USA Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) ..

USA Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) ..

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As one commentator has said - On the face of it the following is possible

  • The US government will have the power to make US Internet providers block access to infringing domain names. They can sue websites, blogs, forums, you name it, to have links to these sites removed.
  • The US government and corporations will have the ability to cut off funds to infringing websites by forcing advertisers based in the US to cancel their accounts with the sites.
  • Companies will have the power to sue any sites, including start-ups, they feel aren’t filtering well enough. The vague wording of the bill means large sites are a target too – any site with copyrighted music, TV, and movie clips. Think Tumblr, YouTube, Facebook. Think sharing a vid of your kid singing Beyonce and facing up to five years of jail time.
  • The US government’s decision to pass a bill allowing them to censor the Internet will likely influence similar bills in other countries. Do you trust other governments not to abuse this power? For that matter, do you trust yours?
  • The building blocks of the Internet will be altered. This is perhaps the most difficult concept to grasp, but it’s also the most dangerous. Most politicians do not have a thorough understanding of how exactly the Internet works – and that’s okay. It’s not their job. However, this becomes a problem when they attempt to pass vital legislation on something they do not have even basic knowledge of. The result could be an Internet which is both unsafe and unreliable.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/dec/15/sopa-bill-congress-online-piracy?newsfeed=true

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE5WlyQRvaM

http://matadornetwork.com/change/sopa/

Whatever ones point of view should the USA be permitted to shut down UK or any other countries sites on potentially very tenuous evidence?

This means that if someone posted a comment on Aweb that

  • contained a link to any other site that may itself link to an 'unauthorised' site - despite the fact that they may not know it
  • posted a uTube or other clip
  • posted a link to anything that the USA did not like the look of

Then Aweb (UK) could be shut down by the USA

Replies (7)

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By User deleted
21st Dec 2011 14:34

To be honest...

I'll believe it when I see it.

Thanks (1)
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By Henry Osadzinski
21st Dec 2011 14:56

Worrying Developments

SOPA is, when viewed at its extreme potential, very worrying. The bill has the chance of being either insanely restrictive (it's been compared to China's "Great Firewall" in terms of extensive censorship) or largely unenforceable. The latter would result in a severely unfair system where lawmakers would likely look to "make examples" of certain violators while ignoring more widespread, general infractions.

Whitehouse.gov petitions have already demonstrated how far-fetched the bill is in its current form but, on the other hand, it does reflect the growing concerns of how widespread not only piracy but casual copyright infringement is online. Personally, I feel that a solution is required but this is far too severe and offers no protection to those falsely or mistakenly accused.

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By DMGbus
22nd Dec 2011 08:43

Extradition to USA for "offences" committed in the UK

USA authorities are currently trying to get a UK citizen extradited to USA for trial there for allegedly just providing links to allegedly copyright infringing websites.

It remains to be seen if  UK authorities demonstrate weakness and give in to this bullying tactic (same comment re: an autitistic UK citizen who exposed incompetent weakenesses in USA intelligence service websites - USA want him prosecuted in  USA for an offence [if it were an offence] committed on UK soil).

 

 

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By Democratus
22nd Dec 2011 09:43

it's up to the internet community to get its act together

Frankly I can't blame the legislators for attempting something to protect IP and copyright content. The people hosting websites say they are not responsible for content, the content providers don't care about the theft of IP and millions of users openly steal other peoples hard work.

The result of this is what ypu see above. Democratus Junior is very much opposed to this (being a nerd you see) and we regularly cross swords over the dining table on this issue. He recognised the point but, possibly correctly argues that parody would be eliminated due to this type of law. Imagine a world with no Wierd Al!.

Citizens of the web, you only have yourselves to blame.

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Quack
By Constantly Confused
22nd Dec 2011 09:44

Anonymous are already up in arms about SOPA.  If it is used to infringe on the internet too much the US government will rue the day, you don't want to annoy Anonymous when you are incedibly reliant on technology to govern...

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By User deleted
23rd Dec 2011 13:00

Unforseen matters ...

Oops !

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57346592-281/how-sopas-circumvention-ban-could-put-a-target-on-tor/

'.. There's a bit of irony here: Tor was created by the U.S. government (specifically, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory). The subsequent organization formed to develop the software, the nonprofit Tor Project, is currently funded in part by multiple federal agencies that hope that it will let Internet users in China and other repressive regimes bypass their country's informational blockades ..'

https://www.torproject.org/

Excellent, so the proponents of this bill must think the Chinese approach is the right one?

What happened to joined up thinking?

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By User deleted
18th Jan 2012 07:38

Blackout Protest against - Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) bill

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/18/tech/sopa-blackouts/

 

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