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Stop the Internet Blacklist Legislation - PIPA/SOPA

The Internet blacklist legislation—known as PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House—invites Internet security risks, threatens online speech, and hampers Internet innovation.

Big media and its allies in Congress are billing the Internet blacklist legislation as a new way to battle online infringement. But innovation and free speech advocates know that this initiative will do little to stop infringement online.

Urge your members of Congress to reject this Internet blacklist campaign in both its forms!

The people who are pirating are most likely the people who would never give you a nickel to begin with. Piracy serves people on the fringes who are not being served adequately by legitimate markets.

Frankly, if people in Romania can download my books and enjoy them, more power to them. They weren’t going to pay me anyway.

Any company that is providing great content online in a way that’s easy to use with a fair price has a booming business right now. The people who don’t are trying to fight that future.

So here we have this legislation, with all of these possible harms, to solve a problem that only exists in the minds of people who are afraid of the future. Why should the government be intervening on behalf of the people who aren’t getting with the program?

For a while, music companies were fighting peer-to-peer file sharing. But once Apple came out with iTunes, which was an alternative that was easy to use and fairly priced, it became a huge business. Our policy makers need to encourage the people who get it right, not protect people who clearly didn’t get it right.

Laws like SOPA make us sclerotic as a country, where we have all these extra burdens that provide little benefit. In general it makes America less competitive. If SOPA goes through, it could very well force certain innovative companies to go offshore. There are incumbent industries that will always protest every new technology; but any forward-looking country needs to protect its emerging industries.


Info at the Mozilla.org "blackout" page:

  • What's this about?
    • Congress is trying to pass legislation that threatens free speech and innovation on the Internet, under the banner of anti-piracy efforts.
  • What's at risk?
    • The proposed infrastructure would damage the security of the Internet and allow the government extensive censorship abilities.
  • The result?
    • Your favorite websites, both inside and outside the US, could be blocked based on a single infringement claim, without any due process of law.
  • How is it done?
    • The US will be able to block a site’s web traffic, ad traffic and search traffic using the same website censorship methods used by China, Iran and Syria.
  • What about piracy?
    • Piracy is a problem but there are better ways to address it that don’t stifle innovation, knowledge and creativity — or give the US such unchecked power over the global Internet.


Video explanation:


(Note: only using the dark theme for January 18. Click here to return to original theme.)

created by jr on Jan 13, 2012 at 12:18:04 pm
updated by jr on Jan 19, 2012 at 01:07:05 am     Politics     Comments: 34

source      versions

Comments ... #

This is a great way to bring attention to these horrible bills and I'm glad to see so many internet organizations participating.

I've followed SOPA and PIPA for a while now and hope these efforts by Wikipedia, Google and Toledo Talk will help stop both of them as people learn just what they really mean.

posted by MaggieThurber on Jan 18, 2012 at 08:33:21 am     #  

Besides - how bad does a piece of legislation have to be for both sides of the political aisle to oppose it?!?

posted by MaggieThurber on Jan 18, 2012 at 08:34:11 am     #  

thanks jr

posted by enjoyeverysandwich on Jan 18, 2012 at 08:50:45 am     #   1 person liked this

Just in case there's a difference between him and Marcy.

Dennis Kucinich - unknown

That being said, would anyone voting in the Dem primary shift support from Marcy to Dennis (or vice versa) if one came out in support of SOPA and the other against?

posted by RBancroft on Jan 18, 2012 at 10:58:12 am     #  

I'm a registered Libertarian thinking about switching to a Democrat this year just to vote for Kucinich. One of the nation's better Reps.

posted by dbw8906 on Jan 18, 2012 at 11:19:00 am     #  

Here's a site with an entertaining "blackout" message.

http://theoatmeal.com

posted by jr on Jan 18, 2012 at 12:09:32 pm     #  

Tim O'Reilly: For a while, music companies were fighting peer-to-peer file sharing. But once Apple came out with iTunes, which was an alternative that was easy to use and fairly priced, it became a huge business. Our policy makers need to encourage the people who get it right, not protect people who clearly didn’t get it right.

As someone who worked in radio and music for 20 years (and someone who is also a consumer), the boldfaced part of this quote is really, to me, the original sin as far as all this "piracy" goes.

For 80 years, consumers could get the songs they wanted and ONLY the songs they wanted...the "singles" market...whether those songs were on cylinders, discs (78's or 45's), or home taping on reel-to-reel or cassettes.

But then the CD came along in 1983 and the greedy-ass record industry killed the singles market and forced everyone to pay $15.99 for a CD (or $9.99 for the cassette)...which usually contained ONE song you wanted and 8/9/12 songs of filler bullcrap. So, essentially instead of paying pennies for the song you wanted, you were forced to pay for everything you didn't want AND the one thing you did...upending 80 years of how consumers were used to buying music.

Is it any friggin' wonder that consumers made their own damn singles market when file sharing became feasible? Generally, most people don't want to be music criminals, but when the overwhelming majority of the market demands something and you tell 'em "f@#k off and buy this", of course they'll come up with their own black market. Duh...

