SOPA bill

[BGM17]

Hey guys im not sure if your aware of the purposed sopa bill, it means that if the bill is passed our internet will be cencored

more information here http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16596577

in short this means that if your caught downloading films illegally you could be put in prison for five or six years

this is rediculace

please sign the petition against this here http://act.demandprogress.org/act/sopa_testimony?source=fb

thank you

and if this is against for rules, i apologies

[Newfoundking]

No, we are against SOPA as much as anyone in the world.

Essentially, it isn't what most people think it is. It's not a bill that outright says all the evil things it's being accused of, instead, it's how vague it is that causes the problems. Obama has outright said that he will not allow any bill to pass that threatens rights, so unless SOPA gets a huge change, it'll be getting the presidential veto, or Obama won't be getting re-elected, and with an election so close, I don't think he's gonna risk that.

SOPA was orignally put forward to catch pirates and shut them down, though due to the vague-ness, it could be used to take my site, and my entire internet life down, because I once posted a gif with a clip from a movie on this site.. Oh yeah, this site would be taken down too, forgot to mention that. It's not what the bill DOES, it's what it CAN do that freaks people out.

The solution I have been proposing to this, is instead of fighting to the bitter end against the interwebz and our crazy-ass ways of doing things, realize we can't be so easily killed, and instead, join us. Look at a torrent site for example. They've got a bajillion ads running, and they don't stay afloat by the merch sales, they do it by the ads. Same with Megavideo, that's how they stay afloat, not through subscriptions, but ads.

If the movie companies said, hey, let's put this High def, blu-ray quality movie on our site, and to watch it, you have to watch two minutes of previews at the beginning, and deal with a banner ad on the top and bottom of the page. Assuming they get a million hits a day, probably substantially more, as people don't have to pay to see it, and only 10% click that ad, if it's through an agency like adsense, that means your page suddenly increases in value, and now each click, instead of being worth pennies, is worth much more. Every day then, just fron the random banner ad clicks, you make about 100k. Google loves it as they get a cut, the companies love it as a million people see and/or click their banner ad. To top it off, that two minutes of forced previews racks in a TON of money, say you've got one one minute preview of their next big movie, and a minute of commercials, that will easily make their money..

If it works so well for the pirates, that there are large empires now, and all that, just from banner ads, imagine what you'd make if you were doing it legit, and could use many more services... We win because it's free movies, companies win cause they get millions and millions of hits per day, potentially increasing their web-earned money, and the movie folk win because they're making their millions, and all they have to do is get the servers up and running. Even if it costs 15k a day, if you're hauling in 100k a day or more, then you're still in the green. And repeat customers too! Have you ever watched a movie twice or more? I'm sure you have, now imagine, you have every movie, in high quality, at your fingertips, for free, without having to deal with torrent sites, and foreign languages... suddenly that late night movie with friends becomes a re-watch alone, and again (like inception, that movie was messed up) trying to understand it. Oh yeah, and the pesky sites like Megavideo and that go under, so better things for the producers again, and us, I mean, who really likes megavideo?

And say they worry about server overload, well set a limit of two movies a day or something per IP. I mean if you're wasting more than 3 hours a day watching movies, you really should have someone take you outside. Or at least watch the news.

But for this to happen, that requires them not only to spend more money, and admit they were wrong with SOPA, but it means they have to admit that the pirates had the right idea, and they need to follow it... Like that'll ever happen.

[Xandarb]

Just had to post this photo. I laughed so hard!

Good luck my American friends!

Yes, yes. I should also probably link back to 9gag.com to make 'em happy.

[erfd]

_{They halted the Sopa bill: http://www.mediamugh...er_protests.htm}

[Newfoundking]

Even if both get approved by the respective houses, Obama has said publically he isn't letting them pass in their current state. And if they did, the government would be forced to take them down, or face a violent overthrowing, similar to those we have seen all around the world. People are getting fed up with the government as is, and if they start censoring the internet, they'll lose their minds. Everything else that is censored has always been, but we're in a time where people don't mindlessly accept the government and usually demand their views be put to law, and are usually much more politically aware. If they did pass SOPA, quiet frankly, the US would collapse. Government officials killed, the government would be overthrown, and capitalism would all but be kicked out of america, since it's what led to the creation of these bills*

*Companies are pushing for these, so they have a monopoly on their products, and they are the only ones profitting from it. Legally, they are required to do whatever possible to profit. Even break laws.. Paradox, hey, break the law, to comply with the law. (If a fine for doing something is less than it would cost to not do it, then you're legally bound to do it, to make more money). They are then forced to create pressure for complete control, so they can profit the most, and have less negative feedback towards them, (yeah that's right, the government is the corporation's bitch, always will be in a capitalist society)So remember, this isn't really the government, it's the government pressured by companies. Let's start attacking Hollywood for this, since they're the ones responsible!

[JimmyKid]

Even if both get approved by the respective houses, Obama has said publically he isn't letting them pass in their current state. And if they did, the government would be forced to take them down, or face a violent overthrowing, similar to those we have seen all around the world. People are getting fed up with the government as is, and if they start censoring the internet, they'll lose their minds. Everything else that is censored has always been, but we're in a time where people don't mindlessly accept the government and usually demand their views be put to law, and are usually much more politically aware. If they did pass SOPA, quiet frankly, the US would collapse. Government officials killed, the government would be overthrown, and capitalism would all but be kicked out of america, since it's what led to the creation of these bills*

*Companies are pushing for these, so they have a monopoly on their products, and they are the only ones profitting from it. Legally, they are required to do whatever possible to profit. Even break laws.. Paradox, hey, break the law, to comply with the law. (If a fine for doing something is less than it would cost to not do it, then you're legally bound to do it, to make more money). They are then forced to create pressure for complete control, so they can profit the most, and have less negative feedback towards them, (yeah that's right, the government is the corporation's bitch, always will be in a capitalist society)So remember, this isn't really the government, it's the government pressured by companies. Let's start attacking Hollywood for this, since they're the ones responsible!

I don't find it reassuring that you know more about American politics than a lot of Americans. Just shows how people will believe the internet will save us all.

[Wkboy714]

Well now the new threat apparently is ACTA...

You may want to look it up. Supposedly, it's tougher than SOPA, applies to many more countries, and has less attention than the SOPA campaign.

[Newfoundking]

I'm from Canada and unfortunately have been forced to pay attention to all the SOPA bull... Guys, it doesn't really affect us as much as it does America, meanwhile, ACTA is here, and it is a much larger problem, at least to me.

Apparently, from what I've heard, when crossing the border, they have the right to seize and search any device for pirated content, and if found, then it may be confiscated, or the user may be jailed.

[Ami89E1234]

*Sigh* They're all just more frivolous legislation by those who don't understand the topics, issues, or technologies in today's world. Seriously? Trying to censor the internet? They have no idea what the internet is. It cannot be stopped. Neither can piracy, or terrorism. They are all ideas. It's like the hydra: kill one head, ten more spawn in its place. Even the internet is more idea than technology; sure, it requires special hardware to run, but it will always exist due to the human instinct to have a social outlet that is completely free of any impositions against it that limit what is a basic right of all sentient life: the ability to freely express ideas and speak your own mind without considering any nonsensical consequences for saying it.

It's a shame no government has realized that even though they may have a military and a sphere of influence and control, the still are only in power as long as the people let them. Look at the Middle East, or even the U.S. in the late 18th century. They can only stay in power as long as their citizens don't feel the need to replace them with one that not only works for the good of the country, but for the world as a whole.