HR3261 & S968 are threatening SurveyorConnect and the rest of the Internet. Most of the web sites you use strongly oppose these bills.
Don't let the names fool you!
The "Stop Online Piracy Act"/"E-PARASITE Act" (SOPA) and "The PROTECT IP Act" (PIPA) are the latest in a series of bills which would create a procedure for creating (and censoring) a blacklist of websites. These bills are updated versions of the “Combating Online Infringements and Counterfeits Act" (COICA), which was previously blocked in the Senate. Although the bills are ostensibly aimed at reaching foreign websites dedicated to providing illegal content, their provisions would allow for removal of enormous amounts of non-infringing content including political and other speech from the Web.
The various bills define different techniques for blocking “blacklisted” sites. Each would interfere with the Internet's domain name system (DNS), which translates names like "www.eff.org" or "www.nytimes.com" into the IP addresses that computers use to communicate. SOPA would also allow rightsholders to force payment processors to cut off payments and advertising networks to cut ties with a site simply by sending a notice.
These bills are targeted at "rogue" websites that allow indiscriminate piracy, but use vague definitions that could include hosting websites such as Dropbox, MediaFire, and Rapidshare; sites that discuss piracy such as pirate-party.us, p2pnet, Torrent Freak, torproject.org, and ZeroPaid; as well as a broad range of sites for user-generated content, such as SoundCloud, Etsy, and Deviant Art. Had these bills been passed five or ten years ago, even YouTube might not exist today — in other words, the collateral damage from this legislation would be enormous.
There are already laws and procedures in place for taking down sites that violate the law. These acts would allow the Attorney General, and even individuals, to create a blacklist to censor sites when no court has found that they have infringed copyright or any other law.
P/R?????????? LOL!
Seriously, we need to make as much noise as possible about these efforts to constrict the freedom of the internet. I don't hold out much hope though. It is amazing that it has remained this open for this long. I expect that we will eventually lose this battle...still it may be possible to delay the inevitable a little longer.
For those who may not know who their congressman is:
So, is Beerleg/SurveyorConnect participating in the SOPA internet blackout Jan 18?
http://sopablackout.org/
A community to discuss the important matters surrounding the "Stop Online Piracy Act" or the PROTECT IP Act currently being proposed in Congress.
The White House issued a statement that the president would veto SOPA and PIPA but he also said he would veto NDAA and that didn't happen. 2012 appears to be the year we all lost our rights & liberties.
The Huffington Post... First Posted: 1/14/12 12:19 PM ET Updated: 1/15/12 04:51 PM ET
this may be true, maybe not... I thought the "white house" was the instigator and would make it happen via "executive order" regardless of public opinion.
Ya Blake, you never know what slight of hand trick politicians will try.
> The White House issued a statement that the president would veto SOPA and PIPA but he also said he would veto NDAA and that didn't happen. 2012 appears to be the year we all lost our rights & liberties.
Don't worry, Obama will be "reluctant" when he signs it. Isn't that enough?
Whoops! Just put myself onto yet another "terrorist" watch list!
Wendell
How about putting some words into my mouth? Seriously, give us an example of a well-worded, powerful message that we can relay to our congressmen to help you out.
Wendell
The link in my original post has a form that you can just fill out and submit, with some words already put into your mouth.
🙂
STOP SOPA & PIPA (Clear and Present Danger)
And the danger is from yet more regulation and control of our freedoms. They tout the bills as protections from internet filth and subversives that are international. If passed and implemented it will be so easy for sites to just suddenly dissapear from view based on political or other reasons. And not just international sites. They will have the power to block any address and cite some BS like 'in the usa's best interest' or 'for our own good'.
The internet is one of the most useful resources for finding out what really is happening in the world. Without the internet and some brave souls we would never know of some of the atrocities committed by not only our government but by foreign governments.
Up until now, this is one source of media information that the controllers could not control. And now they want to throttle, strangle and basically filter what they the do or do not like.
Very dangerous and completely at odds with the intent of the constitution.
Lamp poles and ropes in Washington. We have to put a stop to those minor few who want ot control all of us. 1984 was supposed to be a fiction book but it is coming to pass before our very eyes.
I see that Wikipedia is staging a one-day shutdown in protest of this legislation. That might get more people's attention and increase complaints to Congress.
I sent a message to each of my senators and congressman.
Are we going dark tomorrow to protest?
No.
I'd love to, but I know that it's probably not a really good idea. You guys would kill me.
😉
FYI, I would totally be OK with a blackout. A message must be sent!
I think having a pinned thread gets most of the people who read this forum, so there is little upside to a blackout versus the disruption and loss of advertising.
On Wikipedia, it is pretty easy to ignore their banners and the blackout will definitely get more attention.
Wendell, If you want to blackout this action, I will survive listening to tunes. A day or more without internet may make my lowgrade headache go away, lol
I am against blocking most any kind of information. As an adult, I am free to decide what I want to view or not to view. Each computer can be setup to block what is desired.
This sounds much like what has been happening in eastern Asia where the government blocks any opposing views from the public. They do not have the opportunity to hear of another view or any other news or information that is not first approved by the controlling powers.
20±yrs ago we could pull in anything from the sky if connected to a big dish. It was rewarding to be able to hear a news story told from the viewpoint of another nation and with actual film that our usual stations would not dare put on the air. Now it is all regulated and the news stations control and usually only airs regional content to our tvs.
Without the internet, we may not have the opportunity to hear about any actual real news worthy events.
I have made an executive decision.
P&R will be blacked out all day tomorrow, January 18th, 2012.
