test?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 07, 2012, 02:06:36 AM
Quote from: JBlaze on January 07, 2012, 01:20:53 AM
Personally, I think SOPA is the proverbial wool over our eyes. It was introduced as a means to keep us distracted while they (the Congress/House of Reps) draw up an even more sinister way to censor the internet and other things.

I hope to every deity that I am wrong. But, I've noticed that I am not alone in feeling this way either.

Also, in regards to the proposed "blackout" on January 23rd, I have only one thing to say about that...

Must be the Protect IP Act that nobody seems to know about because SOPA is getting all the attention.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 07, 2012, 02:39:32 AM
Quote from: nend on January 07, 2012, 01:44:54 AM
I can't access anything Google right now, anyone else experiencing this. Arghh right in the middle of some Android development and can't even read the docs. :(

Google's working for me. Also see http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/google.com (http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/google.com).


Quote from: JBlaze on January 07, 2012, 01:20:53 AM
Personally, I think SOPA is the proverbial wool over our eyes. It was introduced as a means to keep us distracted while they (the Congress/House of Reps) draw up an even more sinister way to censor the internet and other things.

I hope to every deity that I am wrong. But, I've noticed that I am not alone in feeling this way either.

I think it's more of the whole asking for something utterly insane, then scaling back to something bad but much better negotiation technique. Either way, I think there will be yet more bad laws, but perhaps SOPA is just a way of making something bad look that much better.



Quote from: SleePy on January 07, 2012, 02:06:36 AM
Must be the Protect IP Act that nobody seems to know about because SOPA is getting all the attention.

PIPA looks like a gem compared to the insanity in SOPA. Both are bad, however.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 07, 2012, 02:54:42 AM
Quote from: 青山 素子 on January 07, 2012, 02:39:32 AM
Quote from: nend on January 07, 2012, 01:44:54 AM
I can't access anything Google right now, anyone else experiencing this. Arghh right in the middle of some Android development and can't even read the docs. :(

Google's working for me. Also see http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/google.com (http://www.downforeveryoneorjustme.com/google.com).


Ok, was just wondering because I thought it was odd that all Google services such as Google Search, Gmail, Plus, Youtube, aren't working and every other site on the web is that I normally visit.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: omidkosari on January 07, 2012, 01:09:30 PM
down with SOPA  >:(
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: holodoc on January 07, 2012, 01:59:29 PM
Quote from: nend on January 07, 2012, 02:54:42 AMOk, was just wondering because I thought it was odd that all Google services such as Google Search, Gmail, Plus, Youtube, aren't working and every other site on the web is that I normally visit.
Maybe you entered the Google Blackout Beta Testing program :D
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 07, 2012, 03:17:51 PM
Quote from: holodoc on January 07, 2012, 01:59:29 PM
Quote from: nend on January 07, 2012, 02:54:42 AMOk, was just wondering because I thought it was odd that all Google services such as Google Search, Gmail, Plus, Youtube, aren't working and every other site on the web is that I normally visit.
Maybe you entered the Google Blackout Beta Testing program :D
You know I was on the last step of the document I was reading. I click the link nothing, so I had to quit what I was doing yesterday since I didn't know what to do next. Today all Google services are up for me, that was strange, maybe lol.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arttu- on January 08, 2012, 08:51:57 AM
Hello, people of Simple Machines!

I have been using your forum software for a long time and have not needed to register, but I was so willing to participate in this discussion. I am totally against SOPA in the current form and I think it can not pass. I have an idea: If someone would code a "Website blocked by SOPA" landing page, where it would tell that access to this site is blocked by the US Government. The page would have a link to a sub-page explaining SOPA and a link to the petition page. Let's have our own blackout like Facebook etc. are having.

Something like this article image on Gizmodo: hxxp://gizmodo.com/stop-sopa/



—————————————————————
Thank you for reading,
Arttu
A worried European person.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 08, 2012, 11:52:03 AM
Have you looked at americancensorship.org? :)
You can censor your website using their premade scripts.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Deaks on January 08, 2012, 11:59:34 AM
there is also a mod on modsite that does it :P
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ARG01 on January 08, 2012, 12:21:04 PM
Quote from: CoreISP on January 08, 2012, 11:52:03 AM
Have you looked at americancensorship.org? :)
You can censor your website using their premade scripts.

I just did it myself since I did not want to use their code.

http://associationamerica.com

;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arttu- on January 08, 2012, 12:44:13 PM
Quote from: CoreISP on January 08, 2012, 11:52:03 AM
Have you looked at americancensorship.org? :)
You can censor your website using their premade scripts.

Hey, CoreISP

Yeah, that is only a small logo cover. I was looking for something to pop up on peoples faces while they try to browse my site, that people must interact with to continue browsing, majority of the people on my site (a gaming clan forum) seem to be coming from USA (according to Google Analytics). I want them to sign the petition, since I know they don't want it, neither do I because if something like this goes through in a big country, something similar will go through in smaller countries, like where I live, it has happened before and it will happen again.

Quote from: Runic on January 08, 2012, 11:59:34 AM
there is also a mod on modsite that does it :P

Hey, Runic

Your mod isn't quite what I am looking for  :)


---------
PS: That CAPTCHA is too darn hard for me, takes me ages to get through it, hopefully it wont be there forever.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: wynnyelle on January 08, 2012, 05:12:38 PM
To me the biggest shocker in this bill is that it proposes convicting people of a crime without giving them their day in court. Prosecuted and sentenced with NO court date at all. You are just guilty if the government or even a private 3rd party says that you are and you have no say from there. That is the most un-American and unconstitutional piece of legislation I have ever seen. One of the most basic tenets of our government is that you are innocent until proven guilty and this bill doesn't even try to pretend that is true.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on January 08, 2012, 05:19:46 PM
Indeed. The US government has been making way too many moves towards totalitarianism for quite some time. A large percentage of everyday people are too busy worrying about what Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan is up to to pay attention to, or even care what the government is doing.  Pop culture is too materialistic and celebrity dazed to see their very lifestyles being stripped away one right at a time.
It is time for America to wake up before we do find ourselves in a Soviet era Stalinist atmosphere.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 08, 2012, 05:25:46 PM
For those who vote: http://www.sopaopera.org/
A good information reference of our elected officials stance on sopa.

Its sad to only see one of my states official has made a stance, but its good to see that it was made against this.  Need to get the other officials to speak out as well.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: wynnyelle on January 08, 2012, 05:30:26 PM
Why isn't the public even getting to vote on this legislation? People don't like crime. If they truly saw this bill as a positive crime buster they'd be in favour of it.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 08, 2012, 05:39:44 PM
Quote from: Groovystar on January 08, 2012, 05:30:26 PM
Why isn't the public even getting to vote on this legislation? People don't like crime. If they truly saw this bill as a positive crime buster they'd be in favour of it.

Because it's not a positive crime buster, and to be honest I think the public being given a vote would make it worse because they would be manipulated into thinking it was about busting crime - which it isn't.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on January 08, 2012, 05:42:44 PM
Because number one: The government always thinks that they know better than us what is best for us- NannyState mentality.
Number two- It is backed by greed and corruption - the big media goons with deep pockets funding political campaigns.

Our elected officials are elected in the supposed position of looking out for our needs, but the sad reality is that they look after the wants of whoever has the big bucks. The only exception is when there is a loud enough public outcry supported by extreme media coverage to get their attention.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Robert. on January 08, 2012, 06:27:04 PM
SOPA sucks. It will not only ruin friendships, but it will also have an impact on the education of pupils. Why? Let's say I need to search something for school. I am having a presentation about WW2 in a few weeks. Now it will only take a few seconds to get what I need. When SOPA will be a law, I can't find information. Not only me. No one can get information anymore. That's why SOPA just sucks. When SOPA is a law, I'm gone from the internet.

Please, if you haven't signed the anti SOPA form yey, please do it now. Stop internet censoring. Save the internet.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 08, 2012, 06:42:33 PM
I wouldn't exaggerate like that. In the event that SOPA passes and is used in all the ways that we fear it will be, the solution for those of us in Europe is quite straightforward: we just carry out - it just means we're going to be concentrating on European specific stuff rather than catering to European/American concerns.

Put it this way, if it were to happen, I could fully envisage Wikipedia starting up a European based server (if they don't have one already) in the .eu or similar domain, where the US has no real jurisdiction.

That's the beauty of the internet: it's fully designed to reroute around blockages. What will happen is that the US will be considered a separate internet to the rest of us, and the consequences of that are still beyond thinkable, but not insurmountable.

Also, the other question: if this is a best hope for the parties trying to push it through, what's their fallback position?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: wynnyelle on January 08, 2012, 09:17:57 PM
It will not stop the internet. It will not stop piracy {China with its firewall has major piracy issues} it will not stop access to sites the government doesn't want you to see.

What it will do is turn America into even more of a police state.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Sakurachan on January 08, 2012, 11:39:34 PM
TL;DR: it will cripple the internet, free speech and free choice throughout the world
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: tumbleweed on January 08, 2012, 11:51:42 PM
should be interesting how it turns out in Spain since they just passed a very similar bill:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/05/us-pressured-spain-online-piracy
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 09, 2012, 08:37:51 AM
Quote from: arrowtotheknee on January 08, 2012, 06:42:33 PM
I wouldn't exaggerate like that. In the event that SOPA passes and is used in all the ways that we fear it will be, the solution for those of us in Europe is quite straightforward: we just carry out - it just means we're going to be concentrating on European specific stuff rather than catering to European/American concerns.

