Many of my regular reads are dark today in protest of SOPA/PIPA.
Not me. I'm with this guy. I'm gonna run my virtual suck until they send the black helicopters after me.
Because when you think about it, voluntarily shutting up because the .gov wants you to be quiet makes about as much sense as selling all of your guns off because the Brady Bunch wants you to be an unarmed victim. Are we going to light candles next?
A pox on both of them. They can have my first and second amendment rights when they dig the hole for me.
UPDATE: So I've had a chance to briefly scan through SOPA and PIPA (which is likely more than our legislators have done) and my first take on it is that they can temporarily shut down or block any websites that are suspected of reproducing or distributing copyrighted material until a court date, at which time a final determination will be made. There has to be a court order and you have a right to dispute that order. So, no arbitrary "shut up" orders and no elimination of due process.
That's not to say we don't need to keep an eye on them, they're mostly lawyers so the bastards will sock it to you if you let them. That's the price for eternal liberty, after all.
HT: Matt G from Better and Better.
Getting There
10 months ago
10 comments:
All the crowd yelled, AMEN.
Thanks for dropping by Stephen.
That is a good point.
My reason for participating was to draw attention to it. I was hoping if people realized what their lives would be like without something, they might fight for it. No one cares if I am off line, but some of the other sites people depend on, not having access to them, might get their attention.
We seem to be turning into a very selfish nation and many people stand up for nothing until it effects them. Many are not even aware of the legislation and until it effects them, they will not give a flying flip.
That's a fact, most folks won't get worked up about something that doesn't directly affect them, and sometimes you have to rub their noses in it to make them see that it does (example, hunters who have no problems with Evil Black Rifles being banned, who don't consider that to the gun grabbers their deer guns look suspiciously like high-powered sniper rifles, scopes and all).
Thanks for dropping by agirl!
Law or no law, reason or no reason - if "they" want to shut you down, down you go.
I offer TJIC as an example.
Q
Yep, and that was a state thing. SOPA/PIPA is strictly concerned with copyright violations and the like...which if you refer to your pocket Constitution (inside left pocket of the wookie suit), is well within the responsibility given to the USG to protect interstate and international trade.
Thanks for dropping by Q!
Yes, a court order. Which will be even easier to get than a restraining order, which in most states is simply filling out a form which is then rubberstamped. At which point the entire site comes down. Moreover, it is unlikely that judges will demand one site per court order. It's the DMCA writ large, and oddly enough even though the DMCA provisions have been abused constantly, the abusers never get prosecuted, or even fined. Do you really think the government will ever prosecute perjury against the **AA corporations for a violation of SOPA/PIPA?
A court order at least requires probable cause, and it would be a federal thing done at that level.
Will abusers be prosecuted? Maybe not, but the points remain; it's not arbitrary, you have recourse, the scope of the legislation is well within the responsibilities of the USG, and voluntarily shutting up because the USG might tell you to shut up seems to be counterproductive to me.
Write your Congresscritters and Senators if you don't like the legislation, it does more good.
For what it's worth, SOPA has been shelved "indefinitely" and PIPA has little chances of passing, but the last paragraph of the post remains in effect.
Thanks for dropping by ravenshrike!
Shelved my left foot. They'll just do what they've done with so many other unpopular and stupid pieces of legislation...they'll wait for the furor to die down then add it as a 'rider' to some asinine 'omnibus' bill or some 'holy crap we REALLY need to pass this NOW! It's an EMERGENCY' budgetary funding bill like they did with the NDAA.
I would not doubt it. Last paragraph remains in effect.
Thanks for dropping by CW!
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