SOPA Hearing Rigged to Attack Google, SOPA Opponents

[djohnston]

Source

The US is currently busy copying China's internet censorship policies, but before this bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA, can be pushed through, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing to debate the act. Sadly, the hearing was - quite obviously - rigged. It was set up so that Big Content and Congress could label Google and other opponents to the law as "the pirates". In fact, Google was the only party opposing SOPA.

I honestly don't know what to do with all this SOPA nonsense. It's so utterly clear just how bad this act is, it's so utterly clear how totalitarian and dangerous it is, it's so utterly clear just how grossly free speech and freedom in general are being curbed by this act, that it just baffles me that people who call themselves "Americans" could even support such a monstrosity.

The number of law professors, scholars, civil rights groups, and other organisations who oppose SOPA is so incredibly long, it boggles the mind it is still getting pushed through. Several large technology companies banded together today to publish a full-page advertisement against SOPA in The New York Times, and combined with the list of supporters/detractors for the act, it's interesting to see just who does - and doesn't support this bill.

http://vimeo.com/31100268

Microsoft is a proponent of limiting free speech on the internet, and thus, supports this act. Apple is not on the list of supporters, but the company's close ties to Disney make it pretty clear where Apple's allegiances lie. Disney, of course, is most likely the biggest proponent of laws like this, which is incredibly ironic - Disney is built, for almost 100%, on stories appropriated from the public domain. Disney would not have existed - or at least not in its current size - if the current copyright system was in place 100 years ago.

At this point, I just don't know what to do about this anymore. It would seem that the slippery slope of IP protection smart people have been warning about for years and years now is no longer just a slope - it's now a free-fall wherein the rights of the people are discarded left and right.

What should worry our US readers the most is the testimony today of the US Register of Copyrights, Maria Pallante. She stated - with a straight face - that without SOPA, the US copyright system would fall apart. Worse yet, she stated that SOPA doesn't go far enough - harsher methods are needed.

Sad. If there ever was anything that symbolises the moral bankruptcy of US politics and government, it's SOPA.

[MGBguy]

This is one of the best threads that I have seen in a while. I consider myself a gadfly regarding my state (house/senate) representatives.

It takes little time to send off an email to my representatives regarding issues that matter.

Aside from confronting your representatives  face to face, what can you do?

Make your opinions known!

[djohnston]

Source

After writing a rather lengthy and somewhat firey post on the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) yesterday, I realized this morning that I didn’t know Microsoft’s position on the matter. As I edit our Microsoft channel, I immediately sent off a query to the company concerning the Act.

To my surprise it took some time to hear back, and when I did get word the response was ‘no comment.’ Obviously intrigued, I dug into the issue. As it turns out, ‘no comment’ is Microsoft’s official position on SOPA. The company has made no noise at all on the issue, other than what I would wager is a rather conspicuous silence.

But Microsoft did support the pre-SOPA Protect IP Act, something that SOPA did draw on heavily for its roots. To quote the official page on the House website: “The Stop Online Piracy Act (H.R. 3261) builds on the Pro IP Act of 2008 and the Senate’s Protect IP Act introduced earlier this year.” So we have Microsoft supporting the intellectual ancestor of SOPA, but that’s certainly not enough to say that the company supports SOPA outright.

We can, however, show that it does. And somewhat disingenuously, if I may. You see, Microsoft is a major player in the Business Software Alliance, along with Apple and 27 other companies. And the BSA supports SOPA. This is from a recent BSA bulletin:

The Business Software Alliance today commended House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) for introducing the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (H.R. 3261) to curb the growing rash of software piracy and other forms of intellectual property theft that are being perpetrated by illicit websites.

Yeah, how about that. In short, Microsoft is using a front group to throw its support behind SOPA, while publicly saying and doing nothing, thus avoiding our rancor and displeasure. Well, no, that won’t do at all.

The following list is every single member of the Business Software Alliance. Each of them is complicit in supporting SOPA unless they publicly distance themselves from the BSA on the issue. As the companies are, presumably, dues paying members of the BSA, they are financially supporting the enaction of SOPA.

    Adobe
    Apple
    Autodesk
    AVEVA
    AVG
    Bentley Systems
    CA
    Cadence Design Systems
    CNC Software – Mastercam
    Compuware
    Corel
    Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation
    Dell
    Intel
    Intuit
    Kaspersky
    McAfee
    Microsoft
    Minitab
    Progress Software
    PTC
    Quark
    Quest
    Rosetta Stone
    Siemens PLM Software, Inc.
    Sybase
    Symantec
    TechSmith
    The MathWorks

To learn more about SOPA, and why you should be afraid of it, head here.

[Wildman]

Would seem they are all in it together Against us! 

[menotu]

How SOPA would affect you: FAQ

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57329001-281/how-sopa-would-affect-you-faq/?part=rss&subj=latest-news&tag=title

[Sproggy]

wouldnt the easy option be to just not buy their products and force them out of business .... it is amazing what type of swings in opinion can happen when a company faces bankruptcy .... at least the UK is safe for now ... but it wont be long before the vultures of commerce start looking our side of the pond .... greed .... fascinating to see what people will let people who are greedy do to them

[ElCuervo]

wouldnt the easy option be to just not buy their products and force them out of business .... it is amazing what type of swings in opinion can happen when a company faces bankruptcy ....

