Discussion: Online Piracy, Net Neutrality, Killswitch, and Other Internet Issues

[Heretic]

Extravagant? It is exactly what laws like SOPA are used for in other countries...

 

[moraldeficiency]

Why do the two have to be mutually exclusive?

It destroys the ability to make money when your site is unfairly shut down.

And it violates your first amendment rights when your fair use video is taken down (even if there is no money to be made).

Agreed. The problem is people's heads are stuck in an old business model of such rigid supply and demand and trying to apply it to art which just doesn't work in the slightest.

 

[craigdbfan]

Even though both sides are basically fighting about money I'm completely with Google & YouTube and the others on this one.

A ton of people on YT for example make a living from making commentary videos with using video game footage as their backdrop. That entire job market would be destroyed in a day if that stupid bill passes.

Like moraldeficieny said these people have an antiquated point of view and this bill is a result of that.

 

[craigdbfan]

Wikipedia to shut down for 24 hours in piracy protest

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia where users contribute and edit entries, will shut the English version of its website for 24 hours tomorrow to protest proposed U.S. anti-piracy legislation.

The move is a protest against proposed legislation including the Stop Online Piracy Act bill, according to a statement by Wikimedia Foundation Inc., the non-profit organization that operates the encyclopedia. The law being discussed in the U.S. is designed to combat issues including illegally copied films and TV content.

“If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States,” Wikimedia said in the statement.

Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, called the decision to shut the website an “extraordinary” action as the proposed laws “endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world.”

Wikipedia fighting the good fight!.

 

[craigdbfan]

Wikipedia to shut down for 24 hours in piracy protest

Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia where users contribute and edit entries, will shut the English version of its website for 24 hours tomorrow to protest proposed U.S. anti-piracy legislation.

The move is a protest against proposed legislation including the Stop Online Piracy Act bill, according to a statement by Wikimedia Foundation Inc., the non-profit organization that operates the encyclopedia. The law being discussed in the U.S. is designed to combat issues including illegally copied films and TV content.

“If passed, this legislation will harm the free and open Internet and bring about new tools for censorship of international websites inside the United States,” Wikimedia said in the statement.

Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, called the decision to shut the website an “extraordinary” action as the proposed laws “endanger free speech both in the United States and abroad, and set a frightening precedent of Internet censorship for the world.”

Wikipedia fighting the good fight!.

 

[Anita18]

Yeah one of the big websites is stepping up! Will Facebook have the balls to follow suit?

 

[craigdbfan]

Google and Youtube should follow suit seeing as they've openly criticized these bills.

Lets hope they're next. As for Facebook I don't really care.

That would be one website I wouldn't miss if it disappeared over night.

 

[Anita18]

ZOMG if Google took themselves offline...the world will end.

Literally. Lots of business rely on them. Taking off the search page will be quite enough!

 

[Thundercrack85]

If google (and by extension youtube) and facebook went offline... you would have an actual million man march. The bill would be permanently shelved the same day.

 

[craigdbfan]

ZOMG if Google took themselves offline...the world will end.

Literally. Lots of business rely on them. Taking off the search page will be quite enough!

If google (and by extension youtube) and facebook went offline... you would have an actual million man march in DC.

Hope it happens. It would certainly send the message across.

 

[Thundercrack85]

I doubt it. Unlike Wikipedia, Google isn't opposing the bill for ideological reasons. They just care about business. Going offline for 24 hours isn't worth it for them.

 

[craigdbfan]

If not that they should at least make their logo into an opposing SOPA/PIPA statement.

That would work just as well.

 

[munchie64]

http://www.forbes.com/sites/insertcoin/2012/01/16/so-is-sopa-dead-not-exactly/

 

[roach]

Even though both sides are basically fighting about money I'm completely with Google & YouTube and the others on this one.

A ton of people on YT for example make a living from making commentary videos with using video game footage as their backdrop. That entire job market would be destroyed in a day if that stupid bill passes.

Like moraldeficieny said these people have an antiquated point of view and this bill is a result of that.

they already said that these people had nothing to worry about from the bill. They were going after foreign sites whose only mission was to pirate.

