Info on SOPA PIPA

[runawaybunny]

Community sites like this exist because the current legal infrastructure (DMCA) allows us to host user-contributed material. Under provisions granted by SOPA/PIPA, if a copyright holder believes that any piece of our website violates their copyright, they could use unprecedented measures to deny everyone access to our website and services without due process.

From Tom's Hardware:
In a nutshell, here's what the law would do:

• Assign liability to site owners for everything users post, without consideration for whether or not the user posted without permission. Site owners could face jail time or heavy fines, and DNS blacklisting.
• It would require web services like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter to monitor and aggressively filter everything all users upload.
• It would deny site owners due process of law, by initiating a DNS blacklisting based solely on a good faith assertion by an individual copyright or intellectual property owner.
• It would give the U.S. government the power to selectively censor the web using techniques similar to those used in China, Malaysia and Iran. The Great Firewall of China is an example of this type of embedded, infrastructural internet censorship.

From Wikipedia:
Websites that host user content
Opponents have warned that SOPA would have a negative impact on online communities. Journalist Rebecca MacKinnon argued in an op-ed that making companies liable for users' actions could have a chilling effect on user-generated sites such as YouTube. "The intention is not the same as China's Great Firewall, a nationwide system of Web censorship, but the practical effect could be similar," she says. The Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF) warned that websites Etsy, Flickr and Vimeo all seemed likely to shut down if the bill becomes law. Policy analysts for New America Foundation say this legislation would enable law enforcement to take down an entire domain due to something posted on a single blog, arguing, "an entire largely innocent online community could be punished for the actions of a tiny minority."

Growing Chorus of Opposition to "Stop Online Piracy Act" | Center for Democracy & Technology

EFF for a more thorough explanation.

 

[gcvmom]

Thanks for posting this RB. I tried signing Google's online petition last night, but something crashed with the link. I'm going to try again today. The government has its fingers in waaaaaay to many aspects of our lives already. We do NOT need this to fix the piracy issues out there.

 

[DammitJanet]

Absolutely appalling. I have talked to people in China about how they cant even see stuff on the internet except stuff the government wants them to see. I met a guy on ICQ once a long time ago and he was telling me this stuff.

I have called my congressman and voiced my displeasure. Everyone needs to do this or we are going to be one unhappy bunch of people. Heaven help us, all we need is more government in our lives!

 

[klmno]

Wow....I really wish they would concentrate more on internet porn, child trafficking, perps, and stuff like that instead of sites like this.

 

[DDD]

Are there multiple online sites for us to use voicing our opinions? There are alot of things I find scarey about the net but this is another example of "overreach". Yikes. DDD

 

[Shari]

Without sites like this, who knows where I'd be with difficult child 1 or Wee...this kind of front-line information is difficult to fine anywhere else...you bet I'm contacting my reps.

 

[DDD]

That was easy. Thanks for offering a simple way to participate. DDD

 

[susiestar]

Thanks! This bill is such a disaster. I don't think it could be constitutional, but it would do a LOT of damage in the time it took to fight through the courts. WHY are people so wanting to monitor this but they will let systems like the one klmno's son is caught in (Department of Juvenile Justice in her state) do dang near anything they want and no one seems to do much? in my opinion that is a much more important issue. This is just a way to censor people.

 

[Jody]

Done and thank you.

 

[LittleDudesMom]

Thanks Cheryl! I was talking to difficult child about this last night and telling him about the decision to keep our site up and going. He went and did a bunch of research and then came and told me, with great displeasure, what would happen if we allowed this new legislation! I was amazed he spent so much time on it! He spoke to all his buddies at school and gave them links to sign a petition. Perhaps I have a budding politician on my hands!

Thanks for all the info letting us know what was going on while keeping this soft place open.

Sharon

 

[Nancy]

Done, thank you for making it so easy.

Nancy

 

[KTMom91]

Done and thank you, Cheryl.

 

[DammitJanet]

I dont think people for the most part realize exactly how bad these bills are. If you listen to the people who are in favor of it ..the entertainment industry primarily...they make it seem so benign. They just say that people wont be able to download pirated material from foreign websites. That is bunk. These bills are the start of taking away our 1st amendment rights. Literally sites like this could be killed. If someone on here posted that their child took drugs and Cheryl didnt notify the authorities of the posters name and IP number, she could be held libel and could face jail time. That is preposterous. Youtube would be held libel for anything anyone uploaded. FB would be held libel for anything anyone of us posted. Do you want them to censor what you post? Say you dont like the current administration and say something nasty about them...do you want someone coming in and taking the post down? That is what could be coming. That is if we even have FB, twitter or youtube anymore.

 

[klmno]

I sent my vote/comments in....like I said before, I think they have bigger fish they should be worried about. We, here, are basicly an informal self-helf, parent support, informative group of people who are trying to better society starting with our own families. What more could society want?

Voters in this country need to be paying attnetion more- not us here- (when I refer to "general public", I'm not referring to members here)

I vote for bringing the ....whatever it was from the 70's that made people read newspapers, keep informed, fight for what they believe is right, in a legal way....I want that back!!

 

[Malika]

With this in mind, I would personally like to urge that this board be one that is genuinely open to all, that does not practise discrimination and which does not censor on the basis of individual whim and prejudice. It should keep to a higher standard than that.

 

[InsaneCdn]

That is if we even have FB, twitter or youtube anymore.

I'm Canadian, so I'm almost powerless on this one... but...
If ALL it was going to affect was sites like FB, twitter and youtube? I'd be fine with it.

The fact that it is SO broad (I've read up on it a bit...) means that yes, sites like THIS, informal medical help sites, all sorts of "the best of the internet" would be dead in the water. Real fast.

 

[DammitJanet]

It would effect all sites, every site you can imagine, out there on the internet so badly that basically we would be behind the red curtain like in China. I have no interest in that. People really need to get involved and make a stand for what this country was founded on. Freedom. They wont just be picking and choosing which sites to go after, it will be universal. Google and all the search engines will be at the heart of the start of it and it will reach out from there. I imagine once it grabs hold in this country the rest of the free world will fall like a deck of cards. Plus once they can take one portion of one of our rights away, just think how fast it will be for the government to take away all the others.

 

[Kathy813]

Well, the blackout certainly got everyone talking. Even my students were all talking about it today. Hopefully, congress will realize how unpopular those bills would be and rethink this.

 

[Steely]

Cheryl, I have pm'd you....but not hear back yet. Perhaps the blackout was affecting things? LOL.

 

[DammitJanet]

Well...looks like there has been a preemptive strike on megavideo but the hackers are attempting to strike back. We should be in for a show now. Remember folks, keep calling and go in to visit your local congressperson to let them know your concerns or we could really lose.