Sopa Opponents Discuss Blackouts Of Service

[BG45]

For the moment SOPA is shelved, but PIPA is not.

[url="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/blogpost/post/wikipedia-blackout-coming-jan-18-says-co-founder-jimmy-wales/2012/01/16/gIQAh2Ke3P_blog.html"]Wikipedia will also be blacking out on the 18th of January.[/url]

[Vincent Vega]

Copyright laws/lawyers are strangling creativity and the progress of art.

[Basilisa Marie]

I don't think a lot of people realize that it's not even that a website is proved to have hosted pirated materials on it. The mere suspicion is all the government would need to block the site. Just like how now a person needs to only be suspected of terrorist involvement, and they can be arrested and held without trial for years. Not to be a conspiracy theorist, but anyone else sensing a pattern?

[BG45]

[url="http://blog.reddit.com/2012/01/technical-examination-of-sopa-and.html"]Reddit has posted a 31 citation breakdown of SOPA and PIPA and how it would be enforced under U.S. Law[/url]

[url="http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000067904"]Reddit's founder was on CNBC[/url] as the testifying is underway on the Hill soon. He pointed out to the host of the show he was on that it was astounding the Democrats and Republicans couldn't reach an agreement on the budget and were willing to let vital services cease, but when Hollywood throws them $94million in lobbying money, they could try to get stuff done.

Edit reason: Tried to make Congress 30 million dollars less bought off with original number.

Edited January 17, 2012 by BG45

[BG45]

Google would lose millions of dollars if it were to join the blackout tomorrow. However, [url="http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57360291/google-plans-to-use-home-page-to-protest-sopa/"]CBS News is now reporting[/url] that Google has announced that while you can still search with it tomorrow, it's homepage will be devoted to talking about how SOPA and PIPA are not in the public's best interest.

[brandelynmarie]

Fasten your seatbelt Dororthy, Kansas is going bye-byes.

[Clare~Therese]

[quote name='brandelynmarie' timestamp='1326846241' post='2370712']
Fasten your seatbelt Dororthy, Kansas is going bye-byes.
[/quote]

We're off to see the wizard...

[arfink]

I'm blacking out my blog and my website tomorrow. I will also be calling Al Franken again. To threaten him with the arse kicking of a lifetime if he votes for PIPA.

[MissyP89]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

Very tastefully done.

[Vincent Vega]

My email to Cliff Stearns:


Representative Stearns,

As a conservative voter, a small-statist, and as a child of the information age, I am deeply disturbed by the suggestion that the State should have the right to censor websites on as little as a suspicion. I am a firm believer in the free exchange of ideas and knowledge, and believe staunchly that except in extreme cases (such as preventing the exploitation of children), the government should not have the authority to interfere with what individuals choose to communicate on the internet, particularly if that interference is swayed by the weight of the funds that corporations pour into Washington.

I am confident that as a fellow conservative, you will see how bills like SOPA and PIPA would move the United States a frightening bit closer to those regimes of China and North Korea, other governments which control what their citizens are allowed to read and believe. Contrary to those top-down governments, we are fortunate enough to live in a country where the individual is more important than the State, and where have not only the right to our beliefs and the freedom to share them with others, but also the solemn duty to protect that right from being impinged upon, whether by outsiders or our own leaders.

I trust you also hold these intrinsic freedoms dear, and consequently I know you will see the importance of stopping the ratification of oppressive laws like SOPA and PIPA. I have confidence that you will do everything in your power to stop them from being put into effect. Thank you.

Respectfully,
USAir

Edited January 18, 2012 by USAirwaysIHS

[TheresaThoma]

Well here we go folks. The black-outs have begun. See what this does to change people's minds.

[kujo]

Remember when the line between "Democrat" and "Republican" used to be centered around the opinion of "big government?" Nowadays, both parties have become enthralled with the notion of a "big government." Neither side sees any problem being 9 inches up your arse. The only difference is how and in what manner they choose.

[kujo]

Very informative article on the subject:

[url="http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/01/20121169929629872.html"]http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/01/20121169929629872.html[/url]

[BG45]

Some pictures from blackout:
[img]http://i.imgur.com/doFBB.png[/img]

[url="http://i.imgur.com/n9t73.png"] [/url][img]http://i.imgur.com/n9t73.png[/img]

[img]http://i.imgur.com/NtOcO.png[/img]

[kujo]

[left][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=3][color=#333333]One of the main problems with these 2 bills--SOPA and PIPA-- is that they are comprised of deliberately and deliriously ambiguous-language. We're not talking about earmarks here--we're talking about laws that are intentionally written to allow the U.S. government to black list websites it "suspects" to be in violation of the law. Notice that I said "suspects" as opposed to "proves." It's similar to the National Defense Authorization Act of 2012, which grants the U.S. government the ability to indefinitely-detain U.S. citizens that it "suspects" of "terrorist involvement." In both instances, basic Constitutional protections like due process are thrown out the window in favor of unilateral and decisive action; rather than filing suit against a website--or pressing charges against a person suspected of terrorist activities-- and proving, in a court of law, that violations have occurred, these laws grant the government power to simply say "Hey you! We don't like what you're doing, so we're going to shut you down!," never having to prove why they are doing what they're doing. The potential for abuses as a result of this imprecise language is plain to see.[/color][/size][/font][/left]

[left][font=arial,helvetica,sans-serif][size=3][color=#333333]What we have here is the government granting itself the power to censor the internet. Period. If they want to attack piracy, they could go about it in a different way. But that's not what this is all about. It's a powergrab, dressed up as an attempt to curtail criminal behavior.[/color][/size][/font][/left]