SOPA Opera??

[anunitu]

Internet lockdown? Blacked out sites? censorship. Ahh, the things we do to protect ourselves from ourselves.

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/technology/2011/11/sopa-internet-piracy-bill-criticized-as-internet-censorship/

Did we not say something to China because they controlled what their people could access online?

I am not pro or Con,but I am concerened about Government telling you what you can surf for.

Let the discussion begin.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: SOPA Opera??

Well, I don't know if this particular law is well written or not, if it gives too much power to the government or not, or if it will create the kinds of problems people are claiming it will or not. It'll take lawyers and test cases to figure that out.

I do know, however, that police agencies have to be able to take real, effective action in dealing with Internet theft - copywrite infringement is one form of Internet theft which needs to be dealt with.

Censorship and law enforcement are not the same thing. It is possible that attempts at law enforcement could turn into censorship, and it is the obligation of the citizens to keep an eye open to make sure that that does not happen.

[DanieMarie]

Re: SOPA Opera??

The biggest problem in internet theft is peoples' attitude toward intellectual property these days. Instead of seeing an album or a movie and thinking "I can't afford that so I'll just have to do without", people just download. There's no quick solution to this, and protectionist laws are not going to help the problem. Unfortunately the only solution is a complete upheaval of the way we do things. Industry models have to change. We've barely scratched the surface of how to make money online with entertainment, and the differences in laws between countries and different licensing definitely needs to get sorted out...for example, the reason TV downloading is such a HUGE problem in Europe is that it's not even shown on networks at the same time as the US....you have to wait 6 months to 2 years, even in the UK where programs are not dubbed...but people know it's shown in the US due to this magical invention called the internet, so they download. If someone can figure out how to solve that problem and sort out the legalities, there's revenue there. Not saying that TV downloading isn't a problem in the US either, just that there are a LOT of people here who would pay for watching TV shows when they come out in the US, but don't, and don't watch them on networks, especially since in non-English speaking countries, there are a lot more foreigners than there used to be, who may not speak the local language, but English is a common language and they'll watch programming in its original language. There are around 200,000 people from the UK and US (and not counting others like Canadians, Irish, Australians, etc) alone, most of whom have the income and the desire for such a service....and that's not to mention the scores of younger Germans who prefer to watch programming in its original language.
Anyway that's just one I thought of. I'm not the solution master for all the problems regarding entertainment, revenue and the internet. But I do know that protectionism isn't the solution. Unfortunately the nature of the industry has changed, and it's changed enough that new models are needed. The old models no longer work.

[anunitu]

Re: SOPA Opera??

As I see it,we have let the worms out of the can "Again" remember the big fuss when VCR's came out,and audio tapes. The can is open much wider now,and nothing is going back in the can. it is a "brave new world"(I might be concidered in violation of copyright for typing that books name)

[B. de Corbin]

Re: SOPA Opera??

it is a "brave new world"(I might be concidered in violation of copyright for typing that books name)

LOL - no, not even remotely. But if Brave New World is still in copyright, and you try to sell copies you've printed from your computer printer, then it would be a copyright violation. There is a legal concept called "fair usage" which allows for referring to book titles, quoting information from sources, short bits used in reviews, etc.

DanieMarie, you are certainly right about the changing nature of business models under conditions of changing technology. And the new models haven't emerged yet... (we also have to deal with issues of privacy, security, reliability, etc. as a result of tall this new technology).

Whatever happens, though, is going to require some sort of policing, which will require some sort of regulation (without regulations, there is nothing to police, without policing, there's not much point in having regulations). And they'll pretty much have to be international, or, again, there's not much point in having them.

[DanieMarie]

Re: SOPA Opera??

Yep, and that's the issue. It's actually easier to come up with new regulations and at least better consistency regarding copyright laws and licensing than it is to get an international policing system for the internet. The latter is pretty much impossible, because you'll always have countries like Russia, which just doesn't care. And, some of the worst things going on on the internet come from the countries that likely wouldn't cooperate or give such regulations and their enforcement only face value. So in effect, it would just tighten the leash and reduce freedom of information in more developed countries, which is sad because those have the most potential to benefit from newer industry models.

[Ophidia]

Re: SOPA Opera??

I think a lot of it is also due to ratings and standards.

I like anime. My husband likes anime. If we buy anime released here in the US through US distributors (like Sony Entertainment-US), it's usually censored. All the glorious naughty bits and tentacles are blurred out, in other words. This is mainly because it's animation, and even if it's not intended for the children's market, the US seems to assume animation = ages 2 and up. Even on Netflix, a good portion of the anime is Americanized. If we want to see glorious naughty animated bits in all their naughty, tentacular glory, we have to either hope someone is selling a Japanese-released (but coded for US dvd players) dvd on amazon.com - or try and catch it online somewhere. Which means that we're hoping someone uploaded an illicit copy to an anime fansite or something like that.

So, not only does a bill like SOPA or PIPA aim towards stopping online piracy, it's also working in favor of decency laws, ratings and media standards. If you can't get pirated anime online, there's no risk that you may be watching it with your preschoolers. It also works in favor of online relationships with places like Afghanistan that have more stringent moral codes as to what their people can and can't access online or from outside sources.

[Caelia]

Re: SOPA Opera??

Just so you know, it's been shelved. EDIT: thought that article discussed it. Here's a better source: http://oversight.house.gov/index.php...asesstatements

[Juniper]

Re: SOPA Opera??

Just so you know, it's been shelved: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...80F1PU20120116

Good.

/10moregoods

[DanieMarie]

Re: SOPA Opera??

Just so you know, it's been shelved. EDIT: thought that article discussed it. Here's a better source: http://oversight.house.gov/index.php...asesstatements

Yeah I read that today on slashdot. Good riddance.

[Caelia]

Re: SOPA Opera??

Yeah I read that today on slashdot. Good riddance.

I'm not certain we're out of the woods yet. It's very similar to PIPA, so I suspect they're going to combine the two and then introduce it.

[Ophidia]

Re: SOPA Opera??

Oh yeah, that thing is just going to keep coming back up. It seems like every few years something like this circulates through our government. The Internet is just too untaxable and uncontrollable. It's anarchy, man, total anarchy, and the man just wants to put it down!!! Fight the repression!!!

(ok, I've had my moment. I'll stop now)

[anunitu]

Re: SOPA Opera??

The problem isn't the law itself,but what they would hang on it. Many laws were passed with good intent,only to be abused by the powers that be,on things never ment to apply to the original law.

[DanieMarie]

Re: SOPA Opera??

You can't really govern or especially control the internet. Any drive to do so really would have to involve strictly limiting it like some dictatorships do, and even then there are a lot of loop holes. It's the same problem as trying to get things done through the UN or even the EU....but worse. The internet doesn't exist in one place and one set of laws do not universally apply to all countries. If you limit internet access to within one country, you lose a lot of the best parts of the internet (business collaboration, cheaper business communication and transactions, knowledge transfer within academic communities, exchange of innovative, entrepreneurial ideas, etc, etc). You can monitor it, and hope to use info to catch people doing illegal things and prosecute them, but you cannot control it.