Create a custom theme
1
1 votes
Devil's Advocates - What SOPA/PIPA Could Do, And Who Supports It
Posted by
wastelander75
,
19 January 2012
·
96 views
Congress SOPA video games censorship supporters piracy internet 2012
Blacklisted
Alright. By now the full fury of the internet's been felt, and the initial support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), has all but faded. But for some of you who didn't exactly know what both of these bills might have done to the internet, allow me to try to do what I can to simplify what they represented:
By Federal law, the government has the authority to shut down U.S. based websites that host and offer pirated content, but they can't touch any foreign site doing the same, like Pirate Bay for example. However, were SOPA made law, The Justice Department could get a court order demanding that all U.S. Internet providers block any and all access to Pirate Bay, either by making it impossible for users to type in the web address in any Internet browser, or requiring search engines like Google to disable links to the site. On top of that, the Attorney General could get a court order blocking credit-card payments to any site(s) and requiring advertising networks to stop placing ads on any site(s). In addition, both SOPA and PIPA would allow content owners to take private legal action against websites that could be/are hosting pirated material. Now, here's the part where both bills start to tread deep into the controversial; Opponents argue that the language in the bills would allow content owners to target ANY website that are currently or unknowingly hosting pirated content.
Put in simplest terms, any copywrit material of any sort would be subject to this law. Wanna post your favorite movie clip or movie picture to your Facebook profile? Not with SOPA in charge. Wanna post that video of your little niece singing "Wind Beneath My Wings" during her 5th grade talent show on Youtube? Not allowed, according to SOPA standards. Places that depend, rely and thrive off of user generated/donated content would become virtual ghost towns, if not shut down completely. Wikipedia, WikiLeaks, Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, eBay, Mozilla, the list goes on and on. There's also some/were some concerns over DNS redirect provisions in the SOPA bill, that...prety much raised the ire of a lot of web browser search engines (Google being the biggest voice in the room), which, if I understand it right (honestly, even in layman's it's still hard for me to try to simplify or understand), is the same thing some some hackers do to get your personal information (like credit card numbers and bank account info).
Personally, I don't see any of this working anyway, if they ever got them off the ground. I mean, the Government's track list on banning or supressing anything really hasn't worked out well for them. They tried to ban alcohol and all it did was encourage underground 'speak-easies' and moonshiners to pop up all over the place. They tried to fight the War on Drugs and...well that didn't turn out well. As a matter of fact, in this day and age Medical Marijuana is starting to gain steam. They tried to fight poverty and....heheheh....we're still recovering from the worst financial F.U.B.A.R. since, well, the Great Depression.
Way to go there Government (slow clap).
Now let me state for the record. I'm not a suppoter of piracy, nor do I knowingly practice any form of piracy whatsoever. I believe that people who steal, then resell or black market that product should be found, beat to a pulpy mess, and have all their fingers broken with a ball-peen hammer. Then fined and finally put in jail for no less than five years. And anyone who knowingly purchases these items from said thieves should be fined until they're practically homeless, with said monies going to the people they ripped off in the first place. As I've stated before, SOPA (in particular) is a Broadsword approach when all you need is a scalpel. It's just too broad-based to be effective, and to narrow to be flexible for the very people it's supposedly "protecting."
Also, before the support dried up, I think it should be important to note a list of video game industry supporters BEFORE they retracted it after last night's blackout (along with some comments some of them made)...
38 Studios
345 Games
505 Games
Capcom USA, Inc.
Deep Silver
Disney Interactive Studios, Inc.
Eidos Interactive
Electronic Arts
Her Interactive, Inc.
Ignition Entertainment
Konami Digital Entertainment
LEVEL-5 Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Namco Bandai Games America Inc.
Natsume Inc.
Nexon America, Inc.
Nintendo of America Inc.
Nival
NVIDIA
O-Games, Inc.
Perfect World Entertainment
SEGA of America, Inc.
Slang
Sony Computer Entertainment America
Sony Online Entertainment, Inc.
Square Enix, Inc.
Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc.
Tecmo Koei America Corporation
THQ, Inc.
Trion Worlds, Inc.
Ubisoft Entertainment, Inc.
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Inc.
XSEED Games
The Entertainment Software Association (ESA) - As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. Rogue websites — those singularly devoted to profiting from their blatant illegal piracy — restrict demand for legitimate video game products and services, thereby costing jobs. Our industry needs effective remedies to address this specific problem, and we support the House and Senate proposals to achieve this objective. We are mindful of concerns raised about a negative impact on innovation. We look forward to working with the House and Senate, and all interested parties, to find the right balance and define useful remedies to combat willful wrongdoers that do not impede lawful product and business model innovation.
Jeff Brown, Senior VP of Communications and Public Affairs at Electronic Arts - "We believe in the organization (ESA) and agree with them on most issues"
Capcom - "The ESA represents us on these matters." (see the above ESA statement)
Rep. Lamar S. Smith, SOPA's supporter/creator on Wikipedia's Blackout last night that, "it is ironic a website dedicated to providing information is spreading misinformation about the Stop Online Piracy Act." And also called the entire Blackout itself nothing more than "a publicity stunt."
And the War Goes on................................
To take it down to a very basic crude example: I could report you for siting something in your blog that I consider to be copyright. The government would shut down BPC immediately, indite Munki and you for breach of copyright. Then they would start to investigate my claim. And lets face it that could take months or more.
SOPA and PIPA in their current form are both too vague and overpowering to be generally accepted.
Having said all that, I fully expect the next version of both bills to gain far more popularity in a political sense.
And whilst this all sucks for us the humble consumer, I agree that people have a right to protect their copy-written material and that measures should be taken to try and stop piracy.
Just my 2 cents worth
p.s. there's a lot of weight in some of the contents of this email I received today:
Quote
The largest online protest in history has fundamentally changed the game. You were heard.
On January 18th, 13 million of us took the time to tell Congress to protect free speech rights on the internet. Hundreds of millions, maybe a billion, people all around the world saw what we did on Wednesday. See the amazing numbers here and tell everyone what you did.
This was unprecedented. Your activism may have changed the way people fight for the public interest and basic rights forever.
The MPAA (the lobby for big movie studios which created these terrible bills) was shocked and seemingly humbled. “‘This was a whole new different game all of a sudden,’ MPAA Chairman and former Senator Chris Dodd told the New York Times. ‘[PIPA and SOPA were] considered by many to be a slam dunk.’”
“'This is altogether a new effect,' Mr. Dodd said, comparing the online movement to the Arab Spring. He could not remember seeing 'an effort that was moving with this degree of support change this dramatically' in the last four decades, he added."
Tweet with us, shout on the internet with us, let's celebrate: Round of applause to the 13 million people who stood up - #PIPA and #SOPA are tabled 4 now. #13millionapplause
#SOPA and #PIPA will likely return in some form. But when they do, we'll be ready. Can you make a donation to Fight for the Future, to help us keep this fire going?We're indebted to everyone who helped in the beginning of this movement -- you, and all the sites that went out on a limb to protest in November -- Boing Boing and Mozilla Foundation (and thank you Tumblr, 4chan)! And the grassroots groups -- Public Knowledge, Electronic Frontier Foundation, Demand Progress, CDT, and many more.