tagged w/ Combating Military Counterfeits Act of 2011
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Congress is calling SOPA a way to prevent online infringement and piracy. However, those committed to free speech rights and creative innovation know that this is nothing more than an attempt to compromise Internet security, free speech and creative license. As currently drafted the legislation would grant the government and other parties unprecedented power to force ISPs and search engines to redirect or block users' attempts to reach certain websites. This in turn would threaten the security and reliability of the Internet as a whole in creating other third party servers besides severely limiting free speech. And under SOPA's provisions ISPs would also be pressured to monitor user activities.
YouTube Video on how PROTECT IP / SOPA Act Breaks the Internet http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HGEUhCfQ464
House Bill - H.R.3261 - Stop Online Piracy Act (aka SOPA) http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show
Senate Bill - S.968 - PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (aka PIPA)
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/show
All in all this is a direct attempt to limit free exchange of ideas on the Internet, the truly last bastion of freedom we have. Therefore, in response to the SOPA black out day scheduled for January 18 to coincide with witness testimony in Washington DC, we were hoping members of Current would also become involved in a site wide showing of solidarity for Internet freedom against SOPA.
Therefore, we are asking those interested in participating on January 18 to respond in this thread with the following responses: "Boycotting" or "Post about SOPA" to let us know how you intend to participate. We are also urging everyone to list this in all their groups and to come on January 18 to vote up all SOPA posts. Now we cannot force or limit anyone from posting on other topics, but to make a showing where the majority of articles on the front of the Community page would address this important topic with the responses reading "Stop SOPA" would send a message that we who use the Internet are serious about preserving its freedom.
Senate will vote on the Internet censorship on Tuesday, January 24th. You can find where your Members of Congress Stand on SOPA and PIPA http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/.
Click http://my.americancensorship.org/ to see what is happening in your state.
Please then participate on January 18 and respond in this thread so we have an idea of how many people here will participate in this show of web wide solidarity for freedom.
Thank you,
MotherForTruth / JanforGoreCongress is calling SOPA a way to prevent online infringement and piracy. However,... more
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By Josh Sternberg current.com contributor
UPDATE, 11:15 p.m. ET: There’s a little less than an hour to go until the sites protesting SOPA and PIPA come back to us here’s what’s happened since our last update.
A whole bunch of senators and representatives changed their positions and came out opposing the current iteration of the SOPA and PIPA legislation. The Daily Beast reports:
Senators Roy Blunt (R-MO), Mark Rubio (R-FL), and Jerry Moran (R-KS), also cosponsors of PIPA, posted their withdrawals to either Facebook or Twitter today as well. Additionally Senators Jeff Markey (D-OR) and Allen West (R-FL) condemned the bill on Twitter. Not to be outdone, Representatives Keith Ellison (D-MN) and Mike Honda (D-CA) blacked out their websites in support.
Buzzfeed culled together “the 50 best statements by members of Congress against SOPA/PIPA.”By Josh Sternberg current.com contributor
UPDATE, 11:15 p.m. ET:... more
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The media's blackout of the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Senate's Protect IP Act (PIPA) started from Day 1, but you've been talking about it for months. Follow this thread throughout the day as we'll continue to round up the SOPA/PIPA conversation in the Current.com community, as well as Twitter.
Today marks a blackout on the part of several websites, including Wikipedia and Reddit, who are going dark to protest both bills.
To get started, here's a look from our partners at Crimson Hexagon at where the most social-network chatter about SOPA/PIPA has been happening (click on the graphic to see a larger version):
The media's blackout of the House's Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the... more
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Is President Obama's word that he will veto SOPA and PIPA as good as his word that he would veto the NDAA?Is President Obama's word that he will veto SOPA and PIPA as good as his word... more
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I stand with the participants of this video against SOPA/PIPA.
I AM FOR A FREE AND OPEN INTERNET.
DO you hear us, Congress?
Stand together today as a community and as a country and oppose PIPA and demand SOPA be left dead and not in a coma. Our freedom of expression, creativity and free speech are being threatened by those with the power and money to shut the Internet down to protect their own profits.
The Internet is the peoples' agora. KEEP IT FREE!
I will only be posting about PIPA today and voting all posts about it UP.
Please vote this up!I stand with the participants of this video against SOPA/PIPA.
I AM FOR A FREE AND... more
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Having trouble using Wikipedia today? That's because the popular crowd-sourced online encyclopedia is participating in an "Internet blackout" in protest of two controversial anti-piracy bills: The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate companion, the Protect IP Act (PIPA).
The bills are intended to strengthen protections against copyright infringement and intellectual property theft, but Internet advocates say they would stifle expression the World Wide Web. In essence, the legislation has pitted content providers -- like the music and film industries -- against Silicon Valley.
"It's not a battle of left versus right," said progressive activist Adam Green, whose organization Progressive Change Campaign Committee on Tuesday hosted a press conference with opponents of the bills. "Frankly, it's a battle of old versus new."
