Wikipedia joins web blackout in Sopa protest

[ironsides]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

Isn't Obama going to veto it if they pass it?

Not sure what Obama will do, guess the bill will fail, wonder how they can re-write it and make everyone happy..

(Reuters) - U.S. legislation aimed at curbing online piracy, which had appeared to be on a fast track for approval by Congress, appears likely to be scaled back or jettisoned entirely in the wake of critical comments over the weekend from the White House, people familiar with the matter said.
The legislation, known as SOPA in the House of Representatives and PIPA in the Senate, has been a major priority for entertainment companies, publishers, pharmaceutical firms and many industry groups, who say it is critical to curbing online piracy that costs them billions of dollars a year.
The legislation is designed to shut down access to overseas websites that traffic in stolen content or counterfeit goods.
Internet companies have furiously opposed the legislation and have ramped up their lobbying efforts in recent months, arguing the legislation would undermine innovation and free speech rights and compromise the functioning of the Internet.
Some Internet advocates have called for a boycott of any companies that support the legislation, and several popular websites, including community-edited encyclopedia Wikipedia and the social media site Reddit, have vowed to black out their sites this Wednesday in protest.
With public sentiment on the bill shifting in recent weeks and an implicit veto threat now emerging from the White House, Congressional staffers are resigning themselves to writing replacement language or possibly entirely new bills.

http://news.yahoo.com/u-online-piracy-bill-headed-major-makeover-222324774.html

 

[mentalfloss]

The acronym SOPA stands for, 'Screw the 99% for the 1% some more, lol, too bad for your right America'. Or something like that.

It's not just the American 99% that would be screwed over..

Canada would feel effect of proposed Stop Online Piracy Act

Some of the best-known sites on the internet, including Wikipedia, are going offline today in a "Dark Wednesday" protest against legislation before the U.S. Congress intended to curb copyright infringement that critics say will limit the scope of the web and adversely affect legitimate websites.

Among those joining the protest are two popular Canadian sites: Tucows, a Toronto-based site that hosts free software for download, and the blog of University of Ottawa law professor Michael Geist, an oft-cited expert on copyright issues.

Although SOPA and PIPA are intended to target "rogue" websites, for Canadians, the concern is that if the laws are passed, there might be collateral damage that harms legitimate sites.

Geist outlined some of the ways the proposed laws could affect Canadians in a Jan. 17 blog post:

In the eyes of U.S. law, websites with domain names ending in .com, .net and .org are treated as American domestic domain names, regardless of where their owners are based, he wrote.

SOPA ignores the fact that IP addresses are assigned by regional, not national, entities. The American Registry for Internet Numbers allocates IP addresses for Canada (both for individual customers and governments) and 20 Caribbean nations, as well as the U.S. However, under SOPA, the IP addresses it allocates would be considered "domestic," i.e., U.S., IP addresses.

SOPA effectively grants the U.S. jurisdiction over some foreign websites, said Geist.

"The long arm of U.S. law reaches into Canada using SOPA," he said.

Intellectual property protection as U.S. foreign policy

If SOPA becomes law, Geist expects the U.S. to try to export its rules to Canada and other countries.

He notes that the Canadian government's proposed copyright modernization act, Bill C-11, was modelled on a similar U.S. law backed by the same industries pushing SOPA. The bill has been criticized for its provisions to prohibit the recording and copying of content protected by digital locks, which many say are too restrictive and prevent even the lawful use of copyrighted material.

U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks reveal that Bill C-11 came about at least in part as a response to U.S. pressure on Canada to tighten its copyright laws.

Spurgeon said SOCAN hopes Bill C-11 "will also address the issues of online piracy, but it remains to be seen if the proposed law will achieve this purpose."

Under SOPA, intellectual property protection will become "a significant component of U.S. foreign policy," Geist writes.

If a website owner outside the U.S. wants to challenge a U.S. court order issued under SOPA, "the owner must first consent to the jurisdiction of the U.S. courts."

Wikipedia shuts down to protest U.S. online piracy laws - Canada - CBC News

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

I have shut both of my sites down for the day in protest

If anyone wants to sign the protest or send an email you can do so here: http://americancensorship.org/
.

 

[spaminator]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

I have shut both of my sites down for the day in protest

If anyone wants to sign the protest or send an email you can do so here: Stop American Censorship — a campaign from Fight for the Future
.

wouldn't pipa and sopa help prevent your book(s) from being illegally copied? isn't that what you and your fellow authors want?