And O'Reilly is absolutely spot on with Apple and ITunes. Steve Jobs...and only through the force of personality (i.e. he was an asshole) did he win against the record companies...argued up and down with the labels, telling them "no, dammit...EVERYTHING is 99 cents. Simple, direct, easy to remember....99 cents, you friggin' morons!" I think the record companies wanted like $4.00 for new singles, and 99 cents for older stuff, etc. and Jobs told 'em they were nuts and exactly what was wrong with the record industry.

As usual, Jobs was correct.

posted by oldhometown on Jan 18, 2012 at 12:11:53 pm     #  

Good ole Fark.com is using a humorous whiteout page to show "support" for SOPA/PIPA:

While a bunch of other sites are going "dark" to protest SOPA/PIPA, we're over the moon about the whole thing. Why? Honestly, we've been bringing you the latest news happening across the internet for 12 years, and we're tired. And SOPA/PIPA is the perfect excuse to quit.

While SOPA might be "almost dead," it's not quite all the way there, and under various drafts of both SOPA/PIPA, Fark could have its DNS assignment (the thing that turns an IP address, like 10.0.0.1, into words like Fark.com) revoked without notice simply for linking to content that could come under foreign copyright claims. This means, even if it is actual news in and of itself, if we link to it, we can be shut down. And thank God, cause we’re about ready to crack under the strain of being on top of the news all the time.

Here's a helpful video we've put together to explain why you should support SOPA/PIPA:

Fark.com's video :

posted by jr on Jan 18, 2012 at 01:28:44 pm     #  

Latta's statement on SOPA and PIPA:

http://thurbersthoughts.blogspot.com/2012/01/latta-statement-on-sopa-and-pipa.html

posted by MaggieThurber on Jan 18, 2012 at 01:55:12 pm     #   1 person liked this

Thanks jr for joining this fight. As someone who works primarily for legal Internet companies who would almost assuredly be shuttered by these bills, I worry the most about the jobs, like mine, that would be lost. It would be a shame to see so many job-creating companies like startups be negatively affected by this type of one-sided, sponsored by Hollywood legislation.

posted by WalleyeWinger on Jan 18, 2012 at 02:00:10 pm     #  

Was curious of TT would do this. Good show Jr. See reddit, and even google is making their mark.

posted by INeedCoffee on Jan 18, 2012 at 03:05:07 pm     #  

Once you mentioned Hollywood legislation I was reminded of one of the dumber ideas in the past, DIVX, proprietary dvd's that required the player to have a phone or internet connection to allow the user to "pay" for time to watch the disk. First you pay for the disk you get something like 3 days to watch it, after that you have to rent it again, even though its sitting on your shelf. Think only major supporter was Circuit City, I boycotted that store until they dropped the format.

posted by Linecrosser on Jan 18, 2012 at 03:40:39 pm     #  

MaggieThurber posted at 07:34:11 AM on Jan 18, 2012:

Besides - how bad does a piece of legislation have to be for both sides of the political aisle to oppose it?!?

EXPLAIN NDAA, MAGS.

posted by anonymouscoward on Jan 18, 2012 at 06:45:47 pm     #  

dbw8906 posted at 10:19:00 AM on Jan 18, 2012:

I'm a registered Libertarian thinking about switching to a Democrat this year just to vote for Kucinich. One of the nation's better Reps.

I think Hell just froze over, dbw, and it's your fault.

posted by anonymouscoward on Jan 18, 2012 at 06:47:05 pm     #   1 person liked this

I haven't done the research yet, but is there anybody FOR these bills? Other than the sponsors and lobbyists... any corporations, companies, other big names that have publicly come out in support of it?

The overwhelming rejection by biggies like Google and Wikipedia is so impressive. I like Google's front page today.

posted by dell_diva on Jan 18, 2012 at 08:47:27 pm     #  

"... any corporations, companies, other big names that have publicly come out in support of it?"

Well, yeah. That's who is trying to buy the votes of the politicians.

Wikipedia: List of organizations with official stances on the Stop Online Piracy Act

(SOPA is the House version.)

On December 22, 2011, Lamar Smith, the bill's sponsor, released a list of 142 organizations that support SOPA on the House Judiciary Committee's website.

As of the morning of December 29, 2011, the official list had 18 fewer supporters, including only 124 of the original 142 supporters. The growing publicity of this list on websites such as Reddit resulted in what might be referred to as a public relations disaster for some of the supporters listed. Arguably the first and most prominent case regarded GoDaddy.com, a popular internet domain registrar and web hosting company which openly supported SOPA.

GoDaddy sustained significant losses, losing over 72,000 domains in less than one week, as a result of a proposed boycott of their services, pending it renounce its support of SOPA. GoDaddy has since announced that it "no longer supports SOPA legislation," then amended that statement to "GoDaddy OPPOSES SOPA."

(The remaining text is also from that Wikipedia page.)

