the US government does NOT have the power to block content on any website. the US government does not even currently have the power to prevent someone from accessing websites it does not want them to access. the only power the US government currently possesses is the ability to remove the operations of websites which provide specifically illegal activities through law enforcement methods. NOT because some hollywood executive slipped a few million dollars into a senators pocket but real, honest to god, information gathering and analysis of data. the bills in question would give all these powers and more to the US government, but it does not currently have this power now.
"The RIAA has shown a certain disregard for the creative people of the industry in their eagerness to protect the revenues of the record companies." -- Frank Zappa
"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman
"That's the trouble with political jokes in this country... they get elected!" -- Dave Lippman
English Wikipedia Anti-SOPA Blackout
- 17/01/2012 08:31:46 AM
2374 Views
Yeah, man, because currently copyright holders have no recourse, am I right?
- 17/01/2012 11:47:35 AM
1198 Views
"altering the infrastructure of the Internet so as to render RAFO virtually inaccessible"? 
- 17/01/2012 08:12:27 PM
1284 Views
- 17/01/2012 08:12:27 PM
1284 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
1397 Views
I admit I have not looked into it much
- 17/01/2012 11:42:30 PM
1257 Views
And yet you're still arguing the matter. 
- 18/01/2012 02:34:04 AM
1354 Views
- 18/01/2012 02:34:04 AM
1354 Views
I love you. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 03:41:03 AM
756 Views
heh, thanks. I usually find myself pushing minority opinions. Nice to be "appreciated" for once. 
*NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:01:10 AM
728 Views
*NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:01:10 AM
728 Views
Can i second the adulation?
- 18/01/2012 04:07:17 AM
1060 Views
I too (three?) appreciate the common sense and reasonable explanations. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:12:59 AM
716 Views
Right, because the argument is not just over THIS bill but, apparently, over ANY bill.
- 18/01/2012 11:09:13 AM
1247 Views
Alternatives to SOPA/PIPA have been proposed for months now. Please stop arguing this.
- 18/01/2012 05:42:10 PM
1151 Views
Also, in the case of the OPEN Act, it has not "been proposed for months."
- 18/01/2012 07:28:15 PM
1684 Views
"sensitive federal content"? Provide a source justifying this claim and it's relevance, please.
- 18/01/2012 05:59:47 PM
1276 Views
I would not have thought a source necessary.
- 18/01/2012 06:24:44 PM
1268 Views
Okay, I'm with Aemon now.
- 18/01/2012 07:36:21 PM
1256 Views
OK.
- 18/01/2012 10:16:16 PM
1299 Views
should be interesting
- 17/01/2012 12:41:47 PM
1126 Views
Could be; depends on a lot of factors.
- 17/01/2012 07:38:55 PM
1196 Views
See, that's one of the biggest problems that people aren't understanding.
- 17/01/2012 09:31:38 PM
1197 Views
So tell them that.
- 17/01/2012 11:54:19 PM
1354 Views
Joel, I think I'm done with this unless you want to do some research.
- 18/01/2012 02:53:19 AM
1160 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
1252 Views
Could've done without the snide rejoinder, but, good.
- 17/01/2012 02:20:08 PM
1101 Views
I love the black banner, like some kind of internet Holocaust.
- 17/01/2012 08:03:27 PM
1253 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
1105 Views
There seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 01:08:22 PM
1236 Views
Re: There seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 08:13:15 PM
1134 Views
Re: There still seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 10:27:32 PM
1394 Views
Re: There still seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 11:30:39 PM
1211 Views
Just because the news does not mention something does not automatically make it non-applicable.
- 19/01/2012 04:08:58 PM
1245 Views
Re: Just because the news does not mention something does not automatically make it non-applicable.
- 19/01/2012 10:39:40 PM
1231 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
1515 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
1112 Views
Er, what Ghav said.
- 18/01/2012 02:30:37 AM
1162 Views
Sorry, protecting Pirate Bay and offshore gambling are not compelling counterarguments.
- 18/01/2012 11:38:08 AM
1177 Views
Okay, another analogy:
- 18/01/2012 02:04:12 PM
1152 Views
The devil is always in the details, and it seems clear the details need great revision.
