FUCK SOPA & PIPA! (Say goodbye to Freedom of Speech, guys!)

[SquishierCobra]

How could Obama let this bullshit through?! I was actually starting to LIKE him a bit, but now I have lost all faith in him.

And I thought Wikipedia's Blackout was EFFECTIVE!

You know what? Even though this is my first Presidential election I can vote in, I'm voting for NOBODY! Why? As Butterfree's WPAY quiz said "Because all of the candidates sucks and I'll be screwed either way!"

I am officially EMBARRASSED to be an American now!

This thread is open for all Americans to rant about this issue. Begin!

 

[Superbird]

wait what? I thought it died in Congress...

 

[SquishierCobra]

Unfortunately, it didn't.... Go to as many file sharing sites as you can. Like MegaUpload. You'll see.

 

[Superbird]

I'm pretty sure it did, and Obama was against the bill in the first place, but...what?

 

[Murkrow]

As far as I know Megaupload getting taken down had nothing to do with SOPA and PIPA.

 

[Flareth]

....Errr...I think the MegaUpload shutdown was because of something else...not about SOPA/PIPA...well not entirely.

Checked dozens of News sites and they don't say anything about being SOPA or PIPA being passed.

EDIT: Rasrap Smurf beat me to it.

 

[SquishierCobra]

Flareth, I SINCERELY hope you are correct.

 

[I liek Squirtles]

Oh shit. I knew about this for quite some time, but I came to realize some Ultimate Fridge Horror. All the websites I like (TCoD, Facebook, Memebase) are gonna be severely disabled, or even worse, shut down. But wasn't Obama going to veto it? It would make 99.9999999999...% of the US, wait, the WORLD against him. I'd like you guys to see this video. It shows how guilty SOPA supporters (the big companies) really are. They made this whole mess themselves.

 

[Blastoise Fortooate]

SOPA/PIPA died in Congress, for now at least. Megaupload is down for different but related reasons. Further, Obama (and every US president ever) doesn't have godlike governmental powers that let him stop anything he doesn't like.

Of course, now we have the international ACTA and a bill called 'HR1981/Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers' that will force ISPs to keep a record of everyone's internet history for a year and a half after it is created, and give the government ~nearly unlimited access~ to that information.

 

[M&F]

For the record, the people hosting MegaUpload had been on trial for a couple of years now, if I recall correctly. That it culminated when it did was merely a coincidence.

Although we cannot quite say that it's necessarily a bad coincidence, since it helps to spread the outrage.

(doh blastoise ninja'd)

Also, I'm not sure if that was after the blackouts or after the anon hacking, but, I hear that eight politicians have since changed their minds about the bills, so, it's hard to say that the whole revolt was for naught. Of course, ideally, the bills would have been dead and buried by now, but, can't have everything.

 

[Vipera Magnifica]

SOPA/PIPA may have died, but we're only going to keep seeing these kinds of bills for a while now. On a positive note, I'm glad to see the amount of political activism that this crap legislation inspired.

 

[Momo(th)]

For Americans, if your government censors the internet, you realize that you'll only get information from one source; them.

We do not need another China. The internet is the last pure "vessel'' (so to speak) of true information.

(BTW, should this be moved to "Serious Business"?)

 

[Light]

Of course, now we have the international ACTA and a bill called 'HR1981/Protecting Children from Internet Pornographers' that will force ISPs to keep a record of everyone's internet history for a year and a half after it is created, and give the government ~nearly unlimited access~ to that information.

I actually don't give a shit. Who cares if the government has access to my web history? They're already tapping all my texts and phone calls. Honestly, the government doesn't care what random crap you do on your computer. It's only a problem if you're actually involved in something sketchy.

 

[M&F]

For Americans, if your government censors the internet, you realize that you'll only get information from one source; them.

We do not need another China. The internet is the last pure "vessel'' (so to speak) of true information.

(BTW, should this be moved to "Serious Business"?)

