Will the S.O.P.A act affect us?

[notufatjesus]

Google and other big companies are on the brink of falling apart and protest against this sopa act, being juggled in congress. I'm sure you guys have seen this and understand what's going on. Will this prevent the free sharing of files and make it harder to make things happen... Custom ROM work and things of this nature?

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[chris mart]

I think if there is any site give illegal contents then it will affect them.

 

[pbailey212]

If someone shares an unauthorized licensed file (app, music, movie etc) the government can basically flick a switch and shut the website down. It might not seem horrible but you know government is, once it starts regulating something it doesn't stop and next thing you know we have a million rules which will have added taxes to pay to implement those rules. It also has been said that it would would make the internet less secure. The bill was backed by Hollywood lobiests who have spent way more money fighting piracy, then they have actually lost due to piracy.

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[anthonycr]

Right now if we put up links here to copyrighted material, a moderator will tell us to stop and give us a warning.... if sopa were to pass (which its unlikely) and I were to post a link to a free version of someones paid app, I would probably be arrested or fined and androidcentral probably would be in danger of being shut down. Thankfully nerds rule the world and people are listening to us.

 

[gerbalblaste]

It's not just links to copyrighted material, but links to sites which contain links to copyrighted material.

And in regards to pbailey: The government is not the one who will abuse this law, but rather private corporations and entities who will use it to censor speech they dislike. If a complaint is filed the government is obligated to enforce the law.

 

[anthonycr]

It's not just links to copyrighted material, but links to sites which contain links to copyrighted material.

And in regards to pbailey: The government is not the one who will abuse this law, but rather private corporations and entities who will use it to censor speech they dislike. If a complaint is filed the government is obligated to enforce the law.

Right, corporations will have alit to gain from this, but if the government will definitely use it to censor individuals and websites skeptical of them. No doubt.

 

[gerbalblaste]

Right, corporations will have alit to gain from this, but if the government will definitely use it to censor individuals and websites skeptical of them. No doubt.

DOUBT. having read SOPA, the tools it provides are for civil complaints by copyright holders against 3rd parties. There is not legal mechanism in the law for government utilization of the act for it's own purposes.

 

[bdfull3r]

DOUBT. having read SOPA, the tools it provides are for civil complaints by copyright holders against 3rd parties. There is not legal mechanism in the law for government utilization of the act for it's own purposes.

this is bill is broadly defined, if the government wanted to use it legally remove sites it doesn't like. whats to stop them? All they would need to do is post a single comment with copyright protected data and have the site pulled.

 

[anthonycr]

this is bill is broadly defined, if the government wanted to use it legally remove sites it doesn't like. whats to stop them? All they would need to do is post a single comment with copyright protected data and have the site pulled.

Exactly my point.

 

[one80oneday]

█ ████ ████ ███ ██ ████. This post has been found in violation of H.R. 3261, S.O.P.A and has been removed

 

[LeslieAnn]

Actually, it's worse than what some of you have claimed.
Pretty much EVERY user generated content website would be shut down.

The bill was written by media giants.
They want to control every aspect of the internet, particularly their brand and IP. If you really read in what they have put together for SOPA, basically, if you mention a trademarked name such as Revlon (who actually supports this), and they don't like their trademarked name showing up on your site, they only have to petition the government and your site goes dark. You can then file a complaint and get a lawyer and it will take months, but you get your site back if you can show good cause.

Wrong?
No. I get Cease and Desist letters over this very thing almost yearly for my chat forums over companies not liking something someone has posted. This is just the next step.

Now granted, most companies would not be that draconian about their name, some however actually are. Apple is pretty close to that. Radio Shack actually tried to sue EVERY internet site with the name "shack" in it. Nissan went full bore after a certain Mr. Nissan who runs Nissan Computer Store.

Then there is what big media have been doing on the internet.
Google gave them all a tool that lets them file easy DMCA requests for You Tube. What they are doing is using a scanning tool that searches for their names and names of their movies and songs and automatically files a complaint. Doesn't matter if your video is protected under fair use or not. Several channels on Youtube have run afoul of this a few times already, and even though everything they do falls under fair use, because big media keeps DMCA'ing them, Google is ready to ban their accounts.


So what would the fallout actually be?
All sites with user generated content, You Tube, Forums, search engines, would go dark, or would soon enough. Those smart and fast enough would move out of the country. The whole plan is short sighted, because in the end, all review sites would also be down. No more Consumer reports, no more game reviews, no more Amazon. Merely mentioning a company would be enough to risk losing your site for months. Eventually almost all web hosting would move out of the country leaving the U.S. Internet an online shopping catalog. This puts TONS of IT people out of work. It would start out slow with sites like Youtube and Google and eventually get to the point where companies will end up with a very dull online catalog where every pixel is scrutinized before going online to avoid running afoul of another company.

