Cla
LET'S FIGHTING!
So there were these proposed bills in the US called SOPA and PIPA that were designed to give law enforcement additional power in the battle against piracy and copyright infringement conducted over the internet. Yes there was a vagueness in what could be deemed as infringement. (streaming gameplay footage for tournaments would count) And yes there was a bit of extremeness in what could be done once infringement was detected or even suspected. (access to the website blocked even if just suspected and not proven of wrongdoing)
Of course there was rage that this would destroy the internet (and our privacy rights over the internet) as we know it. There was also concern that in order to properly implement this system, the entire internet would have to be reprogrammed to allow the US to have its own set of DNS names since the US would not have the right to block and shut down DNSs based outside of the US. And of course a lot of people felt that this would be the beginning of the government having the power to censor the internet.
But it seemed like to me that the majority of the outcry was from people who were angry that these laws will make it harder to pirate things. (WUT! I MITE HAV TO GIT A JOB AND ACTUALLY PAY FER THINGS! NOOOOOOOO!) This was evident to me by the fact that nearly everyone was just saying "NO THIS IS BAD DON'T DO IT".... and that's it. That's all they would say. No one opposing the law would offer an alternative or even acknowledgement that something should be done to crack down on piracy.
Both SOPA and PIPA are effectively dead now. But now there is CISPA which will basically be the same thing. To which we are seeing the same outrage. Again, it just seems like people are mad just because this will make it harder to pirate things. Yes the potential for government abuse of this law and ability to basically censor the internet exists and I won't deny that. But in the end it just seems more like everyone is pissed they won't be able to pirate anymore.
As one opposer, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says:
Imagine this: Let's say there's a website that doesn't provide child porn, but either directs you to where you can get it or provides torrents for it. (or both) You still ok with that? Still think that website should be allowed to exist on the technicality that it doesn't literally carry the illegal content? Yeah, didn't think so. And no, piracy is not different. Pirated content IS illegal content, just like child porn.
Anyway, I don't know yet if I support CISPA because of some of its vagueness, but I would LOVE the idea of something that kicks piracy in the balls hard. Either way I'll continue to research CISPA and find out exactly what it does. Also, there are some changes coming to CISPA so let's keep an eye on that too.
Of course there was rage that this would destroy the internet (and our privacy rights over the internet) as we know it. There was also concern that in order to properly implement this system, the entire internet would have to be reprogrammed to allow the US to have its own set of DNS names since the US would not have the right to block and shut down DNSs based outside of the US. And of course a lot of people felt that this would be the beginning of the government having the power to censor the internet.
But it seemed like to me that the majority of the outcry was from people who were angry that these laws will make it harder to pirate things. (WUT! I MITE HAV TO GIT A JOB AND ACTUALLY PAY FER THINGS! NOOOOOOOO!) This was evident to me by the fact that nearly everyone was just saying "NO THIS IS BAD DON'T DO IT".... and that's it. That's all they would say. No one opposing the law would offer an alternative or even acknowledgement that something should be done to crack down on piracy.
Both SOPA and PIPA are effectively dead now. But now there is CISPA which will basically be the same thing. To which we are seeing the same outrage. Again, it just seems like people are mad just because this will make it harder to pirate things. Yes the potential for government abuse of this law and ability to basically censor the internet exists and I won't deny that. But in the end it just seems more like everyone is pissed they won't be able to pirate anymore.
As one opposer, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, says:
Um.... Pirate Bay might not literally CARRY infringing content, but should it really be legal for them to be the middle man? I mean I'm sorry, but don't try to pretend that Pirate Bay is some innocent bystander. They're fully aware of what goes on with their website does and ARE PROUD of it. (ever read their e-mails?) But I know a lot of you might be saying "Well it's still ok because they don't actually provide the pirated content". Ok well...
Imagine this: Let's say there's a website that doesn't provide child porn, but either directs you to where you can get it or provides torrents for it. (or both) You still ok with that? Still think that website should be allowed to exist on the technicality that it doesn't literally carry the illegal content? Yeah, didn't think so. And no, piracy is not different. Pirated content IS illegal content, just like child porn.
Anyway, I don't know yet if I support CISPA because of some of its vagueness, but I would LOVE the idea of something that kicks piracy in the balls hard. Either way I'll continue to research CISPA and find out exactly what it does. Also, there are some changes coming to CISPA so let's keep an eye on that too.
