If you haven't written your congress folk about SOPA/PIPA

[Blackferne]

Please take a moment today to write an email and copy and paste it to your other elected officials in Washington. I'll let others make the case why it is super important, but figured I'd do a small reminder.

[Blackferne]

If you are one of our Canadian members please just weep for southern neighbors.

[Fynn]

Also, if I may be so bold, please sign the Google Petition. The more we do, the more likely we are to beat internet censorship!

[Cuspar]

If you are one of our Canadian members please just weep for southern neighbors.

I'm actually surprised that this isn't something the Canadian government did first.

[Blackferne]

Also, if I may be so bold, please sign the Google Petition. The more we do, the more likely we are to beat internet censorship!

And done.

Also Cuspar just because China is beating us in manufactured goods, doesn't mean anyone can beat us in bad ideas. USA USA #1 #1!!!

[Furiel]

Petition signed.
Social media sites updated.
Congress people were emailed awhile ago on this, responses were interesting...

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D) - nice form letter saying she appreciated my concern and that she did not support the bill.

Senator Herb Kohl (D) - nice form letter saying he appreciated me contacting his office and that he has heard the voice of the people of WI and that he would not support the bill.

Senator Ron Johnson (R) - nice form letter with a link to a campaign contribution form with information on how to link the contribution to my previous message with assurances that once my contribution was received my issue would be given it's due consideration.

[Durai]

Petition signed.
Social media sites updated.
Congress people were emailed awhile ago on this, responses were interesting...

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D) - nice form letter saying she appreciated my concern and that she did not support the bill.

Senator Herb Kohl (D) - nice form letter saying he appreciated me contacting his office and that he has heard the voice of the people of WI and that he would not support the bill.

Senator Ron Johnson (R) - nice form letter with a link to a campaign contribution form with information on how to link the contribution to my previous message with assurances that once my contribution was received my issue would be given it's due consideration.

Done. And that last response made me pee a little bit.

Also, I honestly don't think SOPA is even intended to pass. I think they introduced it to make PIPA seem mild in comparasin, and that PIPA is intended to pass. But that's just my conspiracy theory.

Everyone can find their foil hats on the table to my left.

EDIT: Also, SOPA passing puts an end to free internet porn. The world can't allow that. They can't give it to us then take it away! Where else will I be able to find hot koala-hentai tantacle-nathon fillion action?!

[Reese]

It is no conspiracy craziness. PIPA originated in the Senate. When the companion bill was introduced in the House they added a whole lot more crazy. This happens often, so that both bills could pass and go to conference committee and the differences would be hashed out.

Unfortunately for the morons writing the legislation, people out there heard about the bills being fast tracked and started to pay attention. Now SOPA will die, PIPA may live on and pass the Senate, but likely will die in the House and never make conference committee.

But still be vigilant, the last minute tricks of the trade are still at play here. Best bet - encourage the country to vote against anyone that supports this legislation.

My personal story is, I am very close with my Congressman. I have supported his campaign financially and through volunteering for his campaign. I called his District Director, a close friend, to inform her that if my Congressman supported SOPA / PIPA in any way, I would vote against him and volunteer for anyone opposing him. Lets just say I got an email on New Years Day letting me know the Congressman sees no reason to support the bill. It better stay that way too.

[Furiel]

Petition signed.
Social media sites updated.
Congress people were emailed awhile ago on this, responses were interesting...

Congresswoman Tammy Baldwin (D) - nice form letter saying she appreciated my concern and that she did not support the bill.

Senator Herb Kohl (D) - nice form letter saying he appreciated me contacting his office and that he has heard the voice of the people of WI and that he would not support the bill.

Senator Ron Johnson (R) - nice form letter with a link to a campaign contribution form with information on how to link the contribution to my previous message with assurances that once my contribution was received my issue would be given it's due consideration.

Done. And that last response made me pee a little bit.

Also, I honestly don't think SOPA is even intended to pass. I think they introduced it to make PIPA seem mild in comparasin, and that PIPA is intended to pass. But that's just my conspiracy theory.

Everyone can find their foil hats on the table to my left.

EDIT: Also, SOPA passing puts an end to free internet porn. The world can't allow that. They can't give it to us then take it away! Where else will I be able to find hot koala-hentai tantacle-nathon fillion action?!