If only... maybe you and I and a few others could and would do that, but the vast majority of entertainment consumers? I don't think so.

If SOPA passes, all you need to do to know why is follow the money: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1111/68448_Page4.html

If it doesn't pass, it will be because of the calls of people like MGBguy and the numerous petitions the congress is receiving right now - a victory for the people, in other words.

[djohnston]

If it doesn't pass, it will be because of the calls of people like MGBguy and the numerous petitions the congress is receiving right now - a victory for the people, in other words.

After the Hearing: SOPA Down But Not Yet Out

[menotu]

by Mike Masnick  Tue, Nov 22nd 2011

The Definitive Post On Why SOPA And Protect IP Are Bad, Bad Ideas
from the let's-walk-through-the-reasons dept

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111122/04254316872/definitive-post-why-sopa-protect-ip-are-bad-bad-ideas.shtml

[coolbreeze]

I would be very concerned about them passing such a law,as it would be the end of Freedom of Speech where the net is concerned, As It says in another post of Menotu's, the E.U are out to make sure the net stays open,i only hope that they build the servers to take the strain in time, as i think the U.S having the majority of the servers would hold People to ransom by blocking all sites as they see fit.

This SOPA Act is just a front to stop Wikileaks/whistleblowers from passing info to the People,the rest of it is just a side effect, we all know, side effects can have very funny re-actions.

[Wildman]

Talk about protesters.....let them highly mentality challenged ding bats try that and see what happens here....

[menotu]

By David Kravets  November 21, 2011 (Wired)

Senator Promises To Filibuster Internet Blacklisting Bill

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/11/wyden-pipa-filibuster/

Edit:

http://twitter.com/iluvpclinuxos/statuses/140454189963816960    

[menotu]

By Derrick Harris Nov. 27, 2011 ( gigaom )

With friends like the DMCA, who needs SOPA?

The proposed Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, garners a lot of hatred from commentators and the Internet industry as whole, but it’s only the next logical step after the already-flawed Digital Millenium Copyright Act. Many discussions reference the DMCA’s “safe harbor” provision when talking about the removal of infringing content on sites like YouTube, but the provision doesn’t really provide safety at all. It might more fairly be called the “plea bargain” provision: you do less time and save on attorney fees, but you’re no less guilty.

The DMCA has been governing copyright on the web since 1998 but it has largely avoided the level of outrage the SOPA has raised, despite the DMCA’s process — or lack thereof — for getting content removed. Essentially, someone writes a letter that complies with the law’s requirements, and the service provider has to either remove that content (for a minimum of 10 to 14 days depending on whether the alleged infringer challenges the claim) or face a potential copyright lawsuit.

This doesn’t mesh with traditional avenues for resolving legal issues. Just because we’re talking about removing content and not putting people in jail, we shouldn’t offload the legal process to parties with every incentive to take the prudent route lest risk facing legal action themselves.

Full article

[menotu]

By Alex Wilhelm 5th December 2011 (thenextweb)

Kaspersky drops the Business Software Alliance over SOPA support

The Business Software Alliance may have retracted its enthusiastic support for the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), but its newly softened stance on the legislation has not stopped one of its members from deciding to leave the group over its positions in regards to the build.

Eugene Kaspersky, CEO of the Kaspersky Labs, said on Twitter that the company’s decision to leave the BSA stemmed directly from the SOPA issue: “Yes, we’re leaving BSA because of their support for #SOPA.” He told The Inquirer that “#SOPA is the vinyl-era legislation trying to manage the industry that requires a different approach.”

Full article

[menotu]

By enigmax  - December 8, 2011 (TorrentFreak)

Feds Return Mistakenly Seized Domain After a Year of Smoke and Mirrors

Just over a year ago, Homeland Security’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) seized dozens of domain names as part of Operation in Our Sites. The lawyer for one of them, music blog Dajaz1, has been furiously trying to find out about the site’s case and now, after a year of smoke, mirrors and stonewalling, the Feds have done the previously unthinkable – they’ve given the domain back.

During November 2010, the U.S. Government seized a range of domain names said to be infringing on copyright. While few mourned the loss of 2009jerseys.com, nfljerseysupply.com, throwbackguy.com, cartoon77.com, lifetimereplicas.com and handbag9.com, others generated much more interest.

Among them was DaJaz1.com, a site from which Special Agent Andrew Reynolds said he’d downloaded pirated music. But there was a problem. Persistent reports suggested that the songs had been legally provided to the site by record labels for the specific purposes of distribution to fans, a point later raised by Senator Ron Wyden. One ‘leak’ even came from a boss at a major music label.

Now, more than a year later, the whole case has just come alive in the most dramatic way possible. Has DaJaz1 just been deemed a full-blown rogue site run by criminals, as the ICE notice displayed on the domain for a year suggested?

Hardly – the Feds have just given their domain back because there is no case to answer.

...........................

If a poster boy was ever needed to show why these domain seizures without a fair process are just flat-out wrong, today SOPA opponents have one.


Full article