SOPA Blackout

[Jenna P]

Sigh.

Please, people, read the law before judging it. I realize that's hard - it took me a while to get through.

Hoping, here is the thing. You say you don't have to worry if you don't steal. The problem is, you DO. SOPA/PIPA strip away the protections for website providers. They make the SITE ADMIN legally liable for ANY user generated content.

Now, imagine the internet without:
1. Revenue share sites.
2. Social media.
3. Bulletin boards.

Imagine that blogs were simply static newsletters, comments not allowed.

THAT is what SOPA makes 'possible'.

Oh, and do you ever use Youtube? I'm betting you upload your videos for your articles to Youtube.

Imagine no Youtube. Gone. Shut down. Forever.

It is one of the most poorly written laws ever. I don't honestly think the politicians sponsoring it realize that, because instead of engaging the tech people to draft it, they ONLY talked to the MPAA, RIAA, Disney, etc...to the people who equate every download to a lost sale and quote figures that claim piracy costs thousands of American jobs...

[wahmida]

Wow, I have to confess that I haven't paid much attention to all of this SOPA stuff, but reading the posts here is very enlightening. It actually reminds me of what I have heard and read about NAZI Germany and other socialist countries that have done everything they could to control the thoughts and actions of their people.

I know, that may just be a bit of a stretch, but please indulge me a bit.

When tyrants, or yes, governments take control of what the people they are supposed to SERVE are hearing, viewing, their transportation, their medicine, how long they can collect unemployment benefits without working, other "entitlements" etc. they in effect take control of the people. It appears that SOPA is just another step in the journey toward total socialism here in the good old USA.

People have a way of working through their troubles if government stays out of the way and lets them do it. All our government needs to do is print our money, PROTECT OUR BORDERS, and leave us alone.

If you take a critical look back into the past here in the United States, you will find that government has a way of messing up just about anything good in favor of more control. For instance, the cotton industry was concerned about losing money to another crop known as hemp because it offered more strength and durability of the products produced from it. To deal with this probelm, the giants in the cotton industry helped to enact legislation that banned the use of any type of hemp product under the guise of it being a drug.

Of course, the alcohol industry joined the band wagon on this one and contributed much to getting rid of this competition. Then you have to remember what happened under Prohibition. Government wanted to control the people and rid them of the sins they were committing simply because someone wanted to "control the people."

All of these things and so much more have led to a war on drugs that has left many good families separated because one or both parents have been locked up in prisons for mere possession of a controlled substance or paraphernalia related to the same, and some face life sentences for crimes concerning a plant. These same families who are often left fatherless have to live in poverty with no meaninful leader. Is it any wonder, well I will leave this one alone for now.

At the same time, drunks are left to beat and emotionally brutalize their families simply because alcohol is legal. Then the sober people have to worry about getting into a headon and losing their lives.

Needless to say the drug war has been a dismal failure and our southern border is dangerous because our laws make it profitable for cartels to sell their wares.

That is not the extent of the ramifications from more legislation, but it is a beginning.

Now we have big government wishing to become even bigger by controlling the Internet, and many simply cannot see why this is just crazy.

We DO NOT need more laws, they are not even enforcing the ones that are already on the books unless someone pushes for it in their own selfish interests. I don't want to be on the receiving end of someone's wrath just because they perceive me as a threat to their precious dollar.

The men who founded this country and those who followed to make it great were not under the tyrany we now know as our current government. They installed a government that was not perfect, but it was as close as we will ever get. It left men and women free to be creative and make many wonderful discoveries and inventions. Thoughts and minds were not coopted for the good of big government but rather used to help mankind as a whole.

Through the years, and many amendments and much legislation later, it is hard to recognize what we started with, and that is sad. We do not need any more legal rangling from industry giants.

I could go on and on and on, but you are probably bored already.

God bless you all

[mini]

Do you want a good laugh? Rep. Lamar Smith, who sponsored this bill, may be infringing on a copyright himself.

SOPA sponsor Rep. Lamar Smith may have violated copyright | The State Column

Even though it mainly originates in other countries, today Megaupload was taken offline by OUR government. And our politicians really want us to believe we don't have enough laws on the books to fight piracy? LOL

Every representative who sponsored SOPA should not be re-elected. The American people should send a clear message to politicians; we demand you work for us and defend our freedoms, and we will not tolerate our political representatives being cronies for billionaires.

