PROTECT IP & Stop Online Piracy Acts

If you haven't heard of the two acts listed in the subject, you should learn about them. The PROTECT IP Act (the Senate version) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (the House of Representatives version) are two new proposed bills to continue the fight against online piracy. They are the most insidious bills yet to be put forth by the RIAA and the MPAA and could seriously threaten the foundation of the Internet and the social nature that we've come to expect from it.



As the video states, a lot of the sites that they want to target are outside the United States so they're finding new means to punish them so this bill has far reaching effects; even our European brothers and sisters could feel its sting.

If you're in the US, I deeply encourage you to contact your Senators and Representatives and urge them to vote against these bills. You can do so at the link below.

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa/

I actually did a presentation on this bill for my Ethics class. There are some serious issues with the bill that the co-sponsors are seemingly wanting to brush aside and get it passed. There was a hearing back on November 16 that was rather, em...lively.

The bill would allow the Attorney General to get a federal warrant that would force ISPs to stop associating offending URLs to their IP addresses, essentially removing a website from the Internet. In other words, if the AG for some bizarre reason got an order against us, when you typed in stonewallfleet.com, it wouldn't bring you here, it MIGHT display a message stating that the site is blocked or that the page can not be found.

This presents many issues. First, the language used by the bill is very broad and without doubt open to being abused. Second, the nature of turning off URLs associating to their IP addresses poses serious concerns for DNSSEC (Domain Name System Security Extensions) which technology experts have worked to establish for over a decade.

In short, this bill will probably cause far more harm than good. Many groups including the ACLU is against it and it needs to be defeated in Congress.

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First, let me say that I am all for people protecting their Intellectual Property. I'm also for protecting people from shady foreign drug outfits that sell US consumers harmful "medicines".

However, this bill is not the answer. I've read it in-depth. There are parts that are broad enough that it invites abuse and can be used in ways that are far more harmful than good.

The ramifications are far too impacting to just let this one go. So, I urge you all to contact you're Congress representatives and let them know how you feel.

As someone who makes their living off of IP (first as a designer, now as a project manager in publishing), I agree with you whole heartedly. There are enough tools available now for protection of copyrighted material.

I'm a little concerned at the casting of IP-owners as bullies in the video. Just as a Mom & Pop shop has the right to sue a shoplifter, the IP-holders have the right to sue for their stolen work. Whether they've got a $20,000 a year business or a $2,000,000 a year business, they are the victim when it comes to piracy.

That said, I agree that SOPA, and the Net Neutrality powers that the FCC essentially gave itself this summer, are major warning klaxons to me when it comes to freedom of expression. Any ability for an entity to shut down a competitor, be it political or commercial completely skews, what I believe, to be the greatest gifts our country has given.

Thank you for merging my post in with yours. I couldn't remember where it was listed before.

I discovered that the registrar I use, GoDaddy.com supported SOPA. I had every intention of switching to another registrar/hosting provider. I found out tonight that they reversed their stance after so many customers have threatened to drop them. Although, if SOPA passes, I am likely to drop them anyway.

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Congress withdraws SOPA, PIPA anti-piracy measures

One of my congressmen is still saying how import these bills our to the econ, the other changed his vote right away.

It's been really interesting to see how this issue transcends party lines in the U.S. I've seen articles from traditionally right-wing organizations that make the same case (and even use very similar language) as traditionally left-wing organizations.

I sent emails to all 3 of my congressmen and the 2 republicans both sent back replies saying they were dropping support for the bills which surprised me due to the current partisanship. Actually it shocked me in a good way.