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Internet Inventors Warn of SOPA Stupidity
Bill Seriously Breaks Internet Functionality, Creates Censorship Slope

As the entertainment industry (and the politicians paid to love them) continue to push forth the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), there has been plenty of warning from those who actually know how the Internet works that the bill poses a grave technical threat to the Internet -- when it isn't busy violating the First Amendment. The bill creates a censorship blacklist for any site vaguely deemed "dedicated to infringing activity," a government definition that has already included legitimate businesses.

Opposition to this bill has exploded in recent weeks, yet well-lobbied lawmakers seem intentionally deaf to the clamor. Companies like eBay, Google and even AT&T have voiced concerns about the bill, and today the EFF sent a letter to Congress written by 83 prominent inventors and engineers including TCP/IP co-creator Vint Cerf (now with Google), BIND author Paul Vixie, OpenDNS CEO David Ulevitch, and many more. In it, the tech exports make it clear this bill is bad policy on numerous levels:

quote:
The current bills -- SOPA explicitly and PIPA implicitly -- also threaten engineers who build Internet systems or offer services that are not readily and automatically compliant with censorship actions by the U.S. government. When we designed the Internet the first time, our priorities were reliability, robustness and minimizing central points of failure or control. We are alarmed that Congress is so close to mandating censorship-compliance as a design requirement for new Internet innovations. This can only damage the security of the network, and give authoritarian governments more power over what their citizens can read and publish.
The effort to begin filtering the Internet comes as the U.S. government lectures other governments on filtering the Internet. The House of Representatives Judiciary Committee met for a bill mark up session today (live stream here as it's still ongoing), and so far have voted down an Amendment that would have improved some of the more foul free speech implications found in the bill. If all goes well for the entertainment industry, the bill should quickly proceed to a House vote where it sees significant bi-partisan support among well-lobbied lawmakers.

Some additional reading on SOPA:

• Former DHS Assistant Secretary Stewart Baker says SOPA a disaster for cybersecurity.

• An exploration of how the entertainment industry has lobbied the bill forward using the usual assortment of bribes, distortions about piracy's impact on jobs, and astroturf -- while ignoring that the entertainment industry's failure to adapt is the biggest problem.

• Brad Burnham, a managing partner at Union Square Ventures, explains clearly how SOPA breaks the Internet.

• A piece on the ever-spinning revolving door that notes that there are sixteen former Judiciary Committee staffers currently lobbying over copyright issues.
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gorehound
join:2009-06-19
Portland, ME

gorehound

Member

Hope they reap what they have sown

I am hoping that these people in Washington get exactly what they truly deserve.I am disgusted at the whole drama.
What a bunch of real assholes ! I will be willing to March On Washington over this and hope millions of others do it.Once the public realize what has been done I hope the worst for these corrupt politicians who would sell our Freedom for a buck.

I will also be making sure that not one red cent of mine ever goes to supporting any TV Show or Movie,etc I may enjoy.At this point I will be a lot happier knowing their whole Industry goes down the tubes.I will not allow myself to feel any sympathy in any way for the RIAA or MPAA.

Go To The Hell You Deserve !!!
firedrakes
join:2009-01-29
Arcadia, FL

1 recommendation

firedrakes

Member

Re: Hope they reap what they have sown

freedom. why say we have it be in truth. we not had it since 9/11

WhywouldI
@lee.net

WhywouldI to gorehound

Anon

to gorehound
To be honest i for one will drop my internet if they decide to pass a bill like this what's the point of paying to be able to go online if anything i want to do is deemed infringement to This shit gov but that is my opinion
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

1 recommendation

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Censor the censors!

I have an idea that just might get these morons' attention. Someone should locate the IP ranges of all the computers used in Congressional offices and publish that info. Then, every single Webmaster and sysadmin should deny those IP's access to the sites they control. Either redirect them to a Web site explaining why they're being blocked or simply drop their connections and make them figure it out for themselves. And leave it that way until these bills are dead. Make the Internet go dark for these wannabe fascists.

That'll drive the point home.

What say ye?
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: Censor the censors!

id laugh if in protest the major bandwidth carriers shut the government off for say an hour.

the look at the government buildings when they cant login to their facebook accounts would be quite humorous.

Carriers could just claim they had to refresh their routers to be SOPA compliant and that it can happen randomly now at any time. government officials are too dumb to know there is no need to flash the firmware of a router to let them comply with SOPA so they would take it at face value.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

1 recommendation

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Re: Censor the censors!

Unfortunately, the carriers won't do it because they're getting paid by the feds for those connections, and deliberately turning them off would certainly be a violation of their contracts. However, sites like Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, DSLR, and a multitude of others are under no such obligation. They can pull the plug whenever they like and leave it that way for as long as they like.

If FB, Google, Wikipedia, Yahoo, and Microsoft (including Hotmail) blocked access, you'd see an immediate reaction. Throw in sports and porn sites, and you'd hear the howls of protest a mile away.
Wilsdom
join:2009-08-06

1 recommendation

Wilsdom

Member

Re: Censor the censors!

Since the feds can seize domains for any reason, internet companies have to remain docile. Blocking access to communication infrastructure could even be declared an act of "cyberwar", which puts drone strikes or at least lifetime incarceration without trial on the table.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

Re: Censor the censors!

I think that, should the feds start seizing domains because the sites aren't accessible to them, you'd see an uproar like you've never seen before. You'd also see the lawsuits fly fast and furious.

In short, ain't gonna happen.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd to ISurfTooMuch

Premium Member

to ISurfTooMuch
Oh Oh I know a good one, claim the websites of multiple letter agencies infringe your copyrights!. oh that would be a Riot if some Anon pranksters could get ICE to seize Whitehouse.gov.
TurtleFan
join:2003-05-03
Wyckoff, NJ

TurtleFan to ISurfTooMuch

Member

to ISurfTooMuch
I actually like this idea.....No way in hell the public would stand for the feds taking over google because they did an internet version of protesting. There's got to be some way for the public to fight back that actually works. Anyone who thinks Washington works for the people anymore is a maroon...
old_wiz_60
join:2005-06-03
Bedford, MA

old_wiz_60

Member

"well lobbied"

translation: getting big bribes. The entertainment industry knows that Congressmen need the money to fund attack ads on candidates who are not being bribed. Never ceases to amaze me how blatant Congressmen are receiving bribes.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: "well lobbied"

Lobbying has never been anything else than legalized bribery of a public official.

Cat Scratch
join:2005-06-27

Cat Scratch

Member

Buddy, can you spare a dime?

Maybe if those "83 prominent inventors and engineers" pony up some cash like the folks of MAFFIA they'll get heard. Otherwise it's doom and gloom for the rest of us.

HI HI HI
@on.ca

HI HI HI

Anon

Google should play hard ball

Google should shut their search engine, and every other service they offer ( for free ) for a week in protest.

Lets see how long it takes for the wake up call once everyones favourite search engine goes dark.

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: Google should play hard ball

shutdown youtube, facebook, reddit, etc etc.

Cjaiceman
MVM
join:2004-10-12
Castle Rock, WA
(Software) pfSense
Ubiquiti UniFi UAP-AC-PRO

Cjaiceman

MVM

Re: Google should play hard ball

I would support these companies if they decided to shut down for a week protesting SOPA, and to give the internet an idea of what it would be like if this bill passes. They should leave contact info for anyone related to passing this in the government so that all the angry people would contact them and they would be forced to re-think this.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch to ArrayList

Member

to ArrayList
As I said above, these sites should block the IP ranges of all Congressional computers. If enough sites do it, they'll essentially be cut off from the Internet, at least the most-used parts of it.

Naturally, there are ways around this, using VPN's, proxy servers, or reassigned IP's, but I suspect that the IT folks there aren't any happier about SOPA than any other tech folks, so setting up these workarounds might take some time (wink wink, nudge nudge), and you never can tell what unpleasant side effects they might cause. For example, if IT were to route traffic through a VPN so it is coming from a different IP, that might break their intranet, which may expect to see connections coming from another IP. That problem can be solved, but it will require even more time and tweaking.

But watching the resulting chaos and hand-wringing would certainly be fun.

Dominokat
"Hi"
Premium Member
join:2002-08-06
Boothbay, ME

Dominokat

Premium Member

SOPA running TV ads

I was watching CNN news and "Creative America" ie: SOPA/ Protect IP was running ads for us to call Congress to protect American ingenuity, creativeness, jobs, etc.
Yea... I'll get right on that.

(I can't find the ad, but here is a blog about it.)