Organizations that support the Stop Online Piracy Act include:

60 Plus Association
ABC
Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP)
American Bankers Association (ABA)
American Federation of Musicians (AFM)
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)
Americans for Tax Reform
Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States
Association of American Publishers (AAP)
Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies
Association of Talent Agents (ATA)
Beachbody, LLC
BMI
BMG Chrysalis
Building and Construction Trades Department
Capitol Records Nashville
CBS
Cengage Learning
Christian Music Trade Association
Church Music Publishers’ Association
Coalition Against Online Video Piracy (CAOVP)
Comcast/NBCUniversal
Concerned Women for America (CWA)
Congressional Fire Services Institute
Copyhype
Copyright Alliance
Coty, Inc.
Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)
Council of State Governments
Country Music Association
Country Music Television
Creative America
Deluxe Digital Studios
Directors Guild of America (DGA)
Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc.
Elsevier
EMI Christian Music Group
EMI Music Publishing
Entertainment Software Association (ESA)
ESPN
Estée Lauder Companies
Foundation for Job Creation
Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)
Gospel Music Association
Graphic Artists Guild
Hachette Book Group
HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, Inc.
Hyperion Books
Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA)
International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE)
International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC)
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)
International Trademark Association (INTA)
International Union of Police Associations
L’Oreal
Lost Highway Records
Macmillan
Major County Sheriffs
Major League Baseball
Majority City Chiefs
Marvel Entertainment, LLC
MasterCard Worldwide
MCA Records
McGraw-Hill Education
Mercury Nashville
Minor League Baseball (MiLB)
Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC)
Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)
Moving Picture Technicians
MPA – The Association of Magazine Media
National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)
National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators
National Association of State Chief Information Officers
National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)
National Center for Victims of Crime
National Criminal Justice Association
National District Attorneys Association
National Domestic Preparedness Coalition
National Football League
National Governors Association, Economic Development and Commerce Committee
National League of Cities
National Narcotics Officers’ Associations’ Coalition
National Sheriffs' Association (NSA)
National Songwriters Association
National Troopers Coalition
News Corporation
Pearson Education
Penguin Group (USA), Inc.
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)
Pfizer, Inc.
Provident Music Group
Random House
Raulet Property Partners
Republic Nashville
Revlon
Scholastic, Inc.
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
Showdog Universal Music
Sony/ATV Music Publishing
Sony Music Entertainment
Sony Music Nashville
State International Development Organization (SIDO)
The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO)
Perseus Books Group
United States Conference of Mayors
Tiffany & Co.
Time Warner
True Religion Brand Jeans
UMG Publishing Group Nashville
United States Chamber of Commerce
United States Olympic Committee
United States Tennis Association
Universal Music
Universal Music Publishing Group
Viacom
Visa Inc.
W.W. Norton & Company
Wallace Bajjali Development Partners, L.P.
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Nashville
Wolters Kluwer Health
Word Entertainment
Zumba Fitness, LLC


Organizations that have had their names removed from the list of supporters of the Stop Online Piracy Act include:

Baker & Hostetler LLP
Covington & Burling LLP
Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP
Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C.
Davis Wright Tremaine LLP
Go Daddy
Electronic Arts*
Irell & Manella LLP
Jenner & Block LLP
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Kendall Brill & Klieger LLP
Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP
Lathrop & Gage LLP
Loeb & Loeb LLP
Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP
Morrison & Foerster LLP
Nintendo*
Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
Phillips Nizer, LLP
Proskauer Rose LLP
Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Sony Computer Entertainment*
White & Case LLP

* This company is a member of the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) which still supports SOPA.

posted by jr on Jan 18, 2012 at 09:16:03 pm     #  

The Senate version is PIPA - S.968 - PROTECT IP Act of 2011

Info below is from http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s968/money


Top recipients for ALL supporting interest groups

Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY] $864,265
Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] $665,420
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D, NY] $556,525
Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA] $544,424
Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT] $416,250
Sen. Michael Bennet [D, CO] $347,406
Sen. Roy Blunt [R, MO] $341,700
Sen. Robert Portman [R, OH] $337,525
Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC] $275,950
Sen. Patty Murray [D, WA] $272,750

Rep. Howard Berman [D, CA-28] $376,600
Rep. Eric Cantor [R, VA-7] $269,050
Rep. Steny Hoyer [D, MD-5] $250,250
Rep. Michael Thompson [D, CA-1] $184,932
Rep. John Boehner [R, OH-8] $183,100
Rep. James Clyburn [D, SC-6] $168,000
Rep. Anna Eshoo [D, CA-14] $163,450
Rep. David Camp [R, MI-4] $154,000
Rep. Nancy Pelosi [D, CA-8] $150,550
Rep. Mary Bono Mack [R, CA-45] $150,350


