SOPA/PIPA officially on ice. Let's hope that's where they stay >:

[Sabby]

I am really relieved to see this, and very proud.

Rocked by Internet protests, the U.S. Congress is postponing action on the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act.

Google's Censored Doodle
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was scheduled to call a vote for PIPA on January 24. That was before Internet users and prominent websites staged a day of protest on Wednesday, which included a censored Google Doodle and blackouts of Wikipedia, Craigslist and Reddit. In light of the protests, several lawmakers withdrew their sponsorships of SOPA and PIPA, while others came out in opposition to the bill.

PIPA, and its House of Representatives counterpart SOPA, would give the U.S. Attorney General powers to cut off ad dollars, payments, and search engine indexing to websites accused of facilitating copyright infringement. Critics argue that the bills are too broad and would therefore result in collateral damage and censorship. (RELATED: Just the facts on SOPA and PIPA.)

Harry Reed (D-Nevada)
Now, Reid is calling for changes.

“There is no reason that the legitimate issues raised by many about this bill cannot be resolved," Reid says in a statement, adding that the Senate must take action to stop piracy.

PIPA/SOPA supporter Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), miffed by this sudden turn of events, offers his own statement. “I understand and respect Majority Leader Reid’s decision ... But the day will come when the Senators who forced this move will look back and realize they made a knee-jerk reaction to a monumental problem.”

Lamar Smith (R-Texas)
Meanwhile, in Congress, Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) announced that consideration of SOPA is on hold indefinitely. A hearing on the bill in the Judiciary Committee had been scheduled to resume in February.

“I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” Smith says in a statement. “It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.”

[Callie Del Noire]

RIAA/MPAA and the other backers will find a way to get it back on track. Under a new name and with new more subtle language, and that is why we have to stay alert for the next round. 

[ReijiTabibito]

You know, I find it very ironic that they're going to all this effort, spending money in the political arena and earning the enmity of both the Internet sector and a portion of the populace, when really all they have to do to cut down on piracy is drop the prices of CDs and DVDs a few bucks.

Anyone can feel free to correct me, but I feel like at least part of what fuels the piracy bit is that it's gotten cheaper to make CDs and DVDs (you can burn a CD for about a quarter), but the actual price hasn't gone down a whole lot, meaning the corps and the stars are taking more money for themselves.

[Callie Del Noire]

You know, I find it very ironic that they're going to all this effort, spending money in the political arena and earning the enmity of both the Internet sector and a portion of the populace, when really all they have to do to cut down on piracy is drop the prices of CDs and DVDs a few bucks.

Anyone can feel free to correct me, but I feel like at least part of what fuels the piracy bit is that it's gotten cheaper to make CDs and DVDs (you can burn a CD for about a quarter), but the actual price hasn't gone down a whole lot, meaning the corps and the stars are taking more money for themselves.

Actually the record industry is INFAMOUS for screwing their artists out of royalties. (One of the reasons a lot of artists do their own record label now is to get a better idea of what the distributors are making and to cut out some of the costs that the record companies use to screw them). Some of the most 'creative' accounting pratices out there are from the recording and media companies.

The major reason for the writer's strike a few years ago was that the Media companies didn't want to give writers (actors or anyone else) a piece of the online pie (streaming, downloading or so on). Record companies are very good at screwing over their own creative talent, I wish I could recall which blues man they lied to (and his family) for years while he slowly and painfully died because they didn't want to give him his promised medical coverage.  (It was cheaper.. by a small margin, to keep the lawyers dragging it out)

They inflate and conceal costs to keep CD prices up..they blackmail apple and every other online vendors to get a bigger piece of the pie (I seem to recall that one of the big sticking points with iTunes orginally was they wanted only WHOLE albums to be sold).

MPAA and RIAA are the strong arm division of some of the most crooked businessmen in the country.

[Serephino]

*nods*  A big part of the problem is the general population doesn't really feel all that bad for these assholes.  They got all upset because they couldn't afford their second vacation homes and private jets anymore, so they started putting a huge effort into catching 'pirates' and suing them for millions, even though most of them were slaving away on minimum wage.  And it was usually only over a few songs.  It took them catching someone with money and influence to stop that crazy train.  The idiots really should have known better.  The high paid team of lawyers figured out how to win and bitchslap the RIAA back with a counter suit.  They had to stop after that because any lawyer with half a brain could have used that as a precedent to screw them even more, which personally, I would have loved to see.

So really, what they did was take a small problem and make it worse by pissing people off.  The RIAA became public enemy #1 by taking a heavy-handed approach instead of figuring out how to change their practices to make their customers happy.  My boyfriend got mad at me for getting an itunes account because I've given up and started giving my money to those bastards.

These bills are another extreme measure.  They're trying to get the government to do their dirty work for them now.  It worked before when they got p2p file sharing made illegal.  But so much is on the internet now that they'll have to head into dangerous territory to accomplish what they want.     

[Sethala]

It took them catching someone with money and influence to stop that crazy train.  The idiots really should have known better.  The high paid team of lawyers figured out how to win and bitchslap the RIAA back with a counter suit.  They had to stop after that because any lawyer with half a brain could have used that as a precedent to screw them even more, which personally, I would have loved to see.

