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Stop SOPA & PIPA!!!

Just a word to everyone since today was the blackout protest across the internet. SOPA & PIPA should be stopped. Contact your state reps!!
 

The_Codfather

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Looks like it's working.. The protest led to eight US lawmakers withdrawing their support for the proposed bills. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16628143


Got to love Anonymous too!... http://http://www.webpronews.com/sopa-anon-demands-2012-01

anonymous-logo-1.jpg
 
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TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I was on the fence on this one. On one side, I believe we should all sign a petition to stop these crazy powerful laws. They will undoubtedly give government and big businesses who influence politicians the ability to control the internet and free information. That's a monopoly that I'm not interested in allowing to happen. In my mind, I see the real intention of these laws is to make rich/powerful people more rich and powerful!

On the other hand, I'm a bit leary about providing my name, email address, and home address to this non-profit organization when "signing the petition" they have setup. Maybe I'm just paranoid, but I'm always afraid to just freely give this info away. Unless it's a company like ebay, paypal, amazon, etc. who are clearly a business who would lose customers by selling or giving away my info... I don't trust an organization that will probably not exist a few months from now when SOPA & PIPA are either passed or denied in congress.

To further my concern, I clicked on their "Privacy Policy" link. The said link does not mention any sort of policy about what they will or won't do with my personal info. This new page was just more propaganda about the cause. However, when I scrolled down to the bottom, there was another "View our privacy policy" link that did indeed state that your personal info will not be shared with anyone except "to public officials as part of a petition or open letter"... something that I would have done anyway if I had written my own letter and mailed it in.

In the end, I felt that possibly getting some junk mail would be a better option than losing access to the free information on the internet. I signed both petitions and I urge everyone else to do the same! :encouragement:
 

The_Codfather

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
It's goes a lot further then that.. If you have a home video on youtube and let's just say with your kids playing at a party and you have lady gaga playing in the background.. your video could be blocked and you could be sued for copyright infringement
 

TanksNStuff

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Wow, thanks for that vid link Don. That really helped me understand the whole deal a lot better.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
We basically could not even run this message board if they were to pass. We would have to mod EVERYTHING, probably have to ban pictures, videos, etc. One post that was deemed (does not have to be infringement just deemed) could shut down the website which we would then have to take to court (expensive) to go back up. It would probably end reef boards as we know it.
 

The_Codfather

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
I see atleast 3 posts here that would have to be taken down because of the avvys alone.
I just got a cease and desist letter from disney's lawyers... It was the same kinda letter i got from Metallica's lawyers on napster.. I sent them the same reply... can't post it here.. But for real.. I was just kidding about the disney but with these laws it could block the site.. BTW ...I really did get a cease and desist letter from Metallica's lawyers in 1999. for only one song i had on napster.. In fact I didn't even like Metallica and only had the song for a friend but that dislike turned into a hate for themold.gif
 
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There mistake was having a server in the US. They have been going after the piratebay for as long as I can remember but it always pops up again
 
I believe 95% of Americans do not care for the causes pushed by initiators of SOPA/PIPA (movie, music, pharma). And downloading of the shared media has ner- zero effect on the American economy, or the unemployment rate.
The biggest copyright violator - we all know it - country that get's all American technology (and already got our industry) without caring for legality.
And our congress can't do anything about it. Why ? - we all know it (who 'really' pays them?).

I'm surprized that proponents of SOPA/PIPA did not invoke the Patriot Act, or 'it's good for our children' b/s.
 
Yes, it is scary.
If you forget history, it repeats itself (see Germany in 1920 - 1939).
If you don't protect your freedoms, you'll lose them.
 
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