Here's a basic look at the actions taking place today and the legislation causing all the fuss.
What's going on today?
The popular link-sharing site Reddit got the ball rolling for today's 24-hour Internet blackout. In addition to Reddit and Wikipedia, other sites participating include BoingBoing, Mozilla, WordPress, TwitPic, MoveOn.org and the ICanHasCheezBurger network. Search giant Google is showing its solidarity with a protest doodle and message: "Tell Congress: Please don't censor the web," but the site planned no complete blackout.
Other sites -- like Facebook and Twitter -- oppose the legislation in question but aren't participating in today's blackout.
In addition to the Internet-based protests, some opponents are physically protesting on Wednesday outside of their congressional representatives' offices. Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian said in Tuesday's press conference it will "probably be the geekiest, most rational protest ever."
What does the legislation do?
There are already laws that protect copyrighted material, including the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). But while the DMCA focuses on removing specific, unauthorized content from the Internet, SOPA and PIPA instead target the platform -- that is, the site hosting the unauthorized content.
The bills would give the Justice Department the power to go after foreign websites willfully committing or facilitating intellectual property theft -- "rogue" sites like The Pirate Bay. The government would be able to force U.S.-based companies, like Internet service providers, credit card companies and online advertisers, to cut off ties with those sites.
Why content providers want SOPA and PIPA
Content groups like the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and business representatives like the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, argue that innovation and jobs in content-creating industries are threatened by growing Internet piracy. Overseas websites, they argue, are a safe haven for Internet pirates profiting off their content.
According to the Global Intellectual Property Center, which is part of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, intellectual property-intensive sectors employ more than 19 million people in the U.S. and create $7.7 trillion in gross output. Foreign website operators currently outside the bounds of U.S. law; SOPA and PIPA would help quell illegitimate Internet activity.
In a statement, former Sen. Chris Dodd, who is now chairman and CEO of the MPAA, called the blackout day a "gimmick."
"It's a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests," Dodd said.
CBS Corporation, which owns CBSNews.com, is a member of the Copyright Alliance -- an industry group representing content producers that supports SOPA and PIPA.
Why Internet companies oppose SOPA and PIPA
Internet companies and their investors would readily say that they're holding the "blackout" to protect their corporate interests -- and the entire burgeoning Internet-based economy.
"The success of Reddit... is one of the smaller examples of the success that has happened in our industry -- and will continue to unless bills like SOPA or PIPA become law," Ohanian said Tuesday.
Under the rules SOPA or PIPA would impose, Ohanian and others argue, start ups wouldn't be able to handle the costs that come with defending their sites against possible violations. Such sites would not be able to pay the large teams of lawyers that established sites like Google or Facebook can afford.
The legislation in question targets foreign companies whose primary purpose is to sell stolen or counterfeit goods -- but opponents say domestic companies could still be held liable for linking to their content. While sites like Reddit wouldn't have a legal duty to monitor their sites all the time, "you might have your pants sued off of you" if you don't, said Jayme White, staff director for the Senate Finance Subcommittee on international trade.
Brad Burnham, managing partner at the venture capital fund Union Square Ventures, said his company has avoided investing in companies related to the music industry because of the copyright risks -- but under the proposed legislation, that risk would hit just about any Internet company. SOPA and PIPA, he said, "takes the risk of frivolous litigation... to the entire Internet."
That should be a concern, Burnham said, when the Internet accounts for 21 percent of economic growth among developed nations, according to one study.
The impacts could go beyond the economy, some argue. Rebecca MacKinnon, a senior fellow at the nonpartisan New America Foundation, argues that if blogging platforms are motivated to monitor their content, that could have "a tremendous chilling effect on people tyring to conduct political discourse and trying to use content in a fair use context."
Where does the legislation stand?
Opponents of SOPA and PIPA celebrated when, earlier this month, authors of both bills decided to set aside the most controversial aspect of them -- language that would have let the Justice Department force Internet Service Providers to block the domains of suspected foreign "rogue" sites. Also, over the weekend, the White House suggested it wants to see modifications to the legislation.
The Senate is scheduled to hold a procedural vote on PIPA on January 24.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith, R-Texas, who sponsored SOPA, said Tuesday he expects the committee to continue work on the House bill in February.
Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., meanwhile, is opposed to the legislation and will today officially introduce an alternative -- the Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN) Act. Issa said Tuesday he expects his bill to have more co-sponsors than SOPA has in the House and that "once members of Congress see a viable alternative... I think we can get to a consensus."
The OPEN Act would make the International Trade Commission, rather than the Justice Department, responsible for policing U.S. connections to foreign rogue sites. Placing that responsibility in the hands of one entity, rather than the whole court system, would make the process more transparent, Issa argues.
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Video at link.Having trouble using Wikipedia today? That's because the popular crowd-sourced... more
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