What is S.O.P.A ?

[matthughen]

Do you know how much trouble everyone had to go through to shut down that site? Ridiculous. That site was 100% bullshit pirates and thieves, and it took the coordinated effort of numerous agencies from numerous countries to shut them down.

Pure hyperbole. My family had a megaupload account that was never used for anything except legit uses; it's like poor mans FTP. I have sent lots of photoshop files to employers w/ MU as well. Truth is, with cloud storage megauploads business model was in likely in decline. I am not defending MU beyond that, nor am I saying that didnt deserve what happened, but to call it 100% pirate and theives is hyperbole . . . that is something that lots of people on both sides of this issue are guilty of.

[DSOP]

Some people read Penthouse for the articles too. Sites like that can easily prevent uploading of unauthorized files, but they don't. Therefore, they can and should disappear.

[matthughen]

Another example of SOPA being unnecessary because the mechanisms already exist:
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/01/22/n ... ringement/

It aint about protecting copywrite violators. It's about freedom of speech. Right now this site would be in violation of SOPA and could be shut down because of the pictures of gear/logos from NAMM. They are unauthourized reproductions of protected, trademarked logos. Your posting of the Ndugu ad is in violation of SOPA. You did not have permission to post it (Im guessing here). Any clip posted of Vinnies playing on any album cut would be in violation of SOPA and would allow HOD to be shut down. SOPA is an overreach. Would the passage of SOPA resulting HOD disappearing? Not likely . However, opening the door to those kinds of limits on speech can only have negative consequences.

[DSOP]

What about all the negative consequences that we've been dealing with until now? Waving the "freedom of speech" argument is a crock. This is about stopping the ILLEGAL dissemination of files. As for a site like this, all that would be necessary is putting in some controls. Otherwise, yeah, sorry... See ya...

[electrizer]

What about all the negative consequences that we've been dealing with until now? Waving the "freedom of speech" argument is a crock. This is about stopping the ILLEGAL dissemination of files. As for a site like this, all that would be necessary is putting in some controls. Otherwise, yeah, sorry... See ya...

I would really like to share your optimism DSOP, I really would... But familiarise yourself with the contents of ACTA and you'll see that it goes far beyond basic copyright protection. I have absolutely nothing against chasing those who steal stuff that somebody put his effort and money into. But I have e big problem with internet users being invigilated by their ISP's for any illicit internet activity, with demanding of online security software developers to do the same, with border laptop and phone checks by customs. Matt is right, is like killing a fly with a hand-grenade. We already have legislation to deal with this kinds of problems, prepared at the state level, not by establishing an obscure self-righteous supra-national organisation, passed by respective governments in a transparent manner, not in secrecy for 4 years without consulting with anyone, let alone citizens.

You really, really, really, REALLY don't think this isn't somewhat arcane DSOP? I don't want to take it too far, after all we're in the same boat, but I think sometimes it's good to stop being a rationalist and start seeing a bigger picture.

[Morgenthaler]

SOPA and PIPA were based on false numbers:

http://www.itworld.com/security/242587/ ... er-existed
The loss in revenue is but a fraction of what was claimed.
So it's a good thing that SOPA and PIPA are going away. We need regulation based on facts,

What is far worse is the ACTA treaty that allows governments to go outside civil rights, outside the UN,
outside WTO and WIPO.

From Wikipedia:
In June 2010, a conference at the Washington College of Law with over 90 academics, practitioners
and public interest organizations from six continents concluded "that the terms of the publicly released
draft of ACTA threaten numerous public interests, including every concern specifically disclaimed by
negotiators." A group of 75+ law professors signed a letter to President Obama demanding that ACTA be halted and changed.

Nonetheless a few countries including USA has signed the treaty already.
This is really, really messed up. V for Vendetta seems more and more prophetic.

[amoergosum]

FileSonic, a website providing online data storage, has disabled its file sharing services following a U.S.-led crackdown on a rival website and amid heated debate over Washington's attempts to clamp down on online piracy.

Source:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/2 ... 22727.html

[matthughen]

SOPA and PIPA were based on false numbers:

http://www.itworld.com/security/242587/ ... er-existed
The loss in revenue is but a fraction of what was claimed.
So it's a good thing that SOPA and PIPA are going away. We need regulation based on facts,

Great article, thanks.

[Kurtis]

the government doesn't need SOPA or these bills to shut down sites. they are doing it today. fileserve, filejungle, filesonic, filepost, 4shared, wupload and a few others are being shut down or having many accounts / files deleted. mediafire and a few others will follow suit very soon. they are just getting rid of copyright stuff. mostly music files i guess. they will be going after torrent sites next. they will block US traffic. the powers at be doing this can do what they want. who can stop them? the people at anonymous will get pissed and try to crash this and that. they don't need these anti piracy bills. MPAA and RIAA just want the torrent sites and sites like filesonic gone. they just might win with all the money they are throwing out there to have them blocked. i'm sure people will find a way around that and there is.

[Morgenthaler]

What's even more noteworthy is that music sales in 2011 went UP by 8%, according
to the music industry itself:

http://musically.com/2012/01/23/ifpi-sa ... 8-in-2011/