You seem to have a problem with peeing whenever you laugh...have you seen your doctor about that? If not you probably should, peeing is srs bzns.

[Bulwark]

ok, so I have heard lots of negative press about SOPA/PIPA, but no specifics of why it is evil. I am a strong supporter of Intellectual property (I make my living off of it), but at the same time believe that copyright holders have been given too much power to police their holdings. I also think that copyrights last too long and trivial patents are absurd, but that's a conversation for another day.

So, what should I say if my representative asks me why he should vote against it? It this just a bunch of Torrent kiddies complaining that their free meal is over, or is there more to it than that?

[Blackferne]

ok, so I have heard lots of negative press about SOPA/PIPA, but no specifics of why it is evil. I am a strong supporter of Intellectual property (I make my living off of it), but at the same time believe that copyright holders have been given too much power to police their holdings. I also think that copyrights last too long and trivial patents are absurd, but that's a conversation for another day.

So, what should I say if my representative asks me why he should vote against it? It this just a bunch of Torrent kiddies complaining that their free meal is over, or is there more to it than that?

You know that photoshop you did where you made Ernest Borgnine into the Borg? Well you linked that here. If Paramount, Gene Rodennberry's estate, or the person who took the Borgnine picture you used wanted to they could file a claim to force our site down without due process or the benefit of the doubt. Presumably I could litigate my way back into having the site reopened, but that would cost me more money than I have probably. So for things where a person has complete editorial and content control like a blog they can easily avoid that with no Ernest Borgnine is borg photoshops, but on a community setup like a forum it is a lot harder for me to moderate what you may do etc etc. It isn't that Google, Yahoo, Reddit, Twitter etc etc want to give torrent kiddies a free pass, but they don't want to give IP holders the ability to cripple websites without a prudent and proper process to allow for fair use.

[Reese]

SOPA / PIPA -

If a foreign website utilizes a domestic domain service (thepiratebay.org, facebook.com, twitter.com, etc.) they are subject to the restrictions. The members of Congress saying that it doesn't apply to domestic sites are lying. If a domestic owned company has a foreign presence they will be subject to SOPA/ PIPA. Also any foreign owned site with a domestic presence (spotify) will be subject to SOPA / PIPA.

The result? Any content that creates a value loss of $2500 to the copyright holder is in violation. Lets try this. You video yourself singing happy birthday to your daughter, post it on Alvis Boards saying "Check out my kid singing and farting along!". Well that song, Happy Birthday, is copywritten and strongly protected. If they value one playing of the song at $1 (pretty low based on past judgements) then at 2500 views, you have created a SOPA violation on Alvis. Think a bit more, we post photos of Star Wars, heavily valued intellectual property. Likely of hitting a value of $2500 for likeness rights is pretty immediate.

Next step? Arch Bishop Hello Kitty receives a takedown notice from the Justice Department informing him of his actions. No judge has seen this. A complaint came to Justice from Skywalker Ranch, and Justice sent a letter. No proof of wrongdoing, no trial to determine guilt. Also, your site has now been removed from Search engines and the DNS is blocked by ISPs. This is for a single video post.

The letter offers three options. 1) Consent to the site being in US Jurisdiction, remove the content immediately and guarantee that the content will never be linked to or posted directly on the site again (or the site admin goes to jail, does not pass GO). This does not mean you take it down immediately, it means you have to have a way to make sure it is never posted in the first place. 2) Fight the action in US court or 3) do nothing. If you chose to do nothing the complainant has the right to immediately request ownership of your DNS address in lieu of judgement to protect their copyright.

So, how do you respond to this? If you are reddit, google, facebook, etc etc etc The Church of Alvis, you just stop allowing content to be posted that could possibly infringe. So you know, stop allowing posts.


This isnt all the bad stuff, this is just the pieces that folks are reacting too. SOPA / PIPA also create insane new legal standing for corporations and the Justice Department to go after individuals for the actions of others that they cannot control. It also creates whole new criteria's of legal liability for anyone owning or operating a website, search engine, ISP, or way to post content.

[Furiel]

Aren't there also provisions for DNS blocking of foreign websites as well, thusly creating the great firewall of America? I would have sworn I read something about that as well.

[Durai]

Aren't there also provisions for DNS blocking of foreign websites as well, thusly creating the great firewall of America? I would have sworn I read something about that as well.

