SOPA and Protect-IP

[Shadowwolf]

I need to take the time to make you all aware of something (for US residents mainly) but it may also eventually affect those of you in "follow countries" who tend to have governments that adapt to whatever stupid/crazy shit our US govt is doing.

There is a bill called SOPA and Protect-IP making its way through congress now which was started and is funded by the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) and the RIAA (Record Industry Association of America).

PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet

What makes these things critical for me to show you is the impact and intent of them both. Now, without going through line by line of these bills, the basic gist of it is simple, the US Govt wants to regulate and censor the internet and what you can see on it in an effort to try and sell more music and movies at the stores.

What it will do is allow the US government to censor a website it deems "infringing" on copyrights by making it virtually vanish from the net in the same way Iran, China and other non-democratic nations censor their people online. Modifying DNS records at the source to make it as if those sites no longer exist. The process to do such a thing you would think has checks and balances, however, no, not in these bills. Also, the language in them that describes what can be labeled as "infringement" is vague and general opening it up to all kinds of interpretation.

Basically, if the MPAA or RIAA wants a site taken down, they just have to say so and down it goes. No warning letter, no courts, nothing, just "We say so, take it down". It also forces the hosting companies, companies who may facilitate revenue for them like credit card agencies, and so on to cut off all ties with that site immediately in the same way.

What constitutes infringement with this bill? Say you post a video of yourself singing the words to your favorite song on Youtube, well the RIAA doesnt want it up there cause you dont pay them royalties, they now tell Youtube take it down or we take you down and then they sue you for posting it. ANYTHING with content they "own" can be interpreted as infringement and even a link to a site that contains something they own if they deem it unauthorized can be grounds for a shutdown.

How does this affect our guild?

This gives the power to Blizzard to shut this site down if they decide they don't like something about it simply because we have content about a game they own. They don't even have to have a reason other than the fact it has screenshots of their game on it if they so choose. The worst part about that is they don't have to give any warning for me to remove that content or anything if this bill passes, they can just call the federal government and have it shut down.

Regardless if your political affiliation, this bill is being heavily supported in congress right now because its inception was quiet and kept low key since it is oppression and censorship to the fullest degree. The money trail on this bill is absolutely gross and disgusting to see some senators receiving almost half a million dollars to support this bill. This is what democracy in the US has become where the companies with the largest checkbooks can buy and dictate laws unless you voice your concerns to those a-holes that were voted in congress by the very people complaining they dont want this.

Money Trail of this bill: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/money

I try not to get openly political on here because that leads to arguments, but this is one case where this isn't a partisan thing in any way and needs to be known. Please tell your friends, family, etc anyone who will listen about this and lets try and put a stop to this crap because once its in place if it passes, its the beginning of the end. Trying to have something like this repealed is usually a pointless and doomed effort before it starts =(

Some helpful links:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/11/15/speak-out-against-sopa-send-congress-a-physical-letter-in-just-a-few-clicks/
http://americancensorship.org/
https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/stop-e-parasite-act/SWBYXX55

[LostWander]

Thanks for the heads up and information.

[Tony]

Everyone go and post this on your social networking place of choice. We need to spread the word, and fast!

[Shadowwolf]

Heads up to the neighbors to the north in Canada, the entertainment industry has focused attention on your laws now since its considered defeated in the US

http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6264/125/

http://activepolitic.com:82/News/2012-01-25c/Would_a_SOPA_Version_of_the_Canadian_Copyright_Bill_Target_Youtube.html