Wikipedia blocked for 24-hours

[. . .]

I was reading a Wikipedia article and the page suddenly turned black and a message appeared saying that it's gonna be blocked for 24-hours. This is due to that SOPA and PIPA stuff that's going on.

I'm actually quite glad that they're doing this.

 

[2010Dolby]

May I ask why you're glad? I dont fully understand the entire situation. Im still pretty new to computer stuff.

Another question for anyone that can answer it... does that bill theyre passing threaten AC at all?

 

[King_Oni]

I general I don't think it would affect AC as a forum. Until they deem a forum like AC to be "suspicious" and they could easily lock it down. That's the big problem here... if the bill is passed they can lock down anything they think is "suspicious" on whatever reasons. Yet, there have been some things regarding SOPA I've read that this law could lockdown any site that has copyrighted material linked; hence youtube clips. Most of em are copyrighted (if you're going the music route), they're just not enforced that hard. But the "what are you listening to" thread suddenly becomes a cesspool of illegal activity for SOPA.

SOPA in general is stupid, they're applying business law on matters of art. I rather think there needs to be an overhaul in the entertainment industry instead of applying law and train of thought that worked 30 years ago.

Also; SOPA just makes things harder for people to learn about new media. I kinda wonder that if this bill would get passed, then... in one day, we'd be back to "buying everything" which isn't really a gradual approach people would deal with that easily. Besides, mentality of said people might be a problem as well. People don't even think it's wrong to download stuff you'd have to pay for, and they apparently need a law to tell people that it is wrong. In a lot of cases it takes a really, really long time for people to accept such laws and deal with it, especially a law like this where the modern world is a swirling vortex of media and influence all around, that for most is acquired for free.

Imagine this; independant filmmaker X makes a movie, of an idea that he got after he accumulated a bunch of movies and books of the internet for free (or; illegal). The amount of influence he's getting out of these media is something he'd never get if he had to pay for all, thus in a way you're dumbing down creativity IMO.

I can see that doing arts is something that needs to be viable just in case to make a living, but for what it's worth, if you feel you cannot make art cause you have the urge to make large sums of money out of it, you're not doing it "right" in the first place. Art in my humble opinion shouldn't be a vessel to harvest millions of dollars. If that's someones idea of art and he doesn't make that amount, stop making it and get a different job. But yeah, that's probably me, as I always liked the idea of making art from "nothing".

To be honest I'm kinda disappointed that only a few (relatively speaking) websites join in. For what it's worth they could've pulled the plug on the entire internet for 24 hours. Yeah, companies would have a financial setback, especially those that are depending on the internet, but if there's laws in the making where they can exclude YOU as a company from the party, I'd worry a bit if my company would be viable if I'm not online, because such scenario might be possible for anyone.

Dolby; maybe this will give you some more information, it's from the site I host my artwork at, and they started a debate and they shortly explain what the entire deal is about, especially for artists and such
DeviantArt SOPA debate

 

[epath13]

Apparently, once again it would give people with power and money a chance to step on the throats of the ones who don't have it. Sometimes I wonder if people who make decisions about such sensitive subjects like copyright infringement, privacy and things like that, even understand what they are doing... actually I think it's true about any subject. It almost feels like there's a deadline that needs to be met and people with money who have to be pleased, plus lots of other crap that clouds many of the politicians minds. Now big companies seem to try playing it safe, smaller ones are louder but in the end it's up to the few on top to decide.
Well...maybe slowly but surely politics have to get translated into regular human language so people stay no longer in the dark, don't agree blindly and throw stones aimlessly.

 

[Droopy]

I think one of the main concerns for everyone is that we don't want this internet censorship to turn into something like China has - a state firewall whereby they can block access to anything that they don't like the look of.

I can see the argument from both sides. One one side the artists need to protect their property/ideas and get funding through the selling of their work. The record and movie companies employ workers and have salaries to pay. On the other side, many people don't think it's stealing as it's just a virtual copy - not like a physical item being taken from a shop. Then you have the thought that the vast majority of these musicians and movie stars are already millionaires and don't need anymore money - so downloading a virtual copy of their work won't hurt them. However, there are a lot of independent movie makers and singers and downloading their work illegally would really hurt them financially, more so than the big entertainment companies. Finally, I think the actual selling of pirated material, on a physical medium, on the black market is more serious than a virtual download. Often those sales fund crime and gangs.

 

[epath13]

I hope congress will listen...
and I am an artist and I would want to protect my rights as well but there're limits that make sense there limits that don't.

 

[. . .]

Luckily, even if SOPA becomes a reality and sites are blocked, nerds like myself will still be able to use SOPA-censored sites.

I spent a bit of time reading about SOPA today and realized that it would be insanely easy to bypass the censorship.

 

[epath13]

Luckily, even if SOPA becomes a reality and sites are blocked, nerds like myself will still be able to use SOPA-censored sites.

I spent a bit of time reading about SOPA today and realized that it would be insanely easy to bypass the censorship.

yeah...ok, I've heard about that... but what about all the regular people, like me?

 

[2010Dolby]

Exactly, epath! We lose lol

 

[King_Oni]

Or... you could pro-actively look into the minor stuff that you can do to get past it now. I doubt there's no tutorial for the less techy people among us.

Also, I think that even if there's ways to get around the block, if SOPA were to be given green light, stuff like "how to get past SOPA restrictions" is another thing that'll be blocked.

But for now, SOPA is shelved, so we don't need to worry that much ^^

 

[GhettoButterFly]

I am going to call my congresswoman and senator when I get a chance today. I hope they'll listen and vote no on it. Anyways... SOPA and PIPA can affect library systems too. Especially librarians that try to help patrons. If they bypass the censorship, they can be in legal trouble and lose their jobs. :-/

Well that's all I have to say. Most forums are in trouble from what I can tell. I'll be careful what YouTube videos I post on here for now on, because any song an "American" uploads that isn't their own can get them five years in prison from what I heard.

Maybe I been on Facebook too much reading the Democrat/Liberal pages again. :-X Sorry everyone.