How SOPA Would Affect You

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Have no idea how the Stop Online Piracy Act will affect you? I suggest you read this. Have a friend or family member that is clueless when it comes to SOPA? Send them this link. ;)

Who supports SOPA? The three organizations that have probably been the most vocal are the MPAA, the Recording Industry Association of America, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A Politico chart shows that Hollywood has outspent Silicon Valley by about ten-fold on lobbyists in the last two years.
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It's frustrating to know that a few companies can purchase this type of stuff through lobbyists and get privilege over the massive amount of public opposing this. So much for representatives being for the people.
 
Spidey329 said:
It's frustrating to know that a few companies can purchase this type of stuff through lobbyists and get privilege over the massive amount of public opposing this. So much for representatives being for the people.
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It may seem "massive" in relation to our community (online and tech) but overall I doubt there is much response or opposition amongst the public; most are apathetic. This is why in a system such as ours, focused special interests can get what they want done over the indifferent, apathetic and uninformed masses. And I know that sounds harsh, but truly how many of these bills can each citizen be truly informed about?
 
TwistedAegis said:
It may seem "massive" in relation to our community (online and tech) but overall I doubt there is much response or opposition amongst the public; most are apathetic. This is why in a system such as ours, focused special interests can get what they want done over the indifferent, apathetic and uninformed masses. And I know that sounds harsh, but truly how many of these bills can each citizen be truly informed about?
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True enough. It seems like almost every day they're trying to push some BS legislation through at the behest of lobbyist to the detriment of the American people.
 
The fact that SOPA is even still around is amazing. Americans have serious issues, and piracy is a corporate issue. The entertainment industry hardly creates jobs here in the US as is, so why are we even supporting them to begin with?

So who will this effect? If you're the the 1%, then you have nothing to worry about. If you're the 99%, then you have serious issues.

BTW, for those that are the 99%.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=M1lJd2eLG0M

#1 It won't stop piracy. So long as there's proxies and world of mouth, people will always find a way to pirate. Remember, the harder they try to stop piracy, the easier it is to pirate. It's a rule.

#2 Social Networks will get attacked. If there's a way to tell people where to pirate, they will, and SOPA is allowing Hollywood to attack you.

#3 YouTube will get attacked. Videos with music in them will get taken down quicker then you could blink. Video clips even.

#4 Unfavorable movie reviews could be taken down. You will be in the dark, where they want you to be. The less you know the better it is for them.

#5 The price for internet will go up, cause policing the internet will cost ISPs money, and therefore cost you money.
 
TwistedAegis said:
It may seem "massive" in relation to our community (online and tech) but overall I doubt there is much response or opposition amongst the public; most are apathetic. This is why in a system such as ours, focused special interests can get what they want done over the indifferent, apathetic and uninformed masses. And I know that sounds harsh, but truly how many of these bills can each citizen be truly informed about?
Click to expand...

It's called "rational ignorance" in public choice theory. A single person can't really effect change in a vast bureaucracy, not without really large investments of knowledge and time. So if some piece of law affects him in only some small way, he ignores it, figuring it won't be a big deal. That's usually where slippery slopes find the greatest traction.

Politicians and other like-minded charismatic sociopaths thus can take advantage of this easily. Every piece of "legislation" in this country is basically written by lobbyists and then passed off to the politician's office. The "legislation" is chock full of barriers to entry for the competitors of the firm represented by the lobbyists, and full of loopholes for that same firm to take advantage of and abuse ad nauseum. In return for this friendly legislation, the lobbyist then gives money to the politician.

In any sane analysis this would be called "bribery." But here it's called "campaign contributions."

Look up, for example, the history of the federal minimum-wage law here. It was basically created by Congressmen in the Northeast to prevent states in the South from being able to attract companies to their region by legislating a minimum wage for them. Thus, a subsidy to the companies in the Northeast.

Obama's new health care law that passed a year back? Basically written by lobbyists working for Aetna and Blue Cross/Blue Shield. The new financial regulation law? Basically written by all the banks that the law is theoretically supposed to regulate. One of the worst, continuous offenders is the iron triangle of the military-industrial-congressional complex.

I'm reminded of the quote: "The law is used to prevent the poor from retaking by force what the rich have stolen from them through cunning."
 
I love how republicans claim that they're for "smaller government" and then turn around and pull out something like this. Smaller government my ass!
 
Ok,
The city is in charge of maintaining its streets
The ISP is in charge of maintaining its data lines

SOPA
The city is in charge of maintaining its streets and now has to inspect the inside of each car that enters or exits the city <<UNCONSTITUTIONAL>> city and police get sued into oblivion
The ISP is in charge of maintaining its data lines and now has to inspect the contents of each data packet that enters or exits the ISP&#8217;s network. (Why is such an act legal. It should not be. Where is due process, where is the warrant)
 
NeghVar said:
Ok,
The city is in charge of maintaining its streets
The ISP is in charge of maintaining its data lines

SOPA
The city is in charge of maintaining its streets and now has to inspect the inside of each car that enters or exits the city <<UNCONSTITUTIONAL>> city and police get sued into oblivion
The ISP is in charge of maintaining its data lines and now has to inspect the contents of each data packet that enters or exits the ISP’s network. (Why is such an act legal. It should not be. Where is due process, where is the warrant)
Click to expand...

This is just augmenting the Patriot Act, surveillance.

With your physical example, the TSA can inspect everything for air travellers. They can seize laptops, or even people and hold them indefinitely (and kill them, these days). Customs does it at the border to extremes.

Black sites, torture prisons, war crimes go unpunished... data is somewhat trivial.
 
Actually, I should emphasize: confessed (on nat'l TV) war crimes go without any investigation at all... no charges, indictments, no slap on the wrist or pardons. Just book tours, speeches (though they don't travel to Europe). It's like Bernie Madoff getting no punishment, just living in Manhattan with a show on CNBC.

All to "move forward" without the quaint rule of law.
 
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