Hey! That's MY Excuse, RIAA

[GarMan]

Like I said in previous posts, I'm not saying that this is the best bill EVAR EVAR written. Sure, there are parts that are a little murky and open ended. But when you're dealing with the internet, you almost have to be somewhat open ended. Is that a sign that the government is going to regulate the internet like we're the new Iran? Maybe. But I doubt it. I just don't see how you can make finely worded statutes when you're dealing with piracy on the internet. The second you make some absolutes, you've got a million folks around the world working non-stop to come up with a workaround the next day.

Keep the government out of the Internet.  Historically speaking, virtually everything the government forces its way into becomes more of a problem than the original issue they were trying to resolve.  In this particular case, there is no need for the government to create any new legislation to protect copyrights or prevent piracy.  They have enough authority already.  Personally, I would rather the individual copyright holders protect their own IP rather than empowering some thug government with new regulatory controls and authority over things they do not understand. 

[GarMan]

The Anonymous cyber-punks are just playing into SOPA's hands. 

"See how dangerous we can be if you fuck with our internet?"

"Yeah.  Did you remember that you aren't fucking with fellow pimple-faced dweebs?  Oh you didn't?  Here.  Let me take your internet from you."

Yeah...  I sort of agree.  Personally, I find the retaliatory action quite humorous, but it could be used to support the goons trying to impose these controls and regulations over the Internet.  I think the voluntary blackout had greater impact.  They should do it for an entire week... 

[Snaggletiger]

Keep the government out of the Internet.  Historically speaking, virtually everything the government forces its way into becomes more of a problem than the original issue they were trying to resolve.  In this particular case, there is no need for the government to create any new legislation to protect copyrights or prevent piracy.  They have enough authority already.  Personally, I would rather the individual copyright holders protect their own IP rather than empowering some thug government with new regulatory controls and authority over things they do not understand.

^^^THIS^^^  If you already own the rights to something and someone rips you off...it's up to you to go after them for recovery.  You can also have the authorities go after them criminally.  The laws are already in place.

[AUTiger1]

Keep the government out of the Internet.  Historically speaking, virtually everything the government forces its way into becomes more of a problem than the original issue they were trying to resolve. In this particular case, there is no need for the government to create any new legislation to protect copyrights or prevent piracy.  They have enough authority already.  Personally, I would rather the individual copyright holders protect their own IP rather than empowering some thug government with new regulatory controls and authority over things they do not understand.

 

[GarMan]

I think they're getting the message...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13506_3-57362783-17/sopa-halted-in-house/?part=rss&subj=latest-news&tag=title

[GarMan]

Yep...  They got the message.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/01/20/technology/SOPA_PIPA_postponed/

[GarMan]

There are a lot of things that don't add up about this...  on both sides of this mess. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089954/Megaupload-founder-Kim-Dotcom-sprang-electronic-locks-Bond-villain-lair-police-swooped.html

[AUChizad]

I found this article interesting.

I have the album cover in question autographed by the band.

Joe Escalante is infamous in the punk rock community for being one of the few conservatives in the genre.

I met The Vandals after a show one time, about ten years ago. At the time, a popular shirt at these punk festivals had an unflattering picture of Bush and text that read "Not My President". Being the contrarian that I am, I made a shirt in the same style, but with Bush Smiling and the text read "Is My President". The singer tapped Joe and said "Hey Joe, look at this kid's shirt". He gave me a thumbs up and told me he was glad to see "that not all these kids are brainwashed."

Anyway, that's my personal connection.

Here's his article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-escalante/sopa-copyright_b_1222058.html

Joe Escalante

Does Daily Variety Validate SOPA Fears?
Posted: 01/23/2012 4:05 pm

It's hard to find anyone these days who will actually say "Hi! I'm for SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act, or the Senate's PIPA). But at first, I admit, I thought it was the right thing to do. I own a small catalog of music releases, films, and some publishing interests. I would see a spike in sales if SOPA passed. Of that I am convinced.

I found the hysteria regarding what "might" happen if this bill passed to be way over the top. Until, however, while fighting a lawsuit myself against a large media company, I had an epiphany that instantly transformed me to the other side of this issue.

I am now against it. I've seen the beast' face to face. I have first hand knowledge of what the large media companies think of the Internet. They will never like it until they can control it 100%; of course ruining it in the process.

I host a weekly intellectual property themed legal advice radio show (sexy, I know) and my "flip flop" (why not call it what it is?) came while explaining to one of the callers what the lawyers for the large Dutch media company Reed Elsevier, Inc. were doing on behalf of its Daily Variety Magazine in a lawsuit filed against the rather obscure punk band The Vandals (full disclosure: I'm the bassist; more disclosure, Reed owns Lexis Nexis, who profit from any litigation, abusive as well as non-abusive.)