Any idea what that case was called?  I'd love to find out more about it... didn't even realize that's what had happened (I don't usually pay attention to news).

And personally, if I were to start a nonprofit group, it would be legal council and lawyers for people being sued or otherwise taken advantage of by big corporations.  That's what we could really use, I think.

[Oniya]

Might be this one:  http://www.geek.com/articles/law/riaa-countersued-by-mother-2005106/

[Callie Del Noire]

Might be this one:  http://www.geek.com/articles/law/riaa-countersued-by-mother-2005106/

DAMN! Go mom. .. I like her.

[Haruki]

This probably steps away from the discussion, but it relates to the bills cited in the topic title.

The problem is simply put.  The big conglomerates refuse to 'update with the times', unlike when they had to in the past.  Sure, they were forced to in the 1980s when we went from vinyl and 8-track cartridges to cassettes and CDs, but they seem to refuse to since 5-10 years ago (or are slow at it) adapt to the changing digital technologies and means of which people acquire their media.

So long as they keep on being slow at this, their problems will never end.

As for China, they don't give two shits.  They've been offering up bootlegs of U.S. media for many years.  And the media bigshots are just noticing it NOW!?  Sorry.  No excuses.  A simple eBay search 5 years ago would have turned up bazillions of bootlegs.   (eBay's actually starting to really crack down on this stuff nowadays).  Media companies just need to ignore China.  You can't stop what they do.

It should be noted, most (if not all) illicit file-sharing and other sites are not U.S. based, BECAUSE of already preexisting laws on the books.  Domestic ISPs won't host the sites due to current laws, for good reason.  They're mostly on servers in the eastern EU countries, China, and other rouge nations in the world where copyright law is hardly enforced.  They already don't give two rips about U.S. law as-is, so be it.

It's not right or wrong, it just 'is what it is'.

I put forth in another thread on this forum about this very issue, the thing that worries me most about these bills isn't so much what happens to the big media players, but moreso, the whole 'freedom from censorship' gig.  individual sites should be the final decision-makers on what is allowed and disallowed on their respective sites, not government.  Making government the censor of all the Internet would be dangerously China-esque.

In stating all this, I'm glad that the U.S. Congress has decided to shelve the bills.  In honesty, hopefully they scrap them entirely.  Media companies need to learn to use pre-existing laws to deal with piracy, and if those don't stop it, you learn to adapt, or go the way the capitalist system is set up for......the 'dodo'.  Out of business, that is.  Aside from mass media, the last thing the general population needs is censorship of the ability to speak / type freely.

[Callie Del Noire]

This probably steps away from the discussion, but it relates to the bills cited in the topic title.

The problem is simply put.  The big conglomerates refuse to 'update with the times', unlike when they had to in the past.  Sure, they were forced to in the 1980s when we went from vinyl and 8-track cartridges to cassettes and CDs, but they seem to refuse to since 5-10 years ago (or are slow at it) adapt to the changing digital technologies and means of which people acquire their media.

So long as they keep on being slow at this, their problems will never end.

As for China, they don't give two shits.  They've been offering up bootlegs of U.S. media for many years.  And the media bigshots are just noticing it NOW!?  Sorry.  No excuses.  A simple eBay search 5 years ago would have turned up bazillions of bootlegs.   (eBay's actually starting to really crack down on this stuff nowadays).  Media companies just need to ignore China.  You can't stop what they do.

It should be noted, most (if not all) illicit file-sharing and other sites are not U.S. based, BECAUSE of already preexisting laws on the books.  Domestic ISPs won't host the sites due to current laws, for good reason.  They're mostly on servers in the eastern EU countries, China, and other rouge nations in the world where copyright law is hardly enforced.  They already don't give two rips about U.S. law as-is, so be it.

It's not right or wrong, it just 'is what it is'.

I put forth in another thread on this forum about this very issue, the thing that worries me most about these bills isn't so much what happens to the big media players, but moreso, the whole 'freedom from censorship' gig.  individual sites should be the final decision-makers on what is allowed and disallowed on their respective sites, not government.  Making government the censor of all the Internet would be dangerously China-esque.

In stating all this, I'm glad that the U.S. Congress has decided to shelve the bills.  In honesty, hopefully they scrap them entirely.  Media companies need to learn to use pre-existing laws to deal with piracy, and if those don't stop it, you learn to adapt, or go the way the capitalist system is set up for......the 'dodo'.  Out of business, that is.  Aside from mass media, the last thing the general population needs is censorship of the ability to speak / type freely.

Agreed. I've been to Hong Kong (pre and post change over) and I can tell you this. Their conception of 'IP Protection' is near non-existant. The stuff you could get in Shim Shou Po and other sections of the mainland side of Hong Kong is nothing but impressive. That isn't to say that things have changed over the years.

The first time I went through Hong Kong you could get way wicked deals on software. Name it.. if it existed, you could get it in Hong Kong. Photoshop? (this was back in version TWO days), Windows? Easy. Nothing too it.

The last time I went though, we saw more DVD/Game bootlegging. You could get gameboy carts with like.. 50+ games on them (or more). Playstation, Genesis and so on. The only thing that slowed the pirates down was things like Nintendo's cartridges. Otherwise it didn't matter. You could get 'Black CDs' like the old playstation games no problem.

