Are we all in trouble?

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FJ22

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Original poster
I know a great portion of people still don't know about the S.O.P.A. bill from the US. (And that other one I can't remember the name of.) If you don't understand it, look it up on youtube..

But for those of you who already know what I'm talking about;
Are we all in trouble? A lot of us here use "Copy righted" material (via fandoms and spin-offs) for the foundation of our roleplays. I'm just curious and want to debate. I know that I'm guilty, myself. I'm roleplaying copy righted books and animes.

LOL this bill is really stupid. Trying to ban every little thing that may contain anything copy righted.
 
I actually heard of this bill through my boyfriend, who heard it from a game reviewer. This is the guy. Sorry, he's on a ranting spree and it is a very long video.


I think what's really frightening is how members of Congress don't really know how the bill works... And I personally am not comfortable over them making a decision about technology. Their generation never grew up with it like we are so I feel like they're really removed from the impact of what the internet has over our lives.
 
Here is a link to the Wiki

I think the bill is focused on websites that host file sharing/streaming media. I highly doubt we are in trouble for anything, even those of us who use those sites to download content and such.
 
Yeah, we all in our society are in trouble.

...

No seriously, if you're in the US, let your representatives know that you're against this bill. Companies probably won't come to Iwaku to shut IT down, but they will attempt to shut down many sites you know and love already. (Etsy, FF.net, DeviantArt, I'm sure there are many more). There are also quite a few privacy concerns with this bill. It's just all sorts of corporate nonsense.

I told my friend who's worried about it that if it passes it's just a sign of the world coming to an end. And I mean that pretty literally.
 
I had always thought it was about shutting down websites that the government didn't deem fit, or just an all out killing spree of pretty much anything on the internet.

However... there is supposedly a way to bipass SOPA by using a certain browser [I believe it is firefox] and downloading an app. I don't know of how much use it is, seeing as, SOPA is not passed [yet], and that I have not used it myself.
 


4:15 - about SOPA.
 
It used to be cute, and even funny at times, when our elected officials would completely misrepresent technology in speeches and on the house or senate floor, because they didn't know enough about technology. (See: Series Of Tubes)
However, it has swiftly moved from amusing to dangerous. We continue, for some unfathomable reason, to elect morons to government positions, then watch in abject horror as bills like these come to fruition based on a little back scratching (and "donations" of goods and services, all under the table like, you see) from lobbyist groups.

Write and call your congress critters, and let them know that you're unhappy with this bill. If phone calls and letter writing doesn't help, be prepared to cast a vote for their opposition -- especially if the opposition is a younger person (ie: someone who is more apt to understand technology, although this isn't necessarily true either).
 
As long as we care, SOPA will NOT pass. That being said, don't stop caring. Sign petitions and contact your state officials. SOPA will cripple more things than you could imagine.
 
OOH OOOOH.
I saw this link today:
http://americancensorship.org/

I don't know how I would go about and make it happen, but maybe some of you can. :D You guys have more hootspah than I with making things happen, so perhaps putting this out there might help go against it.
Is this the same thing everyone is talking about?
Just.. is it? XD I'm trying to help.
 
SOPA is dead! Well, at least for the time being.

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/sopa-derailed/1897

Summary: According to a prominent U.S. Congressman, SOPA will not come up for a vote and is, thus, effectively dead, but PIPA remains active in the Senate.

U.S. House Judiciary Committee Member Congressman Darrell Issa (R-CA), and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) opponent has announced that House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has promised him that he will not bring the bill to the floor. That mean, for all practical intents and purposes, that SOPA is dead.
Click to expand...

As the summary states, however, it's counterpart (PROTECT IP Act, or PIPA) is still active in the Senate. Still, a minor victory seeing SOPA die out in the House.
 
PIPA is still potentially dangerous I hear, but as far as I know both of those initiatives have been shelved, SOPA being shelved indefinitely by the House and be threatened by Veto from the President himself. Additionally, I think it should be seen as a wake up call to all people of what can be done by those with power and little understanding.
 
Also on a side note:

Tomorrow, many of the sites you enjoy are going black to show their dislike for SOPA and PIPA. Google, Wikipedia, reddit, and so many more. The future of what the internet looks like, how we interact with one another, is under attack of unnecesary and frightening changes.Many singular users are also taking part in the blackout tomorrow (the 18th).

