Should Apolyton protest SOPA? [SERIOUS]

[DaShi]

Damn, I was hoping that HC had posted his detailed analysis in favor of SOPA. What happened?

[Sava]

if anything, SOPA will just make it harder for dumb people to get stuff
warez will just be cooler like it used to be

people like wasting money on crap

let them buy songs on itunes!!!

people are getting poorer each day, the pols and companies they wh0re for will sound like marie antoinette

i'd fear the wrath of a spoiled ass populous more than a starving one
americans freak out when you try to tell them to stop stuffing their children's faces with trans fat and corn syrup

[Dinner]

Tools that kill SOPA are already available.

http://boingboing.net/2012/01/11/soa...-anti-sop.html

I installed that and used to for a while and it was a major pain to use. It seemed to want to reroute every website you use instead of just the blocked ones.

[Tupac Shakur]

I'm probably the most vocal anti-piracy guy on this website, and SOPA is a giant steaming turd.

How many of us have to vote for "What is SOPA?" before you nerds will answer the question?

After SOFA passes even posting that could become a crime because it hinders the enforcement of SOFA.

What is SOFA?

[Wezil]

Wow, the British are subject to American copyright laws?

The Brits have a hard-on lately for extraditing people to face dubious prosecution.

Quite shameful really.

[Guynemer]

How many of us have to vote for "What is SOPA?" before you nerds will answer the question?

The "Stop Online Piracy Act"

[Tupac Shakur]

So offline piracy is still cool? Avast, me hearties!

[Guynemer]

Hoist the mainsail, ye scurvy dog, or I'll keelhaul ya!

[Sava]

Internet piracy and/or copyright violations is laughably the biggest fake crime in the last century. A CD-quality song (128 kbps) runs around 1MB per minute. A 3 minute song = 3MB. 3MB is basically 24 million switches arranged in a certain configuration. Copying that particular configuration? Haha, apparently, that's a crime.

It's the recording industry's own damn fault for building a business around a technology that allows people to easily disseminate their product.

Those dipsticks need to get real jobs.

Their idiotic business is more retarded than people that live close to the water in regions prone to hurricanes.

Small government minded people should be particularly distressed by the idea that copying computer files is a crime. So the government needs to run around and protect some dumb schmuck's bad business? That's an excellent use of resources.

[giblets]

How is 128kbps CD-quality? CDs have a lot more bits in a second of audio than that.

[Sava]

mp3 is a compressed format

[Sava]

this goes back to the late 90s too
have you ever ripped a cd? sheesh

[giblets]

this goes back to the late 90s too
have you ever ripped a cd? sheesh

You mean it's been over ten years and people are still calling 128kbps "CD quality"?

[Sava]

You mean it's been over ten years and people are still calling 128kbps "CD quality"?

I don't know what "people" you are talking about... or what their opinions on mp3 bitrates are. So I can't speak to that.

I also haven't listened to or bought a CD since 2005. I recall 128 being referred to as generally the minimum bitrate comparable to cd. I used 192 for the most part.

256 is probably what could be most accurately referred to as "CD quality".

But depending upon the software, there are many factors that could affect the resulting MP3. Barring an obsessive technical breakdown... pepsi challenge... it's probably left to personal preference.

[Dinner]

It will probably still pass but the protests are having an effect.

Under voter pressure, members of Congress backpedal (hard) on SOPA
By Timothy B. Lee | Published 2 days ago

The public outcry over the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP Act seems to have gotten so loud that even members of Congress can hear it. On Thursday we covered the news that Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) was expressing second thoughts about SOPA's DNS provisions. He said he changed his mind after he "heard from a number of Vermonters" on the issue.

On Friday, several Republicans started backpedaling as well.

SOPA sponsor Lamar Smith (R-TX) announced that he would be pulling the DNS-blocking provisions from his own bill. “After consultation with industry groups across the country, I feel we should remove Domain Name System blocking from the Stop Online Piracy Act so that the Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision," Smith said in a Friday statement.

Meanwhile, six GOP senators who served on the Senate Judiciary Committee (which unanimously approved the legislation last year) wrote a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid asking him to postpone a vote on PIPA to give them more time to study the legislation.

"We strongly believe that the theft of American intellectual property is a significant problem that must be addressed," they wrote. But since the Judiciary Committee last considered the legislation, "we have increasingly heard from a large number of constituents and other stakeholders with vocal concerns about possible unintended consequences of the proposed legislation, including breaches in cybersecurity, damaging the integrity of the Internet, costly and burdensome litigation, and dilution of First Amendment rights."

The current plan for the full Senate to consider the bill on January 24 "may not permit us to work through many of the concerns that have been raised," they warned.

Lest anyone doubt the signers' tough-on-piracy bona fides, they include Orrin Hatch (R-UT), who once proposed that Congress give copyright holders a special exemption allowing them to hack into the computers of those suspected of piracy. In a 2003 hearing, he suggested that damaging someone's computer "may be the only way you can teach somebody about copyrights."

Another member of Congress that has been feeling the heat from voters is Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI). After reddit members raised $15,000 in 48 hours for his anti-SOPA challenger, Ryan came out with a clear statement of opposition to the legislation.

"It appears that lawmakers are beginning to realize how much damage their anti-'piracy' bills could cause to the Internet and to Internet-related businesses," said Public Knowledge's Sherwin Siy in a statement. "While we are pleased that some progress is being made, we are also firm in our opposition to both bills because some very bad provisions remain."

Washington insiders hold disproportionate sway on Capitol Hill. But members of Congress are ultimately chosen by American voters. When enough of them express a strong view on an issue, members of Congress do pay attention.

Update: The Obama administration has come out in opposition to SOPA in its current form. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has also promised that SOPA will not proceed to a vote until "consensus" has developed.

Obama is once again claiming he's against the bill "in its current form" but my money says he'll flip flop at the last second just like he did on the stupid arrest people and never give them a trial bill which just got passed.