Put it this way, if it were to happen, I could fully envisage Wikipedia starting up a European based server (if they don't have one already) in the .eu or similar domain, where the US has no real jurisdiction.

That's the beauty of the internet: it's fully designed to reroute around blockages. What will happen is that the US will be considered a separate internet to the rest of us, and the consequences of that are still beyond thinkable, but not insurmountable.

Also, the other question: if this is a best hope for the parties trying to push it through, what's their fallback position?

Unfortunately, many countries are participating in passing similar bills/bills that work together with SOPA.
See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-Counterfeiting_Trade_Agreement
Where SOPA is public, most if not all countries participating in this are keeping a complete silence about it towards citizens.

I think WikiPedia is currently hosting quite some servers in Amsterdam, but I might be mistaken.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nvcnvn on January 10, 2012, 11:05:19 AM
I'm not in US, even not an English...so I yawn all the time when read this bill content and the other documents....
but...
Is it true that ...with SOPA... I cannot cover a song in my way and upload it to youtube?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 10, 2012, 11:24:44 AM
It's true that YouTube could be shut down over it, yes.

And even though you're not in the US, any .com, .net, .org or any other domain in the US registration area is potentially able to be shut down at the registrar level...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 10, 2012, 01:44:24 PM
Quote from: nvcnvn on January 10, 2012, 11:05:19 AM
I'm not in US, even not an English...so I yawn all the time when read this bill content and the other documents....
but...
Is it true that ...with SOPA... I cannot cover a song in my way and upload it to youtube?

Yes, unfortunately too many people yawn and do not care about the impact :(
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: karlbenson on January 10, 2012, 02:14:24 PM
I agree with the topic.

It would turn everyone into criminals, but without the ability to get legal representation as you'll never get your day in court.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: NanoSector on January 10, 2012, 02:32:44 PM
I told the people at my school to fill in their e-mail to stop this from happening, they were all like "OMG WTF BBQ"..
I hope they actually filled in their e-mail address, they're idiots, they could as well have filled in their phone number..
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nvcnvn on January 10, 2012, 06:29:43 PM
Quote from: CoreISP on January 10, 2012, 01:44:24 PM
Quote from: nvcnvn on January 10, 2012, 11:05:19 AM
I'm not in US, even not an English...so I yawn all the time when read this bill content and the other documents....
but...
Is it true that ...with SOPA... I cannot cover a song in my way and upload it to youtube?



Yes, unfortunately too many people yawn and do not care about the impact :(

I yawn..but I do care about it! (I just yawn because I'm not good at English)
I must say "WTF" when you say yes...
_______________

I can't understand why someone can agree with that bill, event Hollywood....
They must understand that there flim or music become more famous due to how Internet work now a day...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 10, 2012, 07:22:01 PM
I think they are well aware of that, and I think internet has given them more sales than they would ever have done without the internet. Internet makes popular.
However, CD's are more expensive == more cash. And Hollywood + progress towards new era == fail.

If they would understand progress as good as they understand progress in video technology (for example) is required, things would be a lot easyer ;)
The greedy wolfs, however, think their sheep are running away through the evil internet. And that is why SOPA is so important to them... Like they care about free speech and all that, free speech does not equal money and thus is irrelevant ;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on January 10, 2012, 07:48:10 PM
Indeed. Greed is the real root. 
They are so blind with greed that they fail to see the positive potential in the very thing that they want to suppress.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 10, 2012, 08:03:24 PM
Quote from: CoreISP on January 10, 2012, 07:22:01 PM
If they would understand progress as good as they understand progress in video technology (for example) is required, things would be a lot easyer ;)

They don't even get that all too well. There was a whole big lawsuit thing back when videotapes were introduced. You might have heard of the "Betamax Case", which was Sony Corp. of America v. Universal City Studios, Inc. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sony_Corp._of_America_v._Universal_City_Studios,_Inc.). The result of this case is what enabled a huge market of innovation to open up. It established that as long as a device was not significantly intended for infringement, the makers couldn't be held liable for any infringement by its users.

Anyway, the MPAA fought very hard against videotapes, claiming it would kill their business. Now they make over half their profit on the same technology they cried was going to destroy their industry.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nvcnvn on January 11, 2012, 05:19:01 AM
One question.
If SOPA is passed, which domain register is recommended?
Current some of my domain still with GoDaddy.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: holodoc on January 11, 2012, 08:31:58 AM
Quote from: nvcnvn on January 11, 2012, 05:19:01 AM
One question.
If SOPA is passed, which domain register is recommended?
Current some of my domain still with GoDaddy.
None. It would all be the same in the USA.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nvcnvn on January 11, 2012, 08:43:29 AM
Quote from: holodoc on January 11, 2012, 08:31:58 AM
Quote from: nvcnvn on January 11, 2012, 05:19:01 AM
One question.
If SOPA is passed, which domain register is recommended?
Current some of my domain still with GoDaddy.
None. It would all be the same in the USA.

So is there any ... not in USA ? Which some with good support and affordable prices...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 11, 2012, 08:48:06 AM
-sigh- SOPA affects EVERY REGISTRAR IN THE USA. Plus any US based domain (.com, .org etc). You will need to look for a registrar outside of the US, and one that works for non US domains to be free of any issues.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 11, 2012, 12:25:51 PM
Quote from: nvcnvn on January 11, 2012, 08:43:29 AM
So is there any ... not in USA ? Which some with good support and affordable prices...

Hover (http://www.hover.com/) is a division of Tucows and is located in Canada. Gandi (http://www.gandi.net) is located in France and I've heard good things about them. Key-Systems (http://key-systems.net/) is located in Germany and is the registrar used by The Pirate Bay. Their public registrar site is DomainDiscount24.com (http://domaindiscount24.com/).

Keep in mind that most of the gTLDs are managed by US-based companies. For instance, com and net are operated by Verisign, Inc. Public Interest Registry manages the org TLD. To be safest, you'd probably want a domain using a ccTLD that is managed within the country it's assigned to. For example, au is managed by a company in Australia, jp is managed by a company in Japan, and fr is managed by a company in France.

Note that this won't prevent you being blocked in the US, but it will make it harder for the US government to seize the domain name.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: BCK on January 12, 2012, 07:20:52 PM
I'm in Canada, but totally agree, our rights in general are deteriorating fast,,this will kill many of the people/sites that are the glue..of the net..I believe they will start with smaller type sites etc, that can't afford to fight, and destroying them will scare others and the snow ball affect will strip our rights, freedoms etc...as said many times here..PLEASE STAND UP AND BE COUNTED,,Don't make this one of those I SHOULD HAVES...This is your right, so use it.while you have it....thx
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: holodoc on January 12, 2012, 08:33:52 PM
Not only that. Think about IANA and ICANN. The heart and the brain of the Internet coordinated by institutions located on American soil.

True, the Root DNS Zone operators are independent but if 1/4 of the servers (those which are located physically in America) suddenly comes under direct control of the government it would most certainly lead to dividing the Internet in separate independent DNS zones. Science fiction that doesn't look that much fictional anymore.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 12, 2012, 08:48:23 PM
Interesting read:
http://techland.time.com/2012/01/12/sopa-reddit-confirms-january-18-blackout-wikipedia-and-others-may-follow/
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: choloman05 on January 12, 2012, 09:25:48 PM
Cool, glad to hear you guys moved all domains from GoDaddy.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nvcnvn on January 13, 2012, 09:02:52 AM
So..... Simplemachines.org will blackout too?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 13, 2012, 10:10:22 AM
No I dont think so, we have had plenty of blackouts over the past year ;)
We are happy the servers are stable now with the new hardware and settings :p Let's enjoy that :D

Plus, the impact we will bring is insignificant... People will hardly notice it, we wont raise any more attention than the attention we hopefully generated by making this post.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Robert. on January 13, 2012, 10:25:46 AM
I'm sorry, but I've got a question: let's say I have a forum. It runs very well, I'm getting 50 new members a day. But, I get a lot of links to sites with wares on it. The forum runs on 12 servers:

1. New York, USA
2. Madrid, Spain
3. Beijing, China
4. Moscow, Russia
5. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
6. Tokyo, Japan
7. Stockholm, Sweden
8. Blahblah...

Does any country have the right to remove my site from the internet?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 13, 2012, 10:27:19 AM
according to the SOPA law, the US would have the right to try...

and considering the clout of the US, might succeed
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 13, 2012, 10:44:09 AM
And if the site has a US domain name (.com, .net, .org etc.) it can take the lot down in a single hit.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ARG01 on January 13, 2012, 11:08:16 AM
Quote from: nvcnvn on January 10, 2012, 06:29:43 PM

I can't understand why someone can agree with that bill, event Hollywood....
They must understand that there flim or music become more famous due to how Internet work now a day...

The irony of it all is that if this goes through, most of these "Hollywood" actors and musician will suddenly find their websites and blogs in danger.




Hollywood Actor - Gee, maybe we should have thought this through?
Musician - Ya think?


;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 13, 2012, 01:05:08 PM
Quote from: arrowtotheknee on January 13, 2012, 10:44:09 AM
And if the site has a US domain name (.com, .net, .org etc.) it can take the lot down in a single hit.