"For Americans"? Most if not all of the bills would give America stroke to meddle with other countries. This is a worldwide concern.

 

[Flora]

"For Americans"? Most if not all of the bills would give America stroke to meddle with other countries. This is a worldwide concern.

This is what I said to my mother when we were arguing about it earlier.

Both of my parents think this is a good idea for some reason? I am disappointed in them

 

[ultraviolet]

(BTW, should this be moved to "Serious Business"?)

Yup, moved.

The problem with SOPA and PIPA is that piracy is always going to be a threat and is always going to circumvent legislation (for example, I have head that Megaupload are trying to get back onto the internet, but take it with a grain of salt nope) and that piracy is already illegal. Making it illegaler doesn't stop piracy, it just hurts independent businesses and kind of prevents the internet from being functional at all.

And yeah, this is kind of a global issue. If this is passed in the US, I don't see why other english-speaking countries at least wouldn't follow suit; the Australian government has already tried to censor parts of the internet (and did a very bad job of it), citing child pornography as an excuse (which, again, is already illegal); luckily this was received with a bit of an outcry and afaik it's on the backburner for now. There's also the fact that entire online industries would be damaged by these laws if they were passed; Google is based in the US, after all, and they do own Youtube. Wikipedia would be gone. Just because it's US-based legislation doesn't mean everyone else could still access these sites! I'm in Australia and I can't access Megaupload, so.

 

[nyuu]

How could Obama let this bullshit through?! I was actually starting to LIKE him a bit, but now I have lost all faith in him.

Obama, at this time, can't do anything about SOPA/PIPA. He could declare his intent to sign it/not sign it should it reach his desk, and he can then sign it or veto it once it gets there. He didn't draft it; media and copyright-related corporations and congress did.

And I thought Wikipedia's Blackout was EFFECTIVE!

In a way, it was? In the aftermath, a number of congresspeople dropped their support, and many more pledged to vote against the bills. OTOH: A lot of people simply noticed that wikipedia wasn't showing them articles and refused to read the text on the site explaining the situation, as was seen here.

You know what? Even though this is my first Presidential election I can vote in, I'm voting for NOBODY! Why? As Butterfree's WPAY quiz said "Because all of the candidates sucks and I'll be screwed either way!"

That's your prerogative I guess? If you're dissatisfied with Dem/Rep politics enough to not want to support them, you could go third party rather than doing nothing. (Also, you can vote against your congrespeople if they backed SOPA/PIPA seeing as how passionate your are in opposing them, come congressional elections.)

Buuuut yeah. Beyond being bad bills that are vague and overreaching it sets a precedent for more measures like it. I'm kind of concerned that even if these bills are buried for good, there'll be an attempt to stealth the same measures onto other bills. Doing it quietly may have been the plan anyway.

 

[ArtemisX]

I actually contacted my senators and the one supporting House representative to show my dislike of SOPA and PIPA. If Obama promises to veto them, fine. But what if he isn't elected again, and they make it to America's next president?

If these things pass, I'm out of this country. I want nothing to do with the self-righteous, superreligious pricks we get in the government nowadays.

(Also, I live in Michigan. More reason to GTFO of America. >.>; )

 

[M&F]

If these things pass, I'm out of this country. I want nothing to do with the self-righteous, superreligious pricks we get in the government nowadays.

Good luck finding a country where the politicians actually aren't self-righteous, superreligious and/or in possession of similar flaws.

Plus, as has been extensively stated, getting out of the country won't change much -- it's a global issue.

 

[Frostagin]

If this happens, I'm friggin protesting. We need to find another way to prevent piracy.

Also, somebody in Congress needs to go read 1984/study the former Soviet Union. We had tensions with them for decades(at least if I have my dates right), we shouldn't turn into the thing we hate. God Congress. I don't care if worldwide issue, I'm moving to England after I get my black belt/am old enough if this continues.

Wow, I've got a good grasp on things for being a teenager. :P