Put it this way. Under SOPA you can get up to five years in jail for uploading a michael jackson album, thats one year more than the doctor that killed him.
Congress Voting On The Stop Online Piracy Act
- Thread starter kangsham
- Start date
My goal here isn't to change anyone's opinion, but to encourage people to think critically rather than just repeat what they have heard without doing the analysis for themselves.
Can you explain how it "stops creativity" ? It sounds like you heard someone say that and accepted it as a fact when it really is "spin." Who's creativity will it stop? Yours? How?
Again, this seems to be contrary to everything I've read. Can you explain this?
I'm guessing you can't explain HOW it would move the internet becoming closer to China's. Let me explain for you. Part of the proposed legislation would require DNS filtering which means that you type in the domain name "downloadpirateddvds.tv" and the website doesn't come up. Now China's DNS filtering isn't directed at piracy websites but websites that express political opinions that are contrary to the governments. So it is one step closer, but the journey to get to China's level of censorship is a thousand miles.
Now if you are going to argue it is a slippery slope think about this: the U.S. can shut down or block websites that traffic in child pornography. That is censorship. Has that lead to a complete lack of freedom of expression on the internet? No.
Consider that the United States Chamber of Commerce (which lobbies on behalf of big businesses in the U.S.) is in favor of it. Will it COST some big businesses like Google, Facebook, Youtube and others? Yes. There will be a cost to them complying with the legislation. That is why they oppose it -- because it will cut into their profits. Will it kill those businesses -- probably not.
That is an important thing to keep in mind. The businesses that will have their profits hurt by the additional cost of compliance are the one's opposing this -- and trying to convince you to oppose it. Again, take into account the viewpoint of who is providing you with the information.
And from your post you seem much more intelligent than people who can vote.
The movie ET is covered by copyright. The UFO stuff, not so much.
My point is even if you oppose the legislation - have an educated opinion. As for trusting government, I'll go with Winston Churchill who said, "democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."
There will be a knock at your door momentarily.
I agree. My main concern is both the language (which is ambigious) as well as some of the structure of the enforcement mechanisms (i.e. who is required to do what). The hurt start-ups and future innovation claim is somewhat tenuous. There are so many forces in the market that influence investment in start-ups that it is hard to predict.
As for it being censorship... that depends on what you think censorship is. Is it any different from police seizing bootleg DVDs from a store and not permitting them to sell the DVDs? Maybe it is. However, I see censorship as being restricting a specific viewpoint (i.e. the government is wrong, Democrats are idiots, Republicans are wonkers, etc.), not restricting commercial activity (you can't sell this or advertise this for sale). If you are interested in learning more about the treatment of commercial speech in the United States under the First Amendment, read THIS. Also, the use of the word "censorship" has strong connotations which are intended to influence people emotionally.
Anyone who legally downloads a Michael Jackson album should get hard time for having really bad taste.
Can you explain how it "stops creativity" ? It sounds like you heard someone say that and accepted it as a fact when it really is "spin." Who's creativity will it stop? Yours? How?
Again, this seems to be contrary to everything I've read. Can you explain this?
I'm guessing you can't explain HOW it would move the internet becoming closer to China's. Let me explain for you. Part of the proposed legislation would require DNS filtering which means that you type in the domain name "downloadpirateddvds.tv" and the website doesn't come up. Now China's DNS filtering isn't directed at piracy websites but websites that express political opinions that are contrary to the governments. So it is one step closer, but the journey to get to China's level of censorship is a thousand miles.
Now if you are going to argue it is a slippery slope think about this: the U.S. can shut down or block websites that traffic in child pornography. That is censorship. Has that lead to a complete lack of freedom of expression on the internet? No.
Consider that the United States Chamber of Commerce (which lobbies on behalf of big businesses in the U.S.) is in favor of it. Will it COST some big businesses like Google, Facebook, Youtube and others? Yes. There will be a cost to them complying with the legislation. That is why they oppose it -- because it will cut into their profits. Will it kill those businesses -- probably not.
That is an important thing to keep in mind. The businesses that will have their profits hurt by the additional cost of compliance are the one's opposing this -- and trying to convince you to oppose it. Again, take into account the viewpoint of who is providing you with the information.
And from your post you seem much more intelligent than people who can vote.
The movie ET is covered by copyright. The UFO stuff, not so much.
My point is even if you oppose the legislation - have an educated opinion. As for trusting government, I'll go with Winston Churchill who said, "democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried."
There will be a knock at your door momentarily.
I agree. My main concern is both the language (which is ambigious) as well as some of the structure of the enforcement mechanisms (i.e. who is required to do what). The hurt start-ups and future innovation claim is somewhat tenuous. There are so many forces in the market that influence investment in start-ups that it is hard to predict.
As for it being censorship... that depends on what you think censorship is. Is it any different from police seizing bootleg DVDs from a store and not permitting them to sell the DVDs? Maybe it is. However, I see censorship as being restricting a specific viewpoint (i.e. the government is wrong, Democrats are idiots, Republicans are wonkers, etc.), not restricting commercial activity (you can't sell this or advertise this for sale). If you are interested in learning more about the treatment of commercial speech in the United States under the First Amendment, read THIS. Also, the use of the word "censorship" has strong connotations which are intended to influence people emotionally.
Anyone who legally downloads a Michael Jackson album should get hard time for having really bad taste.
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You actually buy this whole "protect our movie and music industry" thing (or "intellectual property")
Do research, google has been taking down websites off their search engine for several years now after the Government has ordered them to do so. Few have been "offshore piracy sites", Most were mainland sites that questioned the government.
To protect property is just a cover. The internet is basically the last "free" area in which citizens can fin information about everything, organize gatherings, question governments etc. The government has 0 control on it currently.
Nobody else thinks its sleightly odd that sopa and ndaa are being passed/talked about when you have every economic expert in the world saying we are headed for somethign serious.
Not to mention random tsa check points on US streets for guns.
They are getting ready for social unrest. Compare this to China, korea, nazi germany etc. History repeats itself.
Do research, google has been taking down websites off their search engine for several years now after the Government has ordered them to do so. Few have been "offshore piracy sites", Most were mainland sites that questioned the government.
To protect property is just a cover. The internet is basically the last "free" area in which citizens can fin information about everything, organize gatherings, question governments etc. The government has 0 control on it currently.
Nobody else thinks its sleightly odd that sopa and ndaa are being passed/talked about when you have every economic expert in the world saying we are headed for somethign serious.
Not to mention random tsa check points on US streets for guns.
They are getting ready for social unrest. Compare this to China, korea, nazi germany etc. History repeats itself.