Topic: SOPA/PROTECT IP (Read 15395 times)

Thad · « **Reply #80 on:** January 17, 2012, 07:42:51 AM »

Today's news certainly isn't behaving as if SOPA were dead. Blackout's going forward; Wikipedia is participating, which is kind of a big deal.

McDohl · « **Reply #81 on:** January 17, 2012, 08:08:18 AM »

I hear Minecraft is too.

http://mojang.com/2012/01/17/sopa-protest-websites-shut-down/

Yep, all of Mojang's stuff is.

Thad · « **Reply #82 on:** January 17, 2012, 09:42:27 AM »

I've seen other people make the point that Google could crush this thing just by blacking out for 5 minutes a day. While that's true, I'm not sure I want to see that kind of precedent -- if Google throws its weight around to directly influence government policy this time, what's to stop it from doing so in the future? Google's got plenty of political positions I DON'T agree with.

Thad · « **Reply #83 on:** January 17, 2012, 11:45:24 AM »

Ars: Reeling MPAA declares DNS filtering "off the table"

Good.

But nice to see that's not enough to get the protesters to back off.

Let's go with a colorful southwestern metaphor: If a coyote is killing your livestock, it's not enough just to defang him. You kill him and string him up as a warning to anybody else who comes sniffing around.

Brentai · « **Reply #84 on:** January 17, 2012, 11:50:19 AM »

The problem with both your metaphor and the situation you are describing with it is that in both cases you're relying on the coyote to be intelligent enough to understand what a strung-up corpse means.

Joxam · « **Reply #85 on:** January 17, 2012, 11:51:30 AM »

I don't want to comment too much because its my job and all, but reading all of the literature they're passing around the theater industry to try and get people on board with this thing is absolutely amazing. You'd think we were actively engaged in a fight with Blackbeard or something. Also they're basically crying constantly about the internet not knowing with its protesting and that is the reason people don't like it. Blaming people like you and me for being misinformed instead of the people on capital hill who probably don't even check their own e-mail.

Mongrel · « **Reply #86 on:** January 17, 2012, 12:04:26 PM »

Hm... my uncle has to kill coyotes all the time. I should ask him if leaving a corpse around actually scares off others.

My guess is no, but that may just be a function of a scavenging predator being hungry enough to not give a shit, rather than not recognizing a dead fellow traveller.

Thad · « **Reply #87 on:** January 17, 2012, 12:25:32 PM »

Whether or not the metaphor is literally true (I've heard it is but am not actually in the habit of killing coyotes and leaving their corpses on my front lawn), Brent's right about the problem and Joxam has done a good job of explaining the reason. Big Content has really drunk the Kool-Aid on this one, legitimately believes it's under siege, has no understanding of how the Internet works and, worse, thinks it does and it's anyone who DISAGREES who must be ignorant.

Which is my point. Cutting the DNS language is a good start, but it's not enough; SOPA/PIPA need to fail entirely. And then the OPEN Act, for good measure. And over the next few years, as the MPAA/RIAA continue not to fucking get it and continue to push bullshit like this, all THAT legislation needs to fail too.

Which is still just a good start. You know where I stand on this -- I won't consider our side to be "winning" until the DMCA is repealed.

And then it's on to repealing the 1998 Copyright Act.

And then repealing most of the 1976 Copyright Act.

And then maybe by that point we can start reassessing copyright and its purpose outright.

Meantime? This is a good start.

A² · « **Reply #88 on:** January 17, 2012, 01:12:33 PM »

Quote from: Thad on January 17, 2012, 09:42:27 AM

I've seen other people make the point that Google could crush this thing just by blacking out for 5 minutes a day. While that's true, I'm not sure I want to see that kind of precedent -- if Google throws its weight around to directly influence government policy this time, what's to stop it from doing so in the future? Google's got plenty of political positions I DON'T agree with.

Google, Scribd, and Wordpress join Sopa protest on the 18th

Google won't go dark, but will link to resources on their main homepage.

