Comments on: STOP SOPA, SAVE THE INTERNET

By: Allan Meinecke

Allan Meinecke — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 16:22:00 +0000

Some members of Congress will make a huge amount of money if this bill passes, since it is legal for them to trade on this form of insider trading. The financial gain could conceivably dwarf even the obscene amounts of lobbying money that some of them are getting to support this horrible bill. Bad legislation is worse than no legislation. If the intent is to protect artists and copyrights, why not take the time to craft solid, responsible, internet-friendly legislation?

By: Allan Meinecke

Allan Meinecke — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 15:55:00 +0000

The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

By: chimonger

chimonger — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 07:03:00 +0000

Odd.
First They want “one world order”,
then they want to firewall us from communicating with the rest of the world…
…that sounds pretty schisophrenic!

By: Cypherpunks (a public account)

Cypherpunks (a public account) — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 03:47:00 +0000

Don’t waste your time on online petitions. They’re too easy and Congress doesn’t care. If you want to get your opinion heard, you need to get ON THE PHONE to your representatives and senators. They weight personal responses heavier than petitions when considering constituent support. Even better, write an old-fashioned letter.

By: Lost

Lost — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:58:00 +0000

I’ve created such a petition. Please sign it.
http://wh.gov/jgw

By: chimonger

chimonger — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:20:00 +0000

?Where are term limits?
->Blocked by legislators protecting their “jobs”.
?How come non-related riders can still be hooked onto any Bill struggling for passage?
->Still there-closest to abolish taht one was Clinton.
?Where are limits on benefits Legislators continue to get, once they leave office?
->Legislators have voted every time to protect their obscene packages of very expensive perks.
?How is it that pernicious legislation has gotten passed at all?
->It is usually voted for by “voice vote” in the middle of the night, to prevent constituents from learning who voted for it-since during those votes, no one is required to keep track of who is voting, or how.
->These are also passed by attaching it as a rider, to non-related Bills and never discussed, and usually, the Bill is something perilously important to get passed, forcing legislators to vote it in, riders and all.
HOW did these underhanded devious methods of passing laws we do not want, or that damage our freedoms, get put into action?
THAT is a very good question, that needs answered, and corrected!

Legilsators all have corporations they own or sit on Boards for. Or, they owe something to constituents who do, who can push the legislator to vote for some Bill the Corporation really wants.
Corporations who have legislators in their back pockets who help them well, also help them stay in office longer.

We have lots of legislators subsidized, in one way or another, by Special Interests, who have taken far too much power and control of the USA., for some very badly thought-out, greedy reasons.
Follow the Money!

By: Tim

Tim — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 01:07:00 +0000

If you live in canada, this will work. In the US, it won’t make a shit of difference. They can block DNS associations at the ISP level with this bill.

By: Siobhan Findley

Siobhan Findley — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 00:10:00 +0000

I’m signing this, i don’t do a lot of fan art-but still.

This bill is just utter stupidity

By: Ryan Greaves

Ryan Greaves — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 21:03:00 +0000

Teller, I’d like to read more… do you have a source you could link me to that reports those Senators and how much money they have received?

By: shadowfirebird

shadowfirebird — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:19:00 +0000

Spurious argument. TPB would also get money if I just visit the website but don’t download anything. That’s not profiting from piracy any more than broadcasting The A Team is profiting from violence…

By: james judge

james judge — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 19:04:00 +0000

Has anyone started an online petition for this and if so, where can I find it? Knowing about this is only half the battle. We need to fight this with our own petition as well as having a site with the contact information for the people that need to be told how we feel. Please, if anyone knows where I can find that, let me know.

By: Ryan DowlingSoka

Ryan DowlingSoka — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:38:00 +0000

Depends on how you got to the torrent. If you went to a site like the piratebay, then the piratebay receives income because you clicked on a site adding to their viewership meaning they can charge more for advertising space.

It is simple as that, the pirate bay only attracts people due to providing access to paid content for free. Their page views are entirely reliant on it. Traffic stats are through the rough, and the content creators do not receive anything for that download.

