Save the Internet!

[Lantry]

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/so...k-internet
Those of you who aren't Americans probably won't care much about this, but if you are an American who uses the internet, you should definitely at least send a quick automated message to your Congresspeople (click "act now" in the last paragraph of the article).

[jamz]

I was under the impression this had no hope of getting passed.

[Habluka]

I was under the impression this had no hope of getting passed.

you would be surprised at how retarded most people in congress are

[Mael]

Google and other tech behemoths -- AOL (AOL), eBay (EBAY, Fortune 500), Facebook, LinkedIn (LNKD), Mozilla, Twitter, Yahoo (YHOO, Fortune 500) and Zynga -- also lodged a formal complaint on Tuesday in the form of a letter sent to key Senate and House lawmakers.
"We support the bills' stated goals," the letter reads. "Unfortunately, the bills as drafted would expose law-abiding U.S. Internet and technology companies to new uncertain liabilities [and] mandates that would require monitoring of web sites."

I'm not too concerned about it passing and sticking.

[V-Man]

LOL at something as tiny as a government trying to seriously regulate that much of something so vast as the Internet.

[MykeGregory]

This is a map of the internet... Crazy isnt it.
Whats more crazy is that they want to regulate it!? Bahahaha

EDIT: Learn about the Internet Map

[ExodusS]

Sometimes there is no solution to the equation.

[Bukz]

The internet is truly the final frontier of real "freedom of speech" - regulating it is out of the question. They can try as hard as they want, but in the end all attempts will fail. ;)

[X-Ray_Dog]

The internet is truly the final frontier of real "freedom of speech" -

Your internet connection already regulates your freedom of speech....


Say this bill did pass. Good bye all major companies, good bye revenue and major economy boosters, goodbye economy and goodbye America. I'm moving to Canada. Unfortunately if somehow the economy did fail, we could possibly bring down a few other majors with us seeing as we owe so much and everyone relies on one another. There is just so much negative but knowing congress, they don't give a f*ck. They bathe in thousand dollar bills. Its all good to them but I really don't think it will get anywhere. Please don't prove me wrong.

[V-Man]

@Myke:
That's only 100,000 nodes. XD

[tempest]

Remember, it's from 1998. Probably looks slightly different today.

[X-Ray_Dog]

So I sent an email to my local senator. I just recently got a response:

Dear Mr. [Edited]:

Thank you for contacting me regarding your concerns with the pending Senate and House bills regarding the protection of intellectual property rights. I appreciate hearing from you.

The growth of the Internet and digital technologies pose new challenges to maintaining the balance between protecting intellectual property rights and the free flow of information. As you know, digital content can be easily duplicated and distributed. And counterfeit products, such as fake pharmaceuticals and brake pads, have threatened the health and safety of American consumers. I believe in protecting copyrighted and trademarked materials, protecting the health and safety of Americans, and compensating artists and innovators for their work, but I also understand the importance of maintaining an internet environment that promotes innovation and the need to protect consumer rights.

As you know, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-VT) introduced the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP Act or S. 968). This legislation, among other things, would authorize the Attorney General or an intellectual property rights owner to take action against an Internet site dedicated to infringing activities. The PROTECT IP Act was unanimously reported out of the Senate Judiciary committee. Please know that I will keep your thoughts in mind should this or related legislation reach the full Senate for consideration.

Again, thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts with me. For more information about my work for Nevada, my role in the United States Senate Leadership, or to subscribe to regular e-mail updates on the issues that interest you, please visit my Web site at [Edited]. I look forward to hearing from you in the near future.
My best wishes to you.

Sincerely,
A
HARRY REID
United States Senator
Nevada

If you were too lazy to read, then he basically says he is for the bill. What do you think now?

[EroticFishCakes]

Well....

1. Im American - so i live by the very typical lazy lifestyle.
2. I clicked the link - and i noticed a wall of text, which number 1 doesnt allow me to read.
3. I came back here - and actually wasnt as lazy, and made this post, which contradicts most of what number 1 tells me.....

Eh... call me Canadian or somethin...

[Orynge]

BTW, it doesn't matter if you're American or not. If a site you visit regularly is run by someone in America, you're screwed.

Also, according to DSP (guy on Youtube), the US government has no understanding of the internet.

[D1551D3N7]

The majority of people don't understand the internet......

[V-Man]

he basically says he is for the bill. What do you think now?

I think it's time he was reminded how to represent his constituents properly.

[ElCrema]

This bill will most likely not pass, thou some representatives (btw, Reid will always say Yea to any conservative piece of legislation) will go for it, purely on the account they are ignorant. Like Mael already said, several VERY powerful companies (i.e Google, Amazon, eBay, Facebook to name a few) are fiercely lobbying against it and according to the latest news the chances of this bill pass are slim to none, mostly caus is to broad and vague. For once lobbyist will be good for something.
But make no mistake about it, they will try again.