Not just that. Because the law allows interfering with DNS, DNS server operators will be required to maintain an updated blacklist of all domains, even those with registrars outside US control, for which their servers will have to return no response or point to one of those nice ICE warning websites. The effect will basically completely break DNSSEC.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 13, 2012, 05:09:55 PM
Yeah, I was aware of that but wanted to let the above sink in first. No point in trying to explain all of the problems with this bill in one go, people will just look at it, then tl;dr...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 13, 2012, 08:00:21 PM
The heat is starting to really get to Congress: Under voter pressure, members of Congress backpedal (hard) on SOPA - Ars Technica (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/under-voter-pressure-members-of-congress-backpedal-on-sopa.ars)

If you live in the US and have not contacted your representatives in both the House and Senate, you should do so and express your opinion on SOPA and PIPA.

Contact Resources:
Write Your Representative - Contact your Congressperson in the U.S. House of Representatives. (https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml)
Contact Information for US Senators (http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm)
Project Vote Smart (http://www.votesmart.org/) - Has a feature to look up your local representatives in both the House and Senate
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 13, 2012, 08:05:20 PM
We are not there yet, but it is quite some good news! :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on January 13, 2012, 08:06:38 PM
Indeed, but more pressure needs to be applied. As said earlier in this topic- Congress pays attention to the big money unless there is a loud enough public outcry supported by the press as well.  They are at least listening, so we all need to keep pushing it into their faces.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 14, 2012, 11:16:17 AM
Some good news on this.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/13/rep-lamar-smith-blocks-dns-blocking-from-sopa/

That takes the very worst of the teeth out of the bite of this bill but I'm not sure how much bite it still has left - and note that it isn't being removed unilaterally, but 'so that the Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision'. That's not as friendly as it sounds - it is quite simply 'for now'.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: BCK on January 14, 2012, 02:13:14 PM
http://ca.news.yahoo.com/student-extradited-us-over-tv-website-153927768.html

this is whats happening even before this takes affect if it does,,,a good read and eye opener..this isnt a joke..our rights are being flushed down the toilet......don't think you wont be touched in some way if this goes through....You dont have to  be in the states...READ THE LINK...PLZ
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 14, 2012, 02:46:18 PM
Quote from: arrowtotheknee on January 14, 2012, 11:16:17 AM
That takes the very worst of the teeth out of the bite of this bill but I'm not sure how much bite it still has left - and note that it isn't being removed unilaterally, but 'so that the Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision'. That's not as friendly as it sounds - it is quite simply 'for now'.

It's just an administrative hold, the proposal isn't to actually remove it. It's likely that the hope is this will calm things down for it to get forced through, then the DNS blocking can just be started up after some "review". Given the quality of the discussion previously, I doubt it will be all that balanced.

Edit: The DNS blocking "deactivation" is for PIPA (the Senate bill), but remains in SOPA for now. Note that the provision isn't being removed, just put on hold so it can be activated at any later time if the bill passes and becomes law.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Sheda on January 14, 2012, 04:10:30 PM
This is REALLY pissing me off!
The first time i read it i thought it must be some kind of joke, or at least, it would be gone within one or two days.
I can't believe they are still planning to make this rule! oO

Well, there's always some crazy stuff going on in the US, but this...?
And there are lots of websites i really like over there too. :-\
Hope you can slap them good and hard, so they never come up with this kind of nonesense again! ???
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 14, 2012, 05:21:24 PM
Quote from: 青山 素子 on January 14, 2012, 02:46:18 PM
Quote from: arrowtotheknee on January 14, 2012, 11:16:17 AM
That takes the very worst of the teeth out of the bite of this bill but I'm not sure how much bite it still has left - and note that it isn't being removed unilaterally, but 'so that the Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision'. That's not as friendly as it sounds - it is quite simply 'for now'.

It's just an administrative hold, the proposal isn't to actually remove it. It's likely that the hope is this will calm things down for it to get forced through, then the DNS blocking can just be started up after some "review". Given the quality of the discussion previously, I doubt it will be all that balanced.

Edit: The DNS blocking "deactivation" is for PIPA (the Senate bill), but remains in SOPA for now. Note that the provision isn't being removed, just put on hold so it can be activated at any later time if the bill passes and becomes law.

Oh, awesome, so not even as un-toothless as I thought it was. -sigh- BACK TO THE WAR, PEOPLE OF THE INTERNET!
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 15, 2012, 02:01:54 AM
I seen this video online and I thought how much of it is true. They where the ones that gave us the tools and now they want to sue us for using them, nice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 16, 2012, 12:51:01 PM
From Slashdot today:

"In a surprise move, Representative Eric Cantor(R-VA) announced that he will stop all action on SOPA, effectively killing the bill. This move was most likely due to the huge online protest and the White House threatening to veto the bill if it had passed. But don't celebrate yet. PIPA (the Senate's version of SOPA) is still up for consideration."

http://yro.slashdot.org/story/12/01/16/1457237/house-kills-sopa
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 16, 2012, 01:20:47 PM
Oh that is some very good news!
Now we just need PIPA pulled :p
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Robert. on January 16, 2012, 02:04:46 PM
Awesome and great news! :D
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on January 16, 2012, 06:05:27 PM
Cool. One down and one to go.
The big media money will not stop though, they will lobby for another bill of some sort to target copyright infringement, but with much less bite.
There is a piracy issue, but the MPAA, RIAA, etc, etc, grossly exaggerate their so called losses from piracy. That is another issue altogether though.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 16, 2012, 06:07:14 PM
Do not be so quick to dismiss this threat. Remember when I said they had a backup plan? Give it a few days and they'll display it now that this has landed how it has.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on January 16, 2012, 06:16:55 PM
I agree. They always have a backup. 
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 16, 2012, 10:49:00 PM
I don't think this will ever end, I do hope the big sites do go with the black out no matter what happens with any of these bills. We must show the world what can happen if our governments ever try to do something like this.

I am going to follow, so Jan 18th is the day, Internet blackout day, look forward to it next year. :D
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ziycon on January 17, 2012, 03:58:54 AM
Looks like SOPA is dead :) Now just to worry about PIPA.

QuoteThe controversial Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA) has effectively been stopped in its tracks. Virginia Republican Representative Eric Cantor killed the bill.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 17, 2012, 04:16:31 AM
Quote from: ziycon on January 17, 2012, 03:58:54 AM
Looks like SOPA is dead :) Now just to worry about PIPA.

And whatever backup plan this lot of tools has.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 17, 2012, 08:22:25 AM
Does anyone actually have a reliable source for the news about SOPA being dead?
I havent been able to find a single one from a real trustworthy source. The Slashdot article links to a user generated site.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Chen Zhen on January 17, 2012, 09:00:50 AM
Quote from: CoreISP on January 17, 2012, 08:22:25 AM
Does anyone actually have a reliable source for the news about SOPA being dead?
I havent been able to find a single one from a real trustworthy source. The Slashdot article links to a user generated site.

I don't think it's dead but has been amended & is still in negotiation.
ref. http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/16/technology/sopa_wikipedia/index.htm
ref. http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/13/rep-lamar-smith-blocks-dns-blocking-from-sopa/

Quote from: CNNMoney
...
White House jumps in: The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform was supposed to hold a hearing with industry experts on Wednesday, which is why sites targeted that day for a blackout.

But Rep. Darrell Issa, a Republican from California who opposes SOPA, postponed the hearing on Friday after House Majority Leader Eric Cantor said the bill won't move in its current form.

Cantor's comments sparked some news reports claiming that SOPA is dead, but an aide in Issa's office said "that's probably a little premature."
...

Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 17, 2012, 11:55:54 AM
Quote from: CoreISP on January 17, 2012, 08:22:25 AM
Does anyone actually have a reliable source for the news about SOPA being dead?
I havent been able to find a single one from a real trustworthy source. The Slashdot article links to a user generated site.

Will Reuters do?

U.S. online piracy bill headed for major makeover (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/17/us-usa-internet-piracy-idUSTRE80F1Q320120117)

They're one of the few major outlets covering this stuff. They also have articles about the Jan 18 blackout.


Also:

ComputerWorld UK: SOPA opponent claims bill stalled by US lawmakers (http://www.computerworlduk.com/news/public-sector/3330482/sopa-opponent-claims-bill-stalled-by-us-lawmakers/)
PCWorld: Opponent Says SOPA May Be Stalled in Congress (http://www.pcworld.com/article/248240/opponent_says_sopa_may_be_stalled_in_congress.html)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 17, 2012, 05:00:41 PM
Ooooh. This is going to be big. Ars Technica is reporting that Google, Wordpress (.org, not the .com hosted service run by Automattic), and Scribd are joining the protest on the 18th. Google won't be going dark, but will be prominently featuring information on their homepage.

Ars Technica: SOPA protest swells as Google, Scribd, and Wordpress join (http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2012/01/google-scribd-and-wordpress-to-join-sopa-protest.ars)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 17, 2012, 05:46:55 PM
Shame Google wont go completely dark. How THAT would have gained real attention!
Most people will probably think it's just another weird Google logo, lol.

I'd opt for SMF to join in, but I doubt I can get a majority for that, lol. All happy with the new server stack n all ;) Looking at that it would be pure violation :')
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 17, 2012, 06:01:38 PM
The thing is, Google going dark would have had a lot more repercussions, depending on how thorough the going-dark is. Remember: they're not just offering their core service any more but a lot of other services (including the CDN hostings for things like jQuery) that will all be affected.

Imagine how many sites will break if googleapis.com goes dark, and it won't seem to be Google's fault (even if it actually is)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 17, 2012, 06:08:11 PM
Well,
if just the search engine goes down, that would make a big hit already :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 17, 2012, 08:19:39 PM
As an update, SOPA isn't dead, just stalled. It's been stated that markup on the bill will be gin again in February.