Lamar Smith:"SOPA targets only foreign Web sites that are primarily dedicated to illegal and infringing activity. Domestic Web sites, like blogs, are not covered by this legislation."
"This bill does not make it a felony for a person to post a video on YouTube of their children singing to a copyrighted song. The bill specifically targets websites dedicated to illegal or infringing activity. Sites that host user content—like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter—have nothing to be concerned about under this legislation"

 

[roach]

Agreed. The problem is people's heads are stuck in an old business model of such rigid supply and demand and trying to apply it to art which just doesn't work in the slightest.

How is it an old business model when I make a living making something....a second party steals it and makes money off of it and prevents me seeing all my money on it...its theft plain and simple.
but because its Hollywood and they got millions then no one is really hurt.

 

[terry78]

People would protest Google like a mother****er if they shut down for one day. That one day could mean the difference for college students and people that need to look up stuff online for their jobs. Yeah, they have Bing and the Yahoo, but come on.

 

[SpideyFan866]

they already said that these people had nothing to worry about from the bill. They were going after foreign sites whose only mission was to pirate.

Lamar Smith:"SOPA targets only foreign Web sites that are primarily dedicated to illegal and infringing activity. Domestic Web sites, like blogs, are not covered by this legislation."
"This bill does not make it a felony for a person to post a video on YouTube of their children singing to a copyrighted song. The bill specifically targets websites dedicated to illegal or infringing activity. Sites that host user content—like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter—have nothing to be concerned about under this legislation"

Yeah. this is true but the issue is that the wording in the bill is so vague that it would effect way more than just those sites and it would end affecting sites like Youtube to a small insignificant blog.

 

[SpideyFan866]

What happened is this is about money. Piracy suppossedly cuts into Hollywood's bottom line, so free speech be damned. It's long been known that Hollywood is less about filmmaking as an art form and more about filmmaking as being a cash cow.

^^^^This.

 

[RKO]

Yeah I don't see Google or Facebook shutting down for a day. People rely too much on them, and would only cause hysteria.

That shouldn't stop them from putting a message somewhere on their homepages though.

 

[SpideyFan866]

Wikipedia to shut down for 24 hours in piracy protest

Wikipedia fighting the good fight!.

Google is shutting down too. ****ING GOOGLE!

SOPA is going down.

 

[moraldeficiency]

How is it an old business model when I make a living making something....a second party steals it and makes money off of it and prevents me seeing all my money on it...its theft plain and simple.
but because its Hollywood and they got millions then no one is really hurt.

Shrinkage in many forms must be accounted for in any business model. Nothing exists in a perfect bubble. People are going to illegally copy and reproduce art, that's happened since art first was formed. It's not going to change, so you either account for this and try to find a way to make it work for you or go into business making cogs or something.

Part of what makes art attractive and generates popularity is that theft. Do you think the mona lisa would matter if it was never reproduced or shown to the general public? So account for the loss, chalk part of the theft up to the fact that you've generated an enticing product and call it a day. End result while those thefts hurt you in one way they also generate buzz and bring in different business you wouldn't normally have.

 

[SpideyFan866]

Shrinkage in many forms must be accounted for in any business model. Nothing exists in a perfect bubble. People are going to illegally copy and reproduce art, that's happened since art first was formed. It's not going to change, so you either account for this and try to find a way to make it work for you or go into business making cogs or something.

Part of what makes art attractive and generates popularity is that theft. Do you think the mona lisa would matter if it was never reproduced or shown to the general public? So account for the loss, chalk part of the theft up to the fact that you've generated an enticing product and call it a day. End result while those thefts hurt you in one way they also generate buzz and bring in different business you wouldn't normally have.

Exactly.

 

[craigdbfan]

Google is shutting down too. ****ING GOOGLE!

SOPA is going down.

No they're not.

 

[Darthphere]

Yeah, they're not. It would be cool if they did, but they're not.

 

[craigdbfan]

They should however use the Google logo to put out a message against SOPA. They do it for even the lamest of holidays so I don't see why they can't use this opportunity to use that little gimmick for something that actually matters.

I know that's within the realm of possibility.