Brentai · « **Reply #89 on:** January 17, 2012, 02:55:07 PM »

Honestly the only way to really let Big Whatever understand that what they're doing is a bad idea is to let it pass and watch it blow up in their faces spectacularly (because, and this has to be driven home to everyone else - this is a CENSORSHIP [a.k.a. anti-Media] bill that does FUCK-ALL to stop piracy). The problem is that all the bullshit that would cause fo the rest of us isn't worth an object lesson that they may not even understand, so the only real thing to do is to stop trying to educate them and just find a way to contain their self-destructive ignorance.

Büge · « **Reply #90 on:** January 17, 2012, 03:50:12 PM »

No, actually, the problem is that people will put up with a lot more than you realize.

Look at the price of gas, fer corn's sake.

Mongrel · « **Reply #91 on:** January 17, 2012, 05:57:08 PM »

Also, look how well "letting stuff pass" worked for the list of bad legislation Thad described two posts previously.

Thad · « **Reply #92 on:** January 17, 2012, 09:05:28 PM »

Quote from: Brentai on January 17, 2012, 02:55:07 PM

Honestly the only way to really let Big Whatever understand that what they're doing is a bad idea is to let it pass and watch it blow up in their faces spectacularly (because, and this has to be driven home to everyone else - this is a CENSORSHIP [a.k.a. anti-Media] bill that does FUCK-ALL to stop piracy).

No.

That's what we've been doing for the past 15 years. With the result that they keep saying "Well, this censorship bill is doing fuck-all to stop piracy; obviously we need a stronger one."

Whether SOPA/PIPA pass in their current form or not, whether OPEN passes or not, by this time next year we'll be seeing them rattle their sabers about how the reason we still have piracy is because we didn't let them go through with the DNS blacklist.

And if the DNS blacklist DID pass, well, by this time next year we'd be seeing them rattle their sabers about how the reason we still have piracy is because ISP's don't automatically disconnect users who are accused of piracy. Or because there isn't mandatory spyware included in every computer's firmware to validate every file before use. Or that we can't extradite people from overseas who distribute software that violates US copyright law. Or some other brand new bugbear that is even more invasive but just as ineffective.

The only way they're going to learn to quit doing stuff like this is from repeated and massive public backlash. Sooner or later they'll learn propositions like this are bad for business, even if they still think it's because their customers are ignorant sheep easily misled by pro-piracy sites like Arts Technica.

Saturn · « **Reply #93 on:** January 17, 2012, 10:06:18 PM »

I'm just waiting for something as Psychotic as Jack Valenti's comparison of the VCR to the Boston strangler to be said

Mongrel · « **Reply #94 on:** January 17, 2012, 10:39:00 PM »

I keep tripping over smaller (but still popular/well-known in their field) sites that are going dark for SOPA. This really has spread all over.

PhoenixUltima · « **Reply #95 on:** January 18, 2012, 05:44:03 AM »

The blackout thing is kind of a cool idea, but at the same time it smacks highly of slacktivism. "We need a way to really raise awareness of this sopa/pipa bullshit, but I don't want to actually write a bunch of articles or go around posting on forums." "Eh, we'll just shut down the site for the day and say 'this could be the future if sopa/pipa pass!'" "Brilliant! We saved internet democracy AND I still have the rest of the day to dedicate to WoW and blow!"

Shinra · « **Reply #96 on:** January 18, 2012, 06:09:49 AM »

They've been writing articles and blog posts and posting on forums for two months. It's a big part of why the bill hasn't passed yet in the first place.

They're trying to raise awareness to the issue to the kind of people who aren't politically active.

Büge · « **Reply #97 on:** January 18, 2012, 06:46:18 AM »

Nedroid nails it.

Bal · « **Reply #98 on:** January 18, 2012, 06:48:05 AM »

Pro-tip: If you still want to find out how much a sea urchin weighs, just stop Wikipedia before it finishes loading, because the blackout script is the last thing to load. Not that I don't support the effort of course, but they're preaching to the choir in my case, and I need to know Peter Parker's body fat index.

Zaratustra · « **Reply #99 on:** January 18, 2012, 06:49:18 AM »

Rupert Murdoch is flipping out on twitter it's really funny

http://www.twitter.com/rupertmurdoch

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Author Topic: SOPA/PROTECT IP (Read 15395 times)