Our beloved Boing Boing is dark today, part of the protest against wide-reaching anti-piracy legislation in Congress -- the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA). But that doesn't mean Boing Boing has gone silent. Boing Boing's managing editor, Rob Beschizza, tells Al Jazeera that the laws won't work, and that they unfairly shift the cost of enforcement onto private businesses. That's just the half of it:
Firstly, it encourages people publishing online to self-censor, so that they don't run afoul of all these new landmines in the landscape. And secondly, it creates these perverse incentives for copyright-holders themselves and for anyone who's been criticized, to abuse these new laws to bring down sites that they don't like.
Less popular in Congress by the day, SOPA and PIPA could make a crime of posts like this one, for instance. The cure is potentially fatal to free speech, since the bills encourage companies to gain immunity by blacklisting any sites they suspect of doing anything wrong. You can get a deep look at the issues here, or a lighthearted (and, WARNING, way NSFW) one here. A whip list showing where the Senate stands on PIPA here.
(On the show: A weird day on the Internet)
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Another excellent post on the topic is http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/18/1055849/-Confessions-Of-A-Hollywood-Professional:-Why-I-Cant-Support-the-Stop-Online-Piracy-Act.
On the lighter side, another good diary on Kos:
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/01/18/1055906/-The-day-The-LOLcats-died?via=siderec
A lot of big sites have come out against the bill with Google being the largest. The act would make Google subject to a takedown just by reason of listing a filesharing site in its search results. Youtube would have to police every clip that is uploaded to make sure there is no copyrighted materials. The whole law is ridiculous because it makes all sorts of sites subject to a takedown which is not monitored by any independent agency. The secondary effect would be to force ISP's to block sites that may be violating copyright. If the law were passed, users would lose access to sites just because there is a copyright issue. The MPAA stated that all these sites that are protesting are committing an "abuse of power." Congress has put this act on hold for now, but it is going to come back again after more hearings. No doubt the MPAA and RIAA and software industry lobby more members while the hearings are being conducted.
Of course, the MPAA would never abuse their power by lobbying. /snark
Shame on Chris Dodd
The House is where the problem lies because they will not bring it up for a vote so the act is stalled. If there are further hearings, it could delay any action by the House until next fall. By that time, more Senators are going to be lobbied by both sides and Google has a lot of money.
This is the most heinous thing I have ever heard of - Internet Nazis.
Here comes the "night of the long Internet knives".
Just suspend due process and shut down entire sites by letting kindergartners fart around with the Domain Name and routing systems.
Just a cursory listen indicates that this violates the first amendment.
The people that came up with this are not familiar with the concept of intellectual property involving traceability and accountability.
Publishers cannot be held responsible for intellectual property theft perpetrated by authors, and the only responsible action is to pull down work by individual authors - not whole sites with innocent authors.
The current process is:
This process is not broken. It works just fine. Ignorant people don't know that, which sounds more and more like an accurate description of the GOP electorate.
Pulling down an entire site censors authors that have not broken any rules, which violates the US constitution. That is OK if you are in Iran or Saudi Arabia. But not in my country.
think you can add China as well.
So... Due Process continues to die with SOPA/PIPA ?
This is one political discussion that EVERYONE is having today...thank goodness. People sort of expect me to post political things on Facebook...and most ignore them and or consider me a little off for being concerned about the condition of our country right now. However, today I got a big and pleasant surprise. Everywhere I go today...facebook, Pinterest, etc, etc.....people are posting the link for the petition against SOPA and PIPPA and voicing their opinion. I think if public consensus means anything anymore in this nation, then these bills are dead in the water....wishful thinking.
These laws will be used as a weapon by trolls who could give a lick about copyright and just want to see certain sites taken down because they object to the content or views the site advocates.
Ditto.
Couldn't agree more.
Censorship disguised as intellectual property protection.
I'm on my third YouTube account. My first two were suspended due to claims of copyright infringement or inappropriate content. Trolls flag every video I upload until it sticks. These have included: montages of lesbian moments on popular TV shows; a video of a Prop 8 protest I shot myself that included an Indigo Girls song; a song by a Queercore band that only released 2 songs in the 90s and is no longer together.
The only clips I've managed to keep up are ones of Rachel Maddow. Is that just a coincidence or has YouTube agreed leave Rachel Maddow clips be? Although, there was one on my second YouTube account that was taken down of Rachel Maddow on another show...can't remember if it was The View or Tonight Show. I'd love to know how talk shows are losing money by people posting clips of episodes they neither sell nor host online themselves. But that's not the point, people flag content they just don't like in hopes it will get taken down on a technicality.
