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SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

washingtonmonthly.com

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Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#11

Post by jrmg »

microtonal wrote: post #5

Isn't this the point where 'the people' should not sit on their laurels, and launch a proposal to make a law that does exactly the opposite: protecting the digital rights of citizens? I am asking because (also in the EU) we are usually happy when some draconian law does not make it, but there's rarely an attempt to push for legislation that secures the rights of internet users.

What would your proposed law say? Congress can't make a law that says that it can't make a SOPA-like law in the future (or, at least, it would be meaningless, since future legislation could repeal it).

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#12

Post by toyg »

ars wrote: post #7
dangrossman wrote: post #2

They're certainly trying to get in front of this story before the 18th. I hope none of the sites planning to protest drop those plans. Politicians and lobbyists know well that the public has a short attention span -- a few weeks of quiet and most of the discussion will have died down. When's the last time you read about protesting the full body scanners and patdowns of children at airports? Even if these bills are sh…

It'll be a tough call for those sites. "Internet sites go dark for a bill that was canceled 2 days ago." Sites planning a blackout better reframe quickly and make the blackout about internet censorship (in general) instead of SOPA in particular. IMO they put in too long of a lead time from announcement to implementation. Google has not said anything, and now will not have to backtrack, but other sites will.

Easy! :s/SOPA/PIPA/g

PIPA, the sister bill coming through Senate, is still there and needs to be squashed as well.

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#13

Post by lhnz »

microtonal wrote: post #5

Isn't this the point where 'the people' should not sit on their laurels, and launch a proposal to make a law that does exactly the opposite: protecting the digital rights of citizens? I am asking because (also in the EU) we are usually happy when some draconian law does not make it, but there's rarely an attempt to push for legislation that secures the rights of internet users.

Reframe the blackout on the 18th into another blackout with a curated message calling for anti-censorship laws and asking the government to protect its citizen's freedom.

Use strike-out lines on a concise, readable version of SOPA and below each line print the respective anti-censorship law which you wish to be created. This way you draw attention to how draconian SOPA was not by comparing it to similar laws in dictatorships but by creating a message which harnesses American ideals of freedom, entrepreneurship, and anti-censorship.

If you do this right and get enough eyeballs you will make it very difficult for them to reposition the bill without appearing aggressively against the american dream.

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#14

Post by toyg »

I applaud the US political system for being better than the UK counterpart in this instance.

The copyright mafia tried the exact same trick in the UK two years ago: a bill was pushed through Parliament on election year, when MPs had to make their funding rounds and so were more amenable to being bribed... and it passed.

Nice to see US representatives still have a bit more decency (either that, or Google's chequebook is now much lighter than it was three month ago).

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#15

Post by ars »

toyg wrote: post #12
ars wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It'll be a tough call for those sites. "Internet sites go dark for a bill that was canceled 2 days ago." Sites planning a blackout better reframe quickly and make the blackout about internet censorship (in general) instead of SOPA in particular. IMO they put in too long of a lead time from announcement to implementation. Google has not said anything, and now will not have to backtrack, but other sites will.

Easy! :s/SOPA/PIPA/g PIPA, the sister bill coming through Senate, is still there and needs to be squashed as well.

Once it's been canceled in either branch it's dead.

They both need to pass it for it to become law so PIPA doesn't matter anymore except maybe symbolically.

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#16

Post by muuh-gnu »

jrmg wrote: post #11
microtonal wrote: post #5

Isn't this the point where 'the people' should not sit on their laurels, and launch a proposal to make a law that does exactly the opposite: protecting the digital rights of citizens? I am asking because (also in the EU) we are usually happy when some draconian law does not make it, but there's rarely an attempt to push for legislation that secures the rights of internet users.

What would your proposed law say? Congress can't make a law that says that it can't make a SOPA-like law in the future (or, at least, it would be meaningless, since future legislation could repeal it).

There should be a way for the people to veto a law in a referendum, like in Switzerland. That way politicians would be more cautious passing laws which they know that the public probably won't like and probably will veto.

The current US system only provides "checks and balances" between political parties, so when one party cracks up (meaning, gets bought by special interests and turns against the people) we only can pray that the other party will come to the rescue. But when both parties agree and team up against the people, i.e. when there is a political market failure like in the case of SOPA (or ACTA), theres no way for the voters to defend themselves.

It is not another law that is needed, but a general possibility to override unpopular laws.

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#17

Post by kamjam »

Maxious wrote: post #4

Excerpts from Rupert Murdoch's reaction https://twitter.com/Rupertmurdoch "So Obama has thrown in his lot withSilicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery." "Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells advts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying." "Sure misunderstand many things, but not plain stealing. Incidentally google blocks many other undesi…

What a scum bag, especially after the phone hacking scandal and having a newspaper close down here in the UK and no doubt countless other invasions of privacy. I'd say that is much more serious than piracy!

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#18

Post by kamjam »

daimyoyo wrote: post #8

Good. This is an important victory but the people behind SOPA won't go away so easily. I've always viewed SOPA as more of a litmus test to gauge where Americans stood on copyright enforcement. The next bill the industry tries to get passed(and there will be another) will likely be much more subtle than SOPA was. So let's celebrate, but we must remain diligent. This was only the first round.

You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it. - Margaret Thatcher

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#19

Post by jwingy »

snprbob86 wrote: post #6
Maxious wrote: post #4

Excerpts from Rupert Murdoch's reaction https://twitter.com/Rupertmurdoch "So Obama has thrown in his lot withSilicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery." "Piracy leader is Google who streams movies free, sells advts around them. No wonder pouring millions into lobbying." "Sure misunderstand many things, but not plain stealing. Incidentally google blocks many other undesi…

"Incidentally google blocks many other undesirable things." That statement really pisses me off. It also really pissed me off when some politician was like "Google has the technology". Presumably both were referring to SafeSearch and related technologies. These people have no idea what they are talking about. Blocking porn is an entirely different problem than blocking copyright infringement. Identifying an image as…

Well you would hope most people would take whatever Rupert Murdoch says with a grain of salt considering the sort of publications his company runs. A man like him doesn't care about the truth.

Re: SOPA 'shelved' until consensus is found

#20

Post by Newgy »

This is just a leadership commitment in the Republican House, the U.S. Senate (controlled by Democrats, and where overall support for SOPA/PIPA seems stronger) could still take up the bill. There are ways to pass legislation that circumvent a direct House vote.

It is good news, but I'd wait to see what Senators say this week.

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