SOPA: So what can the rest of the world do about it?!

[Cowabungaa]

Basically we have to build our own part of internet and leave the Americans out of it. Our own search engines to replace Google, etc.

Or, and I think that this is more likely, all those companies will get out of the United States and settle down in friendlier havens like the European Union, despite it's financial trouble, or South/South-East Asia.

Good point. But now youtube is owned by Google, and they have a lotta money backing them up, so I'm sure if the public doesn't stop the SOPA bill, Google will.

Honestly, that thought scares me too, that it would only take a certain amount of money to directly influence legislation. Sure, with the whole lobby spiel going on, which is just a neat word for bribery, it's already a lot like that, but if it would get that obvious...no thanks.

 

[Mau95]

Its happening! Protect-IP bill is gonna kill Facebook! Its all the work of Anonymous! 5th of november but on a different date! NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!

 

[SenseOfTumour]

They keep poking around, trying to find some way to get all the paupers offline in the UK too.

If only they can restrict the internet to the chosen few in Britain, and finish off destroying the education system and close all the libraries, while allowing the right wing media to print bullshit on a daily basis, then Cameron can look forward to an extremely thick, uneducated populace who'll happily vote him in forever.

Ok, perhaps I'm exaggerating.

However, I sure as hell don't trust any of em not to fuck us over in the UK, in terms of blocks, national firewalls, cutting families off from the internet completely, etc.

The original version of the UK law was going to be '3 accusations of copyright infringement would mean a lifetime ban from internet use.'

My suggestion to counter that was we all writer a letter to our local MP accusing them of copyright infringment. See if every politician in the UK thinks it's fair to punish without a trial.

 

[jonyboy13]

I think the US Government is about to bite a hornet's nest in half.

And that nest can't be pepper-sprayed this time.

I really don't see the hackers taking this bill politely. Lulz are bound to happen either way.

Why'd you change the pic? Hard to recognize the awesome comments now.

I've got to write a 50,000 word novel by the end of November. Having that there reminds me not to keep procrastinating. The cat will be back soon

50k, damn. By the power granting me by various imaginary friends, I hereby confiscate your computer.

 

[kiwi_poo]

see, this is what happens when you centralize stuff.
Anyways the UN will be all up in this shit due to human rights and all that.
Unfortunatly the UN barely has any power.

I say we Europeans go in and "liberate" the US, show 'em that they're not the world's police. /joke

 

[CrystalShadow]

I'm outside the US, but I'm pretty sure this would screw over everyone else too.

Aside from creating a precedent that other countries might try and copy, there are a lot of other issues.

Anyone with a .com .org or .net domain name is subject to a US domain registration, regardless of where they're based.

Sites owned by US companies would either have to enforce US law worldwide, or segregate the US from the rest of the world. (and even then they'd have to segregate their business sufficiently to be able to say that their international operations are completely independent of their mainland US ones, or face hell.)

Sites outside the US could easily be blocked from being accessible from the US. And vice versa.

Basically, assuming no other country copies the US in doing this, it's going to split the internet into US and Non-US, and make interaction across that border quite challenging.

 

[ElPatron]

I don't think this bill is enforceable; you can't strong arm something that exists in a different country because of your personal laws. Just like you can't send a US police officer to Germany to arrest someone for doing something that is illegal in the US, so you can't force a website that exists in another country to shut down for breaking a US law.

That's not the point. ISPs in the US will be forced to shut down access to servers with that content. They don't have to control the outside, they just make a barricade.

 

[IndianaJonny]

I think this video best sums up how best it will affect the non-american users:

http://vimeo.com/31100268

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the Rise of Orwellian culture.

ARE YOU SHITTING ME? (Thanks for posting that vid, seriously) All the proposed censorship can be circumnavigated simply by typing in the IP address of a website rather than it's name, so [the practicality of] downloading won't be affected?

The irony of this 'Protect IP' bill is crushing.

 

[Something Amyss]

they can only stop any website based in the US

They've stretched jurisdiction over the internet before, and this would give them more power to do the same again.

 

[Sir Shockwave]

ARE YOU SHITTING ME? (Thanks for posting that vid, seriously) All the proposed censorship can be circumnavigated simply by typing in the IP address of a website rather than it's name, so [the practicality of] downloading won't be affected?

The irony of this 'Protect IP' bill is crushing.

That's as far as I know about the Bill. It's not just America that's going to feel the consequences.

 

[ProtoChimp]

How can the UK help stop this shite. I know Americans can contact their MP (not sure what it's called in the US, congressman I think?) but how can anyone outside the USA help stop this fucking nazi law?