Specific Organizations Supporting S.968

Recording Industry Association of America
Independent Film & Television Alliance
Motion Picture Association of America
National Association of Theater Owners
Microsoft
Pfizer
Outdoor Industry Association
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
Business Software Alliance
Association of American Publishers
Ford Motor Company
Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association
Underwriters Laboratories Inc.
American Federation of Musicians
Entertainment Software Association
American Association of Independent Music
Eli Lilly and Company
Xerox Corporation
Small Business & Entrepreneurship Council
Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers
Major League Baseball
CBS Corporation
National Basketball Association
Advanced Medical Technology Association
Beam Global Spirits &Wine
National Football League
Johnson & Johnson
News Corporation
Warner Music Group
Estee Lauder Companies
Greeting Card Association
Adidas America
Acushnet Company
ABRO Industries, Inc.
1-800-PetMeds
1-800 Contacts, Inc.
Blue Sky Studios, Inc.
Bose Corporation
Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI)
Burberry
Electronic Components Industry Association
HarperCollins Publishers
Kekepana International Services
LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
Nike, Inc.
Nintendo
Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc.
Timberland Company
Tiffany & Co.
Comcast
Walmart
AFL-CIO
Merck
National Fraternal Order of Police
National District Attorneys Association
National Criminal Justice Association
Viacom
Council of State Governments
International Association of Fire Fighters
U. S. Chamber of Commerce
Disney


Top recipients for ALL opposing interest groups

Sen. Michael Bennet [D, CO] $1,346,579
Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA] $402,425
Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] $295,640
Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D, NY] $284,849
Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY] $254,975
Sen. Patty Murray [D, WA] $229,824
Sen. Chris Coons [D, DE] $209,400
Sen. Richard Blumenthal [D, CT] $176,399
Sen. Richard Shelby [R, AL] $159,550
Sen. Ron Wyden [D, OR] $127,450

Rep. William Owens [D, NY-23] $302,109
Rep. Chellie Pingree [D, ME-1] $204,150
Rep. Gary Peters [D, MI-9] $202,770
Rep. Niki Tsongas [D, MA-5] $141,100
Rep. James Himes [D, CT-4] $140,014
Rep. Kurt Schrader [D, OR-5] $106,500
Rep. Jerry McNerney [D, CA-11] $92,560
Rep. Gabrielle Giffords [D, AZ-8] $84,692
Rep. Barney Frank [D, MA-4] $82,100
Rep. Martin Heinrich [D, NM-1] $79,313


Specific Organizations Opposing S.968

Google
Demand Progress
Yahoo Inc.
American Association of Law Libraries
American Library Association
Human Rights Watch
EDUCAUSE
Public Knowledge
Special Libraries Association
New America Foundation
Reporters Without Borders
Electronic Frontier Foundation
Association of College and Research Libraries
Center for Democracy and Technology
Demand Progress
Visa
American Express

posted by jr on Jan 18, 2012 at 09:27:30 pm     #  

Jan 17, 2012 press release from the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 17, 2012

WASHINGTON - The following is a statement by Senator Chris Dodd, Chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) on the so-called “Blackout Day” protesting anti-piracy legislation:

"Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further the ircorporate interests.

A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.”

About the MPAA
The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) serves as the voice and advocate of the American motion picture, home video and television industries from its offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. Its members include: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures; Paramount Pictures Corporation; Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc.; Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation; Universal City Studios LLC; and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.


The above statement contains some interesting rhetoric from a politician who accuses others of:

  • stunts
  • turn [users] into their corporate pawns
  • irresponsible response
  • disservice
  • abuse of power
  • skew the facts
  • incite their users
  • gimmick
  • hyperbole

Politicians have never engaged in any of the above actions.

posted by jr on Jan 18, 2012 at 09:50:06 pm     #  

While some Congress members have removed their support of SOPA and PIPA, these issues are not dead.

Jan 16, 2012 Forbes story

After some news this weekend, many are writing off the bill entirely. Here’s what happened to make them believe that.

- The White House published an official opinion that indicated they would not support a bill like SOPA

- The official vote on SOPA scheduled for late January has been cancelled, and the bill has been pulled from the floor.

So is it dead? Did we win? No, and here’s why:

- In that same statement, the White House also said “While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response…” followed later by “That is why the Administration calls on all sides to work together to pass sound legislation this year that provides prosecutors and rights holders new legal tools to combat online piracy originating beyond U.S. borders.”

They still want to pass anti-piracy legislation this year.

- SOPA is not dead, it’s been “shelved” and won’t return “until a consensus is reached.”

- Protect IP (PIPA), the Senate version of the House bill, is still very much alive, and has not even been shelved, much less killed. It is equally as bad of an idea as SOPA, even if most protests are being directed at SOPA recently.

So what does this mean? Though the battle is won, the war is not. SOPA could easily make a resurgence if it sculpts itself to whatever the White House’s unspecified specifications are, and PIPA could also pass, as even with recent changes to it (courts can’t force ISPs to block websites), it’s still harmful.

The entertainment industry didn’t spend millions lobbying Congress for these two bills just to give up now, and as such, you should expect this fight to continue.

Some on the internet are describing what’s happening now as an old sales tactic. You make a ludicrous offer on something (SOPA), then retract it and make a new, slightly less crazy one (PIPA, or a reshaped SOPA) that suddenly feels sane by comparison, and the other party accepts.


