INTERNET BLACKLISTING, SAVE THE INTERNET!

The RMN blackout was pretty pointless, this is barely a well-known site so probably nobody noticed this besides the guys who sometimes visit this place.

The video that several sites had showing during the blackout. 2.1 million views on the 18th isn't that shabby!

Well, like mentioned on the other topic, Barack Obama isn't really fond of the idea and support for SOPA/PIPA seems to be crumbling anyway right now.

Also, I read this in wikipedia:
An aide to Rep. Smith said, "This bill does not make it a felony for a person to post a video on YouTube of their children singing to a copyrighted song. The bill specifically targets websites dedicated to illegal or infringing activity. Sites that host user content—like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter—have nothing to be concerned about under this legislation."

Well, it better apply to RMN as well.

For SOPA it was understood but for PIPA too, that's great. For now.

author=Methera
The bills have been stopped. For now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-16655272

Yay! We won!..............For now, of course.

And is your portrait....RTP Lightning?

Sadly for them, in the wake of MegaUpload, it'll take longer than a few months to forget. There are people out there keeping their eyes on them, just in case.

*Sigh* Obama signed the NDAA bill only after it got amended. He never said he was going to veto it just because. (Besides. Yes, he's a politician, they say lots of things. But the bill got amended and that's what counts) Likewise, SOPA is currently on the 'shelves' because is also being amended. Again. They already took out the DNS blocking stuff, didn't they? That's gotta count for something...

So, you see? Nobody is trying to rush anything past you. Nobody is getting the bill signed into law and then putting all the nasty stuff back again. (Fack! Is that even possible!!? And if it is, why haven't they done it already?) They're only trying to work towards a compromise. And the fact that you're so unwilling to see that speaks lots of your own vested interests. ...I also think that we must remain critical of the government, but the level of distrust that you're displaying here is bordering on 'conspiracy theory' territory.

I reiterate that I'm not in support of SOPA simply because I don't know if it is the best way to get things done. But at least I feel I can give its supporters the benefit of the doubt; they aren't posting bullshit online, unlike its detractors. The sense of entitlement and disregard for others, displayed by the average angry-about-SOPA individual is way more tangible (And hence, disgusting.) than the ones the Government and 'Hollywood' supposedly have... "Fuck you, and your industry. Tell me what you do so I can pirate it!"

Which brings me to my last point. If "we" are here up in arms is because "we" want to defend our God-given right to keep streaming anime online under the guise of fighting for our FREEDOM OF SPEECH! You only have to browse through the comments about SOPA in you favorite site to realize this much. Worse thing is, that those who are against the bill do nothing to educate the masses about the law. They'd rather use people's misguidance to keep pushing their goal. "omg SOPA makes drawing fanart a felony!"

The whole thing is effin' embarrassing if you ask me...

alterego
*Sigh* Obama signed the NDAA bill only after it got amended. He never said he was going to veto it just because. (Besides. Yes, he's a politician, they say lots of things. But the bill got amended and that's what counts) Likewise, SOPA is currently on the 'shelves' because is also being amended. Again. They already took out the DNS blocking stuff, didn't they? That's gotta count for something...

It won't break the internet infrastructure with the DNS provisions cut out, but there is still a case to be made with infringement of freedom of speech and expression.

I'd also like to note that the offending provisions of NDAA were not amended out before signing by President Obama, which was done with "serious reservations" to quote his offical press release.

alterego
So, you see? Nobody is trying to rush anything past you. Nobody is getting the bill signed into law and then putting all the nasty stuff back again. (Fack! Is that even possible!!? And if it is, why haven't they done it already?) They're only trying to work towards a compromise. And the fact that you're so unwilling to see that speaks lots of your own vested interests.

If there is to be a compromise on this issue, the current SOPA/PIPA bills need to get trashed and the discussion started anew with proper input from everyone that will be affected by the new laws. As it stands, the House Judiciary Committee's hearings on SOPA have been dominated by SOPA/PIPA supportive input from the media industry alone with active rejection of representatives from other interest groups, and let's not get started on the fact that the House Judiciary Committee's chairman (who decides who gets to speak at the hearings) is also the sponsor of SOPA and naturally biased to refuse opposition input.

alterego
...I also think that we must remain critical of the government, but the level of distrust that you're displaying here is bordering on 'conspiracy theory' territory.