»billboushka.blogspot.com ··· -to.html

thedragonmas
Premium Member
join:2007-12-28
Albany, GA

thedragonmas

Premium Member

Re: SOPA running TV ads

i saw that same ad on MSNBC, and i just thought gee i wonder how many of those jobs could be saved if they didnt pay the mafiaa?
chgo_man99
join:2010-01-01
Sunnyvale, CA

chgo_man99

Member

Its been happening in Europe already

in countries like France where they try to fight either with illegal porn or illegal downloads.
88615298 (banned)
join:2004-07-28
West Tenness

88615298 (banned)

Member

even if this passes

the lawsuit that will come about will prevent this from becoming law until it's heard by the Supreme Court which will take years. COPA passed and was signed into law by Clinton. It never actually became law beause the Supreme Court overturned it.
ISurfTooMuch
join:2007-04-23
Tuscaloosa, AL

ISurfTooMuch

Member

One SOPA side effect I bet no one has considered

One thing SOPA will do that I haven't seen mentioned is effectively block access to most foreign streaming radio stations. While they aren't infringing in their own countries, unless they're paying fees to ASCAP, BMI, and SESAC, they will be considered infringing here, and you can believe that the music industry, the NAB, and the big radio conglomerates will go after them with a vengeance.
Kearnstd
Space Elf
Premium Member
join:2002-01-22
Mullica Hill, NJ

Kearnstd

Premium Member

Re: One SOPA side effect I bet no one has considered

I would not be shocked at all. I mean ASCAP goes to the level of what would be mafia thugs when it comes to collecting royalties. Mom&Pop store playing a CD, they can bet the shakedown squad will show up one day.

And honestly I bet there are many small business owners out there that do not even know that the ASCAP Goonsquad can show up one day and demand protection money.
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

1 recommendation

Mr Matt

Member

Re: One SOPA side effect I bet no one has considered

Actually you are correct. The Copyright law does not require a copyright holder to send a cease and desist letter before demanding payment for using copyrighted material. Basically it is a legal extortion or shakedown. The copyright laws are so broad that businesses have been shaken down for playing copyrighted songs on their telephone system music on hold. Most business owners simply pay the blackmail and write it off as a business expense.

I personally know of a small restaurant that received a demand letter for a substantial payment for connecting a tuner to their paging system for background music. Under copyright law that is considered rebroadcasting. Fortunately for the restaurant owner he had a lawyer for a customer. The attorney sent a letter that squashed the copyright holders demand.

The attorney reviewed the copyright law and found a loophole in the law. If a business plays copyrighted music, through a radio's internal speaker it is perfectly legal. There is no copyright violation. The restaurant owner installed two shelves and placed radios on the two shelves which provided background music, legally.

If you would like to read more about why you do not hear more complaints from ASCAP read the article below as written in the New York Times in 1996:

»www.nytimes.com/1996/12/ ··· -it.html

The feces hit the fan after ASCAP shook down the Girl Scouts and it became a story in a major newspaper. The most bizarre part about this dispute is that Irving Berlin, the composer of the song God Bless America, was so proud of being an American Citizen, he designated that all income derived from the copyright for God Bless America, be donated to the Girl and Boy Scouts of America.

Whenever ASCAP gets involved in a copyright dispute, some reporter will remind consumers of the above issue and basically tell ASCAP to shove their demand up their Rosy Red Rectum. ASCAP uses the RIAA as their enforcer.
Arty50
Premium Member
join:2003-10-04

Arty50

Premium Member

Re: One SOPA side effect I bet no one has considered

In one of my old jobs, I got a letter from SESAC demanding that we start making royalty payments to them. This letter also stated that out of sheer kindness, they were going to waive back payments as long as we started paying up ASAP.

They claimed that we owed them money since we ran a live music venue. So I called them up and asked them to name an artist that they represent who has played in our venue. They couldn't, but their retort was that "someone at sometime has PROBABLY played a song by one of their artists and thus we still owed them." I asked them to prove that this occurred. Once again, the reply was "We can't, but you still owe us. And if you don't pay up, you'll be hearing from our attorney."

It's extortion, pure and simple.
Mr Matt
join:2008-01-29
Eustis, FL

Mr Matt

Member

Re: One SOPA side effect I bet no one has considered

Actually I remember a business that had paid for what they thought was copyright free music, for their music on hold system. Apparently although the Prague Symphony performed the music so that there was no performance copyright. The company that provided the music included one song that the music provider did not know had a composition copyright and the copyright control agency tried to shake the business down over that one song. The business owner had a lawyer on retainer and the whole situation turned into a three way with the business suing the company that provided the music and the copyright control agency demanding payment from the business. Before the matter was resolved the company I was with reorganized and the business in question was assigned to a different office. I never learned of the outcome.

mythology
Premium Member
join:2002-10-16
Seneca, SC

1 edit

1 recommendation

mythology

Premium Member

Death of the last free press.

The Constitution was written for the days that we are now living.
Armed revolution or enslavement is the only way out.

People have a reason to revolt and its only a matter of time until it happens. Our country has been hijacked by treasonous greedy men and they will not give it up without bloodshed or until every last one of us is starving begging for food.