[adbullock]

Originally Posted by TiffanyB

You have a link to join HubPages in your signature so I'm assuming you have written some hubs. You do realize if this passes places like HubPages will easily be shut down. And if they are not shut down I have a feeling that they may just close their doors to writers anyways since they don't want to risk getting shut down.

Running a pawn shop is a lot different than running a website. It doesn't even compare. This bill goes way beyond just stealing content. A simple link on one of your sites could get you shut down. And like someone else mentioned you don't get to explain you are just blacklisted and you have to get an attorney if you want to have the chance to get your site back. How is that even fair? I thought we lived in a country where you were innocent until proven guilty and not the other way around?

If this bill passes a lot of writing jobs are going to be gone. If you have trouble know finding places to work now it may just be impossible if this bill passes.

The government needs to just stay out of the internet. I'm sorry but the U.S. government doesn't rule the world. They don't need to police the world wide internet. Whatever the government touches seems to go to the crapper eventually and now they want their hands in on the internet.

Sorry Hoping. I was sick yesterday and didn't even pay a visit back to the topic. The BOLDED part above is what I was getting at to begin with. It's not just that places are going to GET shut down by the government but that many of them, like HubPages, are simply going to fold up shop and quit.

The reason is simple. The law is also extremely vague over what qualifies as copyrighted content. PLR, according to this law, could be considered copyrighted if one of the people using that has a copyright notice on their page.

The law isn't simply about making Google and YouTube act as the police force of the Internet. It's about forcing every single website or blog owner that allows comments or posts links to other sites to police the sites they are linking to.

Don't even forget about all the "black hat" methods out there that are going to take to hacking blogs, websites, and accounts in order to eliminate the competition.

It WILL change the way this business works and it will hurt freelance writers as a result. It looks like it could be a good thing but once you read just how much power this gives the government (no warrants, no trials before the seizure and then you can go bankrupt trying to get your site back afterwards and have to start over with SEO *IF* Google is willing to give your domain another chance) it's easier to see that there MUST be better ways to go after offending sites. It's not going to be worth it for many of our current clients.

[adbullock]

Originally Posted by CassJ

Like others have said, if you own a website and you just LINK to a website that MAY have illegal content (and remember it doesn't have to be proved that they do) SOPA can get you shut down in less than 24 hours and then you have to pay for the legal representation to prove you did nothing wrong. Everything you've worked hard for -- gone. Overnight.

Any writer who cares about freedom of speech should be contacting their elected officials and telling them to vote against it. Wikipedia is right. If this goes through, the internet will never be as we know it now again.

But here's the thing. You don't even have to be the one linking to that site. It can be a link in a comment signature. You'll be held responsible for THAT.

The irony in all of this is that writers and website owners weren't ever supposed to be the ones who benefit from this law. It's not about protecting our copyrights. It's about protecting the recording industry and the movie industry. We're just the collateral damage because we don't have the deep pockets and political clout of the big businesses the law would serve.

[anng]

Originally Posted by adbullock

But here's the thing. You don't even have to be the one linking to that site. It can be a link in a comment signature. You'll be held responsible for THAT.

And that's the part that I'm afraid would affect my site. I'll quickly scan comments to make sure they're on topic, but I don't have time to check every signature. I'd end up refusing to allow comments and that really does affect free speech.

In the end, I'm ashamed Leahy created PIPA. I haven't voted for him in all the years I've been a registered voter. I honestly don't understand why he keeps making it in when so many I talk to say they won't vote for him. My son just became a registered voter this year and discussed SOPA and PIPA at length with Leahy who admitted my son had valid points and that he sees where the law is wrong but that the need to stop these sites giving away unauthorized material/goods is more important. That's not the kind of politician I want driving a bill. If he sees there are flaws, he needs to pull it, rework it and then put it back out there after it's been reworked. The problem is three of Leahy's biggest campaign contributors are Times Warner, Vivendi and Walt Disney.

[TiffanyB]

It appears that Congress has withdrawn the bills.

Congress withdraws anti-piracy measures - Technology & science - Security - msnbc.com