The secret to beating the pirates is to provide a better SERVICE than them. The owners of Steam proved it. iTunes proved it. You got a LOT of execs who are still stuck in the 'we set that market' sort of outlook. The Publishing Industry is part of this too with the ebooks issues.

They aren't used to the idea of NOT being in control of every little step. And with the media tools available today.. Recording companies and big publishers are seeing more and more folks going to digital alternatives or in the case of books, print on demand services, that can easily undercut their market models.

They have yet to learn a very valuable lesson in that to truly succeed..they have to adapt or die.

This idiotcy with the SOPA/PIPA laws.. it isn't going to stop the hard core pirate..they'll still know the tricks to find the sites.. DNS denial won't work on them..

[Sabby]

[ShadowFox89]

 That was the most random thing I have ever seen on this or any forum.

[Oniya]

That was the most random thing I have ever seen on this or any forum.

You need more Oatmeal in your diet.  *nods*

[TheGlyphstone]

Mmm, tasty tasty Oatmeal.

[Serephino]

<p>Created by Oatmeal</p>

I can spell!

[Chris Brady]

Truth be told, I'm sad that SOPA/PIPA are STILL there.  As a Canadian, this will affect me, because of all the sites I go to, which uses copyrighted material.  Like gaming blogs and reviewers.  Hell, those sites would be gone within the week of this passing.

I'm kind of curious as to why they aren't pumping up Kim Dotcom's (Of Megadownload's fame) capture as a 'win' for a SOPA like legislation...  Ignoring the fact that the man was a real life Blofield/Bond villain with a rap sheet about as big as his NZ mansion.

[Callie Del Noire]

Truth be told, I'm sad that SOPA/PIPA are STILL there.  As a Canadian, this will affect me, because of all the sites I go to, which uses copyrighted material.  Like gaming blogs and reviewers.  Hell, those sites would be gone within the week of this passing.

I'm kind of curious as to why they aren't pumping up Kim Dotcom's (Of Megadownload's fame) capture as a 'win' for a SOPA like legislation...  Ignoring the fact that the man was a real life Blofield/Bond villain with a rap sheet about as big as his NZ mansion.

I think he never met someone he didn't want to embezzle from.

[Serephino]

I'm guessing it hasn't been canned yet because they're hoping people will forget about it.  Attention will get focused on something else, and they'll pass it in the middle of the night behind our backs.

[Chris Brady]

And sadly it will pass in some format.  Because no one will remember why it's bad, except a small few, because of some other threat to national decency will over shadow SOPA.

[Oniya]

I wouldn't write that ending so quickly.  The whole economic crisis has awoken a sleeping giant.  There are a lot of people who are no longer just accepting what the politicians are spoonfeeding us.

[Serephino]

Yes, but there will probably end up being something else for people to get upset over.  It seems like every other month the Republicans are doing something else to piss people off.  A new issue will arise, and people will be so busy protesting that they'll forget about SOPA, thus, allowing it to pass quietly and unnoticed. 

Our only hope against this is people watching Congress closely, and not just focusing on the issue of the week.  If it's ever brought back out of the closet the public will need to be made aware again in order to keep opposing it. 

[Callie Del Noire]

Yes, but there will probably end up being something else for people to get upset over.  It seems like every other month the Republicans are doing something else to piss people off.  A new issue will arise, and people will be so busy protesting that they'll forget about SOPA, thus, allowing it to pass quietly and unnoticed. 

Our only hope against this is people watching Congress closely, and not just focusing on the issue of the week.  If it's ever brought back out of the closet the public will need to be made aware again in order to keep opposing it. 

It's just not the GOP. Don't forget that the WHITE HOUSE asked for the changes to the NDAA that were so constitutionally toxic and that the president signed it into law. 

[Haruki]

It's just not the GOP. Don't forget that the WHITE HOUSE asked for the changes to the NDAA that were so constitutionally toxic and that the president signed it into law. 

I know this much for sure.  "I" am watching closely and I've not been liking what I see.  SOPA/PIPA were just the straw that broke the camel's back for me.

Both sides of the line are filled with toxic waste that needs to be cleared out, mattering not what letter (D or R....oh and there's an I in there I think too) is affixed to their name.  Not every single rep is terrible, but a majority are so-called 'established' sorts that don't give two rips about the general population.

All these 'acronym' bills / laws are mind-boggling and awful.  Sure, maybe some bits within are well-intended, but not in such bloated messes like what we've been witnessing the last few years.

Sweep out the rubbish, put in new folks, and most of all never trust in them.  ALWAYS keep an open eye and ear out for what they do and say, not what news and media pundits spoonfeed the general population.

[Callie Del Noire]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/01/dutch-courts-join-pirate-bay-blocking-bandwagon

Just to show it's not JUST the US working to censor the net. I don't particularly support (pro or con) Pirate Bay, but I think blocking content isn't the way to fight folks like Pirate Bay. I agree with the outlook that folks like Steam over censoring sites. Better service helps a lot. I know friends who came back to iTunes after years of refusing to do ANY service online over buying CDs because Apple changed the way their system worked and put a customer's entire purchase library on their account.

