- Sep 24, 2011
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<RANT>What could be more anti-American than jack-booted thugs throttling our free speech, poisoning that greatest of American inventions, the Internet, while devastating perhaps our most successful and competitive industry? There's got to be a better way to sell more stereo cables.</RANT>
STOP SOPA & PIPA
This is a very important Law as it affects every one who uses the internet, In the U.S and world wide. These new laws basically give the U.S goverment the right to shut down any website they deem innapropiate. Think what could happen if they decided to go after the Adult Industry. No more MyFreeCams in the U.S. as with many other adult sites, Like: LiveJasmin, Naked.com, Streamate, And many others from wich we ALL generate income. If you are not in the U.S. That means these sites wont be able to reach the U.S. and will potentially reduce revenues for anyone outside the U.S. who make thier business on adult sites. Please PLEASE Read more about this. If you are in the U.S. PLEASE Contact your Congressman/Woman And let them know that you Absolutely APPOSE these bills. If you are outside the U.S. You can still Voice your opinion by following these links.
If you are in the U.S. this is an easy way to Email your congressperson:
OpenCongress Congressional Emailer - Oppose SOPA-
http://www.opencongress.org/contact_con ... ion=oppose
If you're outside The U.S. this is an easy way to have your voice heard by signing a petition:
Outside the US? Sign Petition Opposing US Censorship of Global Sites (EFF)-
http://americancensorship.org/modal/sta ... index.html
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as House Bill 3261 or H.R. 3261, is a bill that was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011, by House Judiciary Committee Chair Representative Lamar S. Smith (R-TX) and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The bill, if made law, would expand the ability of U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders to fight online trafficking in copyrighted intellectual property and counterfeit goods. Presented to the House Judiciary Committee, it builds on the similar PRO-IP Act of 2008 and the corresponding Senate bill, the PROTECT IP Act.
The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who makes the request, the court order could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for ten such infringements within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement.
Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws, especially against foreign websites. They cite examples such as Google's $500 million settlement with the Department of Justice for its role in a scheme to target U.S. consumers with ads to illegally import prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies.
Opponents say that it violates the First Amendment, is Internet censorship, will cripple the Internet, and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech actions. Opponents have initiated a number of protest actions, including petition drives, boycotts of companies that support the legislation, and planned service blackouts by Wikipedia and major Internet companies scheduled to coincide with the next Congressional hearing on the matter.
The House Judiciary Committee held hearings on November 16 and December 15, 2011. The Committee was scheduled to continue debate in January 2012, but on January 17 Chairman Smith said that "[d]ue to the Republican and Democratic retreats taking place over the next two weeks, markup of the Stop Online Piracy Act is expected to resume in February."
This is where I got this information. There are other links you can find to get more info about this. It is SERIOUS!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOPA
http://wordpress.org/news/2012/01/help-stop-sopa-pipa/
If you are in the U.S. this is an easy way to Email your congressperson:
OpenCongress Congressional Emailer - Oppose SOPA-
http://www.opencongress.org/contact_con ... ion=oppose
If you're outside The U.S. this is an easy way to have your voice heard by signing a petition:
Outside the US? Sign Petition Opposing US Censorship of Global Sites (EFF)-
http://americancensorship.org/modal/sta ... index.html