SOPA and PIPA Internet Blackout Day

[newtogolf]

U.S. Drug companies pushed for the bill because they claim to be losing large sums of money due to discounted and counterfeit drugs being sold over the internet.  They are joined by the electronic and auto industries who want to see sites offering lower cost counterfeit parts from selling on the web.

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

Not sure where the drug companies (evil bastards I will agree readily!!) come into play here.

Unions are part of the reason why we can't compete in manufacturing here in the United States.  The unions investment is to eliminate lower cost alternative products / counterfeit products from entering the country through the web.  I'd rather see them put pressure on the government to work out better trade agreements with China than attempt to manage it through laws which provide the government too much control over internet content.

Originally Posted by Ernest Jones

A large portion of the lobbyists actually represent trade unions who are working on behalf of the common workers who, ultimately, bear the brunt of these hijacked revenue streams.

[jamo]

Not sure where the drug companies (evil bastards I will agree readily!!) come into play here.

Page 49: http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/BILLS-112hr3261ih/pdf/BILLS-112hr3261ih.pdf

[dsc123]

I would be interested to know the source of Ernest's mythbusters.

[Kieran123]

http://gizmodo.com/5877543/why-sopa-is-going-to-screw-us-all-the-movie

[B-Con]

For those interested, I [url=http://bradconte.com/congressmen-letter-regarding-sopa-pipa.html]wrote a letter[/url] to my congressmen yesterday. For what it's worth, I don't support piracy. I don't think that condoning or approving piracy is the correct legal answer. But SOPA and PIPA go about it the wrong way. I can understand the motivation behind the bills, but the implementation is wrong. They throw far too broad a net of government power and provide pretty much 0 chance of actually affecting anything. That doesn't mean we should not address piracy, but it's completely different than not posting speed limits because we can't perfectly enforce them. In fact, un-enforcable speed limits are pretty much what the DMCA is today. We do our best to enforce it, but it's imperfect and misses the majority of violators. But we still have it. SOPA / PIPA throws a very large net and sets up not only a stonger anti-pirating hammer, but one that could be unknowingly strong. That makes people scared, because these things only get worse with time, they never, ever, get better. The best principle is [i]always[/i] to limit government involvement and power unless absolutely necessary. Introducing any legislation that seems to provide a legal means for exercising too much power is grave cause for concern, because the worry is rarely about how it will be enforced tomorrow, it's what it will allow or what other legislation it will motivate in 5 - 10 years. The world is imperfect. But just because it's imperfect to the multimedia sector's disadvantage doesn't mean they deserve legal protection at all costs. Unfortunately for them, they have a long history of crying "wolf" whenever technology shifts and their business models are no longer perfectly matched. IMO, they need to grow up some, get over it, and change to fit what consumers want. They have no legal or moral right to make as much money as they feel like at everyone else's expense. They're not being hurt right now by piracy, at least not noticeably, so there's no point in changing the entire technology industry to go along with their conveniences.

[MbolicGolf]

So.. Here's my first somewhat slightly underinformed opinion about the specific topic of this post. I am compelled to say something to Ernest becasue of his comparison between the current anti piracy legislation and traffic laws. I understand alot has been said since then but I think it's important to address an issue I feel is at the root of most of the problems caused by government. I do not agree with piracy, however, I do not agree with heavy handed, broad, amorphous, tools given to the enertainment industry which can be strenghtend or weakened by the fiat of some new alphabet agency that will grow like a cancer.  By the way, I think when you start an argument declaring your membership of the "offended" party as a basis for the validity of your point you almost give up all chance of getting an amicable response.

That being said, I'll keep the rest short.

The both of the senate and house versions of the bill have a huge potential to infringe upon the free speach rights of the individual. A potential that will certainly be fulfilled. Because of that, It must pass a strict scruitny standard of interpretation for constitutionality, which means the government must have a compelling purpose to pass consitutional muster. compelling usually means that there is no other way that can be narrowly drawn to achive the stated goal of stopping piracy. As others have said in this post and countrywide. There's a better way to stop piracy than to infringe upon the 1st, 4th 5th, and 14th ammendment right of every internet user.

This incestous coupling of business and government has got to stop. the internet is destroying the business model of the entertainment industry, this is true. It doesn't privilate the entertainment industry to gain government protections to sustain itself as the expense of everyone elses constitutional rights.

Finally, Driving is a Privilage granted by the States, not the Federal Government. Expressing ones self and due process is Right indivisible from the individual that cannot be enhanced by any governemnt. We agree to allow the Government to do things things that may run counter to those rights pursuant to the Rule of Law i.e. the Constitution. This is based upont he premise that the rights of one is just as important as the rights of many. And that the rights of one are CERTAINLY more important than the privilage others may enjoy.

Anyway,

Thats all I got.

[Ernest Jones]

[mtsalmela80]

Here is a good idea to protest SOPA in the event it passes:

Start a nationwide campaign to stop buying anymore CDs, DVDs, etc, and never attend anymore movies. If only those who are strongly opposed to SOPA comply, they will feel it in their pockets.