We Don't Need SOPA Because DMCA Is Already Broken Enough | Geekosystem
The main DMCA principle that SOPA and PIPA are building on is the takedown request. Under DMCA, anybody – anybody – can file a takedown request claiming that something on the Internet falls under their copyright and needs to be removed from wherever it is, typically YouTube. That’s all fine and dandy — good even — the problem is that there are no repercussions for filing a bogus takedown request, something that happens all the time.
Freakonomics: Piracy Costs the Economy $200 B. a Year? ‘These Figures Were Made Up Out of Thin Air’ | Betabeat — News, gossip and intel from Silicon Alley 2.0.
In 2010, the Government Accountability Office released a report noting that these figures “cannot be substantiated or traced back to an underlying data source or methodology,” which is polite government-speak for “these figures were made up out of thin air.” More recently, the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) placed the number at $58 billion; but that reporter is methodologically flawed, Mr. Sanchez and tech journalist Tim Lee have deconstructed, and is guilty of double-counting with results that “swell the estimate of piracy losses considerably.” But those numbers are wrong, the authors say, citing a breakdown by the Cato Institute’s Julian Sanchez. So, how much is piracy hurting us? “At this point, we simply don’t know,” say the Freakonomists.
Where not otherwise specified, this work is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution. Boing Boing is a trademark of Happy Mutants LLC in the United States and other countries. SOPA Opera Update: Opposition Surges
How the Internet blackout affected congressional support for PIPA/SOPA - Boing Boing
This treaty is SOPA and PIPA on steroids globally censoring the public world wide. They are allowed to negotiate in secret and force other countries into implementing file sharing policies with a 3 strikes you’re out practice while net filtering. Opponents are critical saying ACTA’s removal of “legal safeguards that protect Internet Service Providers from liability for the actions of their subscribers” in effect giving ISPs no option but to comply with privacy invasions.
Meet ACTA; It’s SOPA and PIPA on steroids, the Global Edition – FreakOutNation
The Sopa blackout protest makes history | Amy Goodman | Comment is free | guardian.co.uk
Sopa Internet © 2012 Amy Goodman; distributed by King Features Syndicate
In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, this material is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. Information Clearing House has no affiliation whatsoever with the originator of this article nor is Information ClearingHouse endorsed or sponsored by the originator.)
: Information Clearing House
Choice
On the House side, Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., issued a statement that he had heard from many of his constituents and had come to the conclusion that the House and Senate bills “create unacceptable threats to free speech and free access to the Internet.” Here are some of the some of the questions being raised about the bills being considered: Amid the high-tech campaign against the bills, several lawmakers came out in opposition. At least four Senate Republicans who had previously cosponsored the Senate bill — Orrin Hatch of Utah, Roy Blunt of Missouri, John Boozman of Arkansas and Charles Grassley of Iowa — issued statements Wednesday saying they were withdrawing their support.
Questions and answers about the issues behind the controversial Internet anti-piracy bills - The Washington Post
So... SOPA & PIPA don't attack the real problem, do nothing to build up the services that do solve the problem, and won't work from a technological standpoint. And that's just if we look at the what these bills are supposed to do.
The Definitive Post On Why SOPA And Protect IP Are Bad, Bad Ideas | Techdirt
Controversial Copyright Bills Would Violate First Amendment–Letters to Congress by Laurence Tribe and Me « Marvin Ammori
Professor Tribe and I both felt compelled to write because of the threat to freedom of speech from the PROTECT IP Act in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (or SOPA) in the House. Others have also come out to oppose the bills, including the leading civil liberties organizations (at home and abroad ), venture capitalists , the leading technology platforms from Facebook and Google to Tumblr and Zynga, and (today) hundreds of entrepreneurs. In fact , a million people emailed Congress and well over 90,000 personally called their Members to oppose the bills, many during a coordinated “ American Censorship Day ” inspired by the bills’ free speech burdens, a day organized by Fight for the Future , Demand Progress , Electronic Frontier Foundation , Public Knowledge , and Mozilla , among others. My old organization, Free Press , also opposes the bills.
Who in Congress Supports SOPA and PIPA/PROTECT-IP? | SOPA Opera | ProPublica
By Dan Nguyen, ProPublica. Updated Jan. 12, 2012
Palestine was recognized as a Class A mandate after WW I by the League of Nations, and, like Syria and Iraq, was scheduled for statehood. League of Nations members France and Italy consistently pushed back against Lord Balfour’s attempts to interpret the Mandate as permitting the expropriation of the Palestinian majority. As late as the British White Paper of the late 1930s, the British envisaged a Palestinian state in ten years.
Informed Comment: Thoughts on the Middle East, History and Religion
How PIPA and SOPA Violate White House Principles Supporting Free Speech and Innovation | Electronic Frontier Foundation
Another dangerous provision in PIPA and SOPA that hasn’t received a lot of attention is the “vigilante” provision, which would grant broad immunity to all service providers if they overblock innocent users or block sites voluntarily with no judicial oversight at all. The standard of immunity is incredibly low and the potential for abuse is off the charts. Intermediaries only need to act “in good faith” and base their decision “on credible evidence” to receive immunity.
Stay tuned. Like this: Meantime, the House Judiciary Committee says it plans to resume markup of the bill next month. Be the first to like this post. I’m afraid even the most hardcore supporter of SOPA and PIPA would hate to see Google, Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Wikipedia, and Reddit all going offline at the same time. It’s possible to get off the internet for half a day, but it’ll be impossible to ignore all the attention SOPA and PIPA will get after the, dare I say, historical moment.
Google Joins Web Protests Against SOPA | Dice Blog Network
Wikipedia to shut for 24 hours to stop anti-piracy act | Reuters
News of the White House's comments prompted a prominent supporter of the bill News Corp Chief Executive Rupert Murdoch to slam the Obama administration. "So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery," he posted on his personal Twitter account Saturday. News Corp owns a vast array of media properties from Fox TV, the Wall Street Journal to Twentieth Century Fox studios. "We're happy to see opposition is building and that the White House has started to pay attention," said Wales.
White House Airs Objections to SOPA, PIPA Anti-Piracy Bills | Truthout
"We appreciate the Administration's recognition that our ability to innovate, invest, and grow the economy is dependent upon keeping the Internet free and open,'' said Markham Erickson, executive director of the NetCoalition.com, a group of technology companies fighting the anti-piracy bills. The House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote on the SOPA bill later this month, while the Senate could take up its PIPA anti-piracy bill next month. Both bills are likely to be modified, now, to reflect the administration's concerns. The statement is a setback for the major Hollywood studios and unions that have been mounting a lobbying campaign in support of the bills, which would give the Justice Department more tools to shut down foreign websites involved in the piracy of movies and TV shows.
DNS provision pulled from SOPA, victory for opponents | Media Maverick - CNET News
Rupert Murdoch squares off with Obama over online piracy legislation | Technology | The Guardian
Hollywood or Silicon Valley? — Obama faces a difficult choice on SOPA - The Hill's Hillicon Valley
Free Press | Media reform through education, organizing and advocacy
Stop Online Piracy Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Stay On Top of the Fight Against SOPA/PIPA with These Tools
