Let's kill some restrictive copyright/SOPA nonsense again!

[Yuber]

Got the links from a youtuber named AlphaOmegaSin, good videos. DO NO VIEW THIS VIDEO AT WORK! TONS OF CURSING! His latest video is a rant about the re-introduction of some parts of the SOPA legislation with a petition you can sign. Please help raise awareness so we can kill this shit off once again. I'll post links regarding what's going on below as well as the petition.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/0 ... 20479.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the ... art-of-it/

https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20130 ... sopa.shtml

Please sign this petition so we can kill off this horrid shit AGAIN.

MOD REQUEST: If you guys don't mind, please put this in whichever section gets the most traffic so the petition can get as many signatures as possible.

[Gil_Hamilton]

Online petitions are pretty much meaningless. Maybe you should write your senators and representatives. Actual hand-written dead tree style.


And I still don't know why Obama and his aides thought an openly-postable petition area was a good idea. Five minutes looking at the open petitions is enough to demonstrate otherwise.

Also, democracy my ass. They mocked the idea of building a Death Star despite the massive outpouring of public support!
...
And bragged about decades-old space program accomplishments that we can't even BEGIN to match today. Like somehow we should be PROUD that no one is following the Voyagers and Pioneers, or that we put a dozen men on the moon's surface in three years and haven't sent even a single flyby in the intervening forty. The modern space program is not something to be proud of, it's something to be utterly ASHAMED of.




Edit: Anti-copyright? I don't think that means what you think it means.

[Yuber]

I made this thread when I was very tired, so I edited my OP and fixed the typo. Online petitions can't hurt, so why not use online petitions AND harass politicians? We basically need to use every resource we have at our disposal to stay on these politicians' asses and make sure this horrid copyright legislation never passes, as it will restrict the internet more than many realize. Gil, you were the person on this board that mentioned this to me a few days ago, so I'd think you would want to do EVERYTHING you can to stop the resurrection of SOPA, or at least parts of it. I first heard about this from ReviewtechUSA, linked below.

The youtube channel for ReviewtechUSA made me aware of this, but I like Alpha's firebrand-like rants and his accurate descriptions of politicians. They're both good.

EDIT: I don't even use Twitter, but a big ass Twitter Campaign couldn't hurt either. I have an account but I forgot my info, but I could probably acquire it fairly easily. Let's also boycott every company that supports this shit and generally go all out. Does anyone have a list of companies that supported the original SOPA? If not, I'll try to dig some stuff up in the next couple days and edit my post or post a reply with the info. Companies that supported it at first and flip-flopped due to backlash count as supporting it imo.

EDIT2, UNRELATED TO SUBJECT: Gil, I generally agree with the gist of your rant about how this country has gone down the shitter, but politicians have always been corrupt pieces of trash who only care about their fake public image, not the people or the constitution. We're in a particularly disgraceful state right now with congress dragging its feet on even basic things like extending the debt limit and implementing the Affordable Care Act, although the absence of a "public option" is incredibly disappointing. Discontinuing the shuttle and our space program being pathetic is simply an outward sign of the internal decay that's been going on for a long time. for God's sake, we can't even get Congress to re-build our infrastructure, and that would create millions of jobs!

Plus, our infrastructure as a whole is outdated and crumbling, yet partisan political nonsense and general political cowardice is getting in the way of getting ANYTHING done. Restrictive copyright laws are just a way to try and put the wool over peoples' eyes and make them think they're doing something, and of course politicians are paid by media companies to create restrictive copyright laws that'll make them more money and allow them to return to their archaic old business models, totally ignoring the fact that streaming their content is often free advertising. I bought DQ8 because of gameplay videos on youtube, for example

[adventure_of_link]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_or ... A_and_PIPA

Gee wow, time to not go to major or minor sporting events, no more magic school bus, time to find another cable company (if you use Commie Cast or Time Warner), stop doing the Zumba thing, close yer Visa cards, stop watching Disney (so much for Wreck it Ralph 2.. )...