So, if you're like me and been using iTunes for 10 years now.. you can log on.. and find songs you bought back in 2000-ish and go 'what the hell was I thinking?'

[DngrMse]

Here's what's going to happen:

All the provisions that give SOPA, and PIPA's financial backers wet dreams will find their ways into other legislation. It's not dead, not even mostly dead. It's still very much alive, and as the provisions of these regressive, repressive bills are enacted in to law, the jackasses in Washington that depend on the green flowing from deep-pocket supporters will continue to thrive.

/rant off

[SilentScreams]

While SOPA/PIPA was defeated the march towards internet censorship, and censorship in general, has already begun again. Yesterday the Washington Times had an article based on a "report" basically saying that the internet can radicalize an American Muslim in "as little as two years." That's interesting....sounds like a very scientific study. Oh, the study was attached to an arm of Homeland Security. They want to muzzle us and appealing to our ideas of fairness didn't work (the piracy angle) so now they are going back to the tried and true method of "saving" us from "terrorism."

[Jórunnr]

In my opinion, I believe that SOPA and PIPA were meant to distract the large force of the internet from NDAA. Pretty much now, if they believe you are a terrorist (which they never clarify what they can consider as suspicious activity) they can detain you for an indefinite amount of time.

[SilentScreams]

Unless you live in Virginia. The Virginia house passed a state law forbidding detention of Americans by the federal government within the territorial limits of Virginia.

[Callie Del Noire]

Unless you live in Virginia. The Virginia house passed a state law forbidding detention of Americans by the federal government within the territorial limits of Virginia.

I don't see the Feds letting that fly. Be interesting to see how it goes. Maybe the writers set it up to push the law straight into the Supreme Court.

[Oniya]

Unless you live in Virginia. The Virginia house passed a state law forbidding detention of Americans by the federal government within the territorial limits of Virginia.

I've heard they aren't the only state/city/municipality doing so.

[Jórunnr]

Well, Jersey's done sh*t.

[SilentScreams]

It will be interesting to watch what happens. They law might be designed specifically to get NDAA before the Supreme Court. Virginia is not the only state doing it, they were just the first and, to my knowledge, still the only state to have gotten passed it.

[Jórunnr]

The NDAA is definitely crazy.

[Oniya]

States that have introduced legislation specifically targeted at NDAA:

Maryland - HJ0012 - Introduced Feb 10
West Virginia - HB4627 - Introduced Feb 20
Missouri - SB819 - Introduce Feb 22  (fixed typo)
Tennessee - HB2619 and SB2669 - Introduced Jan 17
Oklahoma - HCR 1025 - Introduced Feb 6
Washington - HB2759 - Introduced Jan 31
Utah - SCR11 - Introduced Feb 22
Arizona - SB1182 - Introduced Feb 13 - Passed Senate Feb 16
Arizona - SCR1011 - Introduced Feb 13 - Passed Senate Feb 16

Virginia was the first state to pass it with HB1160, Introduced Jan 16 -  Passed House Feb 14, passed Senate Feb 28

Districts that have passed resolutions at present are:

Fairfax, CA
Fremont County, CO
Weld County, CO
El Paso County, CO
Town of Macomb, NY
Northampton, MA
New Shoreham, RI

[Jórunnr]

Thanks for the info Oniya!  ;D

[TheGlyphstone]

Any idea who introduced the various bills? I'd be curious to see how strongly the Democrats are holding the party line on this.

[Oniya]

I suppose that one could go to the various state .gov  sites and look them up.  I found these compiled on a site about tenth-amendment issues.

[SilentScreams]

Maryland - HJ0012 - Michael A. McDermott (R) dist. 38B - Michael D. Smigiel (R)(Tea Party Caucus) dist. 36

West Virginia - HB4627 - Carol Miller (R)- Kelli Sobonya (R) - Rick Snuffer (R) - Kinda Sumner (R) - Brian Savilla (R) - Larry Kump (R)

Missouri - SB891 - This Missouri Bill (without reading it so maybe the NDAA section is a rider) seems to be about Telecommunications and the Dept. of Transportation

Tennessee - HB2619 and SB2669 - Bill Dunn (R) - Sen. Stacey Campfield (R)

Oklahoma - HCR 1025 - Charles Key (R)

Washington - HB2759 - Jason Overstreet (R) - Matt Shea (R) - Vincent Buys (R) - Cary Condotta (R) -
David Taylor (R)- Jim McCune (R)

Utah - SCR11 - Todd Weiler (R) - Daniel McCay (R)

Arizona - SB1182 - Sylvia Allen (R)

Arizona - SCR1011 - Sylvia Allen (R)

Virginia - HB1160 - Robert G. Marshall (R)

[Oniya]

Sorry - typo on the Missouri bill.  It was 819.  (going to fix it in the original post)

[TheGlyphstone]

Well, that answers that question.

[Callie Del Noire]

Well, that answers that question.

Seems like they are drinking the koolaide just fine.. though it's strange since it pretty much goes against everything they (supposedly) stand for.

[TheGlyphstone]

Seems like they are drinking the koolaide just fine.. though it's strange since it pretty much goes against everything they (supposedly) stand for.

Principles < Party solidarity. Particularly in an election year, it'd be political suicide for any Democrat to break ranks with the President even for something this deviant to their ideals.