GrrrlRomeo,
I'm interested in solving your problem.
I can train you for simple things that can be indexed by search engine robots, or I can do a prototype.
If you like, I can post some training material on Newsvine.
Drop me a line.
Trolls cannot take down your work if you manage your own site. You just need to make sure you have permission from the source if you are challenged (traceability and accountability).
I already know how to do all that, but thanks for the offer. I'm sure most, if not all, of the stuff I have posted would fall under Fair Use. My point is individuals that just want to be creative and express themselves by creating derivative art, or curate media that goes "out of print" for fun or posterity, or for commentary, are already at a huge disadvantage and the problem shouldn't exist to begin with.
Places like Youtube and Facebook need to recruit more educated people.
I had a similar problem with my own artwork being removed on Wikipedia.
It's a funny (meaning "tragic") thing, but if the most creative people of past centuries were alive and creating today, they would all be nailed repeatedly as copyright violators. Shakespeare was hardly "original" at all. Goethe didn't invent the Faust legend. Sir Thomas Mallory did not create King Arthur. There was a time in Western music when it was a thing to compose new works based on "themes" from works by other composers. There are many, many paintings on the subject of the Last Supper. And on and on and on.
The simple fact is, human creativity works by making new things out of old things. Copyright was originally intended to protect an individual's creative output only for the duration of that individual's life and a little bit more. Corporate copyright holders are twisting the concept into something that will eventually kill all creative endeavors.
Seriously. My favorite show on TV right now is Once Upon a Time.
I just can't believe that both PA senators are FOR PIPA! I just tweeted them both (because Casey's website is "Down" LOL Way to go Google! Didn't bother to check Toomey's site.) Said:
"The idea is to cut off the channels that deliver American customers, and their money, to potential pirates. But tech companies see the laws as a dangerous overreach, objecting because, they say, the laws would add burdensome costs and new rules that would destroy the freewheeling soul of the Internet."
Lobbyists everywhere use rhe internet to push for their candidates and proposals.
Every coin has two sides the trick is not letting someone else tell you whether it is heads or tails-make sure you see it from start to finish.
Sadly so few people are even aware of this travesty of free-speech that their beloved protectors of freedom and liberty are perpetrating against them. The WORLD Wide Web is practically an evolutionary step for humanity and if these clowns think that the OWS protests, Anon hacks, and record breaking recall events were bad, wait until they see what rage they'll incur should they vote for this. Shame on the parent company of MSNBC by they way, for supporting this crap movement. But hopefully they will end certain on-air talent contracts, for speaking out against this, so they can all go work with Kieth at Current. Let people know about this, so few know the issue is even out there.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwtMXzoEfG8&list=LLKL3ASFVxSlfTDsGrAAjILA&feature=mh_lolzv=CwtMXzoEfG8&list=LLKL3ASFVxSlfTDsGrAAjILA&feature=mh_lolz
I think this is one of the cases of spirit of the law versus letter of the law. By that, I mean that not allowing illegal downloads is an admirable idea, however the consequences could end up in something not very desirable.
I have always said the reason we have laws is because people can't be trusted to do the right thing. This could be a case where we look to technology to create inabilities to do the wrong thing rather then regulation. I think this is an opportunity for technology to solve an ill rather than government and I'm a democrat.
The face of government needs to change just as Obama has said. Right now, he's attempting to streamline the hoops small businesses go through and he's redefined military as a lower budget item but no less effective.
This SOPA/PIPA kind of legislation isn't really necessary; we can look at a broader range of solutions to this problem rather than creating additional tasks that should not have to be assigned to government but rather to the businesses involved. Be accountable yourself and you don't have to look to the government to do it.
The Mobile version of Wikipedia still works... Visit on mobile phone or set browser useragent to Mobile. http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/
- Idahoeats
Once again the corporate slime get we the people to do their bidding. Of course I'm just an old fart so what do I know.
Dunno if it's my cable co's doing, but the only place I see pro-SOPA ads is MSNBC.
And does anybody remember "The Soba Song"? I'm so disappointed nobody's done a version about SOPA.
SOPA is another government effort to empower Wall Street to take away the rights and liberties of the 99 %. Ask yourself, “Who will profit from this legislation?” “Who benefited from raising the monopoly time of copyrights from 14 years to the life of the author plus 70 years?” Not society.
I don't personally know anyone who supports SOPA and PIPA.