SOPA: Anyone heard of this? in Debate and Controversy Forum

RSS
Email

0 Points

SOPA: Anyone heard of this?

Author	Comment
whytebyrd2	SOPA: Anyone heard of this?	Lead	[-]
Posts: 8321 Dec 4 11 10:43 AM Forum Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	I caught a little blip of something a week or so ago and didn't know exactly what it was but what I did hear sounded very frightening. It concerned a new bill in American congress (SOPA: Stop Online Piracy Act). Have any of you out there sussed this thing out? There is a discussion on it over at JWN entitled "Running a JW website without getting sued" http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/219005/1/Running-a-JW-website-without-getting-sued Wouldn't the WT lawyers LOVE for this bill to pass?! http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show OpenCongress Summary This bill would establish a system for taking down websites that the Justice Department determines to be dedicated to copyright infringment. The DoJ or the copyright owner would be able to commence a legal action against any site they deem to have "only limited purpose or use other than infringement," and the DoJ would be allowed to demand that search engines, social networking sites and domain name services block access to the targeted site. It would also make unauthorized web streaming of copyrighted content a felony with a possible penalty up to five years in prison. This bill combines two separate Senate bills -- S.968 and S.978 -- into one big House bill. I guess the reason this caught my eye is that even though the bill is mainly being supported by the entertainment industry, that little snippet I heard was involving some religious type entity. I didn't hear enough to get the jist but boy! I immediately thought of the WT using this. Interests that support this bill: Movie Theaters Movie Theaters (close) Entertainment Industry/Broadcast & Motion Pictures Cable & satellite TV production & distribution Recorded Music & music production Motion Picture production & distribution Commercial TV & radio stations Commercial TV & radio stations (close) Pharmaceutical manufacturing Pharmaceutical manufacturing (close) Health, Education & Human Resources Chambers of commerce Chambers of commerce (close) General business associations General business associations (close) Manufacturing Manufacturing (close) IBEW (Intl Brotherhood of Electrical Workers) Teamsters union Teamsters union (close) Police & firefighters unions & associations Entertainment unions Entertainment unions (close) Christian Conservative Christian Conservative (close) Courts & Justice System Courts & Justice System (close) I think we protect our site here pretty much in that we are not so wholly devoted to putting up the societies copywrited material as we are in just helping folks who're affected by the Watchtower. Right now we are covered legally in that only fractions of the WT publications get quoted but it sounds like if this bill passes even that might become a criminal offense............maybe I'm reading too much into the power of this bill but it gives me the creeps. It smacks of taking away free speech on a very draconian level. edited to add: I originally put this in Science and Technology and then moved it here to debate but if maybe it would get more comments somewhere else, let me know and I'll move it again Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. t.s.eliot Last Edited By: whytebyrd2 Dec 4 11 11:30 AM. Edited 2 times.
nevermind		#1	[-]
MVP (Most Valuable Poster)++ Posts: 1525 Dec 4 11 12:17 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well, its just another law that is already being broken by millions on the internet. Every time they sue, people just find a more underground way to share music and movies. Its counter productive. Along the lines of the JW thing, we are not taking anything away from them by discussing their belief system. If it was viewed as copyright not to discuss your own life experiences and take the piss out of a few magazines.... and I don't think they own the copyright on the word Jehovah
whytebyrd2		#2	[-]
Posts: 8321 Dec 4 11 12:41 PM Forum Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	This law is not in place yet. I just found another article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-j-black/internet-regulation-congress_b_1110282.html and apparently, for now, the SOPA bill has been derailed. This doesn't mean the Internet is now safe. Hollywood is famous for sequels. The bill could still get altered in ways that force Internet companies into the business of censoring the Internet to avoid liability -- much how China accomplishes its censorship -- outsourcing it to companies. We can hope though that there will be enough people paying attention to collateral damage to free speech and the economy. The biggest danger to the Internet is not some big shutdown as we saw in Egypt. It's all the smaller, well-intentioned alterations, often for seemingly noble reasons. The greatest risk to Internet freedom is a death by a thousand cuts and people too willing to accept the cut of the day -- whether it appears in the form of a privacy issue, anonymity issue or change to available content or the cost to access it. We do put up excerpts from many of the JW publications occasionally and that is where I wondered if the WT lawyers might find a loophole with this law to at least create some havoc. The articles I read discussing the many 'cons' of SOPA agree totally with you that 'millions on the Internet' will find ways around. The way the bill was worded though it could be the 'little guy/gal' that gets hurt the most. (see above quote about the 'thousand cuts') Maybe I'm just being too paranoid. That's why I wanted to throw this out so that anybody who has been following this could share their thoughts. Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. t.s.eliot
Vancity		#3	[-]
