Fight Against SOPA!
 

Hey guys, I know I don't post much anymore, but I had to spread the word. As you all may know, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is going to be having a hearing around Febuary. This is unfair to the rest of the world, as many of our favorite websites would be hit with copyright, and our main sources for quick information would be hit as well. Personally, pirating is technically a crime, but the way this bill works is idiotic, as it affects every website internationally. Why is it that because of the various pirate websites in the world, the rest of the world must suffer? Our favorites that did no harm, YouTube, Wikipedia, and many others have done no wrong, but guess what? They are as much at risk at any other website. Some of you people on this website probably will not agree with me, but I for one am against this Bill. I don't have too much information on this, but I know that many websites around the world are blacking out their websites today (January 18th, 2012) as a response to the bill. If you would like to help out, please, sign this petition, and let our voice be heard if you agree! However, if you do not oppose this bill, do not be afraid to speak up, I will not criticize you for your own personal beliefs. Here it is, guys: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/

This video explains it pretty well. Guess what? Who benefit's from this bill? It's the large corporations, and the politicians are in their pockets, or even on their governing boards in many cases, or acting as "advisors". It's known as the "revolving door" of big business and politics, and it's why bills like this are passed, not to benefit humanity, but to make the rich richer, and in turn further limit our freedoms. A good example of this, and where it is going, is the one many of us have fallen victim to; the youtube video of a baby dancing, and the background music causes the parents to be threatened with legal action because it's Britney Spear's latest number one! What's more important: A record company getting a few extra bucks, or innocent people having the right to express themselves and share video's without having to permanently worry about censoring their own lives in the name of "profit"!

For anyone who thinks SOPA is a good thing. (a) Get educated on what it actually is (b) Ask yourself why many well known companies/brands such as wikipedia and the makers of Minecraft, the incredibly popular and hugely pirated indie game, are 100% against SOPA. Piracy affects many companies who still want nothing to do with SOPA because they can see how it will negatively affect freedom of expression and creativity. In many cases these people can see how their own products probably wouldn't exist if SOPA had been around, because it would have rendered development more difficult/impossible.

The thing is, what next? How far will they go if this is allowed to pass? Will I have to pay Nike if I wear their shoes in my next youtube video? Is it plain clothes from now on, just in case? WTF is the world coming to when corporations have the last say, and creativity and freedom of expression take a back seat to profit and consumerism. :rolleyes:

It's a good thing that Anon exists and has the power to represent us and fight these retarded money-munching doo-doo heads. :mad:

It's a good thing that Obama is against it. I don't think there is all that much to worry about, plus.. do you really think internet providers and any site would join along? Traffic is money. And airmail does not get checked for illegal goods either. ^_^

EDIT: The SOPA plans have been just put on hold. :)

SOPA is on hold until February. Also, if you read closely enough at the rules of SOPA, it pretty much says that they can shut down any website if it has suspicions of hosting pirated material. Even then, if someone posts a video of something pirated on one of the websites, there's reason to take it down, even if it's YouTube. Also, even if they were wrong, the websites can STILL be shut down because the site "made it too confusing" to determine whether or not it was pirated material. It's a good thing Anon is fighting for us, but I'm a bit worried about the outcome.

.......... and all without a court hearing! That's the most crazy part. Bypass the justice system, no chance for a fair hearing, you're just shut down and your IP blocked. Reminds me of the laws they passed to help them catch all those terrorists I keep seeing all over the place (that was sarcasm), which include "rendition" where many innocent people have been abducted (by our government), taken to other countries, and tortured. No trial, no lawyer, nothing. Of course, we won't put up with it, oh, except that we already did. But how far will we let them go? This is a great example of how laws are slowly but surely changing in the favour of profit and working against our freedoms, and like the frog in the boiling water we don't seem to notice what's happening around us until it's too late. (See movie / novel called "1984") :cry: