Debates of all sorts discussion

I just felt like this would be a relevant discussion topic, it wasn't requested or anything :P

For those who don't know, the SOPA Act is the government's response to the huge amounts of piracy that've been happening over the Internet for a while now. It basically gives them the right to shut down any (American-based only, of course) website that would facilitate copyright infringement. Do you think that the government has the right to censor the Internet? If so, why? If not, why not and what's an alternative?

Do you think the government has the right to censor the Internet? If not, why not and what's an alternative?

This goes without saying, but: no.

SOPA is actually something I've been sort of casually seeking info on for a couple of days. From what I understand, the bill in its current form would require US internet service providers to block user access to sites which companies determined had infringed on copyright, and would shut down sites that even linked to something which committed such infringement. Basically: kiss YouTube, Tumblr, Soundcloud, Grooveshark, Pandora, Facebook, and almost any other large site goodbye.

There are two huge issues: one, that the U.S. would have become a government as prone to censorship as, say, Iran or China - not the company we want to keep when it comes to civil liberties - and two, that the companies who think this is necessary already have tools. I'm sure everyone has clicked on a YouTube link only to see that it's been taken down for copyright infringement, and we remember the Napster case years ago. The entertainment industry (which is the primary nonpolitical powerhouse behind this bill) has plenty of tools to stomp out piracy. It uses and abuses them on a regular basis (see: the case in which they tried to get a video of someone's dancing toddler taken down for the music playing distantly in the background; or any lawsuit filed against an individual for downloading music).

I was talking with some friends about this on Wednesday and one of them said something which I believe bears repeating: basically, that the people who write this bill do so as if there are 'good' internet sites and 'evil' internet sites, and as if SOPA will shut down only the evil ones and not affect any of the good ones. In reality the internet is a big bundle of gray; everything is interconnected and there are very few, if any, purely 'good' sites, especially when simply posting a link can now condemn a website.


Change.org's petition explains the problems with the bill better than I did.

Nono, you explained it wonderfully :) I agree with you for the most part, but the problem is that people are pirating music despite the entertainment industry's efforts to prevent it. I mean, they've not been trying to prevent it in the best way (who takes the 'You Wouldn't Steal A Car' thing seriously?) but still, that's what the biggest problem with the non-censorship (?) is and that's what they're really trying to stop, not just random background music in a video. If that made sense.

Yes, that's true. Piracy is bad and I think most people agree on that. Unfortunately, it's a side effect of an open forum like the internet. In that situation, I think the positives provided by such a forum outweigh the suffering of the industry. If piracy has huge consequences for them in the future, consumers will see the consequences of their actions and either live with those or change their behavior; right now I honestly think keeping the internet open and free is more important than keeping teenagers from downloading pop songs.

But this is the consequence. Of course pirating isn't making a huge dent in the music industry, but they're greedy and they want people to have to pay. It's stupid, yes :(

No this needs stopped. Immediately. It better not be passed. Amazing Atheist's response to it in which I heartily agree, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijqjHo...

I also agree :/ It's really sad that lawmakers don't give a fuck about the people.

♥ Rachel♥ wrote: "But this is the consequence. Of course pirating isn't making a huge dent in the music industry, but they're greedy and they want people to have to pay. It's stupid, yes :("

'Consequence'... no. 'Hysterical overreaction by money-grubbing douchebags' would be the term I'd use.

Well, yeah, although it's not really funny xP But it is a result of piracy :P

DUDE I WROTE PAPER ON THIS.

Here it is:


I believe that the Protect-IP Act/SOPA Bill is a very, very bad idea for a number of reasons as well as being very unconstitutional. The Bill basically gives the right of the government to shut down any website they want to without a trial. As American citizens, we have the right to have a trial. It’s not fair to have somebody’s website to be ripped away from them for no reason at all. After all, they’re people, too. Just like criminals are people, yet for some reason the criminals can have trials whereas website owners cannot.

Another right that is violated is the right of freedom of speech. Everybody in the US have the right to post what they want. But if the bill is passed, the government are quieting their—as well as many others—opinions and voices because the government feels that they need to be shut down. I know that the bill is to stop online piracy, but it is censoring the internet. It is not saving the internet; it is shutting it down. It’s going to basically just turn us into another China, and China doesn’t let its people speak up. The US does that. People express their emotions and feeling through fan-made montages and songs, and the government will be taking that expression away from them.

Along with freedom of speech, freedom of press is being violated. If websites like Yahoo! are shut down along with other news networks—even all the way to just blogs—that is taking away the right to post whatever they want. Why can’t they voice their opinion or their side of the story? Freedom of speech and freedom of press are really just hand-in-hand, and both rights will be violated if the bill is passed.

Among with other rights that will be violated, the law will pose many problems to Americans. Believe it or not, but America is built on the internet. If social networking sites are banned, how are you supposed to keep in touch with a friend or relative in a different country? I know you can make international calls, but with the time zones and phone networks, it would be very hard to keep up with each other as opposed to messaging someone on the internet.