Also, if you're interested in keeping updated, Ars Technica has been doing regular stories on the whole situation, so they're good to follow right now.


Quote from: CoreISP on January 17, 2012, 05:46:55 PM
Shame Google wont go completely dark. How THAT would have gained real attention!
Most people will probably think it's just another weird Google logo, lol.

It's not going to be a logo change.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 17, 2012, 08:45:32 PM
Quote from: arrowtotheknee on January 17, 2012, 06:01:38 PM
The thing is, Google going dark would have had a lot more repercussions, depending on how thorough the going-dark is. Remember: they're not just offering their core service any more but a lot of other services (including the CDN hostings for things like jQuery) that will all be affected.

Google wouldn't do that.  If they did go dark it would be to certain services.  Breaking thousands of sites completely and stopping their revenue from ads wouldn't fair them well.

Quote from: CoreISP on January 17, 2012, 05:46:55 PMI'd opt for SMF to join in, but I doubt I can get a majority for that, lol. All happy with the new server stack n all ;) Looking at that it would be pure violation :')

I would suggest that as well, but considering our potential reach versus the reach FaceBook, Twitter, Google, etc would all have, they would make a much greater impact than we would.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Antes on January 17, 2012, 09:24:59 PM
Will SMF going dark to(day/night) i'm in EU new day here (18.01.2012).

Quote from: SleePy on January 17, 2012, 08:45:32 PM

Google wouldn't do that.  If they did go dark it would be to certain services.  Breaking thousands of sites completely and stopping their revenue from ads wouldn't fair them well.


and it shows how effective protests can be :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 17, 2012, 09:34:43 PM
Yes and would piss off many people and have a massive affect on their revenue.  By selecting services to take down like google search would get the message across without as much damage.

Read my previous message, we won't be doing that.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: mashby on January 17, 2012, 09:36:41 PM
I am just considering turning off all devices/services connected to the internet all day tomorrow. That'll show 'em.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 17, 2012, 10:50:00 PM
If anyone wants a little bit of html to protest I have a snipplet. The benefit of this one is that you don't have to pull your entire site down for the blackout, you just have a div covering it out sort of, with a black transparency giving a blackout effect.

echo '
<div id="stopsopa" style="background-color:#000000;filter:alpha(opacity=70);opacity:.7;position: fixed; top: 0px; right: 0px; width: 100%; height: 100%; z-index: 1000;">
</div>
<div style="position:fixed;top:10%;right:10%;width:80%;height:80%;z-index:1000;overflow:hidden;color:#000000;background-color:#FFFFFF;border:1px outset;border-radius:10px;padding:4px;">
<div style="float:left;background-color:#000000;color:#FFFFFF;width:100%;padding:10px 0px 10px 0px;text-align:center;">
<b>STOP INTERNET CENSORSHIP></b>';
/*
echo '
<div style="float:right;">
<a style="color:#FFFFFF;" target="_blank" href="javascript:void(0);" onclick="javascript:$(\'#stopsopa\').fadeToggle();window.open(\'https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173\');
window.focus();">Close[X]</a>&nbsp;
</div>';
*/
echo '
</div>
<div style="width:100%;height:90%;overflow:auto;">
<div style="width:100%;text-align:left;">
Congress is about to pass internet censorship, even though the vast majority of Americans are opposed. We need to kill the bill - PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House - to protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and prosperity.
</div>
<div style="width:100%;text-align:left;">
<img style="float:right;" src="http://static.arstechnica.net/2011/10/26/the_worst_thing_about_censorship-4ea871c-intro.jpg" />
<p>
The Internet blacklist legislation-known as PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House-invites Internet security risks, threatens online speech, and hampers Internet innovation. Urge your members of Congress to reject this Internet blacklist campaign in both its forms!
</p><p>
To make the most impact right now, we\'re asking YOU to do two things. Today, use the link below to send an email to your representatives, letting them know you oppose these bills and they should too. Then, on January 23, when the Senate is back in session (and scheduled to vote on PIPA on January 24), call your Senator and tell him or her that it\'s time to stand with the Internet and against the Internet blacklists!
</p><p>
Big media and its allies in Congress are billing the Internet blacklist legislation as a new way to battle online infringement. But innovation and free speech advocates know that this initiative will do little to stop infringement online. What it will do is compromise Internet security, inhibit online expression, and slow growth in the technology sector.
</p><p>
As drafted, the legislation would grant the government and private parties unprecedented power to interfere with the Internet\'s underlying infrastructure. The government would be able to force ISPs and search engines to block users\' attempts to reach certain websites\' URLs. In response, third parties will woo average users to alternative servers that offer access to the entire Internet (not just the newly censored U.S. version), which will create new computer security vulnerabilities as the Internet grows increasingly balkanized.
</p><p>
It gets worse: the blacklist bills\' provisions would give corporations and other private parties new powers to censor foreign websites with court orders that would cut off payment processors and advertisers. Broad immunity provisions (combined with a threat of litigation) would encourage service providers to overblock innocent users or even block websites voluntarily. This gives content companies every incentive to create unofficial blacklists of websites, which service providers would be under pressure to block without regard to the First Amendment.
</p><p>
Service providers would be forced to monitor and police their users\' activities as well, threatening the DMCA safe harbors that have been vital to online innovation over the last decade. SOPA gives the government new powers to go after sites that provide information about tools that might be used to bypass the blacklists - even though these are often the same tools used by democratic activists around the world to bypass Internet censorship mechanisms implemented by authoritarian governments like Iran and China.
</p><p>
Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Representative Darrell Issa (R-CA) have led the charge in explaining how the blacklist bills threaten the very infrastructure of the open Internet, joined by a growing, bipartisan, group of Congress members. The White House also recently stated it will not support a bill that threatens free speech, innovation, and Internet security. But every Senator and Representative should be opposing the PROTECT IP Act and SOPA and we need to hold the White House to its word. Contact your members of Congress today to speak out!
</p>
</div>
<div style="width:100%;text-align:center;">
<b>We Need To Take Action Now</b><br />
<a target="_blank" href="https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173">https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173</a><br />
</div>
</div>
</div>';


If you want a close option, uncomment one line of the code for a close option, jQuery required for close function. Add links and modify as you wish, screen shot attached.

(http://www.sicomm.us/junkbin/attachments/smf_blackout.png)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Jakob Fel on January 17, 2012, 10:58:22 PM
Actually, according to my sources, sites like Google, Wikipedia, and maybe even Facebook are highly considering it. I have sources that state Wikipedia DEFINITELY is going to, and Google seems to be leaning toward the darkening. If Facebook did it, I think the government would really see their errors.




In other matters - SOPA nor PIPA are dead; they've taken a heavy blow from a lot of influential people/groups, and the White House is threatening to veto it. However, we saw how the Obamanation's last "promise" went by with the passing of the NDAA 2012...

I think this globally-recognized protest should do the trick, but you never know - the US government believes that it's untouchable.

EDIT: My bad, I just realized that the House did kill SOPA.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Antechinus on January 17, 2012, 11:13:12 PM
Quote from: Jaekob Caed on January 17, 2012, 10:58:22 PM
Actually, according to my sources................................

Just out of curiosity, what sources do you have that are not available to anyone else. :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Jakob Fel on January 17, 2012, 11:16:02 PM
I have seen many different articles, brought to my attention by Demand Progress's Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/demandprogress
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Antechinus on January 17, 2012, 11:49:39 PM
So, none. Ok. :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 17, 2012, 11:53:10 PM
Quote from: Antechinus on January 17, 2012, 11:13:12 PM
Quote from: Jaekob Caed on January 17, 2012, 10:58:22 PM
Actually, according to my sources................................

Just out of curiosity, what sources do you have that are not available to anyone else. :)

I right click and view sources ;D
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Antechinus on January 17, 2012, 11:53:49 PM
I have tomato and Worcestershire. :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 18, 2012, 12:08:44 AM
English Wikipedia is now closed and Google put a black box over their logo. Reddit says another 7 hours and 50 minutes til blackout on their clock. Any other sites anyone else notice yet?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: vbgamer45 on January 18, 2012, 12:29:59 AM
wordpress.org    wikipedia is still up if you have javascript disabled.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ApplianceJunk on January 18, 2012, 12:31:01 AM
check out

http://en.wikipedia.org

Edited to add: guess it's old news, lol ;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: JBlaze on January 18, 2012, 12:33:05 AM
This made me giggle a bit. http://minecraft.net
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 18, 2012, 12:35:40 AM
Actually the SOPA page on wikipedia isn't blacked out :D
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Jakob Fel on January 18, 2012, 12:36:47 AM
Quote from: Antechinus on January 17, 2012, 11:49:39 PM
So, none. Ok. :)

Mhm, good one. :P

Quote from: SleePy on January 17, 2012, 11:53:10 PM
Quote from: Antechinus on January 17, 2012, 11:13:12 PM
Quote from: Jaekob Caed on January 17, 2012, 10:58:22 PM
Actually, according to my sources................................

Just out of curiosity, what sources do you have that are not available to anyone else. :)

I right click and view sources ;D

Lol, another good one. ;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ApplianceJunk on January 18, 2012, 12:37:28 AM
I think the big site such as google and wiki will have a big impact on what happens with SOPA now.

Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 18, 2012, 12:38:10 AM
@JBlaze, I like that one, lol.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 18, 2012, 02:31:27 AM
A good list of sites that are or will be striking is at http://sopastrike.com/

Be aware that some sites won't be blacking out until 8am EST (-0500), so if they're on the "confirmed" section and not down they're probably going to do so later.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 18, 2012, 09:29:42 AM
40kOnline.com is on strike today as well.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: aED on January 18, 2012, 09:52:12 AM
www.xda-developers.com is also on strike :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 18, 2012, 09:56:55 AM
Yes, unfortunately.
Have a problem with my ICS build, now I cant find answers :P
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Adish - (F.L.A.M.E.R) on January 18, 2012, 10:03:44 AM
Haha!! http://theoatmeal.com/sopa
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 18, 2012, 10:08:18 AM
Or for a sarcastic take on it, http://74.50.110.120/Articles/Support-The-Daily-WTF-in-Supporting-the-Support-SOPA-Movement.aspx

Note that you're supposed to realise that it is sarcasm. More than one commentator did not...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ApplianceJunk on January 18, 2012, 10:08:50 AM
theoatmeal, funny...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Adish - (F.L.A.M.E.R) on January 18, 2012, 10:22:48 AM
We have something here now: https://www.facebook.com/SenatorMarcoRubio/posts/340889625936408

Seems like the public won. :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 18, 2012, 10:37:09 AM
withdraw support for the bill is not the same as "kill it with fire"
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Sefket on January 18, 2012, 11:31:43 AM
You guys should of blacked out this site.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Fustrate on January 18, 2012, 11:48:56 AM
We're a community of tech people helping other tech people, for the most part. A full blackout here would have just hurt people in need of help, and not in the "but now they'll know what they'd be missing" sense.

Could've added a banner or something, though :D
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: JBlaze on January 18, 2012, 01:27:03 PM
A simple one-time clickthrough overlay would have sufficed.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 18, 2012, 01:29:58 PM
Heck, even this (http://mikesofaer.github.com/stop_censorship/) would have been useful.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Vlada87 on January 18, 2012, 01:39:40 PM
How to add http://sopablackout.org/ to SMF !?

It has WP plugin but i dont kow how to add on SMF
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Angelina Belle on January 18, 2012, 01:53:27 PM
You would add the sample code to your index.template.php
<script type="text/javascript" src="//js.sopablackout.org/sopablackout.js"></script>
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 18, 2012, 01:58:46 PM
more specifically, described here....  especially if you have multiple themes...

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=465856.msg3254474#msg3254474

Additionally, a few weeks ago, I added the stop censorship modal pop-up to my site by adding the javascript to a portal block.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Vlada87 on January 18, 2012, 02:13:01 PM
Quote from: AngelinaBelle on January 18, 2012, 01:53:27 PM
You would add the sample code to your index.template.php
<script type="text/javascript" src="//js.sopablackout.org/sopablackout.js"></script>

But exactly where to put, in what line of code!?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 18, 2012, 02:20:57 PM
Quote from: Kindred on January 18, 2012, 01:58:46 PM
more specifically, described here....  especially if you have multiple themes...

http://www.simplemachines.org/community/index.php?topic=465856.msg3254474#msg3254474

Additionally, a few weeks ago, I added the stop censorship modal pop-up to my site by adding the javascript to a portal block.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Vlada87 on January 18, 2012, 02:24:26 PM
But i dont want to shutdown site... just to add clickable blackout....
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 18, 2012, 02:25:29 PM
then replace the  shutdown lines in that code with the blackout line...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Vlada87 on January 18, 2012, 02:26:40 PM
I do that... but nothing happen, only board load slowly....
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 18, 2012, 02:33:29 PM
........................................................................................... !


$context['html_headers'] .= "\n" . '
        <script type="text/javascript" src="//js.sopablackout.org/sopablackout.js"></script>
';



or do what I did and add it into a portal block
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Vlada87 on January 18, 2012, 02:40:22 PM
Yap i do like you suggest me but nothing happen only board load very slow...

I dont have portal only board...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Kindred on January 18, 2012, 02:44:25 PM
then add it into your index.template.php along with the other javascript calls....
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Vlada87 on January 18, 2012, 02:48:20 PM
I do that, still nothing happen....
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 18, 2012, 03:02:35 PM
If you need further help, please open a topic in the support or coding boards.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 18, 2012, 03:33:13 PM
http://gawker.com/5877192/stupid-high-school-kids-and-teachers-freak-out-over-wikipedia-blackout
This is sad.  They are our educators that can't teach because wikipedia is blacked out and future voters who have no clue what is going on or don't understand it is just for a day.

http://twitpic.com/88ueqz
I hope those claims are true.  It will really effect the entire SOPA/PIPA to to know this being true.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: holodoc on January 18, 2012, 03:55:13 PM
Quote from: SleePy on January 18, 2012, 03:33:13 PMhttp://twitpic.com/88ueqz
I hope those claims are true.  It will really effect the entire SOPA/PIPA to to know this being true.

There is a more thorough article on that at http://www.vice.com/read/lamar-smith-sopa-copyright-whoops.

The silly part is their website now has a robots.txt rule (http://www.texansforlamarsmith.com/robots.txt) denying access to the Internet Archive at http://www.archive.org/.

Like that is going to stop services like domaintools.com (http://www.domaintools.com/research/screenshot-history/texansforlamarsmith.com/).
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: IchBin™ on January 18, 2012, 03:56:58 PM
Someone should get their DNS provider to shut his site down! The classic definition of hypocrite!
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 18, 2012, 03:58:40 PM
Quote from: SleePy on January 18, 2012, 03:33:13 PM
http://twitpic.com/88ueqz
I hope those claims are true.  It will really effect the entire SOPA/PIPA to to know this being true.

It's legit. The image was Creative Commons licensed and his site was in violation of the terms on that image. Vice.com broke the news: The Author of SOPA Is a Copyright Violator (http://www.vice.com/read/lamar-smith-sopa-copyright-whoops) and TechDirt picked up the story and it's spread quite a bit since then.

The image has since been removed from the website.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Angelina Belle on January 19, 2012, 05:17:15 PM
Actually, Wikipedia content was fully available all day long.
The "blackout" was done with CSS and an extra div much like the "please donate" box they normally run at the top of articles.

firebug and IE's F12 developer's tools make this easy to spot, and easy to flip the switch on "display: none".
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: live627 on January 19, 2012, 05:20:57 PM
Or, better yet, disable Javascript.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 19, 2012, 05:22:11 PM
Technically, it was JS, not CSS, because you could bypass it by turning off JS. Thing is, on the page discussing SOPA, they actually explained that it was possible to get round the blackout by using mobile or by turning off JavaScript... you know, like it was planned that way.

Heck, most browsers let you bypass it by simply pressing Esc during loading.


So, yesterday, we had all the protests against SOPA and PIPA. Today, one of the sites well known for its 'we allow people to share bigger files' mentality - MegaUpload - was shut down for mass copyright infringement.

Putting aside the fact that maybe 0.1% of its users are legitimately entitled to complain about being inconvenienced (as opposed to the other 99.9% who are inconvenienced by having one less route to illegitimately obtain content), explain to me again why SOPA and PIPA are needed to 'protect US innovation' and 'protect US jobs' when it's very clear that the US authorities already have the tools they need to take out infringing sites?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ApplianceJunk on January 19, 2012, 05:36:16 PM
Quoteexplain to me again why SOPA and PIPA are needed to 'protect US innovation' and 'protect US jobs' when it's very clear that the US authorities already have the tools they need to take out infringing sites?

Maybe they want better tools to make their job easier. ;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: live627 on January 19, 2012, 05:43:28 PM
Could it be another step in a mad quest for power?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Fustrate on January 19, 2012, 05:54:04 PM
It's not that Congress wants to do it - they're being paid and lobbied by the massive film, television, and music industries to do it. As long as they get their money, they'll go along with most anything.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 19, 2012, 05:56:28 PM
That's the thing. They already *have* the tools they need, they don't need any more tools to do the job.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on January 19, 2012, 05:57:24 PM
In a nutshell. It is fueled by the overpaid and greedy Hollywood moguls, and fed to the gullible politicians who have no concept of reality in the first place.  They use the catchphrase "lost American jobs, and in an economy where so many are hurting for jobs, the politicians think that it will make them look like they are earning their keep. 
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 19, 2012, 06:22:02 PM
Quote from: arrowtotheknee on January 19, 2012, 05:56:28 PM
That's the thing. They already *have* the tools they need, they don't need any more tools to do the job.

The government has the tools, but the "IP" industry would rather not have to go through due process and just would like to have sites cut off on their say only. The bills aren't about preventing piracy, they're about gaining control to be the only legitimate means of distribution so they can milk as much profit as they want. With copyright length growing each time the oldest works are nearing the end of their protection, the main drivers behind the bills are hoping to finally become the only gatekeepers of speech.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 19, 2012, 06:24:23 PM
-sigh- Yeah, I figured it might be something like that.

Interestingly one of the takes on it all compared the way SOPA is intended to work with what Google did to .co.cc domains a bit back, suggesting that Google has more authority than it should have when it comes to sites and that it is really little better.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Antechinus on January 19, 2012, 06:47:41 PM
ROFLMAO. Nice job, Lamar. What a prat. ;D
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ethankcvds on January 19, 2012, 07:05:17 PM
Looks like they did not need SOPA or PIPA to take down megaupload. http://gizmodo.com/5877612/feds-kill-megaupload (http://gizmodo.com/5877612/feds-kill-megaupload)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 19, 2012, 07:07:13 PM
Exactly as I have been lamenting ;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 19, 2012, 08:36:25 PM
In retribution, fbi.gov is completely unavailable right now.
What a shame that megaupload.com is down, only site where you could share things quickly with proper download speeds. (No, not talking about copyright infringing stuff here...)

