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SOPA Shelved
And so following a massive groundswell of protest with the government's attempt to blatantly confiscate the First Amendment, SOPA quietly dies.
From The Hill:
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) announced on Friday that he will postpone consideration of his Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) until there is wider agreement on the controversial legislation.
"I have heard from the critics and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy," Smith said. "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."
Smith's announcement came just minutes after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) announced he would shelve the Senate's version of the anti-piracy legislation, the Protect IP Act.
The move is a stunning acknowledgment of failure for the powerful chairman.
Smith was the author of SOPA and its most vocal proponent. He had repeatedly said the bill did not need to be changed and accused the critics of "spreading lies."
But support for the bill collapsed after a massive Web protest on Wednesday. Major sites including Google and Wikipedia either shut down in protest or displayed messages opposing the legislation.
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Even my son who is 16 said to me "That was too easy, they let us have that one. It makes me suspicious." And he thinks I'm paranoid.
If wikipedia/google wouldn't have gone black it probably would have passed.
And they don't need the bill to censor their info. Fitting.
They did make it easy to go to the gov. websites and complain. That is true.
Ms, everybody thinks you're paranoid. That's what we talk about on the threads that you don't visit.
Awesome. My son probably posts there too!!
Chris Dodd is a scumbag and should be hanged for treason
I'm trying to remember why we ever thought that representative democracy was a good idea, rather than direct democracy. I'm pretty sure it was because:
1. we didn't have the internet, and
2. it makes the political process easier to influence with money.
"Our" representatives are trying to do away with the internet before it does away with them.
Let's hope it rewires the whole world. I wonder what kinds of war games go on that we do not hear about. Anonymous is one thing, but others would do their damage without announcing it, for their own gain, revenge, or it strikes them as "what needs doin'". I admit, if I had skillz, I just might...
Lucky for them I cannot program at all.
Direct democracy - are you kidding me? Not a day goes by on ZH that a poster or commenter doesn't lament the sad state of the rank and file citizen of this clusterfuck we call a republic. And you want to have the back-of-the-short-bus semi-comatose Gong-show fails vote on anything other than America's Next Top Dancing Idol Survivor?
Jesus H. Christ man - are you daft?
You know, of course, that we are supposed to be a republic. The founders never wanted a democracy.
The American Form of Government:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DioQooFIcgE
It worked a lot better when you had to be a property owner to vote.
NDAA got through and that's your first amendment gone.
SOPA was worse in one way - it was an attempt by Hollywood (the mafAA's) to force others to pay for the enforcement. They've already got special laws that get us to pay for enforcing what isn't a criminal law - it's a civil one.
See, they hold something over lawmakers heads far more fearsome than mere lobbying money for campaigns - they could start telling the truth about them....
Wonder why no one else gets this, it was obvious to me. Spread the meme.
No it isn't gone you f****ing wimp. You go on EXERCISING it. If ZOG enforcer then comes for you, you exercise the 2nd Amendment: start shooting.
960 years of due process saved for another month. Winning!
The current state of due process in the U.S. is NOT GOOD
LOL .... "foreign thieves"
Had to double double check that he really said that.
How ironic & hypcritical.
Also ... does this mean "Americans" have a get-out-of-jail-free card , or is he from another planet ?
Given what Dept of Justice did yesterday, who needs SOPA ???
Do not worry: More money will coming pouring in to Congressmen--who will need it for re-election in November--and PIPA/SOPA will pass early next year.
If you can't stop the money, you can't stop corruption!
This clearly shows why the government is in dire need of an updated model. Instead of having a few "smart people" decide what laws the "rest of us" should be forced to follow, how about we allow the "rest of us" decide. Technology makes it very easy for people to vote on these sorts of things. They could figure out a way to allow people to vote online when bills like this need to go through but that would give too much power to the people and we know that's not what anyone really wants. Back to grazing grass for the sheeple. Did anyone see that last episode of Love and Hip Hop, fantastic....
If you can bank online...You can vote online...But that would be too easy...Hell, that would ruin everything!!
agree-vote by referendum by the people on any significant legislation which would have to be written in a simplified and comprehendable format so that everyone can understand it!
It has become crystal clear on what will continue to happen to the U.S. and all other countries when souless, corrupt psychopath politicians and lobbyists write the laws that control the rest of us!
Considering that most of the Entertainment Industry is Jew owned no wonder this bill had such wide support from the lawmakers, this also means they won't let it go, they will pass it in 1 form or another, the jooos alwas get what they want(at least in Amerika)
Trust me, I'm not getting what I want.... by a long shot.
Probably because you are a "self hating jew" ;) get my drift
SOPA or no SOPA, when is megaupload.com going to come back online?
