if piracy is such a problem then the mpaa/riaa need to PROVE their losses
moondog Send a noteboard - 19/01/2012 02:43:31 AM
A lot of it IS about piracy, which is why SOME new law WILL be enacted. The pretense piracy is itself just a pretense, that media companies are just using Congress to censor people, undermines any criticism of the pending legislation. It encourages legislators to dismiss that criticism as falsely biased, mainly because IT IS. Offer them an alternative way to curb piracy, because they WILL enact a law with that aim, and if Big Media is the only one submitting suggestions, the final inevitable law will say pretty much whatever they like.
what good is it doing to pass a law to stop a website from being accessed when that website is still in operation if you know how to get to it? also, what happens if someone in the US asks for the IP for that website and someone else gives them a fake IP to go to which injects a virus into their computer?
tell me why this is safer than the current operation. tell me why, since piracy is such a problem, the film and music industries cannot prove what their actual losses are and have the results independently verified for statistical accuracy? the point is, they can't and won't because it's so much easier to bring out the spectre of PIRACY IS BAD AND EVIL AND KILLING US ALL TO DEATH.
"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
2050 Views
Yeah, man, because currently copyright holders have no recourse, am I right?
- 17/01/2012 11:47:35 AM
877 Views
"altering the infrastructure of the Internet so as to render RAFO virtually inaccessible"? 
- 17/01/2012 08:12:27 PM
988 Views
- 17/01/2012 08:12:27 PM
988 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
1065 Views
I admit I have not looked into it much
- 17/01/2012 11:42:30 PM
934 Views
And yet you're still arguing the matter. 
- 18/01/2012 02:34:04 AM
1041 Views
- 18/01/2012 02:34:04 AM
1041 Views
I love you. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 03:41:03 AM
605 Views
heh, thanks. I usually find myself pushing minority opinions. Nice to be "appreciated" for once. 
*NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:01:10 AM
586 Views
*NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:01:10 AM
586 Views
Can i second the adulation?
- 18/01/2012 04:07:17 AM
772 Views
I too (three?) appreciate the common sense and reasonable explanations. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 04:12:59 AM
595 Views
Right, because the argument is not just over THIS bill but, apparently, over ANY bill.
- 18/01/2012 11:09:13 AM
933 Views
Alternatives to SOPA/PIPA have been proposed for months now. Please stop arguing this.
- 18/01/2012 05:42:10 PM
891 Views
Also, in the case of the OPEN Act, it has not "been proposed for months."
- 18/01/2012 07:28:15 PM
1347 Views
"sensitive federal content"? Provide a source justifying this claim and it's relevance, please.
- 18/01/2012 05:59:47 PM
946 Views
I would not have thought a source necessary.
- 18/01/2012 06:24:44 PM
950 Views
Okay, I'm with Aemon now.
- 18/01/2012 07:36:21 PM
966 Views
OK.
- 18/01/2012 10:16:16 PM
987 Views
should be interesting
- 17/01/2012 12:41:47 PM
812 Views
Could be; depends on a lot of factors.
- 17/01/2012 07:38:55 PM
874 Views
See, that's one of the biggest problems that people aren't understanding.
- 17/01/2012 09:31:38 PM
890 Views
So tell them that.
- 17/01/2012 11:54:19 PM
1029 Views
Joel, I think I'm done with this unless you want to do some research.
- 18/01/2012 02:53:19 AM
832 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
958 Views
Could've done without the snide rejoinder, but, good.
- 17/01/2012 02:20:08 PM
815 Views
I love the black banner, like some kind of internet Holocaust.
- 17/01/2012 08:03:27 PM
954 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
796 Views
There seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 01:08:22 PM
917 Views
Re: There seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 08:13:15 PM
791 Views
Re: There still seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 10:27:32 PM
1053 Views
Re: There still seems to be some overlap.
- 18/01/2012 11:30:39 PM
901 Views
Just because the news does not mention something does not automatically make it non-applicable.
- 19/01/2012 04:08:58 PM
915 Views
Re: Just because the news does not mention something does not automatically make it non-applicable.
- 19/01/2012 10:39:40 PM
907 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
1189 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
814 Views
Er, what Ghav said.
- 18/01/2012 02:30:37 AM
818 Views
Sorry, protecting Pirate Bay and offshore gambling are not compelling counterarguments.
