You're viewing this as "lawless hacker/pirate community vs big business," and if that were the case, I'd agree with you; big business would (and probably should) eventually win. The problem is that SOPA doesn't protect commerce at the expense of script kiddies; it protects SOME commerce at the expense of OTHER commerce.
Even the article linked below, whose position (to the extent it takes one) is very similar to my own, desires any anti-piracy law:
"not preclude any user from acquiring any content the Internet makes available to him."
Maybe I am missing something, but that sounds like saying anyone who CAN hack the Pentagon should be allowed to do so free from prosecution. Sorry, disagree.
Honorbound and honored to be Bonded to Mahtaliel Sedai
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!
LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
Last First in wotmania Chat
Slightly better than chocolate.
Love still can't be coerced.
Please Don't Eat the Newbies!
LoL. Be well, RAFOlk.
This message last edited by Joel on 17/01/2012 at 11:54:40 PM
English Wikipedia Anti-SOPA Blackout
- 17/01/2012 08:31:46 AM
2179 Views
Yeah, man, because currently copyright holders have no recourse, am I right?
- 17/01/2012 11:47:35 AM
1005 Views
"altering the infrastructure of the Internet so as to render RAFO virtually inaccessible"? 
- 17/01/2012 08:12:27 PM
1116 Views
- 17/01/2012 08:12:27 PM
1116 Views
I'll go ahead and ask before I get my panties in a bunch: do you understand these bills?
- 17/01/2012 09:09:22 PM
1222 Views
I admit I have not looked into it much
- 17/01/2012 11:42:30 PM
1064 Views
And yet you're still arguing the matter. 
- 18/01/2012 02:34:04 AM
1173 Views
- 18/01/2012 02:34:04 AM
1173 Views
I love you. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 03:41:03 AM
664 Views
heh, thanks. I usually find myself pushing minority opinions. Nice to be "appreciated" for once. 
*NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:01:10 AM
650 Views
*NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:01:10 AM
650 Views
Can i second the adulation?
- 18/01/2012 04:07:17 AM
892 Views
I too (three?) appreciate the common sense and reasonable explanations. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:12:59 AM
645 Views
Right, because the argument is not just over THIS bill but, apparently, over ANY bill.
- 18/01/2012 11:09:13 AM
1070 Views
Alternatives to SOPA/PIPA have been proposed for months now. Please stop arguing this.
- 18/01/2012 05:42:10 PM
983 Views
Also, in the case of the OPEN Act, it has not "been proposed for months."
- 18/01/2012 07:28:15 PM
1486 Views
"sensitive federal content"? Provide a source justifying this claim and it's relevance, please.
- 18/01/2012 05:59:47 PM
1082 Views
I would not have thought a source necessary.
- 18/01/2012 06:24:44 PM
1073 Views
Okay, I'm with Aemon now.
- 18/01/2012 07:36:21 PM
1084 Views
OK.
- 18/01/2012 10:16:16 PM
1116 Views
should be interesting
- 17/01/2012 12:41:47 PM
941 Views
Could be; depends on a lot of factors.
- 17/01/2012 07:38:55 PM
1013 Views
See, that's one of the biggest problems that people aren't understanding.
- 17/01/2012 09:31:38 PM
1018 Views
So tell them that.
- 17/01/2012 11:54:19 PM
1172 Views
Joel, I think I'm done with this unless you want to do some research.
- 18/01/2012 02:53:19 AM
980 Views
Research would tell me what is wrong with these bills and how a good bill should look.
- 18/01/2012 11:22:46 AM
1087 Views
Could've done without the snide rejoinder, but, good.
- 17/01/2012 02:20:08 PM
936 Views
I love the black banner, like some kind of internet Holocaust.
- 17/01/2012 08:03:27 PM
1081 Views
Are you aware that SOPA/PIPA has nothing to do with hackers and everything to do with copyright?
- 18/01/2012 02:08:56 AM
932 Views
There seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 01:08:22 PM
1037 Views
Re: There seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 08:13:15 PM
930 Views
Re: There still seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 10:27:32 PM
1192 Views
Re: There still seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 11:30:39 PM
1033 Views
Just because the news does not mention something does not automatically make it non-applicable.
- 19/01/2012 04:08:58 PM
1057 Views
Re: Just because the news does not mention something does not automatically make it non-applicable.
- 19/01/2012 10:39:40 PM
1043 Views
If you re-read your last sentence it should be clear why this law is being pushed.
- 20/01/2012 09:12:29 PM
1322 Views
Re: If you re-read your last sentence it should be clear why this law is being pushed.
- 21/01/2012 03:19:49 AM
937 Views
Er, what Ghav said.
- 18/01/2012 02:30:37 AM
950 Views
Sorry, protecting Pirate Bay and offshore gambling are not compelling counterarguments.
- 18/01/2012 11:38:08 AM
1002 Views
Okay, another analogy:
- 18/01/2012 02:04:12 PM
943 Views
The devil is always in the details, and it seems clear the details need great revision.
- 18/01/2012 03:31:20 PM
994 Views
what they SHOULD do is stop taking money from proponents of sopa/pipa
- 18/01/2012 03:51:09 PM
1065 Views
Yes, they should, but, once again, that approach will not prevent a new law.