That said, the law goes overboard and does not deal with the issues. Piracy will mutate and change and content creators will not benefit, only the publishing companies that have the money to attack places hosting piracy.

By: Tristiana Johnson

Tristiana Johnson — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 18:31:00 +0000

What is wrong with these polititions!! What happened to the first amendment. These damn spoiled Hollywood artists just want more money so they can buy more useless crap. Newsflash you so called artists. We don’t need you. YOU need US!!!! we are make and break you! We will boycott your movie and songs!! Go ahead and pass the bill, and perpare yourselves for a war the likes of which you have never seen!

By: Mærty Townsend

Mærty Townsend — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 17:11:00 +0000

Yes! That makes perfect sense! Cripple the technology that caused the greatest economic expansion in American history!

And let’s not forget the long long list of people against this: Google, ISPs, the OWS movement, the Tea Party, even the FCC! If Congress pushes this turd through their assholes into the toilet America has become, it will be flushed. Even if we have to use a plunger.

By: Anthony

Anthony — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 16:30:00 +0000

This is one of the many reasons why I’m a republican.

I’m curious though what Charles Schumer is doing on that list. He was very vocal when Road Runner wanted to pilot a broadband cap in Rochester. Topped with the fact Rochester is a very techy city it effectively killed Road Runner’s plans to cap not only here, but nation wide.Apparently he doesn’t realize this is very much in the same ballpark?

By: David Merchant

David Merchant — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 15:38:00 +0000

It’s not that they are in their 50s (I’m in my 50s and am 100% against this bill), but that they are “career” politicians who are not in it for the people they theoretically represent, but are in it for power and money. Time and time again I hear people gripe about politicians, and then vote the incumbent back in (“but the other could be worse” yeah, right; they are far too often the same). Too many of us are hoodwinked and manipulated by those in power to vote out of fear; those in power are wolves in sheep clothing misleading the believers. Even Satan can appear as an angel of light. And it is our fault if we let him deceive us by use of fear, lies, and hate as we have God given minds to use, to think for ourselves, to test all things (ALL things) and keep that which is good. It is up to us to make sure our leaders are actually thinking about the democratic republic that is America first, and not their pocketbooks. We need to vote out every incumbent. Every one. Then, and maybe then, will those in power realize they need to give the people a little bit more attention, rather than just lip service, and sleight of hand.

By: dwasifar karalahishipoor

dwasifar karalahishipoor — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 14:11:00 +0000

I just wrote a new book. It’s only one word long. It’s a common three-letter word, beginning with T and ending with E. By law, I have automatic copyright on it now, so if I see my book quoted in entirety in anything published on, say, Sony’s website, I’ll file a SOPA action to have them taken down.

By: Martijn

Martijn — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 09:16:00 +0000

It never ceases to amaze me how corruption is legal and institutional in the US. I know it happens everywhere, but only in the US do people act like this is how the system is supposed to work.

By: david denman

david denman — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:37:00 +0000

Try imaging a legal form of a denial of service attack. A simple accusation shuts down sites you don’t like, or agree with, with no real recourse. This removes many of the checks and balances of a free information flow.

By: Rebecca Petrie

Rebecca Petrie — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:17:00 +0000

This is so stupid! I may not be American myself, but I have made friends (real friends, not perverts or rapists) that live in America through the internet. It is the only way we can actually communicate and it would break my heart to learn that she couldn’t talk to me anymore because of a law that is stupid and not at all well thought out.

The government definitely haven’t considered the loss of business that will follow the passing of this bill throughout the country. If you think about how many businesses promote themselves through email, Facebook and Twitter, and then consider how many people use the internet to look for products similar to ones they have found in a shop, you are dealing with a large amount of customers that 1. will not get what they want/need, which can leave people angered and upset (perhaps the government like being complained to?), and 2. will not be giving companies any of their money which is, ‘presumably’, what most companies thrive off of.