My understanding is that DNS filtering had been removed from the SOPA bill upon its last meeting. Essentially that is what the torrenters were complaining about, with sites like The Pirate Bay being registered outside the US, and therefore exempt from legislation. They tried doing it once or twice anyways on them, but this DNS filtering (had it been included) bypassed all that.

Honestly, however, I don't know THAT much about the bills. There's people here obviously more qualified than myself, but that was my understanding on it.

[Reese]

DNS filtering is removed from SOPA but not PIPA. DNS filtering was only one method of censorship. See my previous post and though DNS blacklisting may end removed, there is still a strong case for ISP's and Search Engines to defacto filter the DNS of sites posting and infringing content at they are libel for that content post as well. So the DNS filtering was only half the battle.

[Reese]

Also SOPA still includes Search Engine blocking of sites.

[Blackferne]

I want to be clear about something. Should Reese's dystopian internet come to pass and Alvis gets listed etc etc. I'm just giving up the domain and we will figure something else out. I love you guys but I cannot afford a legal challenge and don't want to go to jail over Hello Kitty/Star Wars mashups someone (probably me) links.

[Reese]

I want to be clear about something. Should Reese's dystopian internet come to pass and Alvis gets listed etc etc. I'm just giving up the domain and we will figure something else out. I love you guys but I cannot afford a legal challenge and don't want to go to jail over Hello Kitty/Star Wars mashups someone (probably me) links.

Oh Great. Our Glorious Leader doesn't have the balls to fight the entire US Justice Department. I feel so ashamed.

[Blackferne]

I want to be clear about something. Should Reese's dystopian internet come to pass and Alvis gets listed etc etc. I'm just giving up the domain and we will figure something else out. I love you guys but I cannot afford a legal challenge and don't want to go to jail over Hello Kitty/Star Wars mashups someone (probably me) links.

Oh Great. Our Glorious Leader doesn't have the balls to fight the entire US Justice Department. I feel so ashamed.

It isn't that I wouldn't want to, but the cost is not worth it. If you want to fund it I'm all for being a test case. However I am not going to jail.

[Reese]

Blackie's reaction to a take down notice:

[Dood]

Blackie's reaction to a take down notice:

I'm afraid that you've just violated copyright. Prepare to be erased from the Internet.

[Blackferne]

So Dood, you are saying Reese is the reason we can't have nice things.

[Dood]

ok, so I have heard lots of negative press about SOPA/PIPA, but no specifics of why it is evil. I am a strong supporter of Intellectual property (I make my living off of it), but at the same time believe that copyright holders have been given too much power to police their holdings. I also think that copyrights last too long and trivial patents are absurd, but that's a conversation for another day.

So, what should I say if my representative asks me why he should vote against it? It this just a bunch of Torrent kiddies complaining that their free meal is over, or is there more to it than that?

To echo some of the other responses, the problem with SOPA/PIPA is that they're too broad in their rules of enforcement.

Currently if someone comes to my blog and posts an image that violates someone's copyright, the copyright holder notifies me and I have a certain amount of time to remove the offending image. If I fail to comply, then they can sue/whatever.

Under SOPA/PIPA, there is no longer any need to give me a takedown notice because, instead of asking the guy running RumDood.com to remove an image that one of his readers posted or linked to in a comment, RumDood.com just disappears from the Internet altogether and the burden of proof that I am not somehow promoting mass piracy of copyrighted content (something I'm rather keen on not doing since I have to send Letters of Doom to people who steal my content all the fucking time) falls to me. I am guilty until proven innocent.

This is the primary problem with the measures: the lack of due process and the assumption of guilt. Beyond that, just listening to the arguments for the bill in Congress make you want to find the writers/supporters and hit them repeatedly about the head and neck with a blunt object. When the head of the MPAA sits there and says that the Google search engine is little more than a directory for piracy and that the first link you'll find on Google for any movie is a link to illegally download the movie, and all you get is Congresspeople nodding in feigned understanding/agreement, the blood, she boils.

[Dood]

So Dood, you are saying Reese is the reason we can't have nice things.

If not the reason, he's the proof.

[Dood]

In analogy form: You don't shut down Chevy because someone drove a Camero as the getaway car for a bank robbery.