 

[DurkaDurka]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

wouldn't pipa and sopa help prevent your book(s) from being illegally copied? isn't that what you and your fellow authors want?

The US already has some of the stiffest copyright laws in the land, so authors, creators etc are already protected and have legal recourse if needed. This law basically allows Content Creators to have websites shutdown without due process, no company should have that right.

 

[taxslave]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

The US already has some of the stiffest copyright laws in the land, so authors, creators etc are already protected and have legal recourse if needed. This law basically allows Content Creators to have websites shutdown without due process, no company should have that right.

Thanks. i was kind of wondering why the people this law should help would be against it.

 

[eh1eh]

Could be anybody. America is going broke so they're going to run roughshod against the world, as usual.

Life will suck if they censor the internet

 

[L Gilbert]

hehe Wife an I just signed about 10 petitions against Pipa and Sopa. basically, if someone mumbles about infringments at a site, it'll be shut down indefinitely. Even more basically, it'll be a witch hunt. And it's just more crony capitalism excuses for a few to make profits over many while it impinges on freedom. There are a few ways of keeping people from plagiarism and other things.
I think people will just move their internet gear out of the US.

 

[gopher]

The government needs to get out of the Internet. Censorship is Un-American.

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

wouldn't pipa and sopa help prevent your book(s) from being illegally copied? isn't that what you and your fellow authors want?

What people don't get in their furor of greediness is that the piracy issue at the individual level is minimal to the benefits of things like Youtube or book and music sharing.

Artists get it, it's the corporations that don't.

When you upload a portion of music or even a clip from a movie to Youtube or some other site you are giving them free advertising.

Why do you think Bono and Madonna were giving away their music? It's because the benefits outweigh the loss. Checked out tickets for a concert lately?

The real issue of piracy isn't the guy sharing music or movies, it's the mass production that is done in China and India.

As far as protecting my copyright. When I get back in the Spring I am going to give away a bunch more free e-books and do another drawing.

By sharing e-versions of my book I offer pirates the ability to copy the file and share it with others.

Am I worried?

No.

The more people who read my novel and like it the more word of mouth I get for sales.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jazu4se4kS

 

[JLM]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

So what did it prove? (Like they are the only source of information!) :lol::lol::lol::lol:

 

[DurkaDurka]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

So what did it prove? (Like they are the only source of information!) :lol::lol::lol::lol:

it wasn't just Wikipedia that went black for the day, many other technology related sites, blog & companies participated. Due to the protests from these participants, a couple senators and representatives have dropped their support for the bill as well as Obama basically stating he would veto it if it came across his desk in its current form. That's what it has accomplished.

 

[ironsides]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

Absolutely nothing, I never had a need to use them yesterday. :lol: Guess they thought they were important in their own mind.

 

[lone wolf]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

It was a little inconvenient. I had to blow the dust off a real book....

 

[#juan]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

It was a little inconvenient. I had to blow the dust off a real book....

I believe Wikopedia shut down but I didn't even notice it. I was doing a bit of reading as well but only because
I always read a lot.......Oh well....:roll:

 

[mentalfloss]

SOPA protest works: key supporters of bills back off

The Internet community’s rally cry against anti-piracy legislation is triggering its intended effect, though the final outcome remains far from settled.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill were flooded with calls Wednesday in response to an online blackout by technology companies, including Wikipedia, Moveon.org, Reddit and thousands of other small sites protesting two related bills that would crack down on websites that use copyrighted materials and sell counterfeit goods. Some key lawmakers who’ve supported or co-sponsored the legislation are also backing off.

Many of the sites that went dark Wednesday explained the legislation and entreated users to call their representatives by listing their phone numbers and e-mail addresses.

“It’s busy,” says Patrick Chiarelli, a staffer for Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Wash. Staffers at other lawmakers’ offices also say their call volumes spiked.

The legislation – the Stop Online Piracy Act (a House bill commonly called SOPA) and the Protect IP Act in the Senate (called PIPA) – allows U.S. attorneys general and copyright holders to crack down on websites that display or link to copyrighted intellectual property or counterfeit goods.

Opponents of the legislation say their momentum has been gaining for several days, but Wednesday’s Internet blackout has spread their message to casual Web users who may not have previously paid attention.