In addition, the internet has only been out for a decade and a bit, yet there are more websites than people in the world. You’d think that the government might want to use the internet to their advantage (using it as a tool to communicate with the younger generation of voters would be a great idea) but, instead they’d like to block people from using it. This will lose candidates who support this bizarre bill so many votes. You might lose voters all together because what young adult can take a government seriously when they prevent them from using certain prominent websites that they may use for so many purposes. These young adults have been there since the internet took over the world (I think everyone can admit that that’s pretty much what happened) and are used to it’s facilities being there. This is letting down a whole generation, and probably so many more people.

Nevermind job losses. I don’t even want to consider how many people could lose jobs. For example, if your favourite website was Facebook and you suddenly couldn’t get on anymore, would you want to go on the computer at all? Then remember how many people shop online. Statistics are shown below:

Among Internet users with Internet access using it shop, the highest percentage shopping online is found in:

South Korea (99%)
UK (97%)
Germany (97%)
Japan (97%)
US (94%)

That percentage is pretty high. Imagine losing all that business and how that would damage the companies. Look at these statistics:

The most popular and purchased items are:

Books (41% purchased in the past three months)
Clothing/Accessories/Shoes (36%)
Videos / DVDs / Games (24%)
Airline Tickets (24%)
Electronic Equipment (23%)

In all honesty, these are all luxury items. However, these are all prominent business sectors outside of the internet, yet people could be losing that option? (I found these statistics here - http://www.multilingual-search.com/world-statistics-on-the-number-of-internet-shoppers/28/01/2008/ )Now, I do not claim to have more than a few brain cells of knowledge on this subject. But I do understand what I would do if my favourite social networking site was blocked from me. I would only ever use my computer to play games or to do school work. Or maybe I’d give up on the whole thing, because I would miss my friends too much to even look at the laptop that once created a connection for me with a few people that I have bonded with so well. This whole bill is just wrong.

By: DanL

DanL — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 06:00:00 +0000

I’m sick of brainless american politicians. Who the hell voted for them?

By: Kat

Kat — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:46:00 +0000

I don’t even live in America and I’m angered by this. Apart from signing the petitions, what can I do from the other side of the globe to stop this passing?

By: Michael G. O'Hair

Michael G. O'Hair — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:43:00 +0000

I’d like to know how Protect IP/SOPA will make the internet less secure. Everywhere I’ve read doesn’t seem to go into enough detail on this. Yes, non-compliant domains will be walled, but how does this make the connection less secure?

I oppose the government giving too big of a tool to corporate interests to enforce the ownership of their intellectual property, but I also oppose infringement of copyright on the grounds that a medium is also used in ways that do not infringe of the create rights of others.

By: dufuss983

dufuss983 — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 05:33:00 +0000

WE NEED TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS……. i dont care whether its protest or literally march up on the capitols front steps WE NEED TO PROTEST AGAINST IT AND STOP IT! this could lead us into a war…think about it! The government uses internet sites every day they would be the only ones controlling it! If that ever happens, that means that they would have access to our computers….they could legally HACK into our computers and get files and data off of them! We need to stop this….SOON!

By: The Enclosed Instruction Book

The Enclosed Instruction Book — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 04:32:00 +0000

Tweeted it.

By: Gareth Branscombe

Gareth Branscombe — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 03:35:00 +0000

Except even if the site is in Canada, that wouldn’t stop the US from blocking it.

By: Jack Walsh

Jack Walsh — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:47:00 +0000

this makes me want to cry :’(

By: captnbli

captnbli — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 02:44:00 +0000

Well, the problem discussed here is real, but would exist without pirates profitting from it. Profit is not fundamentally the problem, it’s that technology has broken the existing business models.

I note that I cannot pay to download the movie discussed here in a format and manner that suits me. But I know I could torrent it down for free if I was patient.

By: Byrne M. Owens

Byrne M. Owens — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 01:46:00 +0000

And what do they need all that money for? Why to spend on MEDIA for their next campaign! TV time is the Crack Cocaine of American Politics. Until we get off of it (and the internet offers the best way - obviously a threat to Big Media), this will only get worse.

By: Garrett

Garrett — Tue, 15 Nov 2011 00:51:00 +0000

Sign a petition.
http://www.change.org/petitions/the-president-of-the-united-states-kill-hr3261-the-sopa-bill