There are people who have no friends in real life so they go to the internet to make those friends. If the websites that people connect with others on are taken down, they’ll be back to being alone. America likes to stress about people getting along; what if that’s the only people that make them feel like they belong and are accepted? What if their friends help them understand how to get over some problems in their life and become a better person out of it? After all, people who use the internet are people too.

How in the world are people supposed to keep up in world events without the internet? Granted, news stations are still around, but if an earthquake or something hits a place where a friend lives, you want to keep updated at all times, right? You might want to keep trying to contact them even if you know you can’t, correct? I would like to think it would just be much easier to see it on the internet because it’s constantly being updated and you don’t have to wait around to see the story. The internet will have it there. But if the bill gets passed, news websites could be banned and that would be chaotic.

Another reason why it’s a bad idea is because it’ll really end the easy way of learning. If I need to learn about something, I don’t have to search around for a book and wait two months to get it. I can just jump on the internet and search for it and I can usually find it almost instantly. Teachers at school utilize websites like Youtube to show their students educational videos. Students also need to use the internet a lot to do projects. If the bill passes, it’ll stagger educational learning. I know that not even two decades ago the internet wasn’t around, but it has grown so accepted that the results will be pretty devastating. I know it sounds dramatic, but it will happen like that.

The internet is a place for people to connect and relate to each other. The Protect-IP Act/SOPA Bill will destroy those relationships. No matter what some people say, it is internet censorship. It’s almost like an act of a dictator, not a democratic-republic where everybody should have rights. We have a right to look up and post whatever we want on the internet. And when I say “we”, I mean the whole nation—government or not. Everybody knows people will have to come out of office one day. It’s not going to make the government officials an exception to the rules if they’re in office or not. If this passes, we can’t get the internet back. It’ll be gone with a lot of knowledge and communication, and there will be an outrage. Please think before the bill is passed. Stop the Protect-IP Act/SOPA Bill.

Wow. You guys nailed it before I even joined in on the discussion .. bravo! *_*

Now all we need is a supporter...but as this is the Internet, I doubt we'll find many supporters xD

As I see the topic, the government wants waaaay too much control and power over stuff. They get so fussy.

http://vimeo.com/31100268

Amazing video describing it and why it's more harmful than it seems. I highly recommend it.

I didn't know a lot of that...this is upsetting :(

Tenebris In Lux wrote: "As I see the topic, the government wants waaaay too much control and power over stuff. They get so fussy.

http://vimeo.com/31100268

Amazing video describing it and why it's more harmful than it ..."

I watched the video, followed the link to send a letter to congress, then posted it as a status update on both Goodreads and Facebook.

Yes. Try to mail letters to congress, people!

I don't think it'll likely to pass this year, but it could really depend on who is in the office next year .. eep!

You know what I wrote an article on this for my school's newspaper... I wonder if I can access it somehow from home...

And I wrote that two-page paper.

Yeah you did... Oh right I'm pretty sure SOPA failed but we still need to worry about PIPA (basically the same thing as SOPA)

I'm kind of confused about whether this thing is still an issue or not. But yeah, I think everyone pretty much summed up why it's a bad idea. Sure, piracy is an issue. But we have to make sacrifices for freedom. And taking away that freedom is just unconstitutional.

It's still an issue because entertainment companies will keep trying to push either SOPA or something similar (PIPA) through. I don't really see piracy as an issue, honestly.

And you know how some music sites can get into hot water for licensing and whatnot? Well, apparently, due to having to pay money for this one music site for royalties, a popular artist like Lady Gaga barely got over $167. Yes. So, even if you are paying them, it mostly goes to the label and whatnot.

I AM SO GLAD THE BILL FAILED.

But I thought it had failed before hand.

WHY DOES IT KEEP COMING BACK? D:

SOPA the congress version failed, PIPA the senate version was recalled when they realized that it wasn't going to be passed. Chances are another similar bill is going to pop up eventually but for now we're safe.

Oh, excellent :D Did you all hear about the havoc Anonymous wreaked when Megaupload went down?

Yes .. I know a lot of people were very upset about Megupload. There are some blogs I go to that even have mere pictures from that site, so most of their content went bye-bye. I've never really been to that site before, so there isn't any harm for me, but I do realize it was a large site ..

FYI not only did they take down Megaupload and 18 of its subsidiaries, they also arrested three of its executives and have warrants out for several more.

♥ Rachel♥ wrote: "Oh, excellent :D Did you all hear about the havoc Anonymous wreaked when Megaupload went down?"

It twas awesome! I do believe a few sites anonymous attacked are still down! I love Anonymous. We are legion!

Guys, have you heard of ACTA?

I almost think it's worse than PIPA and SOPA e_e

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ56UN...

GUYS THE FREAKING ACTA--

ARHSDIOPFHSOPIURFHSOPTIUAEHTPOUWAE

I know D-:

Why should the government do that?

But we need to know information. Imagine how the world will be effected. The world would be less educated and we will need to use the limited books in a library!

Tenebris In Lux wrote: "Guys, have you heard of ACTA?

I almost think it's worse than PIPA and SOPA e_e

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQ56UN..."

Jesus fucking Christ on a Stick... I think it's time for the tree of liberty to be watered with the blood of some patriots and tyrants.