It's not so over-the-top when you realize that Congress's approving opinion of SOPA/PIPA runs 180-degrees counter to the consensus opinion of the American people who absolutely reject SOPA/PIPA. Yes, we must always be critical of our government, but we wouldn't be so quick to not trust them if there wasn't such an obvious (and countlessly repeated) show of indifference by the US government to the words of the ordinary citizens they supposedly represent.

To be fair, the American people are at fault for electing such officials and representatives in the first place, but that doesn't excuse the US government of what it's been doing lately.

alterego
I reiterate that I'm not in support of SOPA simply because I don't know if it is the best way to get things done. But at least I feel I can give its supporters the benefit of the doubt; they aren't posting bullshit online, unlike its detractors. The sense of entitlement and disregard for others, displayed by the average angry-about-SOPA individual is way more tangible (And hence, disgusting.) than the ones the Government and 'Hollywood' supposedly have... "Fuck you, and your industry. Tell me what you do so I can pirate it!"

The supporters go beyond "not posting shit online" by actively not letting the general public even know of the bills' existance. Media coverage of SOPA/PIPA has been extremely low key by any standard of news coverage, especially on a key piece of legislation such as this (though the internet blackout partially alleviated this). Why is this? Call me a conspiracy theorist, but to me this all stinks of nothing but an attempt by Congress and SOPA/PIPA supporters to try and rush-pass the bills before too many people realize what's been going on.

alterego
Which brings me to my last point. If "we" are here up in arms is because "we" want to defend our God-given right to keep streaming anime online under the guise of fighting for our FREEDOM OF SPEECH! You only have to browse through the comments about SOPA in you favorite site to realize this much. Worse thing is, that those who are against the bill do nothing to educate the masses about the law. They'd rather use people's misguidance to keep pushing their goal. "omg SOPA makes drawing fanart a felony!"

The problem with this paragraph is because it does make something as mundane as "drawing fanart" a potential felony.

Forget safe harbors like DMCA and the Fair Use clause. Unlike DMCA, SOPA/PIPA would first and foremost make the website accountable for its content (eliminating DMCA's safe harbor provisions), which will lead to an excessive level of voluntary crackdown by websites that would in domino-like effect stifle creativity and innovation from the people at large. This is further spurred on by the provision that it takes nothing more but an unproven accusation by a copyright holder for a website to be systematically taken down. Free speech, sharing of knowledge, creativity, and innovation will be held down by a constant fear that something you do will buy the ire of a copyright holder and result in your being judged a criminal and a felon, regardless of whether those accusations are actually legitimate.

To sum it up, we aren't up in arms about SOPA/PIPA because we won't get to download the next latest version of RPG Maker, we are up in arms because SOPA/PIPA infringes upon basic human rights while doing nothing to solve the actual problem of internet piracy. There's a reason groups like Google, Wikimedia, and Mozilla are protesting the bills alongside the likes of Reddit and even 4chan.

alterego
The whole thing is effin' embarrassing if you ask me...

I agree, why the hell are bills like this even considered for discussion in a country whose founding principles were freedom and liberty?

EDIT: Very minor grammar fix.

http://www.cnn.com/2012/01/20/opinion/smith-sopa-support/index.html
Lamar Smith (the guy supporting the SOPA/PIPA bills) wrote this.

author=Nightowl
The RMN blackout was pretty pointless, this is barely a well-known site so probably nobody noticed this besides the guys who sometimes visit this place.

I visit this site all the time, but I saw no blackout (I was really busy on the 18th).

P.S. My bullshit meter broke (referring to the link in the first line of this post); can someone buy me a new one?

http://www.slashgear.com/sopa-sponsor-has-another-internet-bill-that-records-you-247-20210264/

Looks like it's Round Two for internet regulation bills.