Forums → WEPR → SOPA protest
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Guys who else thinks that Armor Games should go down on Jan 18th to Protest SOPA along with these sites and more;
Google
AOL
Yahoo!
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Foursquare
PayPal
Amazon
eBay
Mozilla Firefox
Netscape
Flickr
The Huffington Post.
- 134 Replies
The internet isn't going to stay open and free, the governments of the world want to control it and eventually they'll get their way in the end. Do you really think the politicians are listening? Really?
Another thing this attitude of "we're powerless, we can't do anything" is exactly how the people are being brought into this complacency and the governments of the world are getting away with crap like this in the first place.
The fact that it is a commercial site is meaningless to SOPA. If SOPA or PIPA passed AG could be shut down entirely, therefore it would make more sense for them to do something about it.
How exactly do you figure that then? Is AG an illegal site trafficking pirated software or effecting the industries SOFA is purporting to protect?
Not really, its extremely easy to get around those blocks.
For the few that know how to do it. Are you presuming that the entire Chinese population owns a computer and knows how to circumvent the blocks put in place by the government? Are you also presuming that the majority of the Chinese people even care?
A long, long time, if ever.
Time will tell.
Numbers mean a lot when you have power, which both Americans and Europeans do have. Especially with companies like Google on your side. The government of free countries cannot totally ignore the people, especially when they are already restless.
Name a free country then. Give me a country that is free and commands it's government and I'll agree with you. Plenty to choose from.
Thaboss is a little confused about this.
If an AG user say, posts the lyrics to a copyrighted song, or a link to a youtube video that infringes copyright, would AG have to delete that post or risk getting shut down/sued? And would the user face any punishment?
Doesn't anyone want to answer thaboss's question?
I do believe that the first part of that is correct, thaboss. The second part I'm not sure about, although I'd be convinced that the site would issue a ban considering they don't want to have to deal with taking down posts like that.
If an AG user say, posts the lyrics to a copyrighted song, or a link to a youtube video that infringes copyright, would AG have to delete that post or risk getting shut down/sued? And would the user face any punishment?
Relies on the copyright holder claiming infringement and ignoring the fair use rule.
Wikipedia's going down too! i just tried to go on and it wouldn't let me.
This is bs. one days' worth of protesting isn't going to make a difference.
How exactly do you figure that then? Is AG an illegal site trafficking pirated software or effecting the industries SOFA is purporting to protect?
These forums are filled with things that could cause AG to be shut down if SOPA or PIPA pass.
For the few that know how to do it. Are you presuming that the entire Chinese population owns a computer and knows how to circumvent the blocks put in place by the government?
No, but a large portion of the people who own a computer do.
Are you also presuming that the majority of the Chinese people even care?
The ones who had internet before the blocks do, so do the ones who want knowledge. And once again, it really only applies to those with computers and internet access.
Name a free country then. Give me a country that is free and commands it's government and I'll agree with you. Plenty to choose from.
If you think the people have no say it what goes on in government you are part of the problem here. Admittedly the government of all free countries do things the people don't like, but it is limited because of the threat of losing control. SOPA or PIPA could, as mage said, cause all out war against the government.
@Thaboss That's exactly the rub. The law is making content carriers responsible for any content posted. If I say "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." and the MPAA decides I'm infringing on their rights by doing so, they can force AG to take down the content. AG has 2 potential responses, they can decide to legally check every single claim (expensive!), or take them all down (cheap!). SOPA has a nifty provision where the site gains complete immunity if they do take something down that is later proven as not infringing. You've now got a situation where someone claims something is infringing, a site has monetary reasons to listen to them without fighting it, and potential legal repercussions if they don't, and nobody actually fighting for the person who posted.
If you think a user is being stupid and hurting the rest of humanity with their willful ignorance and apathetic feelings of "I'm just one person the gov't hates me and will never listen to me oh woe is me."? Write a letter claiming infringement about their post if SOPA passes!
Picture this on a much larger scale, because they also claim that just linking to a site or file is infringement. How is google supposed to police every single link to every site they've ever crawled over? Google isn't blacking out their own name for a lark. This is serious, and together we can do something about it. The only way they win is if we don't do anything.
How exactly do you figure that then? Is AG an illegal site trafficking pirated software or effecting the industries SOFA is purporting to protect?
Let's put it this way. Let's say someone posted a link with copyrighted material, like this.
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
Doing so under SOPA put's AG at risk. There are a number of games on here that reference popular media that could also put AG at risk, even though it is legal to use now.
If an AG user say, posts the lyrics to a copyrighted song, or a link to a youtube video that infringes copyright, would AG have to delete that post or risk getting shut down/sued? And would the user face any punishment?
Yes it does.
Relies on the copyright holder claiming infringement and ignoring the fair use rule.
Fair use would be all but non existent under the current form of these bills.