Then, since everything move out of country, and SOPA no longer works, the next step would be blocking all non-U.S. sites hosted in countries not supportive of SOPA. Which by the way, we are pressuring others to pass similar laws.

 

[notufatjesus]

? ???? ???? ??? ?? ????. This post has been found in violation of H.R. 3261, S.O.P.A and has been removed

Lmao ya right!

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[anthonycr]

U.S. shutters Megaupload.com, hackers retaliate danggggggg, dumb government... and the hackers retaliate

Score
Hackers: 1

Government: 0

 

[buttonstc]

Its not really a question IF it will effect us, for if it passes it surely will. If it passes its just a matter of time before the internet will no longer be the bastion of free info which we have grown accustomed to.

LeslieAnn nailed it. Her scenario is really far more likely than not IF this bill and the one in the other house passes.

I have already signed the online petition but also contacted my local congresspeople to let them know in no uncertain terms that if they cast a vote for internet censorship with either of these bills, they won't be getting my vote for their reelection.

 

[CloudBusterr]

I mean, I agree with the bill to an extent. People pirating everything as caused tons of lost money, but if you shut down sites like Amazon and Google... it's going to have a far worse effect on the economy.

 

[LeslieAnn]

I mean, I agree with the bill to an extent. People pirating everything as caused tons of lost money, but if you shut down sites like Amazon and Google... it's going to have a far worse effect on the economy.

It's not that simple.

They spend a ton of money to stop the ton of money they are losing.

However, it's more even then they want you to think.

They like to claim every pirated copy of Photoshop equals lost money. It does NOT.
Most people who pirate it, do so because they can, however if they couldn't they still wouldn't buy it. That isn't a lost sale. What it does do for them though, is increase market share. Photoshop would not be a household name if it wasn't pirated so much.

Being popular does translate to sales, don't let them fool you. It is claimed that much of Windows early success was driven by pirates. I pirate it, and push it onto friends who actually buy it. I believe they even acknowledged this at one point.

The question is, how much is actually lost or gained, no one knows exactly.
The corporations have exaggerated the hell out of the numbers and they know it. Sadly they take the inflated numbers and inflate them further every time they repeat them. Some of their own investigators have even confirmed this.

I guarantee you, if all pirates were forced to pay for Windows, Photoshop, and Office, a very large amount would simply move to Mac, Linux, Open Office and Gimp as many students have been doing more and more. Their sales numbers would not go off the charts as they claim.



And don't go giving them too much credit.
MS stole Windows from Apple, who stole it from Xerox, they are far from perfect themselves. The entire industry was built around pirating. Hell, Microsoft sold MSDOS to IBM and didn't even own it yet! Go look at all of the current lawsuits between these companies, they are constantly stealing from each other and others.

Even the congressmen whoa re to vote on this, it's been found most of them have stolen images and videos linked on their sites without permission.

Then you have the music and movie industry itself who constantly complain about being ripped off, but have no problem stealing from each other or smaller artists. The latest lawsuits towards the music industry in Canada (same companies as here) threatens to bankrupt their entire industry. All because they kept the royalties they should have paid to the artists.

They are all just as guilty.

 

[LeslieAnn]

Oh, interesting thing I heard today about SOPA...

If you upload a Michael Jackson song you can get 5 years in prison.
That's one year MORE than the doctor who killed him.

 

[dwappo]

Little rough don't you think?

It's sad to see this type of stuff happen. What kind of place do we live in...?

 

[notufatjesus]

Oh, interesting thing I heard today about SOPA...

If you upload a Michael Jackson song you can get 5 years in prison.
That's one year MORE than the doctor who killed him.

Fkn insane lmao

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[LeslieAnn]

Few people realize that "hacking" actually carries a potential life sentence. Seriously.

Now, just wait till they connect piracy with hacking and terrorism, life +5 years, of course that is only after they decide to actually charge you and put you in court and find you guilty.

Think I'm kidding?
Kevin Mitnick was caught and thrown in jail (Feb. 1995) four and a half years, and 8 months in solitary later, he finally saw a pretrial judge. They were so freaked out by him, and easily fell for lies told about his abilities (like starting a nuclear war by whistling into a phone), that they were scared to let him near a telephone or any other electronics. This happened before they set a maximum of life, and before Patriot Act. Imagine what they can and would do if SOPA or Pipa passes.