Important Upcoming Dates

posted by jr on Jan 18, 2012 at 10:02:13 pm     #  

Jan 18, 2012 Ars Technica story titled PIPA support collapses, with 13 new Senators opposed

Members of the Senate are rushing for the exits in the wake of the Internet's unprecedented protest of the Protect IP Act (PIPA). At least 13 members of the upper chamber announced their opposition on Wednesday. In a particularly severe blow from Hollywood, at least five of the newly-opposed Senators were previously sponsors of the Protect IP Act.

The newly-opposed Senators are skewed strongly to the Republican side of the aisle. An Ars Technica survey of Senators' positions on PIPA turned up only two Democrats who announced their opposition on Wednesday. The other 11 Senators who announced their opposition on Wednesday were all Republicans.

The partisan slant of the defections is surprising because copyright has not traditionally been considered a partisan issue. Before Wednesday's protests, PIPA had 16 Republican co-sponsors and 23 Democratic ones. The bill lost a quarter of its Republican sponsors on Wednesday, while we know of only one Democrat who dropped his support.

Those who dropped their support were most likely bolstered by strong opposition from conservative think tanks and blogs. On Tuesday, the influential Heritage Foundation announced that it would include SOPA and PIPA as a key issue on its voter scorecard. And the popular conservative blog redstate.com, whose founder threatened to mount primary challengers to SOPA supporters last month, has been hailing Senators who come out in opposition.

Neither side is close to having a majority. A whip count by OpenCongress found 35 supporters (including 34 cosponsors), 18 opponents, and 12 more Senators leaning toward opposition. About 35 Senators have not committed to a position, perhaps reluctant to do so for fear of angering either deep-pocketed Hollywood campaign contributors or their constituents back home.

posted by jr on Jan 18, 2012 at 10:17:27 pm     #  

Center for Democracy & Technology - List of Those Expressing Concern With SOPA & PIPA - "This list of companies, organizations, and notable individuals is now over 1,000 strong."

Posted at Google: "Opposition to the Protect IP Act (PIPA) and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) grows with each day. This brief list is just a sampling of businesses. Visit the Center for Democracy and Technology’s list for a more complete look at the individuals, organizations, experts and legislators that know how bad this legislation could be."

AOL
Boing Boing
BuzzFeed
CloudFlare
Copyblogger
ConsumerBell
Creative Commons
Curse
Daily Kos
deviantART
Discover
Disqus
DreamHost
Dyn
eBay
Embedly
Engine Advocacy
Entertainment Consumers Association
ESET
Etsy
Facebook
Fantagraphics
foursquare
Gandi
Google
GreenHostIt
HostGator
Hover
I Can Has Cheezburger?
IndieGoGo
Internet Archive
Irregular Times
Jive Software
Kaspersky Lab
Kickstarter
LinkedIn
MetaFilter
Mozilla
Name.com
Namecheap
OpenDNS
O’Reilly Radar
Pastebin.com
PayPal
Quora
Rackspace
Reddit
ReferralCanday
Riot Games
ServInt
Scribd
Teachers Pay Teachers
Techdirt
Torrentfreak
Tucows
Tumblr
Twitter
Ubu Web
Uservoice
Vimeo
Webs, Inc.
Wikipedia
WordPress
Yahoo!
Y Combinator
Zopim
Zynga Game Network

posted by jr on Jan 18, 2012 at 11:37:53 pm     #  

Hmm, shows where the money is flowing to from Hollywood.

posted by Linecrosser on Jan 19, 2012 at 01:27:11 am     #  

anonymouscoward posted at 05:47:05 PM on Jan 18, 2012:
dbw8906 posted at 10:19:00 AM on Jan 18, 2012:

I'm a registered Libertarian thinking about switching to a Democrat this year just to vote for Kucinich. One of the nation's better Reps.

I think Hell just froze over, dbw, and it's your fault.

He stands for ending foreign intervention wars, the failed war on drugs, and presses for the dissolution of the banking empire and bailouts. The 3 biggest issues on my plate, when we stop spending on the 3 outlined items above, maybe we wont have to fight about higher taxes and debt ceilings because we wouldn't be pissing hard working American's tax dollars down the drain. Too many people put in honest day's work to see their dollars shipped off to Afghanistan when their streets are filled with potholes and quite a few people can't afford to put anything in their pots.

Honestly I would probley be a "progressive" if they truely stood for what they spouted. Because most conservatives have dropped the ball on civil liberties as Newt wants to execute pot smokers and Santorum wants to to the same with gays. Progressives scream Liberty and Freedom when it suites them as they disappear on 2A issues and property rights (smoking ban) and they find the answer to failed government programs in more taxes, not reforming government. Lots of them scream about getting money out of politics but what to increase the haul that we hand to DC just to see them dither it about without real change. If you want to reduce K Street lobbying, then keep the money out of DC in the first place, starve the beast.