MVP (Most Valuable Poster)++ Posts: 1835 Dec 4 11 12:47 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Hey, I welcome the WT to try and sic their lawyers on sites like this. You know the old saying "any attention is good attention". If they are indeed stupid enough to bring attention to sites like this one, natural curiosity will take over and I'm sure they will lose even more members. The best thing they can do is ignore it and keep telling the sheep that we are evil.
blondmoment		#4	[-]
MVP (Most Valuable Poster) Posts: 520 Dec 4 11 1:29 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Taking a quote from something, and posting it will full credits to the author, publishing company etc, from my understanding falls under fair use, it is not piracy. The WT does the same thing itself with its "references" they use in the literature. I know for myself, when I use a snip of watchtower anything, I always link the official WT site. People like to accuse us of quote mining, something the WT itself is famous for, so I like to point them back to read all the lunacy for themselves. Facts are meaningless. You could use facts to prove anything that's even remotely true! Homer Simpson Youtube user name: Danmera
Heliaphora		#5	[-]
Platinum Level Member Posts: 481 Dec 4 11 3:49 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	From what I heard about the bill it didn't even involving suing. Some one explained to me that the agency would show to a judge that there is copyright infringement and the internet provider would be required to black list the site so it would for all intents and purposes disappear. I don't know how much it's fear mongering going on but yeah that's what I heard. But my knowledge is rather limited on this subject the only "news" I'll pay attention to is the "Daily Show" .
nevermind		#6	[-]
MVP (Most Valuable Poster)++ Posts: 1525 Dec 5 11 3:10 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well if they do block ISP with supposed piracy links, there are add ons for browsers that help stop this. www.mafiaafire.com redirects any blocked site to another working URL
AndriaSyxx		#7	[-]
Posts: 28551 Dec 5 11 6:41 AM Forum Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Well if the WBTS does kick up a stink about things being copied ..... it's a sure sign that they ARE in fact a business and not a religion trying to save all mankind from itself! If they are so keen to share the good news ... why slap copyright on it and why fight it! "Walk your life without fear. Walk strong." ~ advice from Rafaela of the Raramuri - Mexico ~
Jennifer		#8	[-]
MVP (Most Valuable Poster) Posts: 735 Dec 5 11 7:11 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	whytebyrd2 wrote: This law is not in place yet. I just found another article http://www.huffingtonpost.com/edward-j-black/internet-regulation-congress_b_1110282.html and apparently, for now, the SOPA bill has been derailed. This doesn't mean the Internet is now safe. Hollywood is famous for sequels. The bill could still get altered in ways that force Internet companies into the business of censoring the Internet to avoid liability -- much how China accomplishes its censorship -- outsourcing it to companies. We can hope though that there will be enough people paying attention to collateral damage to free speech and the economy. The biggest danger to the Internet is not some big shutdown as we saw in Egypt. It's all the smaller, well-intentioned alterations, often for seemingly noble reasons. The greatest risk to Internet freedom is a death by a thousand cuts and people too willing to accept the cut of the day -- whether it appears in the form of a privacy issue, anonymity issue or change to available content or the cost to access it. We do put up excerpts from many of the JW publications occasionally and that is where I wondered if the WT lawyers might find a loophole with this law to at least create some havoc. The articles I read discussing the many 'cons' of SOPA agree totally with you that 'millions on the Internet' will find ways around. The way the bill was worded though it could be the 'little guy/gal' that gets hurt the most. (see above quote about the 'thousand cuts') Maybe I'm just being too paranoid. That's why I wanted to throw this out so that anybody who has been following this could share their thoughts. that would only count if people here quoted from the WT and then said it was our own material as long as they are being referenced then it is no problem otherwise no one would ever be able to reference or cite any work for any type of research no laws are being broken,. even if they make that a law we still will be in a legal right
Mystla		#9	[-]
Posts: 8973 Dec 5 11 1:31 PM Forum Moderator Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	that would only count if people here quoted from the WT and then said it was our own material as long as they are being referenced then it is no problem otherwise no one would ever be able to reference or cite any work for any type of research no laws are being broken,. even if they make that a law we still will be in a legal right Tell that to the guy who was running the WT Quotes site. He got sued by the WTS and lost: http://www.chick.com/bc/2005/jwsue.asp Here's an excerpt: The lawsuit claims that Mosier has violated copyrights by quoting more than is allowed under the fair use laws. He says that the quotes are one-tenth of one percent of the source material used. His attorney says this is well within the fair use limits. For older Watchtower material with expired copyrights, Mosier has quoted entire publications. Dang it.. I can't find a reference for the results of the suit, but he did lose. Maybe someone else has a reference for that? I might find one later when I have more time. "The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago; the second best time is now" -old Chinese proverb "Unthinking respect for authority is the greatest enemy of the truth" -Albert Einstein “Joy is what happens to us when we allow ourselves to recognize how good things really are.” ― Marianne Williamson