Let's put it this way. Let's say someone posted a link with copyrighted material, like this.
Twisted Sister - We're Not Gonna Take It
Doing so under SOPA put's AG at risk. There are a number of games on here that reference popular media that could also put AG at risk, even though it is legal to use now.
Nope, fair use. No profit, no gain.
Fair use would be all but non existent under the current form of these bills.
Care to explain how the SOPA bill gets round fair use? Because if it really does get round fair use, the companies attempting to enforce copyright on that basis would be bankrupt in a month. Could you afford to pay millions of pounds to a corporation? No, you'd go bankrupt. Then the company is left with the legal bill. Times that by a few million, and a profitable business becomes a legal-brain-drain.
Precisely the point Dewi, go back one more post and read how the bill actually works. SOPA puts the onus of enforcing copyright onto the search engine/forums/site, and then gives them immunity if they decide to just go along with claims of violation. If the MPAA sent 5000 notices to AG about copyright violations, AG would go bankrupt if they tried to fight it. Instead they would be forced to just go along with every single letter and remove every supposedly offending violation.
In your attempt to ridicule people, you've actually stumbled upon the entire crux of the situation.
Care to explain how the SOPA bill gets round fair use? Because if it really does get round fair use, the companies attempting to enforce copyright on that basis would be bankrupt in a month. Could you afford to pay millions of pounds to a corporation? No, you'd go bankrupt. Then the company is left with the legal bill. Times that by a few million, and a profitable business becomes a legal-brain-drain.
If I remember correctly SOPA doesn't require any kind of trial or legal fees of any kind. Its just a company filling a complaint that says there is copyright infringement, then its up to the offending website to take it down or be shut down by government or blocked by ISP.
Precisely the point Dewi, go back one more post and read how the bill actually works. SOPA puts the onus of enforcing copyright onto the search engine/forums/site, and then gives them immunity if they decide to just go along with claims of violation. If the MPAA sent 5000 notices to AG about copyright violations, AG would go bankrupt if they tried to fight it. Instead they would be forced to just go along with every single letter and remove every supposedly offending violation.
In your attempt to ridicule people, you've actually stumbled upon the entire crux of the situation.
/thread
So, basically, the two most used sites (not official; thaboss wouldn't know) on the internet, Facebook and Google are kind of screwed over...?
In your attempt to ridicule people, you've actually stumbled upon the entire crux of the situation.
I wasn't attempting to ridicule anyone, that would imply malice. Malice is something withheld for the racists, the bigots and the idiots.
SOPA can't put the onus on the individual site simply because it would shut down the commercial side of the internet in the US. Any idea how much that is worth? And how would that effect the corporations who are backing SOPA? Any clue what would happen to the US economy if the SOPA bill was taken literally?
Blunt of it is that the SOPA bill is flawed, beyond belief and even if it is passed, it will lead to courts filled across the US, extraditions all over the place and generally the destruction of the online community and the billons generated by the online commerce.
Let them get on with it and plunge us all into a deeper recession world wide than we already are. Internationally the Western world will be the lepers and with a minor tweak, the 'yellow people will inherit the earth'.
You're mistaking me for someone who really gives a flying **** how the democratic system works. The democratic system doesn't work because it isn't democratic. So let them push through their bill and when their incomes drop like a lead balloon, they'll be forced to admit that it was a mistake eventually and allow the real order of the internet to continue.
The internet unites us as a world order, but in the short term we are going to have to accept it will be controlled by the governments of the world. It is our job then to change that for the future generations, but that relies on selflessness... how many can claim that?
If I remember correctly SOPA doesn't require any kind of trial or legal fees of any kind. Its just a company filling a complaint that says there is copyright infringement, then its up to the offending website to take it down or be shut down by government or blocked by ISP.
Either way fair use is dead under SOPA.
SOPA can't put the onus on the individual site simply because it would shut down the commercial side of the internet in the US. Any idea how much that is worth?
That's exactly why companies like Google are fighting it.
And how would that effect the corporations who are backing SOPA?
The corporations backing it gain more power to control what is and is not seen. These corporations have gained a certain immunity they shouldn't have. That's just one of the things making this so dangerous. This sort of bill stands to set the information age back, which is exactly what the supporting corporations want since they made money and hand more control with the old format which thanks to the way the internet work was made obsolete.
So let them push through their bill and when their incomes drop like a lead balloon, they'll be forced to admit that it was a mistake eventually and allow the real order of the internet to continue.
Thing is they will just keep squeezing the people instead of losing. Letting them push things like this through is how we got into this sort of mess in the first place.
The internet unites us as a world order, but in the short term we are going to have to accept it will be controlled by the governments of the world. It is our job then to change that for the future generations, but that relies on selflessness... how many can claim that?
If we want this to change for future generations then the last thing we should do is accept it.
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