“The momentum is totally real,” says Marvin Ammori, a First Amendment lawyer who’s fighting the legislation. “It’s nice to see a campaign like this when the average person knows something is up and calling his representative. People call about issues like immigration. But for Internet issues to get calls, it’s a big deal.”

The bills’ supporters, including business trade groups, publishers and media companies, downplayed the effects of the blackout, calling it a political stunt.

“Some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem,” says Chris Dodd, CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, which supports the bills. “A so-called blackout is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently.”

Dodd lost more supporters Wednesday. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., a PIPA co-sponsor, withdrew his support for the bill. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, wrote on his Facebook page that Congress should slow down in pursuing the bills’ passage and that it is “better to get this done right rather than fast and wrong.”

“Stealing content is theft, plain and simple, but concerns about unintended damage to the Internet and innovation in the tech sector require a more thoughtful balance, which will take more time,” he wrote.

In the House, Rep. Ben Quayle, R-Ariz., who originally co-sponsored SOPA, withdrew his name from the list of sponsors on Tuesday, reported Politico. The Omaha World-Herald reported that Rep. Lee Terry, R-Neb., also withdrew his support from the current version of SOPA.

Sensing a rising tide of consumer backlash, SOPA opponents have been able to chip away at the bill. After much protest, Rep. Lamar Smith, R-Texas, announced late last week that he plans to scrap a key remedy for copyright holders and law enforcement—getting Internet service providers to block foreign websites accused of piracy. Obama administration officials also backed the change.

“Strangely, those who demanded that change are now shutting themselves down, although it is not clear why they are still protesting after they got what they wanted,” says Steve Tepp, an attorney at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “In the spirit of compromise, the pending bills have been modified.”

SOPA opponents aren’t backing down because the legislation contains other provisions that are troublesome to Internet companies, Ammori says. Copyright holders could also ask the court to force online advertising companies to stop doing business with the allegedly infringing website, have payment processors cease financial transactions with the site or get search engines to stop listing such sites.

“It’s better, but so many problems still remain,” Ammori says. “There are like 19 other things wrong with it.”

Tepp disagrees, saying the bill offers “a narrow and targeted approach” in cracking down only on foreign websites that are aimed at U.S. consumers and whose operations exist mostly to infringe on copyrights or sell illegal goods.

SOPA opponents say the bills aren’t entirely clear on whether domestic sites could also be subject to penalties.


World News: SOPA protest works: key supporters of bills back off - thestar.com

 

[PoliticalNick]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

I likened this whole online piracy issue to finding a $20 bill in the gutter. If somebody dropped it there and I find it and pick it up I am not a thief I am a lucky bastard. Now as long as the websites that host p2p are not selling access or the material and rely on advertising for their revenue they are not thieves either.

 

[ironsides]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

Chinese View of SOPA
As members of Congress edge away from the Stop Online Piracy Act, leaders of the opposition can count among their most frequently used rhetorical tools a metaphor that has come to define this debate: SOPA = China.
The legislation would impose a “chilling internet censorship regime here in the U.S. comparable in some ways to China’s ‘Great Firewall,’” Wired wrote. Sergey Brin—who led G-Day, Google’s withdrawal from mainland China—said that the bills would “put us on a par with the most oppressive nations in the world.” Rebecca MacKinnon, an Internet-freedom expert who used to be journalist in Beijing, says they would impose a “censorship mechanism that is almost identical, technically, to the mechanism the Chinese use to censor their Internet.”


So, how does it all look to the people who actually live with it? In China, the reaction to American protests has ranged from sympathy to gentle Schadenfreude, as Chinese Web users try to sort out whether they are being held up as victims or patsies or pirates. After several years in which American diplomats have inveighed against Internet censorship in China, the proposals have inspired a bit of snickering. “The Great Firewall turns out to be a visionary product; the American government is trying to copy us,” one commentator wrote. A Chinese message making the rounds on Thursday said: “At last, the planet is becoming unified: We are ahead of the whole world, and the ‘American imperialists’ are racing to catch up.”

The Chinese view of SOPA - Yahoo! News

 

[L Gilbert]

Re: Wikipedia to Shut Down

Tribe Legis Memo on SOPA 12-6-11 1

Michael Geist - Blog

 

[gopher]

Durka,Durka ~

The US already has some of the stiffest copyright laws in the land, so authors, creators etc are already protected and have legal recourse if needed. This law basically allows Content Creators to have websites shutdown without due process, no company should have that right.

Excellent post!