What to do if SOPA hits.

[Maveroid]

Funny...
... Let's stop the influence of the SOPA bill by doing exactly what the SOPA bill does, censoring the internet for certain users..
And then you play better-than-american by just saying "Its stupid America, its their fault, so let's block them"

Perfect solution *clap clap* Salutes to you, my friend.

Peace and Harmony in the world is actively being promoted, I see.

By the way, I am from Germany (in case I sound too pro-american for us nice arrogant europeans' taste)
Let me remind you that Germany is banning stuff left and right and they are trying to do similar stuff as we speak. In fact, the idea itself has come to life in our oh-so-holy lands. We haven't been anonymous on the internet for a while now.

But who cares, right? Let's just block Americans, that will do fine!

Don't worry, if the SOPA bill passes, it won't be there for long. I doubt it will pass, but then again,... Bush got elected twice when everyone hated him.

 

[Drenaje1]

Yep. We're all developing contingency plans, I see. As for myself, well, there's nothing I can do, besides hope that a majority of the people who run our country are actually smart enough to stop stupid shit like this from happening. And I know that that's not going to help me. My government is terrible. They don't represent the people, they represent corporate interests. But whatever! Maybe a 1950's style how-do-you America with no internet might be a fun thing for a while. At least until our pesky 14 trillion dollar debt pops up again.

 

[ianeddy44]

The NDAA and SOPA are being passed around the same time. I wrote a big 15-page paper about this, and there's a lot more to it but basically... There are plenty of disturbing trends, especially the NDAA and SOPA, that suggest that the US is pretty much throwing its heritage to the wind. I mean really. This cannot end well.

 

[IamLEAM1983]

I'm Canadian so what I'll have to say probably doesn't count for much (until Steven Harper decides to troll the masses and to whip up SOPA's Canuck clone), but I imagine SOPA won't have too much of an effect, even in the US. Going around despite DNS blocking is quite possible, and the targeted sites that'll have some sort political and public acumen are going to be up in arms about the bill.

I just don't see Google and YouTube kowtowing to shit like this, even if I'm pretty sure Microsoft is already bent over, fully lubed and ready to take it. Either the Silicon Valley falls apart and the IT investors realize they made a derp even as the American economy goes further down the crapper - or hacktivism gets cranked up to eleven and we start hearing about various pseudo-legal ways to bypass the bill. I'm fully expecting Anonymous to be willing and able to massively troll with Washington, just to get the message across.

Unfortunately, the bill's backed by folks that don't know the first thing about computers, the infrastructure of networks or the Internet in general. They're seeing us as a bunch of tryhards, whining little Liberals who've been raised in a system of systematic and accepted theft. Or something like that. So, well, they're feeling all righteous and shit.

Any way the wind's gonna blow, things are going to change. That much is obvious. The best case is the entertainment majors realizing they have no sway over the Internet no matter how hard they try, while the worst involves the US virtual shores turning into some sort of policed state. Then they'll keep saying they're not like China, even if they block sites arbitrarily judged as infringing SOPA.

Then, of course, the Deep Web becomes more crowded, or private networks begin to emerge on US soil.

 

[rayen020]

i'm not going to change anything,i will be sad though because i'm going to have to move out of the united states.

 

[chiefohara]

Not keen on this SOPA thing at all, i don't pirate but i do like seeing the internet take the respective piss out of everything. Satire is an important part of life, and satire for all its debauchery can be good for a product. I played wow for two years because of the south park episode that mocked it mercilessly.

Also not all that keen on movie/game/book websites turning into complete lick arses so they don't get take down for 'copyright' infringements because of a bad review.

Anything that limits freedom of information be it pulp or something important im generally not all that keen on at all at all and im surprised that its the Americans of all people who are pushing this forward. Time to get a bit more politically active lads...

Stopping piracy fair enough, but this legislation seems to be cutting off its nose to spite its face. Its like draining the sea to stop the Somalian pirates and then wondering why the other ships aren't working.

 

[Edible Avatar]

And this is what tor [https://www.torproject.org/] is for.

If SOPA passes I'm going to set myself to using tor exclusively, the government can go fuck itself if it thinks it can stop me from going where I damned well please online.

Good link, i'll have to use that.
Personally, i use the humble proxy: [link]https://proxify.com/[/link]

 

[chiefohara]

I would laugh at you americans a bit more... Then I would get on with my life.

Snip

with google and facebook etc, this thing is guaranteed to go to the supreme court and hopefully the first ammendment will squash this nasty little bit of legislation.

 

[DazBurger]

Don't know if to be exited or scared.