Remember the root word of Libertarianis "liberal". If people actually took the time to understand the Libertarian movement they would see it's not all about "zero taxes" because we appreciate GOOD schools, adequate police and fire, and know that no one has the right to pollute another man's land. We just don't believe in the consolidation of power in Washington as State government is much more closer to the electorate, easier to replace, and Columbus can't send our money to every corner of the world. Quite a few of do support higher taxes at a local level where we could see their impact on our communities, not on CEO's desk as Washington hands out them out as "technology grants" and bailouts.

I'm gonna guess if it does pass Obama is going to sign it the same way as he did NDAA with a signing statement.

posted by dbw8906 on Jan 19, 2012 at 09:30:53 am     #   2 people liked this

I'm no fan of The Daily KOS, however I do like this

posted by dell_diva on Jan 19, 2012 at 09:52:05 am     #   2 people liked this

On Wed, Jan 18, 2012, 18 Senators withdrew their support for PIPA.

An * indicates a former co-sponsor.

Roy Blunt (R-MO) *
John Boozman (R-AR) *
Scott Brown (R-MA)
Ben Cardin (D-MD) *
John Cornyn (R-TX)
Jim DeMint (R-SC)
Orrin Hatch (R-UT) *
James Inhofe (R-OK)
Mark Kirk (R-IL)
Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
Marco Rubio (R-FL) *
Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
David Vitter (R-LA) *
Tom Coburn (R-OK)
Pat Toomey (R-PA)
Mike Johanns (R-NE)
Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) *

posted by jr on Jan 19, 2012 at 10:28:47 am     #  

Some interesting and timely Internet activity occurred on Thu, Jan 19, 2012, along with a tin foily-type of story.

Jan 19, 2012 AP story titled Popular file-sharing website Megaupload shut down

One of the world's most popular file-sharing sites was shut down Thursday, and its founder and several company officials were accused of facilitating millions of illegal downloads of films, music and other content.

A federal indictment accused Megaupload.com of costing copyright holders at least $500 million in lost revenue. The indictment was unsealed one day after websites including Wikipedia and Craigslist shut down in protest of two congressional proposals intended to make it easier for authorities to go after sites with pirated material, especially those with overseas headquarters and servers.

The news of the shutdown seemed to bring retaliation from hackers who claimed credit for attacking the Justice Department's website. Federal officials confirmed it was down Thursday evening and that the disruption was being "treated as a malicious act."

A loose affiliation of hackers known as "Anonymous" claimed credit for the attack. Also hacked was the site for the Motion Picture Association of America and perhaps others.

Megaupload is based in Hong Kong, but some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Ashburn, Va., which gave federal authorities jurisdiction, the indictment said.


You can follow Anonymous on Twitter at http://twitter.com/YourAnonNews

On Thu, Jan 19, in response to the feds' raid on Megaupload.com, Anonymous executed #opMegaupload which brought down several websites, including FBI.gov.

Pastebin.com is a good place to visit to see what the so-called dark side of the Internet is up to.

Anonymous released its own press release at Pastebin about #OpMegaupload, which can be read at http://pastebin.com/WEydcBVV

We Anonymous are launching our largest attack ever on government and music industry sites. Lulz. The FBI didn't think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us.

#OpMegaupload
The following sites were taken down in response to the FBI shutting down megaupload.com
:) TANGO DOWN

justice.gov
universalmusic.com
riaa.org
mpaa.org
copyright.gov
hadopi.fr
wmg.com
usdoj.gov
bmi.com
fbi.gov

This tweet from Anonymous describes their tactics:

The Largest Attack Ever by Anonymous - 5,635 People Confirmed Using #LOIC to Bring Down Sites!

LOIC is Low Orbit Ion Cannon.


More about the raid on Megaupload.com at this Jan 19 Ars Technica story :

The US government dropped a nuclear bomb on "cyberlocker" site Megaupload today, seizing its domain names, grabbing $50 million in assets, and getting New Zealand police to arrest four of the site's key employees, including enigmatic founder Kim Dotcom. In a 72-page indictment unsealed in a Virginia federal court, prosecutors charged that the site earned more than $175 million since its founding in 2005, most of it based on copyright infringement.

The case is a major one, involving international cooperation between the US, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Canada, and the Philippines. In addition to the arrests, 20 search warrants were executed today in multiple countries.

As for the site's employees, they were paid lavishly and they spent lavishly. Even the graphic designer, 35-year-old Slovakian resident Julius Bencko, made more than $1 million in 2010 alone.

The indictment goes after six individuals, who between them owned 14 Mercedes-Benz automobiles with license plates such as "POLICE," "MAFIA," "V," "STONED," "CEO," "HACKER," GOOD," "EVIL," and—perhaps presciently—"GUILTY." The group also had a 2010 Maserati, a 2008 Rolls-Royce, and a 1989 Lamborghini. They had not one but three Samsung 83" TVs, and two Sharp 108" TVs. Someone owned a "Predator statue." Motor bikes, jet skis, artwork, and even 60 Dell servers could all be forfeit to the government if it can prove its case against the members of the "Mega Conspiracy."