- 18/01/2012 04:05:02 PM
1067 Views
Re: The devil is always in the details, and it seems clear the details need great revision.
- 18/01/2012 04:27:30 PM
1028 Views
If the US government wants to summarily block sites within the US, it already can and will.
- 18/01/2012 06:15:53 PM
966 Views
You know all this anti-SOPA bullshit is making me hope the bill passes.
- 18/01/2012 04:00:17 AM
1032 Views
I would not go THAT far; it seems clear these bills have many objectionable provisions.
- 18/01/2012 11:41:23 AM
1052 Views
Re: I would not go THAT far; it seems clear these bills have many objectionable provisions.
- 19/01/2012 01:57:46 AM
883 Views
Yeah, the extreme bias on both sides is why the bills will likely pass more or less as written.
- 19/01/2012 03:31:52 PM
1067 Views
joel, you need to consider three things
- 18/01/2012 06:06:16 AM
1036 Views
You need to consider that they WILL pass some legislation, and what you want it to contain.
- 18/01/2012 12:15:38 PM
1077 Views
again, it's not about piracy, it's about protecting the mpaa/riaa business model at our expense
- 18/01/2012 03:34:32 PM
1155 Views
Yeah, see, that is the problem: "it's not about piracy."
- 18/01/2012 03:57:55 PM
983 Views
if piracy is such a problem then the mpaa/riaa need to PROVE their losses
- 19/01/2012 02:43:31 AM
982 Views
How do you expect anyone to prove what people WOULD HAVE bought if they could not just take it?
- 19/01/2012 03:57:24 PM
1295 Views
A technical examination of SOPA and PROTECT IP
- 18/01/2012 08:32:44 AM
954 Views
"As a disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, I'm a sysadmin."
- 18/01/2012 12:47:16 PM
1214 Views
Wikipedia has already convinced me
- 18/01/2012 03:26:01 PM
829 Views
Trying to stop this legislation without proposing an alternative is trying to stop ANY legislation.
- 18/01/2012 03:44:18 PM
1057 Views
It isn't their job to propose legislation
- 18/01/2012 04:12:53 PM
976 Views
No, but they have as much RIGHT to do so as anyone else.
- 18/01/2012 05:31:55 PM
961 Views
Strike three.
- 18/01/2012 05:37:55 PM
1022 Views
That is fine; that is what people SHOULD be doing.
- 18/01/2012 06:03:59 PM
833 Views
Things being better now than they would be under SOPA seems like a legitimate argument to me
- 18/01/2012 09:04:18 PM
1102 Views
Against SOPA, sure; against ANY new law, no.
- 18/01/2012 10:46:48 PM
938 Views
About "proposing new legislation"
- 18/01/2012 04:45:08 PM
1090 Views
So true
- 18/01/2012 05:08:45 PM
1025 Views
Re: About "proposing new legislation"
- 18/01/2012 05:59:55 PM
1169 Views
Hm, you should read my post one above about combatting online piracy.
- 18/01/2012 06:20:16 PM
1121 Views
I would not recommend photocopying a book and handing it out on street corners.
- 18/01/2012 06:45:52 PM
1050 Views
Not to blame, neccessarily. But you have to live in the real world.
- 18/01/2012 07:31:18 PM
966 Views
Re: Not to blame, neccessarily. But you have to live in the real world.
- 18/01/2012 08:55:59 PM
1053 Views
I always liked the codewheels SSI provided with copies of their Gold Box AD&D games.
- 18/01/2012 10:07:40 PM
1176 Views
These are really different arguments
- 19/01/2012 12:05:10 AM
955 Views
TV is slightly different, because regional availability becomes a factor.
- 19/01/2012 04:18:58 PM
950 Views
Yeah, so I use Russian wikipedia for a day. Or German wikipedia, or French, or Italian... *NM*
- 18/01/2012 06:23:36 PM
690 Views
Or just hit stop right before the script runs. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 06:52:40 PM
683 Views
Or just disable Java. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 01:58:03 AM
551 Views
That's not as much fun though. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 02:13:44 AM
677 Views
Exactly, this way its kind of a game. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 02:20:37 AM
490 Views
I really don't see the fun in that. Wikipedia is just a tool, not a game. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 04:59:14 AM
592 Views
I don't know about those (except French), but none of the ones I ever used are remotely as good. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 08:13:47 PM
674 Views
Russian wikipedia is very good if you're not checking some obscure Western cultural phenomena.
- 19/01/2012 01:57:43 AM
1119 Views
Or Answers.com, or even the actual sources that are often copy/pasted into Wikipedia...
- 19/01/2012 01:07:38 AM
1052 Views
Re: Or Answers.com, or even the actual sources that are often copy/pasted into Wikipedia... *NM*
- 19/01/2012 01:34:46 AM
717 Views
Oh, no; now Congress will be inundated with complaints from lazy college students! 
- 19/01/2012 04:40:12 PM
1102 Views
- 19/01/2012 04:40:12 PM
1102 Views
13 previously unopposed senators now do not support SOPA.
- 19/01/2012 11:36:15 PM
1068 Views
How does that "rebutt" what was a facetious post in the first place?
- 20/01/2012 09:24:27 PM
1162 Views