[Yuber]

Well, why don't we at least boycott as many supporters as we can? Speaking with your wallet is pretty much the only way to force the hands of big companies. Also thank you for the list; I just got online and I hadn't even started looking stuff up; much appreciated.

Also, Gil's suggestion that you should use hand-written letters to mail your congressman/woman is a very good tip. I've never done it personally, but everyone I know that's done it has only gotten a reply with hand written letters; e-mail will just get deleted/blocked. I've never made a thread like this so don't kill the messenger; I'm sure I've made and will continue to make a LOT of mistakes. We should concentrate on telling as many people as we can on and offline about the re-introduction of this extreme copyright garbage.

Only 14,191 more signatures needed! Lots of very popular Youtubers are raising awareness about this so I doubt it'll have any problem reaching 100,000+. I also plan to mail a hand-written letter to my congressman because I've tried e-mailing before(about other issues) and it's never worked. The only people I know that have gotten replies from politicians were from hand-written letters. If they have a twitter, how about notifying people you know in your area and blowing their twitter up too?

EDIT: Fuck Disney, you can watch sports by live streaming them or TV(my cable company is Cox, not sure about their stance) and sometimes inconveniencing yourself is needed to get important things done. I can understand not boycotting Visa though since that's what I use as well; you got me on that one. How about trying to pay with cash as much as possible and spending less money as a whole?

For example, I'm a big UFC fan but Zuffa supports SOPA. I've never bought a PPV from them(for other reasons, PPV is a ripoff) and just watch fights on live streams. The quality usually sucks but it's good enough to see what's happening in the cage.

EDIT2: Didn't both Capcom and EA support SOPA at first and then flip-flop because of consumer outrage over the legislation? I've been boycotting EA for at least 6 years now and Capcom since 2010 due to their sleazy DLC, DRM(EA) and microtransaction bullshit. I count them as supporters as well unless my info is incorrect. Hell, I think Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony supported it at first too. I'll boycott all 3 if they support this "new" legislation. Link does have a good point about how boycotting EVERY supporter and former supporter just isn't practical, but I'll boycott as many supporters as possible. I'll be pissed if the 3 major console players support this shit again because I'll miss out on a lot of amazing games.

Also, beware of poison pills in other legislation. They could, for example, pass a farm bill or something and insert this copyright garbage into it so it wouldn't get nearly as much attention as stand-alone legislation. That's what I think they'll try to do this time.

[adventure_of_link]

Well, why don't we at least boycott as many supporters as we can? Speaking with your wallet is pretty much the only way to force the hands of big companies. Also thank you for the list; I just got online and I hadn't even started looking stuff up; much appreciated.

Fair enough. And no problem.

EDIT: Fuck Disney, you can watch sports by live streaming them or TV(my cable company is Cox, not sure about their stance) and sometimes inconveniencing yourself is needed to get important things done.

Only way you could royally F disney's noise (and the sporting events) is by watching pirated (err, backed up ) versions of their movies and events.. even still, Disney and the sporting events still have to get paid somehow.

Additionally, I didn't see anything about Cox boycotting or siding with SOPA/PIPA. Same with Insight (old cable company we had in the Northern KY area till Time Warner, a SOPA/PIPA supporter, took it over. Eww.).

I can understand not boycotting Visa though since that's what I use as well; you got me on that one.

*insert final fantasy victory theme here*

How about trying to pay with cash as much as possible and spending less money as a whole?

why not get store specific credit cards (that DON'T support SOPA or PIPA, mind you) or stay away from Visa? ALSO: I just spotted Master Card as a supporter of SOPA... so I guess this means no more Master Cards. Bummer. Discover and American Express still appear to be safe, though.