[Callie Del Noire]

Amazing how RIAA forgot him huh? Yet they are all about THEIR copyrights and royalties. This is another example of the 'creative accounting' that the record companies are INFAMOUS for.

The gentleman behind the golden record is Lester Chambers, of the Chamber Brothers. And he's only one of HUNDREDS of recording artists who RIAA's backers have bilked, lied and stolen from.

[Chris Brady]

Sadly, Callie, for some of us this is old news.  In fact, quite a few bands nowadays are going solo, and self-publishing, saving their own asses from this sort of treatment.  Hell, the book publishing industry isn't any different either.

[Callie Del Noire]

Sadly, Callie, for some of us this is old news.  In fact, quite a few bands nowadays are going solo, and self-publishing, saving their own asses from this sort of treatment.  Hell, the book publishing industry isn't any different either.

I know.. but it still galls me that those shills can scream about THEIR money when they do everything they can to screw their OWN talent.

[Chris Brady]

I hear ya man, I wish I could do something and shove stories like this into their faces.

[Callie Del Noire]

I hear ya man, I wish I could do something and shove stories like this into their faces.

I know that they (the record companies) have let at LEAST 2 bluesmen die rather than pay medical insurance.

[Serephino]

They keep saying the poor artists deserve their royalties.  Maybe they should put their money where their mouth is.

[Callie Del Noire]

Yeah.. well they've been lying to the artists and government for years over this. Why change now?

[Oniya]

I wonder if it would be feasible for music download sites to funnel money directly to the artists.  I imagine that a price that would cover the supposed royalties (that the publishing companies aren't paying) would be far less than the price that publishing companies claim they need to charge (even though no physical media changes hands).

[Callie Del Noire]

I wonder if it would be feasible for music download sites to funnel money directly to the artists.  I imagine that a price that would cover the supposed royalties (that the publishing companies aren't paying) would be far less than the price that publishing companies claim they need to charge (even though no physical media changes hands).

I think that is one of the reasons record execs hate the digital marketplace. They are a LOT more transparent in sales than they like. One of the really shady things they did with the Chanbers Brothers for example was to say their albums were never sold overseas by legal outlets, despite the band finding dozens of albums from Eurpoe with the record company's foreign branch label on them.

For decades record companies have been infamous for shady book keeping, I know there're have been at least two congress committee on it.

[Chris Brady]

I think that is one of the reasons record execs hate the digital marketplace. They are a LOT more transparent in sales than they like. One of the really shady things they did with the Chanbers Brothers for example was to say their albums were never sold overseas by legal outlets, despite the band finding dozens of albums from Eurpoe with the record company's foreign branch label on them.

For decades record companies have been infamous for shady book keeping, I know there're have been at least two congress committee on it.

The whole Napster pirate filesharing craze was during another of those investigations.  And the real threat to the RIAA is not piracy.  It's iTunes and similar services (like Amazon) not joe blow ripping CDs.  Instead of buying fifteen songs for eighteen bucks, maybe seven of which you really want, you can now pick and choose which songs you want for $0.99 to $1.29 a song.

[Cheka Man]

SOPA and PIPA are like the Undead-you think you've killed it but the bones are putting themselves again behind your back. And I-Tunes are great...legal music. My CDs, even the few where I like all the songs on them, tend to get scratched within weeks and unuseable within months.

[Callie Del Noire]

SOPA and PIPA are like the Undead-you think you've killed it but the bones are putting themselves again behind your back. And I-Tunes are great...legal music. My CDs, even the few where I like all the songs on them, tend to get scratched within weeks and unuseable within months.

I'm curious to see how the 'cloud storage' events change their outlook. The idea of folks NEVER having to rebuy has to have some of them screaming in their highrise apartments. I know I wore out like.. five copies of A Kind of Magic on tape and two CDs.. of course the day I got the all in one scanner to put them into MP3 the collection went in as fast as I could. The first bits were hard.. six hours to do a CD

[Callie Del Noire]

http://rt.com/usa/news/cispa-bill-sopa-internet-175/

And here comes the NEXT attempt. Cyber-security is a valid issue BUT the thing is congress is once again jumping the gun without considering the full implications of what they are legislating. The big problem is some of the language creates a 'cyber-security button' that bypasses any number of privacy laws. Without stating directly who has the authority or responsibility and with little or no oversight and/or accountability.

Personally, I think that the NSA needs to be split up, with a good leveling of the FBI cyber-security division spooned into a new cyber-security division and the rest remaining as an intelligence agency. A process, like with warrants and wiretaps, is needed as a 'burden' of proof is needed and some measure of accountability is needed. There are elements missing from current 'cyber-security' bills.

[Cheka Man]

This bill needs cremating since if it is buried it will dig it's way out of the grave once more.

[ReijiTabibito]

Oh, for the love...when are the 'people' (Mitt Romney's definition, not mine) going to wake up and realize that, to paraphrase a battle cry:

"We're here, we're freer, get used to us!"

[Callie Del Noire]

This bill needs cremating since if it is buried it will dig it's way out of the grave once more.

This isn't SOPA/PIPA 2.0 but Cyber-Security bills with similar 'blindspots' that can damage the way the internet works. Congress is really good at listening to folks without balancing out what the people 'advising' them want against what it will do to everyone else.