People probably know all of the bad points.. But on the plus side, it could be a potential goldmine for us Europeans, especially Denmark, The Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, as we already have enormous server-farms and a long history for refusing to censor anything.

 

[thahat]

A situation like that? Only one thing TO do- give up. "It's just the Internet", they'll say. "Stop being such a nerd and get a life", they'll say. "Maybe you'll finally get some time outside", and so on. It's pretty damn hard to seem respectable and sincere when you're bitching about how you can't watch/download what you want on the Internet.

Isn't that kind of one of the main points of the Internet, you can watch or download whatever you want, and reasonably fast to boot?

But that' the thing, it's just the Internet. The stuff that's "still important" (read: able to be used by companies and business, such as email, file servers, etc) will still be intact. But all that nerdy geeky shit that doesn't matter such as games and videos and whatever will be the only things affected, and lawmakers just really don't seem to care about that.

you missed a bit there saysing $$$revenue. all that 'geeky shit' is what in effect pays for the internet. or large parts of it, by being popular, and thus getting commercials, commercial people pay the geeky shit hosters, who pay server parks, who thus have more busyness, who can now have economies of scale, which lowers the prices, which makes mailservers offer better quality for the same amount of spam/advertisement. and this is only the first few effects i can think of XD

And do you HONESTLY think that anyone in any of the branches of government has put even a single scrap of thought into this bill? They're just showing where their true allegiances lie and are bending over to the corporations. Which was bound to happen at some point, I suppose. I just wish that it wasn't now.

nope! i think their hair brain idiots. also known as the vast mayority of americans XD (dont see this as flame bait, everyone knows the entire WORLD is filled with idiots, my own country no exception., netherlands btw )

 

[DocBalance]

We start the...erm...Sopacloaks, and rebel against the evil empire. True, thousands of angered nerds wearing blue curtains, weilding foam swords, and screaming "fu ro dah" at a load of bewildered rubber bullet happy police officers may not be that effective, but it might send a message, or at the very least, be a very interesting afternoon.

This man is a genius, I propose we make him our leader.

 

[Fayathon]

And this is what tor [https://www.torproject.org/] is for.

This sounds almost a little too appealing. Any risks from downloading this?

Only if you delve into the parts that house illegal shit, beyond that, no.

 

[Fayathon]

And this is what tor [https://www.torproject.org/] is for.

If SOPA passes I'm going to set myself to using tor exclusively, the government can go fuck itself if it thinks it can stop me from going where I damned well please online.

Good link, i'll have to use that.
Personally, i use the humble proxy: [link]https://proxify.com/[/link]

Difference being that tor, when used properly, completely masks you. Proxies are nice, tor is nicer.

 

[Rule Britannia]

Surely there will be some way to get around it It's a computer it can do ANYTHING.
[*cough Anonymous *cough* do something drastic *cough*]?

 

[Meshakhad_v1legacy]

Nuke Hollywood.

 

[Sparrow]

You know what I hate most about SOPA? That acronym. I keep typing 'SOAP' accidentally. My friends keep getting messages from me like "Fuck soap, I don't support it's use!"

On a more serious note, if SOPA does hit I can't see it being around for long. Right now all the housewives who support it are thinking "Yeah! Show it to them pirates!", but when it hits it'll be more like "WHY CAN'T I ACCESS MY FARMVILLE ACCOUNT?!"

 

[Alphakirby]

Nuke Hollywood.

Firstly, genius, nuke what America loves the most to get it's brain to turn on and shut this damn bill down.

Secondly, add more to your post before the admins get you.

 

[Blackout62]

Assumedly someone will just petition for a repeal of SOPA if it passes giving provocation for if not repeal then a deeper look at the bill and potential amending.

 

[spartan231490]

Yeah, btw, no website is going to put a blanket block on the nation that consumes as much as, and has a population as big as the USA. It's a bad business move.

I find it interesting that we're talking about this and one of the latest content posts is "Sweden Formally Recognizes Piracy as Religion". Anyways...

Actually, if SOPA DOES pass, I agree it will be repealed within days. Hell, to keep it from passing, all one has to say to Congress is this:

"The way SOPA is worded right now, I cannot say ANYTHING about any copyrighted work, good or bad, because the act will punish me for doing so...which I feel is a violation of MY civil rights! In fact it is so badly worded, SOPA might actually make it possible to punish a child for wearing a costume of his favorite cartoon character!"

I very seriously doubt that the SOPA would be repealed if it passes. And I strongly suspect that it will pass. This act may screw most people, but politicians don't give a shit. They're bought and payed for by the corporations that this act empowers.