- 18/01/2012 11:38:08 AM
866 Views
Okay, another analogy:
- 18/01/2012 02:04:12 PM
843 Views
The devil is always in the details, and it seems clear the details need great revision.
- 18/01/2012 03:31:20 PM
852 Views
what they SHOULD do is stop taking money from proponents of sopa/pipa
- 18/01/2012 03:51:09 PM
970 Views
Yes, they should, but, once again, that approach will not prevent a new law.
- 18/01/2012 04:05:02 PM
936 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
896 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
837 Views
You know all this anti-SOPA bullshit is making me hope the bill passes.
- 18/01/2012 04:00:17 AM
907 Views
I would not go THAT far; it seems clear these bills have many objectionable provisions.
- 18/01/2012 11:41:23 AM
932 Views
Re: I would not go THAT far; it seems clear these bills have many objectionable provisions.
- 19/01/2012 01:57:46 AM
757 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
941 Views
joel, you need to consider three things
- 18/01/2012 06:06:16 AM
898 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
949 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
1024 Views
Yeah, see, that is the problem: "it's not about piracy."
- 18/01/2012 03:57:55 PM
862 Views
if piracy is such a problem then the mpaa/riaa need to PROVE their losses
- 19/01/2012 02:43:31 AM
887 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
1163 Views
A technical examination of SOPA and PROTECT IP
- 18/01/2012 08:32:44 AM
823 Views
"As a disclaimer, I am not a lawyer, I'm a sysadmin."
- 18/01/2012 12:47:16 PM
1083 Views
Wikipedia has already convinced me
- 18/01/2012 03:26:01 PM
703 Views
Trying to stop this legislation without proposing an alternative is trying to stop ANY legislation.
- 18/01/2012 03:44:18 PM
930 Views
It isn't their job to propose legislation
- 18/01/2012 04:12:53 PM
850 Views
No, but they have as much RIGHT to do so as anyone else.
- 18/01/2012 05:31:55 PM
828 Views
Strike three.
- 18/01/2012 05:37:55 PM
877 Views
That is fine; that is what people SHOULD be doing.
- 18/01/2012 06:03:59 PM
702 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
965 Views
Against SOPA, sure; against ANY new law, no.
- 18/01/2012 10:46:48 PM
808 Views
About "proposing new legislation"
- 18/01/2012 04:45:08 PM
963 Views
So true
- 18/01/2012 05:08:45 PM
896 Views
Re: About "proposing new legislation"
- 18/01/2012 05:59:55 PM
1039 Views
Hm, you should read my post one above about combatting online piracy.
- 18/01/2012 06:20:16 PM
991 Views
I would not recommend photocopying a book and handing it out on street corners.
- 18/01/2012 06:45:52 PM
917 Views
Not to blame, neccessarily. But you have to live in the real world.
- 18/01/2012 07:31:18 PM
835 Views
Re: Not to blame, neccessarily. But you have to live in the real world.
- 18/01/2012 08:55:59 PM
920 Views
I always liked the codewheels SSI provided with copies of their Gold Box AD&D games.
- 18/01/2012 10:07:40 PM
1048 Views
These are really different arguments
- 19/01/2012 12:05:10 AM
809 Views
TV is slightly different, because regional availability becomes a factor.
- 19/01/2012 04:18:58 PM
808 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
644 Views
Or just hit stop right before the script runs. *NM*
- 18/01/2012 06:52:40 PM
613 Views
Or just disable Java. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 01:58:03 AM
492 Views
That's not as much fun though. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 02:13:44 AM
609 Views
Exactly, this way its kind of a game. *NM*
- 19/01/2012 02:20:37 AM
432 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
537 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
620 Views
Russian wikipedia is very good if you're not checking some obscure Western cultural phenomena.
- 19/01/2012 01:57:43 AM
987 Views
Or Answers.com, or even the actual sources that are often copy/pasted into Wikipedia...
- 19/01/2012 01:07:38 AM
951 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
664 Views
Oh, no; now Congress will be inundated with complaints from lazy college students! 
- 19/01/2012 04:40:12 PM
977 Views
- 19/01/2012 04:40:12 PM
977 Views
13 previously unopposed senators now do not support SOPA.
- 19/01/2012 11:36:15 PM
930 Views
How does that "rebutt" what was a facetious post in the first place?
- 20/01/2012 09:24:27 PM
1035 Views