[ReijiTabibito]

It didn't say much about the progress of the bill, but I'm hoping that at least this time around, there won't be the mass blockage of internet experts that there was with SOPA.  Part of me says that a lot of the outrage over that bill was the fact that Congress hadn't even bothered to consult the experts, when, to my knowledge, I couldn't trust John Boehner to tell me the difference between RAM and ROM.

[Callie Del Noire]

It didn't say much about the progress of the bill, but I'm hoping that at least this time around, there won't be the mass blockage of internet experts that there was with SOPA.  Part of me says that a lot of the outrage over that bill was the fact that Congress hadn't even bothered to consult the experts, when, to my knowledge, I couldn't trust John Boehner to tell me the difference between RAM and ROM.

Oh they didn't block them in congress.. they referred to them as 'nerds' and 'geeks' and disregarded them as 'irrelevant' to the issues being addressed. Which they will do again this go around. Because the people paying for bills like this don't want a fair and balanced business marketplace.

[ReijiTabibito]

This reminds me of that one Daily Show clip where Jon Stewart was talking about Mitt Romney and his tax rate and money and so on...I think Jonno summed it up perfectly:

"So to clarify, the millions of dollars that Mitt Romney saves because of the aggressively lobbied 15% tax rate is legal and fair, and he's entitled to that from the government, no strings attached."

For those who are interested in the whole shebang, in the box below is a link to the relevant video.

Daily Show Video

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/tue-january-24-2012/indecision-2012---i-know-what-you-did-last-quarter

Also of interest on that site is the Extended Interview with Elizabeth Warren, that same day, wherein she presents a startling thing: a number of companies now actually pay more in lobbying fees on Capitol Hill to keep taxes down than in taxes...

[Envious]

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/322396

Third time is charm? The Cyber Intelligence Sharing and Protection Act.

Edit: Didn't see it was already posted. Mah bad.

[rick957]

Thought I would post here to ask about a current development that's related to net censorship in general. 

I read somewhere (actually right here) that there's an initiative afoot that sounds like it could kill bit-torrenting dead in mid-July, at least in the U.S.  I may be wrong about this, but last I heard, bit torrent was by far the most prevalent form of P2P filesharing, at least at this minute.  SOPA/PIPA were also about stopping filesharing, at least that's what I thought.

Anybody else heard of this?  Sound like hogwash to you, or does it concern you? 

[Callie Del Noire]

Appeal by arbitration?  I don't think I like that. I see no way to appeal this designated company just throwing people under the bus to make a quota, since I'm sure given the people involved they are most likely operating on bounties. IE more offenders more cash.

[ShadowFox89]

 One nation, under censorship, with copyright and liberties for the MPAA and RIAA.

[Tiberius]

Its not going to stop them they'll just move their server to Canada and continue to operate, instead of hording their licenses sell them, its what prompts this, greedy companies not allowing people to view content and refusing to sell it. So then people give it out for free then they complain even though they aren't doing anything with it.

If more people used iTunes it would be that more people would buy them off iTunes, but companies aren't that smart.

[Callie Del Noire]

Its not going to stop them they'll just move their server to Canada and continue to operate, instead of hording their licenses sell them, its what prompts this, greedy companies not allowing people to view content and refusing to sell it. So then people give it out for free then they complain even though they aren't doing anything with it.

If more people used iTunes it would be that more people would buy them off iTunes, but companies aren't that smart.

My take, from what I've heard and read the lovely folks with RIAA and MPAA have said and written is that they want to be the SOLE arbiter of what is 'valid' access to their content. If they had their way, we'd have never had access to tape recorders, VCRs, DVRs, CD burners and anything else that could be construed as a recording tool. These same groups of companies SUED to have VCRs taken off the market in the early 80s.

It took an AMAZING amount of cash to accept that MP3 players were a tool for profit. If they had their way in the 90s.. my Rio player would have been taken off the market, yes.. these same organizations have tried REPEATEDLY to take things off the market that they don't understand. They were, to my disgust, successful in removing the dual tuner cards from the market.

Both the Motion Picture/TV studios and the Recording studios have cooked their books and played games with their numbers to keep from giving up a dime they didn't have to. The Writers strike was in part due to the fact they didn't want to share royalties on streaming video, internet sales and increase writer pay offs from 0.3% to 0.6% (a real budget breaker).

The big point is these groups aren't into innovation. They dislike it.. Hulu, YouTube, Netflix and iTunes have all had problems with them, mostly due to their insistence to get control of the prices to the point that they wanted. IE.. no decrease in price despite the elimination of many of the issues involved with record production or dvd burning. You see a bit of the same in the big publishing houses over Ebooks as well. Rupert Murdoch's Random House has gone further with their 'library lease' idea (You, the library can 'lend' an Ebook something like 20 times before you have to 'rebuy' it. They argue they aren't selling an ebook but rather they 'lease' them to libraries..at full price each time)

Big media isn't into innovation and doesn't want to change their market plan with the times. They would rather stick to tried and true methods of gouging and embezzling.

[Tiberius]

^^ and its very likely why they haven't done away with the ancient obselte and completly inaccurate Nielson ratings system because then they'd know the true worth of something and wouldn't be able to excuse cancelling a show because it didn't have ratings.

