SOPA Will Take Us Back to the Dark Ages

[Toccata]

I have a fileserve account and it went down just now
much like filesonic, restricted only to personal files.

 

[kokobombon]

I grew up in a pre-internet age. Instead of FB friends I had penpals, instead of buying cds I bought taped cassettes on a street fair every sunday, I only dreamt of seeing asian tv shows or magazines. The world was a very different place...
And while most of young people take internet for granted I know the before and after and I can´t conceive a modern world without it´s benefits. It´s not just downloading movies and music for free (though technically sharing a cd you bought with a friend is illegal) it´s about sharing culture and making it accesible to everyone. It´s a world without borders. I always perceived USA as a narrow minded country and this is proving me right... the world has changed and there´s no turning back, companies should change their archaic views and embrace new ways of doing business. Artists are finding new ways of making money now that music sales have declined, same with magazines.
I have a friend who is a hard core fan of korean tv shows, now that file sharing sites are being closed she´s freaking out... it´s not that she wouldn´t spend money buying the dvds it´s that they´re not available! lots of tv shows that I like are not broadcast in my country even though I have cable, my only chance of watching them is to download them...

I don´t think they´ll pass this law, but maybe I´m being too optimistic...

 

[YoninahAliza]

^I completely agree. I was really little when we got our first computer but the thing is (and maybe it's just me) we weren't hooked into it the way we are now. My parents really limited our use of the computer to allowing us to play an hour on a computer game or to use it for homework. Obviously as my sister and I got older this changed because the technology changed, we had to adapt to these changes, and because we could handle using the internet more.

Now I would have a very hard time going back to the way things were before we really had internet access. But the main reason why I think it would be hard to go back to the way things were is because the internet has exposed me to so many things that I never would have known about if I didn't have it. I think it's made me a more well-rounded individual because I've had exposure to all sorts of different things. And like you said, Kokobombon, the US can be a very isolating place so it's really up to the individual to make an effort to discover what is going on elsewhere in the world. Personally, I'm hoping that no laws like SOPA will be put into place, because I rely on the internet to access tons of shows/movies that never even air here in America. Maybe if we were more culturally diverse (in terms of what tv shows/movies/etc. are shown here) then this wouldn't be such an issue because we would have access to all our favorite programs.

 

[japoelflaco]

Why was MegaUpload really shut down?
(UPDATE: Forbes covered this story a day after this was posted. Awesome guys! (http://goo.gl/KnsW7) )

In December of 2011, just weeks before the takedown, Digital Music News reported on something new that the creators of #Megaupload were about to unroll. Something that would rock the music industry to its core. (http://goo.gl/A7wUZ)

I present to you... MegaBox. MegaBox was going to be an alternative music store that was entirely cloud-based and offered artists a better money-making opportunity than they would get with any record label.

"UMG knows that we are going to compete with them via our own music venture called Megabox.com, a site that will soon allow artists to sell their creations directly to consumers while allowing artists to keep 90 percent of earnings," MegaUpload founder Kim 'Dotcom' Schmitz told Torrentfreak

Not only did they plan on allowing artists to keep 90% of their earnings on songs that they sold, they wanted to pay them for songs they let users download for free.

"We have a solution called the Megakey that will allow artists to earn income from users who download music for free," Dotcom outlined. "Yes that's right, we will pay artists even for free downloads. The Megakey business model has been tested with over a million users and it works."

https://plus.google.com/u/0/111314089359991626869/posts/HQJxDRiwAWq

Protecting copyrights? My @ss, this whole thing is about control, and goes to show how rotten the music industry and the record labels really are.

BTW, this whole thing wouldn't happened if Megaupload, filesonic, fileserve and the hundreds of storages services didn't have their "affiliates program", of course sharing is illegal but Megaupload was really taunting the US by paying their uploaders for every download.

Was this serious enough?

 

[kokobombon]

^but shuting down MegaUpload will stop them from opening MegaBox? you can bully a company to a certain point...

 

[Aqua Tofana]

ACTA: the international version of SOPA/PIPA

And not only is it that, but it's far more draconian. It's basically Big Brother policing your every online action. (The only reason it came to light is because somebody leaked the secret treaty talks.)

THIS.
Poland already signed it. It basically takes us all to North Korea. It seems so hard to grasp, it's almost unbelievable

 

[Toccata]

Canada has a SOPA-like bill called C-11 'set to pass'.

"The music industry is unsurprisingly leading the way, demanding a series of
changes that would make Bill C-11 look much more like SOPA.

For example, the industry wants language similar to that found in SOPA on
blocking access to websites, demanding new provisions that would "permit a
court to make an order blocking a pirate site such as The Pirate Bay to protect
the Canadian marketplace from foreign pirate sites."

The expansion of the enabler provision to include sites that operate to enable
or induce infringement could extend far beyond so-called "pirate sites", since
many user generated content sites (such as YouTube) and cloud-based
service sites can be said to enable or induce infringement, particularly in a
country like Canada that does not have a fair use provision.

The music industry also wants Internet providers to be required to adopt a
termination policy for subscribers that are alleged to be repeat infringers.

This demand would move Canada toward the graduated response policy that
could result in loss of Internet service for Internet users.

-www.michaelgeist.ca"

 

[models_vlada]

Thanks Softgrey for starting the thread, i already sign the petition.

To be honest, i don't understand how countries (developed ones practically) are approving this, i haven't read that much of articles despite of the ones against the law, but from what i've read, i don't seem to find any good point for SOPA to be allowed.

 

[kokobombon]

Besides the petition there´s talk about a worldwide boycott to music, movie and entertaining companies, during March you don´t buy any music, magazines or go to the cinema. I hope everyone will adhere to it, imagine the money loss? I think it will be far more effective than signing a petition... pass the word!



the99percenteconomy.com

 

[Squizree]

^ That would be pretty effective, but it's gonna be difficult passing it on, let alone convincing people to actually carry it out.

 

[kokobombon]

^yeah, I think it will be difficult to convince people who pays for everything and don´t care much about internet in general (I know some people like that) but I also know a lot of people that signed the petition and is creating awareness however they can and will commit to Black March so there´s still hope that it will be carried out worldwide

 

[wild roses]

If you're tempted to buy during March, go to a used bookstore or place that sells used movies and cds. The corporations don't get the profits from secondhand places.

I'm definitely participating in Black March though.

 

[Aqua Tofana]

I'm gonna do Black March as well although it seems to be not so well promoted ( I only read about it here, on TFS).

 

[kokobombon]

^it´s up to us to promote it then
like posting it on your/your friends´ FB profiles, that way a lot more people will know about it

 

[Elle M]

I have signed the online petition at Avaaz.org, I am really hoping we can all do something about it

 

[Karen0193]

Its scary how SOPA and PIPA had created this bunch of ramifications around the globe, even here in Panama the goverment approved a rather similar law called "Sala V" that regulates your freedom of speech.
Its ridiculous, it's like we are going back to the medieval times when the church regulated everthing, only that this time the goverment is our church.

 

[japoelflaco]

Besides the petition there´s talk about a worldwide boycott to music, movie and entertaining companies, during March you don´t buy any music, magazines or go to the cinema. I hope everyone will adhere to it, imagine the money loss? I think it will be far more effective than signing a petition... pass the word!

the99percenteconomy.com

Im already doing all those things. So Im on permanent boycott, hell I don't even pay for my internet service.

 

[Aqua Tofana]

Slovenia's ambassador apologizes to her children and her nation for signing ACTA, calls for mass demonstrations in Ljubljana tomorrow

http://boingboing.net/2012/02/03/slovenias-ambassador-apologi.html