#OpMegaupload - Pastebin.com
4 arrests, doc, so bail will be contingent on staying down till after their "case" is resolved, one wld imagine
hopefully, they won't waive time and we'll see of the DOJ is ready for trial in 7 weeks, you know, like the LA atty's led by msClark were ready for OJ..."but we don't have the labwork done, and, and, and...we're still coaching the evidence collectors on their lies, and the mathematicians, and the detectives, toooooo...!
As long as there is crazy profit, this war will go on. I doubt one will download a movie if they can buy the DVD for $1.50. Which I think is the right price.
http://www.economicpolicyjournal.com/2012/01/rand-paul-i-will-do-everyth...
it is a false win.. something to make the Tapped out consumer sheepeople feel like they still have freedoms.. in 1 place, make beleive cyber space! is the one place you are allowed to be free, for now.. you fucking slaves make me sic!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnYV9Pks6Aw
OWS: Chris Hedges on suing Obama for signing the NDAA bill -- from Democracy Now!, 1/17/12
it takes this little nerd to save America.. becuase the rest of us are to busy buying ammo.. instead of passing the hat and hiring the meanest fucking constitutional esquire that money can buy.
everyone has $20 bucks for Ron but not to fight the good fight against the NDAA!
once again, this shit is easier than we have been making it..
or wait..
no one realy cares so.. hiring esquires is NEVER going to happen!
oh absolutely some fast-talking Jew-lawyer is going to save the Bill of Rights. No thanks. I'll keep up with the guns and ammo.
I understand that under this proposed legislation the judicial oversight that is normally the case would actually be absent.
If there will not be a presentation to a judge of the evidence to the alleged offense in a court of law then it would not be a piece of law if passed and signed.
Copying is not theft
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fw-MFeR8Frw
If I buy a CD (Album)..
Then I own that CD.
It was sold to meand I entered into no contract.
I can do with my purchased property what I wish.
Now, if I want to copy the CD and give my Friend a copy.. becuase it is that good and my friend would never buy the CD becuase for whatever reason he thinks its not good music thusly not worth the money.. that is my choice to do with my property what I will.
now.. if I buy a CD and 300 CD Burners.. and I re-sell the CD.. then the artist / record label should be compensated becuase I am not being reasonable.
the problem we have here is.. that NO ONE! wants to use common sense of be reasonable.
The Record Labels are WORSE than the Pirates! with thier Lobby Whore Esquires running around and bribing Congress and the Senate.. but the scumbag Mexicans that copy and steal money from the Artist and Record Labels need to be stopped too.
it is the same ole' same ole'! we get fucked by the Greedy both ways.
According to your logic, you own the CD, but not the right to distribute it's content, if you lent your CD out to your friend or gave it to him that would be reasonable but if you copy it and he copies it and gives to 5 of his friends and they do the same you will have 1 million people with a copy of your CD and so on, so no you don't have the right to copy it and I am pretty sure that's what the contract says
Anegdote - in the poor East European country I lived in when I bought my 1st PC i got a pirated Windows version from a friend, later though I had to reformat the PC and needed a new copy, but I lived in a different city by then, when I got the new copy from my local bootlegger I was amazed that the old CD Key still worked for this new copy, which means that probably half the country ran off of it :)
Ofc this legislation had very little to do with preventing this, there are already laws on the books that make this illegal, this legislation is all about controlling the content of the Internet(Censorship) and not protecting IP rights
CD keys are verified using a mathematical formula and not tied to any single CD.
The Case Against IP
"Like many libertarians, I initially assumed intellectual property (IP) was a legitimate type of property right. But I had misgivings from the start... I started practicing patent law around 1992, and the more I learned about IP, the more my doubts grew" - http://mises.org/daily/3682
Dr A, what a ridiculus argument, to suggest that my innovation belongs to everyone is Communism not Liberterianism, regardless of the legalistic convolusions and philosophic dead horse whipping, increased wealth for 'me and mine' has been the motivation for innovation since the first flint spear head was created, otherwise Edison and Graham Bell might just as well have become lumberjacks.
Did you read the paper? It's not a ridiculous argument. The point that the author makes is that, by giving you exclusive rights to "your innovation", you are essentially given the right to control the use of other people's actual, real, physical property.
There is one important insight that, surprisingly, the author does not cover. Intellectual Property laws imply that IP is a superior form of property than real, physical, property. A better question to ask is, should that really be the case? As someone who deals with ideas for a living, I am here to tell you that the vast majority of ideas are worthless, and of the tiny fraction of worthwhile ideas, the real value is in their proper implementation in the real world. Frankly if someone is incapable of actually implementing their abstract idea in the real world, then what real value are they bringing to the table?
The author points out that studies have been done that try to measure both the costs and benefits of an Intellectual Property protection system, and that those studies seem to support the idea the IP laws destroy value, and not create it.