I have seen full series of shows on iTunes being sold there for as much as they cost on the disk itself, then you see things that can only be pirate downloaded because they refuse to sell them and would prefer that no-one saw them unless they wanted to put them on TV

[Callie Del Noire]

Or they are stuck on a contract agreement that they had with the writers or production studio involved with the tv show that they don't like. I've noticed studios will sit on stuff if they can till they can get a better (to them) deal. I know that there are a bunch of series that are sitting in place till the studios get something their way.

[Tiberius]

Yeah which is what prompts the piracy, people see it as just greed that they wont sell them and think it completly arrogant that they alone have the right to reject people from getting it when its already been on TV in the past.

It is the way with the internet these days that this stuff can happen they can't control it, and any laws designed to stop it fail because there is no real way to enforce it

[Chris Brady]

And we're surprised that similar legislature has cropped up???  That's the most shocking thing for me.

They will keep trying to shove it down our throats.  The RIAA and MPAA WILL keep lobbying to have it pass.  Until another threat to their profits comes along, they will keep trying.

[ReijiTabibito]

It's obvious that no one at the MPAA or RIAA have played Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri.  Because if they did, then they might remember this little gem (also, strangely enough, from the corporate faction - the Morganites).

"Of course we'll bundle our MorganNet software with the new network nodes; our customers expect no less of us. We have never sought to become a monopoly. Our products are simply so good that no one feels the need to compete with us."

[Tiberius]

I only bought that game from GOG a few months ago, they make a lot of sense what they say, (only I don't play the Morganities they have a crippling handicap their cities don't go past 4 pop without the pop expansion building while some civs can go up to 8 without it)

This new bill will fail as well, it will either be vetoed or defeated, the only way to get filesharing ended in the US if they violate their privacy laws and make it legal to be autocratic in those kinds of things which in turn violates the very essence of the First Amendment

[Callie Del Noire]

I only bought that game from GOG a few months ago, they make a lot of sense what they say, (only I don't play the Morganities they have a crippling handicap their cities don't go past 4 pop without the pop expansion building while some civs can go up to 8 without it)

This new bill will fail as well, it will either be vetoed or defeated, the only way to get filesharing ended in the US if they violate their privacy laws and make it legal to be autocratic in those kinds of things which in turn violates the very essence of the First Amendment

It will only be defeated as long as we remain vigalant and watch out for this sort of foolishness.

[Cheka Man]

The RIAA are like the 1890s cattle barons who thought every small rancher was a cattle rustler, pissed them oiff and then had cattle theft go up. There are of course genuine large scale music theives.....but treating everyone like them just annoys everyone and alienates people.

[Callie Del Noire]

It's like this.. if RIAA and it's backers had there way:

1. Artists would be paid a flat fee.. a small flat fee.. and that was it. No royalties or share of the pie in anyway shape or form.
2. They'd own their songs. Forever. Without end. Always. No public domain.
3. We'd pay a dime for humming a few notes of a song.
4. We'd never be able to 'buy' music but merely rent it..having to pay it everytime we play a song.
5. Vendors would be good little slaves and take the smallest bit of payment for their efforts. And be grateful for it.
6. Anyone who mentioned the NAME of the song would have to pay them for that right. Radio, TV, us.

[ReijiTabibito]

So, basically, they want an abolishment of the First Amendment?  Are they insane?  Sounds like in their world, 'money is free speech,' but music isn't.

[Callie Del Noire]

So, basically, they want an abolishment of the First Amendment?  Are they insane?  Sounds like in their world, 'money is free speech,' but music isn't.

Did you know that the 'Happy Birthday' song is copyrighted..and the owners rigorously pursue protecting that copyright? Restaurants have come up with their own version because Time-Warner enforces the copyright for a group of investors. Because the creator of the song died in 1946, under current US law it won't lapse till 2030. If groups like RIAA had their way, corporate ownership of such things would never lapse.

Public domain would dead end.

[Tiberius]

So, basically, they want an abolishment of the First Amendment?  Are they insane?  Sounds like in their world, 'money is free speech,' but music isn't.

Exactly yes, they want to abolish that, the government is so weak now corporations think they can dictate law to them, if people are not careful, America will no longer be a democracy it will be what is called a Corporate Republic (modern term, the archaic term is serfdom)

[Oniya]

States that have introduced legislation specifically targeted at NDAA:

Maryland - HJ0012 - Introduced Feb 10
West Virginia - HB4627 - Introduced Feb 20
Missouri - SB819 - Introduce Feb 22  (fixed typo)
Tennessee - HB2619 and SB2669 - Introduced Jan 17
Oklahoma - HCR 1025 - Introduced Feb 6
Washington - HB2759 - Introduced Jan 31
Utah - SCR11 - Introduced Feb 22
Arizona - SB1182 - Introduced Feb 13 - Passed Senate Feb 16
Arizona - SCR1011 - Introduced Feb 13 - Passed Senate Feb 16

Virginia was the first state to pass it with HB1160, Introduced Jan 16 -  Passed House Feb 14, passed Senate Feb 28

Districts that have passed resolutions at present are:

Fairfax, CA
Fremont County, CO
Weld County, CO
El Paso County, CO
Town of Macomb, NY
Northampton, MA
New Shoreham, RI

Update:  Arizona's SB1182 has passed the state's House of Representatives.  It's now going back to the Senate for a concurrence before going to the governor.