EDIT2: Didn't both Capcom and EA support SOPA at first and then flip-flop because of consumer outrage over the legislation? I've been boycotting EA for at least 6 years now and Capcom since 2010 due to their sleazy DLC, DRM(EA) and microtransaction bullshit. I count them as supporters as well unless my info is incorrect. Hell, I think Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony supported it at first too. I'll boycott all 3 if they support this "new" legislation. Link does have a good point about how boycotting EVERY supporter and former supporter just isn't practical, but I'll boycott as many supporters as possible. I'll be pissed if the 3 major console players support this shit again because I'll miss out on a lot of amazing games.

I didn't see EA or Capcom anywhere on the list, but that doesn't mean they are for or against. Additionally, yay for the fraternal order of police being on SOPA's side; no surprise, just means they get to bully more and more.

Also, beware of poison pills in other legislation. They could, for example, pass a farm bill or something and insert this copyright garbage into it so it wouldn't get nearly as much attention as stand-alone legislation. That's what I think they'll try to do this time.

Agreed, and stay wide awake and don't let Miley Cyrus grinding all over guys, George Zimmerman, Paula Dean, etc distract y'all

[Gil_Hamilton]

EDIT: Fuck Disney, you can watch sports by live streaming them or TV(my cable company is Cox, not sure about their stance) and sometimes inconveniencing yourself is needed to get important things done.

Only way you could royally F disney's noise (and the sporting events) is by watching pirated (err, backed up ) versions of their movies and events.. even still, Disney and the sporting events still have to get paid somehow.

Or you could, you know, NOT watch their products. It's not like they're vital necessities of life.

[Yuber]

I'm not much of a Disney person, was when I was a kid, but not now. When it comes to sporting events I'm interested in(just boxing and MMA), I watch the PPV cards on live streams online; it's best not to risk downloading them, although I have before; it was years ago though, UFC card. I do use a store-based card, but it's VISA-sponsored. I almost always use cash to buy things; cards are for online purchases only and those are usually gaming related. I'll consider getting another similar card that isn't tainted by a company that supports this shit.

These companies seem to think that if they restrict people enough, the power of the internet will diminish enough for them to go back to their old, archaic business models and have total control over their content. Of course that'll never happen but there are plenty of delusional suits and corrupt, bought-off politicians that are sleazy enough to try and fuck the net up for everyone. These idiots don't seem to realize the MASSIVE amount of free PR/advertising they get from streaming services. Full-on piracy is a miniscule percentage of online streams and other sites that use these companies' content.

Then again, considering what's going on in Washington as a whole, politicians seem to be stuck in a permanent fucking groundhog day style time loop with no end in sight. When you pay attention to politics for long enough you realize it's just the same rhetorical nonsense over and over with distractions thrown in so people won't pay attention to all the horrible shit these politicians & their financiers are doing. I don't understand why someone would be loyal to one party over the other; it's just a staged battle of fake conservatives VS fake liberals, and copyright nonsense is simply a way for politicians and corporations to gain more control over our collective actions.

world of shit FMJ reference before someone else says it

EDIT 8-30-13: The 100,000 signature goal on the petition has been reached. I'll keep that link in my sig just so anyone who sees my posts will know that our government is re-introducing more awful copyright legislation. I'm absolutely convinced that politicians are going to use the poison pill format and insert this bullshit into a completely unrelated bill that most people will ignore. As adventure_of_link said, don't let any of the nonsensical drama in the news distract you; I'm guilty of being distracted by media nonsense a few times. Ratings are the mainstream media's only concern so they'll cover various sensationalist bullshit for days or weeks which, of course, distracts people from real news.

Also, the situation in Syria is going to take over most of the news now and Congress may try to pass this shit while everyone is focused on Syria, likely in the poison pill format mentioned above. FUCK I hate politicians, and their financiers are even more psychopathic; they're the ones who really run the show. An extreme form of Campaign finance reform is really the only way to weed out some of the corruption in our system, but of course there's no way any politician would be willing to vote for a bill that mandates public elections and makes "donating" to campaigns a criminal offense. There would have to be MASSIVE protests/pressure on politicians for long periods of time for any kind of Campaign finance reform to be possible.