Wonder if it has got anything to do with their fight with Universal...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 19, 2012, 08:38:06 PM
Seriously, though, how many people used MegaUpload for legitimate reasons vs the number of people who used it for illegitimate ones?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ethankcvds on January 19, 2012, 08:41:49 PM
Quote from: CoreISP on January 19, 2012, 08:36:25 PM
Wonder if it has got anything to do with their fight with Universal...


This article says that it was the MPAA http://nerdreactor.com/2012/01/19/megaupload-com-is-mega-gone/ (http://nerdreactor.com/2012/01/19/megaupload-com-is-mega-gone/)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 19, 2012, 09:00:37 PM
Quote from: arrowtotheknee on January 19, 2012, 08:38:06 PM
Seriously, though, how many people used MegaUpload for legitimate reasons vs the number of people who used it for illegitimate ones?

That is a question I dont think anyone will know the answer to.
MU did respond to notice & takedown though o0
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 19, 2012, 09:07:29 PM
See, notice and takedown only works as far as stuff actually has to be reported for it to be taken down. My guess is that the bulk of content was not reported, and I'd be quite willing to bet that under 1% of actual files on there are legitimate.

How many people need to openly share 1GB+ files with the entire internet? The Linux distros, sure, but they arrange their own through mirrors and so on, they don't use a mostly anonymous service to do so.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: holodoc on January 19, 2012, 09:11:13 PM
Quote from: arrowtotheknee on January 19, 2012, 08:38:06 PM
Seriously, though, how many people used MegaUpload for legitimate reasons vs the number of people who used it for illegitimate ones?
I used Megaupload Premium for years exclusively for sharing legit work related files. Now that they are gone I effectively lost about 16GB or freshly uploaded files which is the reason why I now need to upload those 16 gigs again somewhere else and hope not to break every imaginable quata when our clients start downloading it :( The point being is that their bandwidth was extremely cheap compared to alternatives.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 19, 2012, 09:14:58 PM
Sure, there are people who do use it legitimately, even for large downloads. But I would imagine the *vast* majority are not.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Adish - (F.L.A.M.E.R) on January 19, 2012, 09:18:10 PM
MegaVideo is taken down too. ;)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 19, 2012, 09:20:01 PM
Same owners, same servers.
Take down. And that without SOPA and PIPA involved. Wonder what they need it for.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: wynnyelle on January 19, 2012, 09:24:23 PM
I used MegaUpload to upload very large image files I made for my site, chiefly our roleplay character family trees. Thank goodness I downloaded a fresh copy of everything before it went down.

This sucks. Long live the United States of Hollywood.

Oh and you got to love the Golan vs. Holder decision in Congress today, too, that's a real kicker.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 19, 2012, 09:29:31 PM
It looks like megavideo is back on a .bz domain. Hosted in the Netherlands.
Not sure if legit..
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 19, 2012, 09:33:55 PM
CoreISP,
Their (fbi.gov) site is back online at this point.  I got some weird pages as I refreshed so my guess is they just brought it back.


That said, when I did gaming in the past, we used places like MU to share mod packages for the games.  Lots of people had legit uses for MegaUpload.  But I do agree that I think a good portion of their stuff was not legit.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: nend on January 19, 2012, 10:42:31 PM
I only use MU to download ROMs for my phone, not illegal, but newer builds of Android OS. The manufacturer of my phone is only at Froyo for my model and I am at ICS thanks to a good group of devs I get my custom ROM from.

The gov is just going to hurt us for what a tiny bit of users do. I think they need to go after the users doing it and not the web sites.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Xarcell on January 20, 2012, 02:53:27 AM
I called my House of Representatives and voiced my opinion. What most people don't realize, is that all big companies have to do is hire a lawyer to say "copyright infringement" and your site will be shut down without due process, whether the copyright infringement is true or not. I can see companies like Match.com and Electronic Arts doing this repeated to shut down potential competitors before they get anywhere. I say they because they have been trying to do that already, before the bill was even introduced.

Youtube will definitely be shut down, simply because they cannot control the amount of copyrighted material they is uploaded fast enough. Sony Entertainment is targeting Youtube and has been a major player in this bill. WikiPedia will be threatened. Open source software will be threatened. Bitorrent sites will be definitely shutdown, even though some people don't use it for piracy.

You have to understand sites will be shut down without due process, meaning sites will be shut down, then investigated(guilty until proven innocent). Instead of investigated, and if proven guilty, then shut down(innocent until proven guilty). It will ruin the internet because anyone with a lawyer can pretty much shut down any website they choose.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Xarcell on January 20, 2012, 02:59:35 AM
Quote from: Fustrate on January 19, 2012, 05:54:04 PM
It's not that Congress wants to do it - they're being paid and lobbied by the massive film, television, and music industries to do it. As long as they get their money, they'll go along with most anything.

You said it. That's exactly what's going on. That's why I'm pulling for Ron Paul.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Joker™ on January 20, 2012, 12:34:02 PM
Just got the mail

QuoteA big hurrah to you!!!!! We've won for now -- SOPA and PIPA were dropped by Congress today -- the votes we've been scrambling to mobilize against have been cancelled.

http://www.sopastrike.com/numbers
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Fustrate on January 20, 2012, 12:47:36 PM
The votes are cancelled or delayed, that doesn't mean the bills won't be back soon, maybe under different names. The industries pushing this aren't going to stop, we need to keep an eye out to make sure they don't slip these things in under our noses.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Oldiesmann on January 20, 2012, 01:14:03 PM
I love the latest comments from MPAA chairman Chris Dodd about this:

http://www.theverge.com/2012/1/20/2720660/mpaa-chairman-former-senator-chris-dodd-sopa-strategy-compromise/in/2405432

QuoteDodd blames the bills' reduced support on a slow timeline that allowed opposition to mobilize, but also on a strategy that ended up making the anti-piracy effort seem specifically about helping Hollywood.

In other words, he wants to get things through quickly so people don't have time to find out about them or realize that they're backed by the MPAA and the entertainment industry in general.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on January 20, 2012, 06:49:21 PM
So true. They wanted to push one right past our noses hoping we wouldn't notice it until it was too late.  No matter how they spin it, it has always been about Hollywood and their greed. You can bathe and dress a pig in a evening gown with pearls, but in the end, it is still a pig.  :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: butchs on January 20, 2012, 07:55:32 PM
SOPA is simply Corporate Greed wanting to take over the internet and charge you for every data file and image you download in your day to day browsing.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Fustrate on January 20, 2012, 08:43:10 PM
SOPA is in shambles, but Rep. Lamar Smith has another bill that's guaranteed to pass. The "Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers Act of 2011", which has nothing to do with protecting children, has been laying in wait since last year. It wants all of your data to be saved by your ISP for 18 months for the government to demand, without a warrant, at any time. Credit card data, bank statements, IP information and search history will all be kept "in a safe place", which we all know means jack ****** in terms of real data security.

Now if you're against this bill, you're going to be painted as pro-child pornography. It's a despicable tactic, and it's really a shameful thing they're doing to get their way.

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1981:
http://gcn.com/articles/2011/08/05/protecting-children-bill-could-kill-internet.aspx
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2011/08/the-legislation-that-could-kill-internet-privacy-for-good/242853/

Due to the way bills work, anything can be tagged onto the end of this bill, and use its idiotic name to go through unhindered. Like the stuff in SOPA.

Child pornography is a serious problem, but yet again, they're setting fire to the house because they think they might've glanced a spider in the corner of their eye. Just goes to show we can't trust people who don't know how the internet works to control how we use the internet.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 20, 2012, 08:53:08 PM
So, its just like "hurting American jobs" tactics to try and get SOPA/PIPA passed.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 20, 2012, 09:34:00 PM
It's one hell of a backup plan!
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 20, 2012, 09:39:14 PM
Child pornography is a real big issue indeed.
However, just like with SOPA, they can do the same thing no?
"While we fully support the goal of the bill, in it's current form it is not right"
Then change it into something that does work...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 20, 2012, 09:40:34 PM
That's the thing... there's not enough people saying that - and the mass media campaign that got SOPA set back won't work.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Jakob Fel on January 20, 2012, 09:54:51 PM
I actually believe I read about the bill that Fustrate is talking about, and I believe the goal was not trying to fight child pornography, I believe that people said their goal is protecting children FROM pornography in general. Either way, it's a bunch of crap, because even though I support protecting children from it, like you said, it would make the internet a very unsafe place.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 20, 2012, 10:30:50 PM
Children have to be protected, top priority! But not with nonsense laws, no, that wont work indeed...
I think it's really disgusting to use try and push such bills over the back of abused children :/
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: JBlaze on January 21, 2012, 03:26:40 PM
ISP's can't store credit card info if it's sent via https since that's the entire point of having secure connections.

Again, this just goes to prove our government is inept at learning teh interwebz. You want to protect children from pornography? Try going after the parents, not the messenger service.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 21, 2012, 03:55:16 PM
Oh there are some ways to intercept SSL. The fact that it will be done at ISP level actually makes that quite a bit easier.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: trebul on January 22, 2012, 12:08:54 AM
I haven't really been keeping up with all the SOPA stuff but I didn't know godaddy supported that bill. If you don't mind me asking where did you guys switch to? I may also do the same.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: 青山 素子 on January 22, 2012, 04:33:28 AM
I use NameCheap, but there are other nice registrars out there. Hover is nice (and based in Canada) as is Gandi (based in France). I've also heard good things about Name.com. I believe there's a topic on the hosting board on registrars.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: kat on January 23, 2012, 06:16:18 AM
(http://images.icanhascheezburger.com/completestore/2008/7/21/itsdeadjim128611758900475370.jpg)

http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/senators-back-down-on-online-piracy-20120120-1qa27.html
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Arantor on January 23, 2012, 12:16:00 PM
It's not dead. It's merely been put back, it WILL come back in February, and again and again in different forms until the core problem is being attached, not the symptoms.

