Obama expresses support for bringing SOPA back from the grave.

DeJager

DeJager

Published - April 5, 2012

"In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter that was published online today, MPAA chief Christopher Dodd said he was "confident" that President Obama was using his "good relationships in both communities" -- that is, Silicon Valley and Hollywood -- to advance SOPA." (bringing it back from the "grave")

Read the Article Here

What do you you all think?
 
This is such a grey thing that to look at it from a black and white perspective does not do it any justice. I certainly am not for those laws as they were intended earlier this year. If they come at us with that level of idiocy again then they will certainly get the same level of opposition (if not more).

The thing is, while I do not make a liviing off of online content (yet, I sure would like to some day) many on here do and to have their work - time, money, sweat and blood - easily stolen because someone has some weak justifaication to do so? Well, call me old fashion, but something about that does not work well for me. I am sure there is some middle ground where the positions of both sides can meet to create the first generation of some feasible, working compromise. The thing is society is in full all-out extreme mode right now - where it's my way or the highway. We see it in everything, so even the foundations of compromises are destroyed in their infancy.

Not to have a political spin on this, but this article proves my point. The article never goes (or even tries to) into what level of support the President may be considering. The topic becomes about taking side on the remedy/fix instead of the problem. The fix, in it's orginal form was stupid and over-reaching, and I hope the powers that be learned their lesson from that feble attempt. But that does not negate the fact that piracy is both going on and is flat out wrong.
 
I think we need China to step up and take some action on their piracy problems. Really the problem starts there. I think if they started tackling the situation and really putting the chains on online piracy it should help the overall problem.
 
True that (well some of that).

The problem is that it's everywhere, right now. Some of it is a cultural thing (when it comes to some foreign cultures) - where "taking" something that is not yours is not all that bad (not sure how you justify that really, but then there goes that cultural thing I was talking about). Then there's the attitude part of it, which happens more so on the western side, that says if it's on the web, or you're not smart enough to know how to stop me from taking it, etc...then there's nothing "technically wrong with my taking it, or it's not stealing, or, etc.

I agree that there are some bad players abroad but to really tackle this issue and many of the technical issues of this century we really need to be honest with ourselves about who are the bad actors (no pun intended) and how injured are the victims (plus who are the real victims?).

We need more stakeholders at the table, which, sadly, is overcrowded with bad money and even worse...[gulp]...politicians.
 
I don't know. What little I know, and that's little, for sure...my impression is that this is really a battle between Fat Cats. It's not about protecting little league copyright holders like small, indie filmmakers or other artists or whomever like that. It's about rich corporations and their congressional friends, well, getting richer and having more power to slap the Youtubes of the world around a bit more. Sounds like some form of SOPA becoming the law of the land is probable if not inevitable.
 
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richy you are right - about this being about the fat cats, their lobbyist and politicians trying to position themselves to get more of the pie (not sure how much pie is left). But then again you're wrong when you make it sound like it's all about them and not us - the little guys, the people. Not trying to put words in your mouth here and certainly not having a go, mate, but just saying it's that kind of view that allows the fat cats, their lobbyist and political leaders to pass skewed laws to their benefit and to our detrement.

This is a democracy - of, for and by the people. I firmly believe in this and will never subscribe to the consensus that says money owns the monopoly that determines and shapes our collective fate. Not to get on a political soapbox here... F it, I will...

Our current highly polarized state right now provides a rich and fertile ground that rewards the fat cats, their lobbyist and our puppet political leaders to achieve their party-line and/or collective agendas. "Throw a little red meat to the plebs and knock them off balance long enough, distract them so they don't realize how much they are being screwed until the screwing is done". While they - behind their cloaks of parliamentary procedure, TV punditry and noise makers - continuously pass shitty laws for their own benefit we stand by in our collective/party-line driven indifference (as long as that guy from that party is not in power)...but I digress.

My point here is that this is as much about us, whether we like it or not, as it is about them. We have to rise up, the masses, beyond the dirty political Kabuki Theater that muddies the waters and take control of our democracy, our destiny and our country. This rant is not about any one political party because they are just ideological parts of the same coin. We need to show a deeper interest in what is happening to our democracy today because it is being hijacked while we stand by watching, spectating...and maybe eating some popcorn too.
 
fightforthefuture.org -

What is the White House working on exactly? Just the other day, the administration sent a letter to Congress to demonstrate their support for new internet censorship legislation. A few weeks ago, the White House struck a deal to give corporations private powers to shut down your internet connection (after "six strikes" without due process or judicial review), completely in secret.

Obama's internet would let private companies block sites and turn off our web connections. Blocking websites censors free speech, hurts jobs, and breaks the internet. These are tactics used by totalitarian governments and we believe they’re never ok.

Let's get more signatures than any petition on whitehouse.gov.

As Wired noted*, "The White House did say that it wouldn't endorse a bill that endangers freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risks, or negatively affects the DNS system. On the other hand, it says elsewhere that "combating online infringement" -- not protecting free speech -- is a governmental priority "of the highest order." What about free speech, Obama?
 
The problem is that most "bills" are worded so ambiguously that they can be interpreted as needed.

SOPA has that type of wording - the accusation of using copyrighted material would be enough to get your website shut down. Hypothetically MicroSoft could accuse Apple of copyright infringement and the unnamed governmental monitoring agency (probably the FCC) would shut down all Apple websites until the issue is resolved! As we all know, the resolution of a law suit could take years. Also, under the ambiguous wording, any website that sells Apple products (like B&H) could also be shut down if some bureaucrat at the unnamed governmental monitoring agency decides to do so - and there would be no recourse until the initial complaint is resolved. A peer pointed out that, in the MicroSoft/Apple scenario, typical governmental stupidity would probably shut down the websites for apple orchards and any firm that processes apples for juice, baby food, etc. and any website that sell cookbooks. Hmmmm, it also means that Amazon would be shut down for selling "Apple Computers For Dummies" and eBay would be shut down since folks are selling their used Apple computers. If you are an sound editor and list an Apple computer in your equipment list you could also be shut down simply because you have Apple on your website.

This could even go down to the level of your ex-whatever could call and say out of spite that you are using copyrighted material on your personal or business website - you would be immediately shut down until the issue is resolved.

ALL IT TAKES IS AN ACCUSATION. No investigation is required, no search warrant issued, no proof is required, no injunction from a judge is issued. Your website is arbitrarily shut down until the government gets around to your case. If you're a small firm or one person business (like yours truly) how many decades do you think it would take to resolve your case? Only those with great political connections would have a chance at rapid resolution. Everyone else would have to go to the end of an ever increasingly lengthy line.



Now, as to the Chinese and copyright infringement... The Communist Government suffers from what is known as the Middle Kingdom Complex. They feel racially superior to a degree that makes the most rabid Klan member look like a pansy. Their political set-up gives them a hugely inflated sense of entitlement on top of their sense of racial superiority. They take what they want because they wholeheartedly believe that they are racially and politically superior and deserve it. The US government - and many others - can't take a hard line with them because they just might decide to call in their loans.
 
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