[Callie Del Noire]

http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/cispa_passes/?source=fb

CISPA passed the house.. so we're BACK to the the same shenanigans that we had with SOPA/PIPA but now it's in the name of 'National Security'. Took them less than what.. five months to resume?

[ReijiTabibito]

The good news is - I hope - that if we manage to defeat this bill, which has the 'national security' (and therefore 'terrorism') hot word attached to it, then I can't see anything much stronger as a reason that people would use to try and justify something like this.

Yes, Hollywood, the rest of America has moved on from your old way of doing things.  It's time that you did that, too.  Or would that just cost the Pointy Haired Ones in their three-piece suits and expense account steak lunches too much?

[Cheka Man]

Hopefully, they'll get their butt kicked again, and this latest version of the Undead Sopa will be sent back to its grave.

[Callie Del Noire]

Hopefully, they'll get their butt kicked again, and this latest version of the Undead Sopa will be sent back to its grave.

If we manage to stake this version.. I'm wiling to bet that something will come up after the elections. I don't think, short of some 'Net protection' act, that we will ever be free of this need to 'over regulate' the net.

[Malthas]

Considering that it's an election year and Obama is against it the thing is expected to get vetoed by him.

So there is that.

Unfortunately you know these people are going to keep at it no matter what until they get what they want and then keep trying to add in what they didn't get in the first place.

It's quite disgusting.

[Callie Del Noire]

Considering that it's an election year and Obama is against it the thing is expected to get vetoed by him.

So there is that.

Unfortunately you know these people are going to keep at it no matter what until they get what they want and then keep trying to add in what they didn't get in the first place.

It's quite disgusting.

Well just remember it's not a strict party division. The VP has been in the past against Net Neutrality and this sort of thing, if he had been elected, would have most likely backed it to the hilt. He has spoken, prior to being elected VP, on the need to regulate the net and is firmly in the pocket of folks like RIAA and MPAA.

[Malthas]

Most politicians are, it's really sickening.

Still it's suppose to be denied so there is that as I said when it goes for final approval.   

I never understood how anyone can support the RIAA.

[HairyHeretic]

Bribery. aka campaign contributions or consulting fees.

[Cheka Man]

To a point, I can see the RIAA's point of view.Noone likes to have their stuff stolen. The way to get around it though is to move with the times. More things like I-tunes, where one gets music by paying a reasonable account per song.

[Chris Brady]

And we're surprised that SOPA/PIPA is back?  Come on guys, you're going to have to fight it for the rest of your lives.  Get used to it.

[Oniya]

Surprised, no.  Annoyed, yes.  It's like those black streaks in my grout lines in the shower.

[Callie Del Noire]

Resurrecting a thread with news on Lester Chambers... only 12 hours left.. but there is a kickstarter going to have Lester make an album and advocate for Artist's rights.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lesterchambers/lesters-time-has-come-today

[Ironwolf85]

I get the feeling this is going to be simmilar to what my town is doing.

this wealthy guy moved in twelve years ago, and ten years ago wanted to put a big ol helicopter pad on his property, which is not allowed due to the disruption of landing choppers, there's a small time airport a mile up the road, but he want's what he wants.

When the town said no, he decided to sue the town.
For ten years he has sued, and for ten years he's lost, and he has the money to keep going.

The rest of the town hates him now because it eats up a lot of our small town budget, so he's the reason bridges aren't being fixed, trails aren't groomed, and only the main roads are paved every year (frost damage)

We can't stop him from suing and he can't win because no judge in the state will decide in his favor.

when asked "how long are we going to have to keep beating him" the general response is "he'll die of old age in a few years, the town will still be here"

I have the feeling that these dumbass internet bills are pretty much going to be the same hassle.

[Callie Del Noire]

Another thing you might see pop up is the flame out against Amazons new policy.  You buy a CD from them, the GIVE you the digital version into your amazon cloud drive. I doubt some of the imports I bought over the years will appear but I count at least NINE new albums that I bought from Amazon over my last 12+ years of using hem.

[Chris Brady]

Off topic:

I get the feeling this is going to be simmilar to what my town is doing.

this wealthy guy moved in twelve years ago, and ten years ago wanted to put a big ol helicopter pad on his property, which is not allowed due to the disruption of landing choppers, there's a small time airport a mile up the road, but he want's what he wants.

When the town said no, he decided to sue the town.
For ten years he has sued, and for ten years he's lost, and he has the money to keep going.

The rest of the town hates him now because it eats up a lot of our small town budget, so he's the reason bridges aren't being fixed, trails aren't groomed, and only the main roads are paved every year (frost damage)

We can't stop him from suing and he can't win because no judge in the state will decide in his favor.

when asked "how long are we going to have to keep beating him" the general response is "he'll die of old age in a few years, the town will still be here"

I have the feeling that these dumbass internet bills are pretty much going to be the same hassle.

Maybe someone should sue him for millions of dollars on the town's behalf?  For purposely destroying the town's infrastructure with a frivolous lawsuit...