Finally the politicos listen. The asshat Repub congressman in Hollywood who sponsored this POS should be kicked out of Congress. Do it sheeple who live in his district.
http://vegasxau.blogspot.com
SOPA is shelved? The hell if it is. 1st play - right up the middle - no gain. Huddle, then 2nd play - end run to the side line and then straight down to the endzone - TouchDown!
“Every government is run by liars,” independent journalist I.F. Stone observed, “and nothing they say should be believed.”
Ditto communist-stooge newsie Izzie Jew Stone. Paid agent of the Soviet Union: see Venona decrypts.
Can you say Test Run?
Like a particulary bad dose of the clap (brought to you courtesy of the Usual Suspects) - SOPA is the gift that will keep on giving. It might go into recess for a while - but only to break out in more virulent forms later.
POSSUM!
esta sopa va a regresar despues de la elección.
mesero, ¡hay una mosca en mi sopa!
keystone, tambien.
although during the stupour bowl is a good possibilty, as well...
They should have used the new powers to declare that everyone who has aproblem with sopa is a terrorist and locked them up.
SOPA is a deception. The government does whatever it wants, regardless of the SOPA law. Today - “The U.S. government shut down the Megaupload.com content sharing website, charging its founders and several employees with massive copyright infringement.” (Reuters)
They are going to pull a cockroach and wait for everything to quiet down, then try to come out agian. Everyone needs to keep a close eye on this.
While the internet is temporarily united they should really go on the offensive and push for a congressman to introduce a bill to repeal the Digital Millennium Act. It would be a shot across the bough to Hollywood if try this shit again.
Terms limits. 1 two year term in either house and you are done.
And then, the next day, Obama acts when "Congress does not" ...
MegaUpload whacked, with SOPA style action, in absence of SOPA
Apparently a law no longer needs to be passed in order to be enforced, and other laws on the books are no longer enforced even though they're passed.
I forget the interview in which the gent said, "We live in a Post-Constitution society."
Anonymous is retaliating.
All those statements about the US being worried about another country starting a cyber-war with us, and we went and started one with the non-governmentals.
USGov is very lucky Anon is "playing nice" so far. Example: imagine the effect of a DDoS against the IRS as we start the 'tax season'. A heavy enough hit there would prevent a lot of folks from filing, especially if they owed money.
Welcome to the Future.
pretty funny how you try to fuck with people's pr0n and they go apeshit.
however, they don't mind everyone around them getting financially assraped as long as they feel like they are on track to push their FICO score into their next leveraged loan that they shouldn't be taking because they can't afford it. hell, they can deal with a little assraping themselves as long as they feel like it's maintaining the status quo.
i'm sure many others here at ZH see the disgusting irony of it all.
SOPA/PIPA probably would have shut down Zero Hedge based on fuzzy "fair use" definition. So this is good news. But the fight is only postponed until no one is watching.
This is true, in the text of the law it talks about 'reasonably should have known" blah blah blah....and of course, you are guilty first then must try to prove that your innocent though they've shut down your payment rep (Paypal) based on the accusation.
Be very cautions of these fu*ks in congress. You know they're sneaky bastards. There is another bill lying in wait. Here is a stolen quote (phew, good thing that SOPA thing ain't law)...describing what MIGHT happen if these bastards try to get creative.
.H.R.1981, the Protecting Children From Internet Pornographers Act of 2011 which is lying in wait. It's not complete. You see, PCIP is not contestable because it's about protecting children. They can, and very well might, copy and paste the full text of SOPA to the end of PCIP. That's the backup. That's the deal that was struck with entertainment industry lobbyists. We will try to push this anti-piracy bill. It probably won't work. Don't worry, we can pass it under an anti-child pornography bill.
There are two things which no Congressman will risk supporting: terrorism and child pornography.
There is no denying the ability of these net corps like Craigslist, wiki, and Facebook to raise mass awareness of an issue. Most folks i spoke with knew a little about this issue and were at least able to understand it in terms of "its bad".. Compare this to talking with aunt and uncle about the federal reserve, peak oil and fiatscos. I have noticed that when i post very relevant information about the ponziconomy on facebook no one really takes interest and engages until i brought up SOPA then theres a lively discussion. On one hand its exciting to see how these websites teamed up to kill bogus legislation.. on the other we are faced with the reality that none of these same websites will push for an agenda as simple as that of liberty over empire.. Craigslist which is the best site on the web right there with ZH did give Ron Paul much deserved credit in reference to his position on SOPA. Although its way late to change the path this earth and our nation is headed sometimes storys like this are a breath of fresh mountain air.!!!!!!
SOPA is not dead. They are waiting for 911.1
And what's the concern with stealing our innovation when you fucking clowns have outsourced everything but the goddamn kitchen sink?? The people are fed up with this sorry ass gov't ( or should I say the assholes that are in the gov't) and I pray everyday we are that much closer to critical mass. Fuck the bastards raw.