A different angle about Thursday's news can be read in this Jan 19 c|net story

My sources tell me the timing of the Megaupload arrests was no accident. The federal government, they say, was spoiling for a fight after the apparent defeat of SOPA/PIPA and not a little humiliation at the hands of the Web. And what better way to bolster the cause for cyber-crackdown than by pointing to a massive display of cyber-terrorism at the hands of everyone's favorite Internet boogeyman: Anonymous?

I don't truly know whether Anonymous was cleverly goaded into #OpMegaUpload. But I do know that an attack this big on this many government sites will effectively erase those good Internet vibrations that were rattling around Capitol Hill this week and harden the perspective of legislators and law enforcement who want to believe that the Web community is made up of wild, law-breaking pirates. That, ultimately, may help strengthen the business--and the emotional--case for the pro-SOPA, pro-PIPA lobby.

Did the feds just get the last lulz?


Related news - Thu, Jan 19, 2012 Techcrunch story titled SOPA Protests Sway Congress: 31 Opponents Yesterday, 122 Now

Here are ProPublica’s SOPA support and opposition breakdowns as of 5:15 pm PST, January 19th.
  • Total: 63 supporters, 122 opponents
  • Senate: 37 supporters, 22 opponents
  • House: 26 supporters, 100 opponents
  • Democrats (across the Senate and House): 40 supporters, 55 opponents
  • Republicans (across the Senate and House): 22 supporters, 67 opponents

Some other key facts:

  • Both of California’s Senators support SOPA-PIPA, likely due to ties to the entertainment industry. Thankfully more California House members oppose it than support it.
  • 25 of the 37 Senate supporters are Democrat
  • Opponents tend to be younger, especially in the house. So yes, old people don’t understand the internet.

posted by jr on Jan 20, 2012 at 01:25:37 am     #  

I think this latest round of attacks by Anonymous verifies that their ranks are filled with petulant juveniles who really don't understand what is in their best interest. The anti-SOPA/PIPA publicity that was raised this week and the number on Congresspeople that changed their stance in response to it should have been reward enough for Anonymous. But no, they go batshit crazy when the Feds (with the co-operation of foreign governments) shut down a site that that everyone knows is primarily used for illegal file sharing.

What is their real goal here? Do they want the U.S. to afford zero copyright protections? I have heard complaints from their like that the length of copyright in the US is too long. But how many of the top illegal downloads are of material more than 5 years old? Or even 2 years old? Some level of protection needs to be afforded, or else no one will push the boundaries of what is possible. Would James Cameron have been able to raise enough money to make Avatar if you could download it for free the day after its release with no possible repercussions? Certainly not.

I understand that Anonymous wants to minimize corporate influence in policy making decisions, but this latest round of attacks is like a teenager leaving a flaming bag of dog crap on the front porch of the officer who confiscated his weed and didn't charge him. Anonymous at large seems to be full of people who don't create many of the reasons they actually enjoy using the internet.

If they are so powerful and supposedly represent the masses, how come they aren't raising funds and producing high quality and entertaining content that informs the people of the world of their causes? Why aren't they signing artists and making movies? How about helping the poor or donating computer time to do medical research?

When you only do it for the lulz, all people are going to do is laugh at you.

posted by brainswell on Jan 20, 2012 at 11:21:32 am     #   1 person liked this

"... how come they aren't raising funds and producing high quality and entertaining content that informs the people of the world of their causes?"

Anonymous does produce entertaining and informative content.

http://anonops.blogspot.com

About Megaupload.com:


Anonymous in general:


Anonymous formed years ago, and I believe their first target and their main target still for some in Anonymous is Scientology.

http://whyweprotest.net/anonymous-scientology


And last year, remember Anonymous vs Westboro Baptist Church?

This video his hilarious. Anonymous took down WBC websites during a live interview with one of the WBC nutjobs.

posted by jr on Jan 20, 2012 at 11:55:55 am     #  

I think calling those videos "entertaining" is reaching. No one enjoys listening to the robot voice for more than 5 seconds.

A lot of their videos are just "mash up" style videos that really have nothing to do with real "production" of content. And we all know that "mash up" really means "I'm taking your content in small amounts, please don't sue me."

This guy has more talent in his little finger than all of those Anonymous videos put together. And he makes his points better without sounding like C-3PO.

http://vimeo.com/31100268

posted by brainswell on Jan 20, 2012 at 12:33:40 pm     #  

"No one enjoys listening to the robot voice for more than 5 seconds."

I do. I think they're clever. Art is subjective, you know.

