This should only affect about, oh, 99% of the US internet?

Wow that's some tough stuff from what I got when I skimmed over.. good luck guys. :C
German government tried to enforce a similar thing on us a while back (only they said they wanted it to stop child pornography and nazi/terrorist sites instead of piracy ..yet, shady government filters would remain) but upraising within the net community was able to stop it.. or ...delay it?

Because of that there even is a new political party around now, with it's main focus on the internet and keeping it free and neutral! They began gaining a lot of votes and still do. Fortunately.

So yeah, it is possible when you scream loud enough.. to delay at least. I kind of know that one day they'll kill the internet.. but I also know that a few months after that geeks will think up something new.

Anyways, I hope you have success in protesting it and get at least parts of that law changed. Anything that affects the US Internet will also leave a huge impact on EVERYONE'S internet, no matter where they are in the world. :C
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((just a slight word edit MA))

This reminds me of the internet billing issue we had not too long ago Its sad when people dont realize that it effects everyone, not just a select group of people.

*is confused* What's going on?

Sounds like ACTA all over again. I wonder if anyone proposing these measures has considered how it would be possible to enforce such a thing.

Echo_Shell wrote:

Sounds like ACTA all over again. I wonder if anyone proposing these measures has considered how it would be possible to enforce such a thing.

I believe the only thing they considered is how much extra green representatives of the MAFIAA (nickname for the RIAA and MPAA - Music And Film Industries Association of America) offered to line their pockets with in order to propose this.

Don't we have more pressing issues to pass into legislation? Geeze!

StoryDreamer wrote:

Don't we have more pressing issues to pass into legislation? Geeze!

My thoughts exactly!

Anyways, I signed about a half dozen different petition things against SOPA already, and a few instant e-letters to important people about it. Won't do much alone but, if enough people do the same, it catches a lot of attention at least.

if that bill passes the US looses:
Tumblr
Facebook
Livejournal
Twitter
The Pirate Bay
Megaupload
Megavideo
Mediafire
Wordpress
Almost any forum site like this one

Yay! Great firewall of China for everyone!

Seriously ... France tried something similar too (called Hadopi if you want to look), I don't know how it ended up but it made some nasty waves!
Internet should neither be controled nor restricted!

I'm not in the US so I have no idea if there's anything I can do, but if there is, please let me know!

kestral_kitsune wrote:

if that bill passes the US looses: Tumblr Facebook Livejournal Twitter The Pirate Bay Megaupload Megavideo Mediafire Wordpress Almost any forum site like this one

Facebook?
I don't use facebook but, wouldn't there be an instant uproar if people got facebook taken away?

by ShinZm from devianart

"Protect IP goes further than simply protecting intellectual property. That was what it was originally intended to do. Protect your intellectual property, prevent piracy. But that's not where the bill is going anymore. You can read the bill for yourself here ---> [link]

If the bill is passed, art sites like Deviantart, FA and more will be shut down over user created content. It won't matter if you make money off it or not. Fanfiction, fanart, work that use referenced images. Text based works where you downloaded files from Dafont.com could be considered infringing.

Sites like Facebook, Twitterand Livejournal will be required to police their userbase from certain posts or links or images or be shut down. You won't be able to post a video of a family BBQ on youtube or your personal blog because the radio is playing music.

People who legitimately make money from creating video game reviews and walk throughs, like The Escapist, Yogscast, TotalBuscuit and Jessie Cox, will lose one of their biggest sources of income. Independent film companies like Dead Gentlemen Productions, creators of movies like 'The Gamers' and 'The Gamers 2: Dorkness Rising' will be shut down for good.

Search engines and start up companies, people who make money off of hits and add revenue will be forced to close before they even begin. Your ISP's will be firewalling anything and everything that they remotely think is infringing, even if its not. This means that before you even get an email, that email has already been read by someone else, and the links that you could have used to research a school project or get info on a company you where interested in applying to will have been removed.

This bill is what amounts to a digital version of The Patriot Act. Big Brother was listening to your phone calls. Now he's reading your email, watching the same movie your watching on your computer, hovering over your shoulder while you online game.

And that's just the start. If the bill passes, it sets a precedent for other countries. Acts like this one have already been passed in the UK as of 2010, they've just not been put into action. UK ISP services are struggling to reverse it. More so, if the bill is passed, it gives the government access to rewrite the code and scripting of internet protocols. Websites not blocked by firewalls and ISP forced shutdowns are no longer secure. Your browser no longer has the defenses it did, because most of those protection add ons were created by freeware and independent programmers that no longer get revenue to do upkeep.

Your right to protest? Right to free speech? It will be stripped if this bill is put into play."

written by hogosha-1 from Devianart

Petitions: Here and HERE

You don't have to live in the US to sign it! Sign and pass it on to everyone you know!

What a load of crap. Censoring the US internet? Yeah, good luck with that SOPA... you gonna try and censor RL next? lolwut

I guess the US government thought "if China can get away with it.."

Is it foolish of me not to worry about this? In the battle of the titans that will likely follow the passing of this bill, can hollywood and its backers ever hope to match the forces they're taking on? When it comes to implementing this bill (not passing it, but putting the measures into place) these forces will face the full might of everything the internet has become and that includes self made millionaires and billionaires who depend on the system remaining the way that it is. Google will not take this lying down. Neither will Facebook or Yahoo or any of the other companies whose stock we've seen shooting into space over the past decade or so. They cannot fail to block these measures unless they do not try. Hollywood is not the power that it used to be and they have picked a fight with the forces that threaten and eventually WILL supplant them. Seems silly to even try.

But maybe I'm just being careless. Being complacent. Thing is, I'm not particularly worried.