I suggest we all simply refuse to "consume" any of the products offered by the MFing sons-a-bitches that are behind this unconstitutional horseshit.
And good luck with that.
Hey, at least people will be able to surf the internet freely after they get thrown into prison for being a "terrorist" with no legal recourse.
It just goes to show what's important to people nowadays. Idiots.
SOPA protest fakers?
A few websites that claimed they were going offline in protest on Wedneday really didn't.
It's great to see such a popular protest, but don't confuse corporate self-interest with the love of the 1st Amendment, freedom of speech. Many of the major protesting websites have their own censorship issues and are not exactly beacons of privacy or free speech..
First they came for the gambling websites, but I was not a gambler, so I said nothing. Then they came for the porn websites, but I was not a porn addict, so I said nothing. Then they came for my website and...
No hurry on SOPA -- they still need another year or so to build their "black bag" list.
They are basically trying to do the same thing here in America that Communist China did to their internet.
I'm glad we held them off, this time, but we have to stay vigilant because these fascists will keep on trying and trying, and so we need to keep striking down their hand when they do try.
In the meantime, this is a small (but significant) temporary victory for we, the 99%.
The next public attack will follow these general lines... (The private attacks have never stopped.)
It will start with a bunch of media articles about New Problems that have inadvertently been caused by the Internet. Information haves and have nots, the threat of terrorism, recognizing the True Extent of the danger of malware, Main Street deeply alarmed about Anonymous, stuff like that. Bold leadership will be called for.
A new law will be proposed with a catchy name like The Internet Protection Act. The subtitle will be Guaranteeing Internet Rights for All Citizens. It will have strong bipartisan support. The main pitch will be about protecting the Internet as vital to national security, commerce, etc, preventing hate speech, subdizing rural access, creating some no-charge urban Internet access mechanisms, etc. These mechanisms won't be the full, free Internet, a fair exchange, and necessary, of course, For The Children. So curse words and all sorts of other undesirable content will be restricted. Maybe not this exactly but something being granted (that was probably already there in the first place) and something else taken away. ISPs will be required to record all the websites you visit, keep your emails, etc (no, wait, they're already doing that).
Google and a few other troublemakers will be bought off. (Their aims are not quite exactly 100% what they claim in public, you know.) Google wants freedom mostly for Google so the new version will provide protections for "content indexers acting in good faith" (meaning those who toe the line) and throw startups into the meat grinder, basically PIPA/SOPA, but cloaked. That'll be good for Google because it'll allow them to clone the promising technologies of upstarts without having to compete against them, cf Facebook, which is wily and has been giving Google fits.
Providers will implement "voluntary" restrictions to avoid mandatory ones.
Vague provisions accomodating elastic interpretations will provide criminal penalties for disapproved activities. Cass Sunstein will be the new Internet Protection Czar.
You should work in PR for the other side you could make millions of dollars*
*(Dollars only have value till the music stops, so please keep playing that tune till you die)
Wish i could doubleplusgood your coment twice.
They are slipping. They forgot the all-important false flag contextualizer. But, yes, SOPA will return on the back of a distracting cybersecurity "event". Directed history. You can be sure the target won't be anything essential, like FEDWIRE or SWIFT. More likely targets would be Netflix, the DWTS finale or the Superbowl to convince people of the burning need for internet fascism.
All SOPA would have done is push "pirates" into creating a decentralized DNS even faster. I have no doubt the Feds will push to protect ICANN next trying to block this - but that too will prove impossible.
Maybe congress should appreciate that the devil you know is better than the one you don't. If they want to monitor everything - the last thing they want is a decentralized DNS to appear.
"SOPA dies"
No, SOPA is just offstage temporarily, having a new face applied.
The only way SOPA, PIPA, and all the other incarnations of Internet and Information-Freedom killing legislation will 'die', is if the bastards who keep dreaming this shit up, are dead.
Fascist, NWO, Zionist one-world-government zombies... until you blow their heads off with a shotgun, they just keep on coming.
Incidentally, just to repeat the obvious for those who still don't get it - copyright and DRM arguments are just excuses. The people behind this fascist control shit don't actually give a rat's arse about copyright violation. In fact it was them all along behind the creation and distribution of most freeware file sharing software. Problem, reaction, solution. They wanted as much illegal file sharing on the net as possible, so they could then point and complain about it, and demand bullshit laws like SOPA.
See this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc
The narrator is pretty annoying, but the information is dynamite. Deliberate entrapment, going on over a decade. Clear as day.
Shotguns. It's the only way to be sure.
SOPA will return with a new name in the future. Its not gone, just shelved for now. It sucks.