By the way, brainswell, that video link you posted already exists in the post that started this thread.

posted by jr on Jan 20, 2012 at 01:07:29 pm     #  

News of the day, Jan 19-20, 2012:

posted by jr on Jan 20, 2012 at 08:56:01 pm     #  

Isn't there already enough IP laws on the books that they could enforce without grandstanding for the voting public?

posted by Linecrosser on Jan 20, 2012 at 11:06:42 pm     #  

Grandstanding for the voting public? You mean "sucking the corporate cock of Big Media". This is just more of that corporate welfare and regulation that helps Big Media and hurts everyone else. Congress protecting the business models of Hollywood because Hollywood's too fucking stupid and stodgy to evolve anything better. The worst part is, BOTH SIDES are in on it because you are dealing with the Hollywood Liberals (remember, the Screen Actors Guild is a UNION, along with IATSE and all the rest involved in motion pictures and music and TV), and the Corporate Conservatives (Rupert Murdoch and various other media owners, agents, shareholders, etc.) The Internet normally doesn't give a flying fuck about this sort of thing up until they're made aware that Congress is about to go all China on it and enact stupid laws that will totally break the Internet and take away everyone's pr0n and LOLcats and stupid YouTube videos and favorite biased political sites and so on, at which point the entire Internet proceeds to scare the fuck out of Congress by any and all means (including digging up which Congresscritters are self-loathing closet cases, which ones are cheating on their spouses, which ones are on the take, etc.).

posted by anonymouscoward on Jan 21, 2012 at 01:22:26 am     #   2 people liked this

Jan 21, 2012 - Forbes - Does Online Piracy Hurt The Economy? A Look At The Numbers


Jan 20, 2012 - Techdirt - MPAA Directly & Publicly Threatens Politicians Who Aren't Corrupt Enough To Stay Bought :

Reinforcing the fact that Chris Dodd really does not get what's happening, and showing just how disgustingly corrupt the MPAA relationship is with politicians, Chris Dodd went on Fox News to explicitly threaten politicians who accept MPAA campaign donations that they'd better pass Hollywood's favorite legislation... or else:

"Those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake. Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake,"

This certainly follows what many people assumed was happening, and fits with the anonymous comments from studio execs that they will stop contributing to Obama, but to be so blatant about this kind of corruption and money-for-laws politics in the face of an extremely angry public is a really, really, really tone deaf response from Dodd.

The MPAA doesn't need a DC insider explicitly demanding the right to buy laws and buy politicians. The MPAA needs a reformer, one who helps guide Hollywood into the opportunities of a new market place. The MPAA needs someone who actually understands the internet, and helps lead the studios forward. That's apparently not Chris Dodd.


Response to Dodd from PublicKnowledge.org :

... if the MPAA is truly concerned about the jobs of truck drivers and others in the industry, then it can bring its overseas filming back to the U.S. and create more jobs. It could stop holding states hostage for millions of dollars in subsidies that strained state budgets can’t afford while pushing special-interest bills through state legislatures.


Jan 18, 2012 - Deadline.com - Hollywood Moguls Stopping Obama Donations Because Of President’s Piracy Stand: 'Not Give A Dime Anymore'

Several [Hollywood] moguls have informed Obama’s newly anointed Hollywood re-election liason to the entertainment community that they are pulling out of major fundraisers planned over the next few days and won’t participate in any more headed by Obama and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (whom they see as in the pocket of the Internet giants like Google).

Alarmed by the mogul boycott, Sarandos sent a personal plea to the Hollywood studio chiefs over the weekend begging them to continue supporting the Obama re-election campaign even though he knows they are disappointed with the Obama administration’s position on the piracy bills. Several moguls, in response, ”sent back word saying ‘Fuck You’ basically,” one insider tells me, expressing how they feel used and abused by the President despite their campaign contributions.

So far the most outspoken mogul against the Obama administration on this issue has been Rupert Murdoch who told his new Twitter audience: “So Obama has thrown in his lot with Silicon Valley paymasters who threaten all software creators with piracy, plain thievery.”

I’ve learned that Fox Filmed Entertainment Chairman Jim Gianopulos even sat down and wrote his good friend (and fellow Greek-American) Sarandos an articulate note over the weekend the gist of which said that he and his fellow moguls won’t give any more money if they keep getting taken for granted.

The moguls are reminding Obama et al that, in the words of one studio chief,

“God knows how much money we’ve given to Obama and the Democrats and yet they’re not supporting our interests. There’s been no greater supporters of him than we’ve been from the first day and the first fundraisers continuing until he was elected. And, at its heart institutionally, Hollywood supports the Democrats. Now we need the administration to support us. This is a very important time for Hollywood. The issue at hand — piracy — is a legitimate concern. But Google and those Internet guys have been swiftboating the entertainment industry by saying we’re trying to shut down the Internet just because we don’t want them to advertise pirated movies. As for other claims, we make 24. We don’t make national security problems.”

The situation is serious because many moguls and/or their families comprise Obama’s top bundlers in the TV/movie/music biz. Bundlers as defined by opensecrets.org are “people with friends in high places who, after bumping against personal contribution limits, turn to those friends, associates, and, well, anyone who’s willing to give, and deliver the checks to the candidate in one big ‘bundle’.” These donors direct more money to the candidates than anyone else. As of September 2011 these 357 elite bundlers were directing at least $55,900,000 for Obama’s re-election efforts — money that has gone into the coffers of his campaign as well as the Democratic National Committee, according to opensecrets.org.

posted by jr on Jan 23, 2012 at 01:03:30 pm     #  

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