- 18/01/2012 03:31:20 PM
1180 Views
what they SHOULD do is stop taking money from proponents of sopa/pipa
- 18/01/2012 03:51:09 PM
1234 Views
Yes, they should, but, once again, that approach will not prevent a new law.
- 18/01/2012 04:05:02 PM
1240 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
1198 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
1165 Views
NO - you are still wrong on this point
- 19/01/2012 02:38:14 AM
1146 Views
You know all this anti-SOPA bullshit is making me hope the bill passes.
- 18/01/2012 04:00:17 AM
1218 Views
I would not go THAT far; it seems clear these bills have many objectionable provisions.
- 18/01/2012 11:41:23 AM
1227 Views
Re: I would not go THAT far; it seems clear these bills have many objectionable provisions.
- 19/01/2012 01:57:46 AM
1056 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
1248 Views
joel, you need to consider three things
- 18/01/2012 06:06:16 AM
1224 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
1254 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
1332 Views
Yeah, see, that is the problem: "it's not about piracy."
- 18/01/2012 03:57:55 PM
1148 Views
if piracy is such a problem then the mpaa/riaa need to PROVE their losses
- 19/01/2012 02:43:31 AM
1144 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
1476 Views
A technical examination of SOPA and PROTECT IP
- 18/01/2012 08:32:44 AM
1153 Views
"As a disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, I'm a sysadmin."
- 18/01/2012 12:47:16 PM
1385 Views
Wikipedia has already convinced me
- 18/01/2012 03:26:01 PM
1012 Views
Trying to stop this legislation without proposing an alternative is trying to stop ANY legislation.
- 18/01/2012 03:44:18 PM
1223 Views
It isn't their job to propose legislation
- 18/01/2012 04:12:53 PM
1140 Views
No, but they have as much RIGHT to do so as anyone else.
- 18/01/2012 05:31:55 PM
1125 Views
Strike three.
- 18/01/2012 05:37:55 PM
1246 Views
That is fine; that is what people SHOULD be doing.
- 18/01/2012 06:03:59 PM
1014 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
1274 Views
Against SOPA, sure; against ANY new law, no.
- 18/01/2012 10:46:48 PM
1140 Views
About "proposing new legislation"
- 18/01/2012 04:45:08 PM
1263 Views
So true
- 18/01/2012 05:08:45 PM
1210 Views
Re: About "proposing new legislation"
- 18/01/2012 05:59:55 PM
1360 Views
Hm, you should read my post one above about combatting online piracy.
- 18/01/2012 06:20:16 PM
1293 Views
I would not recommend photocopying a book and handing it out on street corners.
- 18/01/2012 06:45:52 PM
1231 Views
Not to blame, neccessarily. But you have to live in the real world.
- 18/01/2012 07:31:18 PM
1182 Views
Re: Not to blame, neccessarily. But you have to live in the real world.
- 18/01/2012 08:55:59 PM
1228 Views
I always liked the codewheels SSI provided with copies of their Gold Box AD&D games.
- 18/01/2012 10:07:40 PM
1375 Views
These are really different arguments
- 19/01/2012 12:05:10 AM
1129 Views
TV is slightly different, because regional availability becomes a factor.
- 19/01/2012 04:18:58 PM
1139 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
780 Views
Or just hit stop right before the script runs. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 06:52:40 PM
764 Views
Or just disable Java. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 01:58:03 AM
628 Views
That's not as much fun though. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 02:13:44 AM
756 Views
Exactly, this way its kind of a game. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 02:20:37 AM
562 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
672 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
754 Views
Russian wikipedia is very good if you're not checking some obscure Western cultural phenomena.
- 19/01/2012 01:57:43 AM
1308 Views
Or Answers.com, or even the actual sources that are often copy/pasted into Wikipedia...
- 19/01/2012 01:07:38 AM
1233 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
793 Views
Oh, no; now Congress will be inundated with complaints from lazy college students! 
- 19/01/2012 04:40:12 PM
1275 Views
- 19/01/2012 04:40:12 PM
1275 Views
13 previously unopposed senators now do not support SOPA.
- 19/01/2012 11:36:15 PM
1254 Views
How does that "rebutt" what was a facetious post in the first place?
- 20/01/2012 09:24:27 PM
1328 Views