First filed in 2004, the case is now set for trial in Federal Court on April 3, 2012 where the Daily Variety will claim in front of a jury, presumably with a straight face, that mere "links" to a site that posted artwork from a discontinued CD displaying an "infringing parody" should result in the four members of the Vandals paying Daily Variety and their lawyers at Fulbright & Jaworski upwards of a million dollars.



One only has to observe the Plaintiff's behavior and legal theories propounded in Reed Elsevier, Inc. vs. Escalante, et al (as it is known on the Federal docket), to get a glimpse of how the media companies would transform the Internet if SOPA or PIPA ever pass close to their present form.

If the fear is that under SOPA, the media companies will take advantage of a legal anomaly that will permit them to shut down entire web sites, with the burden of proving innocence placed on the defendant, based on trumped up claims and theories, I can tell you, it's not paranoia. It is a real world certainty.

My conservative nature resisted the notion these apparent threats to the First Amendment outweighed the need to punish I.P. thieves. However, my epiphany occurred while sharing with my audience an outrageous comment made to me during a deposition in the Variety case. Variety's lawyer from the 900 member firm of Fulbright and Jaworsky accused me of having an image of the Vandals album depicting the notorious "infringing parody" of Variety's logo on the Vandals' Myspace page.

When it was pointed out to him that it was part of News Corp's mp3 retail store and outside the control of the Vandals he signaled the theory he will present at trial to squash us. "If you had no control over the image in the retail store, why didn't you shut down your entire Myspace Page immediately so that no one could see the infringing parody?"

I laughed out loud, but then realized he was serious. This evidently passes as logical in a giant law firm representing a giant media company with 30,000 plus employees. He didn't care about this country's treasured protections provided by the First Amendment for artistic speech. He didn't care about the Copyright Act's "Fair Use Doctrine" which protects punk bands' parodies as it does every parody created on Saturday Night Live or Mad Magazine. He didn't care that if he won his case, four musicians would lose their homes, and everything they'd worked for during their modest 30-year career as a band. He only cared about scorched earth litigation to get his way.

However misguided, it was fascinating to me because he was showing us our future under SOPA. In Reed v. Escalante, et al, Variety is using burdensome litigation threats to deprive artists of due process. With SOPA, the media companies don't need that threat anymore. The law would provide cover. Victims can't strike back until the damage is done. That is a powerful sword to wield and I come from the future to tell you that they will not hesitate to stab anyone in their path with it, if it means making another nickel.

And this is just over a parody. Can you imagine the lengths they will go when it's alleged piracy? It's a hideous thought.

[GH2001]

I found this article interesting.

I have the album cover in question autographed by the band.

Joe Escalante is infamous in the punk rock community for being one of the few conservatives in the genre.

I met The Vandals after a show one time, about ten years ago. At the time, a popular shirt at these punk festivals had an unflattering picture of Bush and text that read "Not My President". Being the contrarian that I am, I made a shirt in the same style, but with Bush Smiling and the text read "Is My President". The singer tapped Joe and said "Hey Joe, look at this kid's shirt". He gave me a thumbs up and told me he was glad to see "that not all these kids are brainwashed."

Anyway, that's my personal connection.

Here's his article.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/joe-escalante/sopa-copyright_b_1222058.html

I'm really shocked the Huff Post would even run this article.

[AUChizad]

http://www.dailydot.com/politics/obama-secretary-state-howard-berman-sopa/

Obama considering prominent SOPA supporter for cabinet
Politics November 13, 2012

Kevin Collier

President Obama is reportedly considering appointing one of the biggest supporters of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) as his new Secretary of State.

Howard Berman (D-Calif.), who represented the Hollywood area in Congress from 1982 until the 2012 election, when he was challenged and defeated by a fellow Democrat, is notorious among activists for his support of SOPA, a bill that was heavily sponsored by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and perceived to be so overzealous in shutting down Internet piracy that it was a threat to Internet freedom as a whole. The film industry has a long history of lobbying politicians, and gave $407,260 to Berman the past two years alone, according to Maplight.org.

SOPA never came to a vote when it was brought before Congress in January. A massive Internet strike against the bill, which included scores of Americans calling their representatives in Congress, led to a number of representatives renouncing their co-sponsorship. Berman was both an early supporter of SOPA and one of the remaining co-sponsors of the bill after it became clear it wouldn’t pass. The head of the MPAA, former Sen. Chris Dodd, infamously threatened to cut funding to candidates who didn’t keep supporting the bill.

Activist group Demand Progress recognized the possibility of Obama appointing Berman, and its members have created a petition against Berman getting the job. “If the United States really cares about global Internet freedom, there couldn't be a worse pick for Secretary of State than Berman, who's repeatedly tried to censor the web at Hollywood's behest,” Demand Progress says.

Obama, it bears noting, officially decried SOPA a few days before it was shelved, though he’s not made Internet freedom a priority as of late.