[ExodusS]

the US government has no understanding of the internet.

France.fr = (officially) 862.705€ (but a lot of independant organisation speak about 4.000.000 €), for .... nothing.
862.705€ ~ $1.200.000

[Cemer]

YALL CAN COME TO MY SCHOOL NEW CANADIANS!

[V-Man]

Historically, there seem to have been many reasons to periodically become a temporary Canadian.

[Viper]

What if this website was actually just a giant trap so they can find and prosecute all of the idiot illegal downloaders (i.e. not smart illegal downloaders).

I personally wrote a letter.

[Lightning]

If this bill gets passed, instant #OccupyWorld and a bunch of kids on the streets screaming FUCK DA P0L1CEEEE!!1!1!!one!!

If London can riot becuase they want to, this is enough reason for the US.

[vonunov]

Everyone should worry about this, not just Americans! This will affect the worldwide internet. Not only can this bill allow the government to compel domestic domain registrars to take domains offline, but it can also compel ISPs to cooperate on demand with blocking Americans' access to foreign websites that are found to be "dedicated" to infringement of US intellectual property. Of course this is defined far too loosely and it is made far too easy to have a website blocked on a mere accusation. So what happens here is that it becomes easy to deprive both foreign and domestic sites of a very large country's worth of traffic, ad revenue, etc., even if it doesn't really deserve it, and without due process.

[V-Man]

If passed, it will be vetoed de facto by everyone in the country. If a pacifist like me is going to rebel against it, there's no way the activists are going to let it happen at all.

[marinaostapchuk]

what happend to internet :O?

[ElCrema]

Ebay and Google are bitching about it, once ppl start to realise that this could affect eBay business... Trust me, lots of congressmen want no trouble with Google, let alone eBay. And now there is a rumour that if the bill passes, the White House will veto it, I don't doubt it since its having massive popular opposition and the President guy is gonna need all the support he can get for re-election next year. I find it hard to believe that this bill wil pass and if it does, probably it won't stick.
But you never know with this freaking country here..
Tbh, I don't really care. Me has double citizenship, can always leave this shit hole :DD

Muhahahahaha

[marinaostapchuk]

i think its just another way america is showing that internet belongs to it...

so we can do the other thing.. we can close all our "american shops" in our country and regulate our market??

---

truth is american govt is quite pissed off with the recent facebook revoultions..

they want to censor it,, and censor piracy but they forget , piracy is what makes american movies go around the world.. and its culture.. if they close or control it, eu and asia is getting more stronger on it the other way..

[ExodusS]

truth is american govt is quite pissed off with the recent facebook revoultions..

they want to censor it

Man, Facebook is one of the worst bs i've ever seen from the internet, it should just be banned from everywhere but it makes money.
They send private informations to everyone who pay (you can take Egypt as an exemple).

[marinaostapchuk]

well egypt i dont know how many people really tried fb there...

things happend on crowds basically.. its arabic world.. not like europe or america that you have internet access.. but they posted videos and who knows how:|

but in america situation is completely different.. if america has to survive its I.T economy it needs more openess than ever because closing the reach of people from its sphere will lead makers to go towards bigger online market which are emrging.. like for example china and far east like japan.korea etc..

---

Man, Facebook is one of the worst bs i've ever seen from the internet, it should just be banned from everywhere but it makes money.
They send private informations to everyone who pay (you can take Egypt as an exemple).

yesss. if they close all internet , they should first close fb... it brought a flood of nonsense networking sites that just play with the online and economic life of people.. they track users with cookies...:(

i think internet needs a rebuilt and not this anti-piracy laws..

i have one idea.. ask hollywood to make movies for isp.. the best the movies the greater the amount for isp to pay to load on its server.. kind of intranet.. one out of the isp wont be able to load it/stream... isp can sue other isp if they found the file on its database..


2. people will not stop piracy how many laws you bring because free is the future..

3. people still go to the cinema halls so its a different market.. dvds come later.. things to be changed.. hollywood and microsoft must refresh their own hard disk before hard rest on public luxury(internet)...

or


it was america's bs dream to invent internet.
why you made rewritable disks and techniques that people can copy and pass on so easily??
why the hue and cry on something thats something a small kid can fool the whole american govt for piracy with it??

time to change thoughts.. america meant freedom and pioneership not censorship...>:(


p;s lol i am not america and have no rights.. but 80% movies i have downloaded from sites that originate from amerikka.. so its america and not me who is responsible..lol lol

[V-Man]

yesss. if they close all internet , they should first close fb... it brought a flood of nonsense networking sites that just play with the online and economic life of people.. they track users with cookies...:(

You make it sound like that is a new thing.

Facebook and Myspace merely made the internet easier for n00bs to get on and get played.