From the hours of 8AM to 8PM (EST), turn away from your internet. Don't tweet. Don't check your friends page. Don't see if you've got any new emails. For twelve hours experience what our future could possibly look like, if SOPA or PIPA pass.You can find more information on how you can help as well, and what these things actually mean, here and here.

------------

I'll personally be asleep at that time so count me in :P


You can find out more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Learn_more
 
Sylvir said:
From the hours of 8AM to 8PM (EST), turn away from your internet. Don't tweet. Don't check your friends page. Don't see if you've got any new emails. For twelve hours experience what our future could possibly look like, if SOPA or PIPA pass.You can find more information on how you can help as well, and what these things actually mean, here and here.
Click to expand...

And for all of us who work in some sort of marketing and communications role... oh yeah, let's just quit our jobs while we're at it. ;) So simple.

I contacted my representative about SOPA, guess it's time to tell Al Franken he needs more clout to stop PIPA.
 
Sylvir said:
From the hours of 8AM to 8PM (EST), turn away from your internet.
Click to expand...


As a computer technician, I can't just turn away from the internet. Sure, I could "not post" here, Facebook, or elsewhere. Alas, as a technician, I need to access things like device drivers, Windows Updates, and antivirus definitions. And that's just scratching the surface.

A good many of us, whether we choose to admit it, are tied in to the internet in some way. Whether it be romance, entertainment, or for career purposes. But fret not, because a lot of internet sites are doing the job for you today (re: the blackouts).
 
I called my local representative and left him a message via Tumblr.
I don't think he'll be picking up the phone today, haha.

& I would go black on Facebook, but I think the idea of just making your profile picture black isn't good enough so I'm going to.
Why didn't Facebook take a greater role? Make a black theme?

Imagine if Facebook went black-out for SOPA.

The whole world would know.

But now, we see what's important to who, you know?

& unfortunately I need to order my textbooks, email my professors and register for some classes today because I'm moving back in two days. So I can't exactly ignore the internet at the moment. I don't think that we should have to, though. Boycott never helps, especially when neither side is gaining anything from the other's boycott.

Wikipedia/Google/Websites that are blacking out, aren't boycotting the internet. Instead, they're doing it for the sake of awareness.

If I don't use the internet, what difference will it make? My tiny social circle will be aware I haven't been online all day because of SOPA. But the scale of influence is so small. I'm sure they've all seen Wiki's page anyway.
 
The reason they ask you to black out today is because even though it wont affect the world, your internet friends WILL ask and wonder why you're not there, and then it'll spread the knowledge about PIPA and SOPA. I wish Facebook did do something about blacking out in any way, but they didn't, so... meh.
407714_10150615819360739_607935738_11130755_1510098718_n.jpg[click] sticks out like a sore thumb on facebook, and it aims to educate. I think it's good.
 
Elyd said:
And for all of us who work in some sort of marketing and communications role... oh yeah, let's just quit our jobs while we're at it. ;) So simple.

I contacted my representative about SOPA, guess it's time to tell Al Franken he needs more clout to stop PIPA.
Click to expand...

I just want to clarify and make sure there's no misunderstanding, nowhere did I say it would solve anything. The point of the blackout for the individual users, as mentioned, is for voluntary users to experience what it would be like if SOPA was passed and to raise awareness.

That's it. I myself work as an accountant, and without the internet I would get my ass kicked by the clients for not e-filing their returns today, and instead put it off to tomorrow just because I wanted to participate in the blackout.

Alan said:
As a computer technician, I can't just turn away from the internet. Sure, I could "not post" here, Facebook, or elsewhere. Alas, as a technician, I need to access things like device drivers, Windows Updates, and antivirus definitions. And that's just scratching the surface.

A good many of us, whether we choose to admit it, are tied in to the internet in some way. Whether it be romance, entertainment, or for career purposes. But fret not, because a lot of internet sites are doing the job for you today (re: the blackouts).
Click to expand...

I completely understand. I myself work as an accountant, and without the internet I would get my ass kicked by the clients for not e-filing their returns today, and instead put it off to tomorrow just because I wanted to participate in the blackout.
 
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