Right now, PCIPA is far more concerning (especially since as I understand it, SOPA and PIPA could be bolted into that legislation without a change)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 23, 2012, 12:26:43 PM
Yea PCIPA is a major worry.  To me it seems like all these bills just auto assume everyone is a criminal and that everyone should be snooped on.  Which to me says that the 5th amendment would be violated by those bills doing as such.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: sedgew1ck on January 23, 2012, 12:26:58 PM
It is the right time to defend ourselves against this, in case this law is approved most of us will be injured, there will no longer be freedom of expression, SOPA threats directly the internet in all senses, this is why we have to collaborate !
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Thantos on January 23, 2012, 12:44:06 PM
Quote from: SleePy on January 23, 2012, 12:26:43 PM
Yea PCIPA is a major worry.  To me it seems like all these bills just auto assume everyone is a criminal and that everyone should be snooped on.  Which to me says that the 5th amendment would be violated by those bills doing as such.
It'd actually be a 4th amendment issue (protection against unwarranted searches and seizures).
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 23, 2012, 12:52:27 PM
I found this quite an interesting read:
https://static.thepiratebay.org/legal/sopa.txt

Are there any sources for the Edison claims?
That would be classic.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: JBlaze on January 23, 2012, 12:54:42 PM
Don't forget the 1st Amendment. Now we have to watch what we say or do on the internet. 
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on January 23, 2012, 01:11:31 PM
Quote from: Thantos on January 23, 2012, 12:44:06 PM
Quote from: SleePy on January 23, 2012, 12:26:43 PM
Yea PCIPA is a major worry.  To me it seems like all these bills just auto assume everyone is a criminal and that everyone should be snooped on.  Which to me says that the 5th amendment would be violated by those bills doing as such.
It'd actually be a 4th amendment issue (protection against unwarranted searches and seizures).

Well for SOPA that would be true.  I don't think that applies to PCIPA since you use your ISP services and they log it.  Just as you use the services here at simple machines and those are logged (just like anywhere).  SOPA would have trouble because the 5th is the right to due process and basically it ignores that right.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Thantos on January 23, 2012, 01:45:47 PM
Quote from: SleePy on January 23, 2012, 01:11:31 PM
Quote from: Thantos on January 23, 2012, 12:44:06 PM
Quote from: SleePy on January 23, 2012, 12:26:43 PM
Yea PCIPA is a major worry.  To me it seems like all these bills just auto assume everyone is a criminal and that everyone should be snooped on.  Which to me says that the 5th amendment would be violated by those bills doing as such.
It'd actually be a 4th amendment issue (protection against unwarranted searches and seizures).

Well for SOPA that would be true.  I don't think that applies to PCIPA since you use your ISP services and they log it.  Just as you use the services here at simple machines and those are logged (just like anywhere).  SOPA would have trouble because the 5th is the right to due process and basically it ignores that right.
If you ISP is intercepting and recording your activities for use by the government it'd be a 4th amendment issue.  You haven't been compelled to make a statement nor have you been deprived anything so it wouldn't be a 5th amendment issue.

SOPA definitely had some 5th amendment issues.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ziycon on January 23, 2012, 04:25:51 PM
Also ACTA has been kept very quiet with the SOPA & PCIPA taking most of the news coverage!
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/25449-forget-sopa-europe-is-abou
&
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/strategy/item/25451-anti-acta-hackers-attack/
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ziycon on January 26, 2012, 03:48:48 AM
Looks like Ireland is screwed, ACTA is meant to be passed tomorrow, with very little resistance (http://www.siliconrepublic.com/strategy/item/25485-ireland-taking-a-a-whole-o) so far. The rest of Europe will no doubt follow in our foot steps!
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: JBlaze on January 26, 2012, 03:59:21 AM
So this is how freedom dies...

It's amazing that the people that care don't matter, and the people who matter don't care.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ziycon on January 26, 2012, 04:17:56 AM
Sorry, its actually today.
Quote from: Irishtimes.comIreland is today due to sign up to the controversial Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) along with other EU members, at a ceremony to take place in Tokyo, Japan.

Once the agreement is signed and the European Parliament has given its assent, the agreement can be ratified by the member states, including Ireland.

While the agreement's primary objective is to stop trade in counterfeit goods including internet bought medicines, it also includes provisions regarding copyright infringement.

This latter provision has caused controversy, with critics maintaining that the agreement will impact on the civil and digital rights of internet users.
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0126/breaking3.html
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Robert. on January 26, 2012, 04:24:11 AM
Damn bad news :( Does anyone know something about ACTA in Canada? I mean, I've read the Dutch parliament refuses to accept ACTA, but if it passes in Canada I still need to cancel my hosting account.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Oldiesmann on January 26, 2012, 11:51:43 AM
Quote from: フリーレンジ on January 26, 2012, 04:24:11 AM
Damn bad news :( Does anyone know something about ACTA in Canada? I mean, I've read the Dutch parliament refuses to accept ACTA, but if it passes in Canada I still need to cancel my hosting account.

Canada apparently signed it back in October, along with the US: http://themoderatevoice.com/136376/europe-to-sign-acta-thursday-poland-protests/

Here in the US, the president has declared it an "exceutive agreement" and therefore it doesn't have to be approved by Congress and the Supreme Court. However, there's a great question of whether or not Obama can even consider that an Executive Agreement (see this petition (https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/end-acta-and-protect-our-right-privacy-internet/MwfSVNBK) for info).
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 26, 2012, 02:00:01 PM
Quote from: フリーレンジ on January 26, 2012, 04:24:11 AM
Damn bad news :( Does anyone know something about ACTA in Canada? I mean, I've read the Dutch parliament refuses to accept ACTA, but if it passes in Canada I still need to cancel my hosting account.

You have been very badly informed.
Dutch parliament does not refuse it at all, they even signed to keep the entire negotiation content secret thanks to support of local party PVV.
D66 in euro parliament has filed a complaint against it and calls to stop it, there seems to be quite some support for it, but we need more people to contact local government representatives in order for them to be able to stop this crap. They are attempting to take opposition lead against ACTA though.

We'll see, in the end it will be probably be pushed through anyway. Remember the EU laws? ;)
Dutchies voted NO. So they adjusted it, no new referendum: it get's pushed through anyway.
Ireland same crap. They vote NO. They hold a revote. It is YES. Do they hold another vote? Of course not. Herp derp. 
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Home 4 Answers on January 28, 2012, 11:15:45 PM
SOPA is mass censorship and nothing less.

All newspapers and media broadcasts are copyrighted so if you quote a state approved media source you may be OK but if you quote something critical of the Administration, they only have to say you may have violated the law and down the site goes. The only quotes will be from "approved" sources.

This will end all discussion boards and cause critical media outlets to be isolated. Here in the US no one will allow a quote with the words "Fox News", "Rush Limbaugh" or "Sean Hannity" on their site.

This is a blatant end-run around Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Speech. You my be free to say what you want but no one will allow you to say it in the discussion pages of their website. And you won't want to waste time building a site likely to get taken down.

What I want to know is how will it affect search algorithms if content, linking and anchor text are suddenly skewed?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: sadaam on January 31, 2012, 12:48:43 PM
Is SOPA effecting us.. mean our Smf Community..?!!!?   :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(

plz reply i m worried...?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 31, 2012, 12:53:28 PM
Read the first post, it explains pretty much everything.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: sadaam on January 31, 2012, 01:00:21 PM
QuoteRead the first post, it explains pretty much everything.
sorry but my knowledge of english langveg is very poor..mean i dont know english very well so i ask u.. sorry 4 disturbing u... :'(
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on January 31, 2012, 01:13:40 PM
It explains perfectly fine how EVERBODY would be affected by this bill, so yeah that would include the SMF community and any other (SMF powered) website.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: sadaam on January 31, 2012, 02:03:53 PM
so painful news... :-X 
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Oldiesmann on January 31, 2012, 02:56:29 PM
Quote from: sadaam on January 31, 2012, 01:00:21 PM
QuoteRead the first post, it explains pretty much everything.
sorry but my knowledge of english langveg is very poor..mean i dont know english very well so i ask u.. sorry 4 disturbing u... :'(

Here's a Google translation for you: http://goo.gl/dvcwP
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: French on February 04, 2012, 03:53:08 AM
The Anti-Counterfeiting and Trade Agreement (ACTA) The European Council of Ministers has already given its approval to ACTA. only European Parliament can still stop this
.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=citzRjwk-sQ
You can now sign the petition (Dutch:) http://petities.nl/petitie/verwerpen-acta-verdrag
or
http://www.avaaz.org/en/eu_save_the_internet/?fp?148,81
(http://www.stopp-acta.info/files/button160-300en.png)

Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: JBlaze on February 04, 2012, 07:18:14 AM
One way or another, the government will squeeze one of these bills through. All we are doing is delaying the inevitable, unless we go after the root of the problem which is the entertainment industry. Until they realize that the times, they are a changin', they will continue to spend millions of dollars to censor the world in their favor.

