Jimquisition: Sony, Nintendo, EA and SOPA

[Harveypot]

this could be against the law.... ;'( so can this



I mean don't take this away. Ugg. wow this is such a touchy topic.

NOOOOOOOOOO! TOBY! I'm off to sign the petition as many times as I can.

 

[jessegeek]

Insanity and stupidity of the highest order. One of the greatest things about the internet is how it raises none-cynical (ie none company-spread) buzz for a product that might have otherwise been overlooked. Cheers Jim, I live in the UK so didn't know a lot about this, and am now researching it so I can spread the word.

Also, jeez; just how much to big gaming companies want to lock themselves away in a glass tower away from their audience and ignore everything they want?

 

[Stammer]

It's not even "just could", it WILL shut down sites like The Escapist. The Escapist's heads could all go to jail for 5 years for even so much as mentioning the name "Gears of War". If someone even so much as hums Epona's Song from Ocarina of Time on a web site, THEY COULD GO TO PRISON FOR FIVE YEARS

(That's my understanding of this anyway)

I'm not an American, but my whole life is on the internet. Everything on the internet: Newgrounds, YouTube, Wikipedia, The Escapist, ThatGuyWithTheGlasses, GameSpot, whatever the hell you actually visit will shut down in fear of persecution. I like Skype too, but if that's all that's going to be left after this thing goes through...

 

[Sir Prize]

Wow....why would any sane goverment pass such a load of bs?
I'm hoping this won't get passed like many others here. I live in England and other than writing a status on it on Facebook, what can I do?

 

[SinisterGehe]

It is funny how capitalism uses capitalism to destroy capitalism. I am sure big companies will be crying to have this removed when they realize it hurts their sales... Or just move to Europe in which this doesn't apply. They can only sensor American sites and content owned by companies that are registered inside USA. Escapist move your servers to Finland, we have good rules and we pay for Internet connection's speed instead of it's bandwitch. Also we have punch of rules that could protect you.

Thank whatever deity destined me to live in the freedom of Finland and Europe. Which ironically is quite free at the end of the day. America, Land of the free, land of the brave... Yeah what a joke. Be brave enough to be free and you get your ass shipped to jail marked with a iron branding of "A very, very bad boy or a girl (To be politically correct)" And I mean the whole quote.

 

[The White Hunter]

Wow. Well we all knew EA were evil but this evil? Oh well, Battlefield 3 is still fun. Very little chance of it passing really but if it does I mean really wtf. Surely if just everyone ignored it, they cant imprison everyone? And realistically that would do fuck all in other countries, I'm doubtful the FBI can come and arrest a german bloke for a live-stream for example, at least not without causing very angry germans.

 

[The White Hunter]

Also: America, land of the stupid, home of the whopper.

[Note: Aware not all americans are stupid, but you guys do have some really shining examples of it]

 

[The White Hunter]

I don't live in the USA so I don't give a fuck.

Moving abroad wouldn't help much if "SOPA" or "Protect IP" is passed in congress. One of the provisions of the bills is that overseas websites can be blocked entirely from the USA if they violate copyright, so they can't reach American audiences one way or the other. I don't think companies like Google could afford to move abroad if they still can't get users in America. It's just too big a percentage of their traffic.

If any of these bullshit corporate copyright laws get passed, It will effect everyone everywhere, and not for the better. Anyone who supports free speech and free information on the web, anyone who doesn't want to see the entire internet censored needs to oppose these bills.

Sounds like something the chinese would pass.

 

[Poisoned Al]

Ah America, land of the free.

 

[warfjm]

I can't re-post this video because of all the expletives.

 

[Spaceparanoid42]

Sounds like something the chinese would pass.

Tell me about it. I could see this kind of censorship law being made in China or North Korea or something, but to have it being seriously considered in the USA is really appalling. Weren't we supposed to represent freedom and liberty? Why the hell are we about to pass something that goes so fundamentally against what we supposedly stand for? America has a lot of issues right now, but this... this is just disgusting.

 

[winter2]

The way Jimbo described it makes it sound absurd. Is it really correct?

 

[maiiau]

How would this effect sites based elsewhere?

...couldnt you just move your business... somehow... if this only effects america?

Nope. The law also gives those corporations the ability to force an ISP to block sites with infringing content that come from outside the US.

Bullshit. America is passing a bill that lets it force companies in other countries to shut down their sites?

What a load of baloney. I could open a gameplay streaming website hosted internationally and they wouldn't be able to do fuck all about it.

They would be able to block anyone in the US from seeing it.

 

[mrF00bar]

I'm in the UK and I can see how this would effect me, if there is anything I could do to actually impact the chances of this going through I really would. Are there petitions I can sign or something even though I'm in the UK?

 

[The White Hunter]

Sounds like something the chinese would pass.

Tell me about it. I could see this kind of censorship law being made in China or North Korea or something, but to have it being seriously considered in the USA is really appalling. Weren't we supposed to represent freedom and liberty? Why the hell are we about to pass something that goes so fundamentally against what we supposedly stand for? America has a lot of issues right now, but this... this is just disgusting.

I know right, I'm not an expert on american law or anything, I've never even been there let alone lived there but don't you guys have some consitution that american TV likes to bang on about or something? Y'know, that free speech thing which lets you say what you think of things and so on. Buggered if I know.

Limey man, away!

 

[DigitalSushi]

I don't live in the USA so I don't give a fuck.

It has a far wider reaching audience than just the USA, I don't think you realise the implications involved if this bill goes through.

The way its worded now, all the Lets Play video's you might be watching... not allowed. The Mighty Hutch of Machina fame, not allowed, etc. etc.

 

[w00tage]

Wow. There's a lot of these. I'm betting that we have a bunch of Washington lobbyists + lawyers who have "come to a common agreement about the best way to protect our clients" and are pushing these kinds of bills all over.

The subject has a solid sales pitch - "fight IP thievery", "protect your business" etc., and it will spawn a new billable for both lobbyists and the legal industry. Add in the "successes" of the RIAA (in which lots of lawyers got paid for suing lots of people who couldn't pay) and it becomes pretty clear that the main beneficiaries will be lobbyists and lawyers. Again.

 

[w00tage]

Sounds like something the chinese would pass.

Tell me about it. I could see this kind of censorship law being made in China or North Korea or something, but to have it being seriously considered in the USA is really appalling. Weren't we supposed to represent freedom and liberty? Why the hell are we about to pass something that goes so fundamentally against what we supposedly stand for? America has a lot of issues right now, but this... this is just disgusting.

I know right, I'm not an expert on american law or anything, I've never even been there let alone lived there but don't you guys have some consitution that american TV likes to bang on about or something? Y'know, that free speech thing which lets you say what you think of things and so on. Buggered if I know.

Limey man, away!

No, that's pretty much just about protesting government actions. You can't say anything bad about anyone else or any business or it's slander, libel or worse against you. And Fair Use has been under attack both via IP rights claims and via legal subterfuge (DMCA) so that media industries can resell the same content to you over and over at full price, even though your first purchase is supposed to transfer a license to view it in perpetuity.

So no, no such luck on the whole "rights" thing. This is more the Competing Assortment of Oligarchies than the United States of America these days.