The internet is our last form of uncontrolled and uncensored free press. Corporations own EVERY form of mass media.

The simple fact is people need to wake up. You no longer have real choice. You no longer have rights and no longer live in a free society..... The government OWNS you.

1st Protects the freedom of religion, speech, and the press, as well as the right to assemble and petition the government - Gone, Gone and Gone

2nd Protects the right to bear arms- Gone in some states, Fast and Furious anyone?

3rd Prohibits the forced quartering of soldiers out of war time -Gone. We are now at war even in America, Martial law has been legalized, see »bit.ly/uPhAef

4th Prohibits unreasonable searches and seizures and sets out requirements for search warrants based on probable cause-Gone

5th Sets out rules for indictment by grand jury and eminent domain, protects the right to due process, and prohibits self-incrimination and double jeopardy-Gone, see Eminent domain etc

6th Protects the right to a fair and speedy public trial by jury, including the rights to be notified of the accusations, to confront the accuser, to obtain witnesses and to retain counsel-Gone, again see NDAA 1033 or Patriot Act

7th Provides for the right to trial by jury in certain civil cases, according to common law-Gone, NDAA 1033 - We are now in martial law. You can be arrested, detained and killed with no reason given and no recourse

8th Prohibits excessive fines and excessive bail, as well as cruel and unusual punishment -Gone - See War on Drugs etc

9th Asserts the existence of unenumerated rights retained by the people-Gone

10th Limits the powers of the federal government to those delegated to it by the Constitution -Gone, The Constitution is suspended, Null and void by those above

i1me2ao
Premium Member
join:2001-03-03
TEXAS

1 edit

i1me2ao

Premium Member

IcE DiReCtOr

has a hard on for piracy and is going full steam ahead regardless because :

piracy puts people out of work.

something needs to be done because this is like stealing from a store.

from the article i get he has a hard on for piracy but i believe this is a stepping stone because he is gunning for top dog eventually and will leave a trail of destruction behind him.

»thehill.com/business-a-l ··· n-piracy
i1me2ao

i1me2ao

Premium Member

petition

»stopcensorship.org/
Rekrul
join:2007-04-21
Milford, CT

Rekrul

Member

If SOPA passes...

It will shut down 100 million web sites and put 4 billion people out of work.

Hey, look at that! I can pull numbers out of my ass just like the entertainment industry!
buddasahn
join:2000-11-27
Brecksville, OH

buddasahn

Member

"Internet Inventors"???

It's so good to hear Al Gore speak again....is he running for president too???

Noah Vail
Oh God please no.
Premium Member
join:2004-12-10
SouthAmerica

1 edit

Noah Vail

Premium Member

I know which side The Press is on

Judging by the amount of substantive coverage the press is giving SOPA (almost none), I'd guess the press has already cast their vote.

Can we figure out who will give the press a massive chunk of advertising cash; over the next year?

It's Politicians and Political Groups - most of whom side w/ SOPA interests.

An illustration of Press Priorities:
In parts of Florida, NPR ran a Soros Funded (and largely disingenuous) hit piece on charter schools today.
Judging by the big ramp-up, it was a hugely important piece of journalism for them.

In the last couple of weeks:
How much time did NPR spend on covering SOPA in any sort of meaningful way?
Almost none. There were a couple of brief mentions but nothing that would actually educate anyone.

What's important to FL NPR?
1) Ending Florida Charter schools
and
2) you not understanding what SOPA is really about.

I've spent a lot of time talking up NPR news - especially to other conservatives.

But at the end of the day we're wiser if we understand that NO major journalism entity is working for us.

Don't believe it? Follow the (advertising/endowment) money and see for yourself.

NV
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

iMaGiNe

Back in the day..

Imagine if content companies asked if they can censor dialup internet connections by cutting off your phone line because you could donwload mp3s (for free) back in the days of dialup internet. This idea was met with a "are you out of your god damned mind" back then, as it should be now..

anon7
@comcast.net

anon7

Anon

SOPA

It seems they really want the bill to pass and they want it to pass as fast as it can.
TurtleFan
join:2003-05-03
Wyckoff, NJ

TurtleFan

Member

Re: SOPA

Maybe a good idea to send a message to the MPAA and RIAA, who almost never get mentioned in stories like this as being behind the bill odly enough, is to do the following.

Why don't we arrange a 'avoid the movies week'? For instance, for two days, absolutely no one who is against sopa would go see, say, Batman The Dark Knight... If the movie makes $10,000 on opening day, that would send a strong message .