You can go after the government officials as well, and it still wouldn't solve the problem. Our representatives are pawns. They don't represent our interests unless we have deep pockets and fat wallets. Even then, unless you own a multi-billion dollar corporation, the chance of them listening to you is slim to nil.

Until the people of the internet are willing to band together OUTSIDE of the internet, things will only change for the worse. These laws will be passed, and the internet will no longer exist in its originally intended form. Welcome to the age of corporate greed and government censorship.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: liamtoo on February 04, 2012, 10:45:24 AM
We have our own SOPA here in Ireland. http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0127/1224310799439.html (http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0127/1224310799439.html) At least the American lawmakers listen to the people. Here we have had a sham of democratic debate and then a minister signs it into law anyway. http://www.thejournal.ie/liveblog-the-dail-debate-on-the-irish-sopa-342358-Jan2012/  (http://www.thejournal.ie/liveblog-the-dail-debate-on-the-irish-sopa-342358-Jan2012/) Apart from a few newspapers, the main media here are a bit silent on the issue. TV and radio are mostly state owned and seem to toe the line. George Orwell is surely TIHG.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: SleePy on February 04, 2012, 04:36:55 PM
Quote from: liamtoo on February 04, 2012, 10:45:24 AMAt least the American lawmakers listen to the people, When you have the money/influence to throw around

I fixed that sentence for you.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Jakob Fel on February 06, 2012, 03:10:58 PM
I totally agree with SleePy's statement!
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ziycon on February 08, 2012, 08:59:08 AM
Doesn't look good for Ireland :( 80,000 people signed an online petition but seems it might pass.
http://www.siliconrepublic.com/new-media/item/25696-irelanda-s-sopa-no-reprie
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Jakob Fel on February 08, 2012, 04:57:09 PM
Ireland, like the rest of the world, needs a monarchy. Republics just are too weak and corrupt. :-\
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: rd on February 09, 2012, 05:06:43 PM
Quote from: Jaekob Caed on February 08, 2012, 04:57:09 PM
Ireland, like the rest of the world, needs a monarchy. Republics just are too weak and corrupt. :-\


So King says pass SOPA, it get's passed.

You write a petition and get killed by the armed forces.

:/
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: live627 on February 09, 2012, 05:14:23 PM
Yep. Now you have ONE PERSON to say yes or no instead of a committee of representatives. Way to go...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Matthew K. on February 09, 2012, 05:26:25 PM
I agree with RoyalDuke and live, here :P
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: IchBin™ on February 09, 2012, 05:36:11 PM
Quote from: Jaekob Caed on February 08, 2012, 04:57:09 PM
Ireland, like the rest of the world, needs a monarchy. Republics just are too weak and corrupt. :-\

I'd much rather the people be in charge of their own decisions.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Fustrate on February 09, 2012, 06:06:14 PM
I'd rather our representatives listened to the flesh people instead of the corporation people.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on February 09, 2012, 06:51:50 PM
Quote
I'd much rather the people be in charge of their own decisions.

Lol, does such a place even exist? o0
"Democracy". Yeah right :P
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: live627 on February 09, 2012, 07:25:11 PM
Quote from: Fustrate on February 09, 2012, 06:06:14 PM
I'd rather our representatives listened to the flesh people instead of the corporation people.
Like button, please?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: IchBin™ on February 10, 2012, 10:41:56 AM
Quote from: CoreISP on February 09, 2012, 06:51:50 PM
Quote
I'd much rather the people be in charge of their own decisions.

Lol, does such a place even exist? o0
"Democracy". Yeah right :P

It does in a republic. :) People just need to quit being so lazy and get off their duffs to make sure they take he responsibility for it.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: JBlaze on February 10, 2012, 11:44:13 AM
Half the reason our politicians are allowed to get away with what they do is that the American people aren't willing to stand up for themselves and fight back. We live in a world where we fear our government whereas our government should fear its people.

Until the people start fighting back on a larger scale, our "representatives" are going to keep abusing their powers to further their own agendas, as well as others.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on February 10, 2012, 01:02:22 PM
Quote from: IchBin™ on February 10, 2012, 10:41:56 AM
Quote from: CoreISP on February 09, 2012, 06:51:50 PM
Quote
I'd much rather the people be in charge of their own decisions.

Lol, does such a place even exist? o0
"Democracy". Yeah right :P

It does in a republic. :) People just need to quit being so lazy and get off their duffs to make sure they take he responsibility for it.

If you look at laws being passed and how it currently looks in nearly all countries, even that is a joke :)
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: IchBin™ on February 10, 2012, 01:15:53 PM
It's the only reason SOPA wasn't passed. People actually got off their duffs and made their voices heard. How is that a joke?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on February 10, 2012, 07:36:22 PM
Because something else will take it's place :) Democracy is a illusion and will only reach up to a certain point, after that the government really doesn't care much.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: admirable on February 12, 2012, 06:32:00 PM
Must amend & exceed the five stars....  :-X
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: lipmon on February 26, 2012, 05:43:06 PM
Bravo!
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Lawrence Wright on February 28, 2012, 06:07:41 AM
The biggest thing that disappoints me is that every time we vote down regulation of the internet, they come up with more regulations. Today, as I type this, they're talking about small businesses having to share business / mission critical information with the government. Think of how the government treats information. The businesses will just have another door to rack up more patents and knock down the little guys. It kind of makes me sick.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: wynnyelle on April 08, 2012, 07:23:27 PM
it's back:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57410236-281/mpaa-chief-sopa-and-protect-ip-back-from-the-grave/
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Fustrate on April 08, 2012, 07:42:59 PM
It will continue to come back, as long as the companies behind it have money to bribe congresspeople with... which they always will.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: wynnyelle on April 08, 2012, 07:50:51 PM
Yup we just need to keep fighting, and refusing to buy their products.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Matthew K. on April 09, 2012, 12:32:15 PM
Wow...I thought the government worked for the people...? When did that stop?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on April 09, 2012, 12:36:37 PM
Quote from: Labradoodle-360 on April 09, 2012, 12:32:15 PM
Wow...I thought the government worked for the people...? When did that stop?

1st of April is long gone Lab. :p No time for jokes now eh.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Matthew K. on April 09, 2012, 12:38:42 PM
How was I joking? Sorry...I was up all night.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: LiroyvH on April 09, 2012, 12:48:39 PM
With the "government works for people" statement, heh. :)
Government works for what brings in most money and couldn't care less about the people.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Angelina Belle on April 09, 2012, 08:22:58 PM
We can count on Hollywood to push in one direction, and Google and Wikipedia to push in the other.

There will be a compromise legislation, eventually.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: jamesdeser on April 10, 2012, 03:35:58 AM
The biggest thing that disappoints me is that every time we vote down regulation of the internet, they come up with more regulations. Today, as I type this, they're talking about small businesses having to share business / mission critical information with the government.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Angelina Belle on April 10, 2012, 12:59:45 PM
? http://www.staysafeonline.org/ ?
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Joker™ on April 21, 2012, 11:01:26 PM
CISPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Intelligence_Sharing_and_Protection_Act)

Look at the supporters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Intelligence_Sharing_and_Protection_Act#Supporters).
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: webconsulting on April 27, 2012, 02:44:12 AM
Hope this bill will not be implemented.Disgusting, No to SOPA.


Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Oldiesmann on April 27, 2012, 02:32:01 PM
A few updates on CISPA...

The bill passed through the House of Representatives yesterday, albeit with some changes. There is still some debate as to whether all of the changes made things better or not. See Insanity: CISPA Just Got Way Worse, And Then Passed On Rushed Vote (http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120426/14505718671/insanity-cispa-just-got-way-worse-then-passed-rushed-vote.shtml) for more info.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation has made it easy for you to contact your local congress people about this. See https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8609

It will still email both those in the House and the Senate (even though it already passed the House), but it's faster than digging up the info yourself :P

The president already said he would veto it if it passed Congress, but that was before the recent changes, so things might change. There's an official petition asking him to veto it on the White House website as well. https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/veto-cispa-if-it-makes-it-past-both-houses-congress-legislation-harmful-american-people/fKW3bVhg
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Norv on April 27, 2012, 02:46:48 PM
WT...

Thanks for the info Oldies. I will be heading over to social sites to spread the word, as soon as I have a little time, for people to know and act.

This is turning into an insane game, of who's going to get tired first and give up...
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ApplianceJunk on April 27, 2012, 03:25:51 PM
Quote from: N. N. on April 27, 2012, 02:46:48 PM
This is turning into an insane game, of who's going to get tired first and give up...

I doubt it will be the government that gets tired and gives up first
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Elmacik on May 11, 2012, 04:56:05 AM
I read the issuer's name "Lamer" instead of "Lamar", well, I accidentaly mis-read one letter, but the meaning changes a lot :P
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: Angelina Belle on May 11, 2012, 07:08:15 AM
SOPA is dead.  For more information about the continuing legislative efforts in the US, please read about CISPA
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: live627 on May 15, 2012, 03:33:25 AM
Quote from: Suna James on May 11, 2012, 03:15:49 AM
Give me the full details about SOPA  ?
That was most likely a comment spammer.
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: ziycon on July 04, 2012, 08:56:22 AM
Just a quick update on ACTA for anyone interested, it was rejected by the European Parliament(478 to 39 votes). :D

http://www.siliconrepublic.com/innovation/item/28123-acta-has-been-rejected-by-t
Title: Re: Statement regarding SOPA
Post by: busterone on July 04, 2012, 08:54:45 PM
Great news!  :)