Why aren't Second Lifers supporting SOPA?

[Void Singer]

that's odd, I don't remember people in KY ever actually using their blinkers =X

[Perrie Juran]

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Void Singer wrote:

that's odd, I don't remember people in KY ever actually using their blinkers =X

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actually, i have been quite puzzled by this phenomenon also

it is kind of like having a U.S. Constitution we keep failing to use

[Void Singer]

Oh I'm sure THAT gets used (each time the congressional loo runs out of paper)

[Eloise Baily]

See how this thread has gone all American like?

That's why most SL residents aren't supporting SOPA. A lot of us aren't American so we don't get this discussion at all..

Have at it though. It's good learning and good fun to read.

El x

(edited to give truer meaning)

[Prokofy Neva]

Alisha,

SOPA has definitions and defense remedies written within the bill. Read it closely. Why all this hypothetical hysteria about "abuse" instead of focusing on the need to fight the billions of loss from piracy? It's truly nuts.

I was talking the other night to a prominent and wealthy media owner. I thought because of his lefty politics on many things that he'd oppose SOPA. To my surprise, he didn't. We talked about it in detail, and I told him my theory of technocommunism. He was more blunt -- and said it's worse than that, it's techno-suicide -- content owners gi ing away their content. Insane.

There are normal legal checks and balances -- it's called "our entire legal system" that functions in just this way.

Many of the people in this thread responding to this query just spout other people's ideas. They paste links and youtubes of other people and call it a day. They aren't thinking for themsel es. This is sheeplehood, truly.

I took on Chris Parillo (notorious in SL circles) and Brian Rowe, the expect lawyer he called in (I would call him law-farer). I

http://3dblogger.typepad.com/wired_state/2011/11/copyleftist-law-farer-opposes-sopa.html

 

BTW, once again, let me pre-empt the snarks that say that if I put a blog link in, I'm only shamelessly dri ing traffic to my blog. Um, that's ridiculous. My blog is no high-traffic wonder, and such traffic as it has, it has on its own without me ha ing to go around and hype it. It's simply not significant. So spare your nastiness for some other more worthy fight.

The idea that because you don't know people's identities and RL politics you can't really tell what the body politic thinks is silly, as you don't hae to gi e a real name in order to identify your politics. SLuni erse.com for example is filled with lefties and progs and such, hardly any Fox watchers there, and you can see that without knowing a single RL name. I don't know why people pretend this is rocket science.

SL is a perfect example of a protyping world for the entire Internet that has re ealed exactly how SOPA could work, and work well.

 

[Ceka Cianci]

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Void Singer wrote:

that's odd, I don't remember people in KY ever actually using their blinkers =X

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They don't in Tennessee either..That and they think the yellow line in the middle of the road is there to line up with their hood ornament..

I never seen so many people drive in the middle of the road as i have in Tennessee..

you really have to own a 4x4 here because you never know when you are going to have to go off road hehehehe

[Sy Beck]

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Prokofy Neva wrote:

Alisha,

SOPA has definitions and defense remedies written within the bill. Read it closely. Why all this hypothetical hysteria about "abuse" instead of focusing on the need to fight the billions of loss from piracy? It's truly nuts.

I was talking the other night to a prominent and wealthy media owner. I thought because of his lefty politics on many things that he'd oppose SOPA. To my surprise, he didn't. We talked about it in detail, and I told him my theory of technocommunism. He was more blunt -- and said it's worse than that, it's techno-suicide -- content owners

gi ing

away their content. Insane.

There are normal legal checks and balances -- it's called "our entire legal system" that functions in just this way.

Many of the people in this thread responding to this query just spout other people's ideas. They paste links and youtubes of other people and call it a day. They aren't thinking for

themsel es

. This is sheeplehood, truly.

I took on Chris Parillo (notorious in SL circles) and Brian Rowe, the expect lawyer he called in (I would call him law-farer). I

http://3dblogger.typepad.com/wired_state/2011/11/copyleftist-law-farer-opposes-sopa.html

 

BTW, once again, let me pre-empt the snarks that say that if I put a blog link in, I'm only shamelessly

dri ing

traffic to my blog. Um, that's ridiculous. My blog is no high-traffic wonder, and such traffic as it has, it has on its own without me

ha ing

to go around and hype it. It's simply not significant. So spare your nastiness for some other more worthy fight.

The idea that because you don't know people's identities and RL politics you can't really tell what the body politic thinks is silly, as you don't hae to

gi e

a real name in order to identify your politics.

SLuni erse

.com for example is filled with lefties and progs and such, hardly any Fox watchers there, and you can see that without knowing a single RL name. I don't know why people pretend this is rocket science.

SL is a perfect example of a protyping world for the entire Internet that has

re ealed

exactly how SOPA could work, and work well.

 

---

Oh noes, looks like somebody's hacked you and has stolen the Vs from your PC and keyboard or is it because you have given the Vs Up to so many people over the years that you are depleted and grabbing them from where ever you can now?

[Void Singer]

no, I just imposed SOPA on them, after all... it's it's part of my name and my brand =P

[Sy Beck]

You're harsh, but fair to the letter of the law.

[Void Singer]

you're right... maybe that was too harsh.... I'll give em back.... just don't expect me to be responsible for loss of business or credibility

[Knotter Blogfan]

---

Sy Beck wrote:

 

Oh noes, looks like somebody's hacked you and has stolen the

V

s from your PC and keyboard or is it because you ha

v

e gi

v

en the

V

s Up to so many people over the years that you are depleted and grabbing them from where e

v

er you can now?

---

This must be a corrupt version of a lipogram performance. It is second rate. I have had fine victories in lipogram performance but it is more simple in German.

Knot

[Solar Legion]

I'd be perfectly happy if a law passed which made your business utterly illegal.

In fact, if this passes, I do hope that someone comes up with just such a law - what is good for the goose ought to be good for the gander, eh?

Why not make it illegal to "rent" out "land" in Second Life and any similar programs without being a certified Realtor! 

[Marx Dudek]

Have you actually read the language of the bill, and pondered the unintended consequences?

Microsoft is against this bill now.  That should tell you something.

[Ceka Cianci]

 

 

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Prokofy Neva wrote:

Many of the people in this thread responding to this query just spout other people's ideas. They paste links and youtubes of other people and call it a day. They aren't thinking for themsel es. This is sheeplehood, truly.

 

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Naaaa.. I just didn't feel like wasting too much time on it by typing up a huge wall of text for someone who uses tactics like.."if you are against this you must be one of the bad guys" ..Or.. "If you don't have anything to hide then you would be all for this"..

Ya know? The usual re-puked auto guilt trip gibberish that so many have used in the passed  to try to Godwin threads from the start..It's  about as original of a tactic as the ice breaker.."How about this weather we're having"?

I have common sense enough to know that i don't have to debate you on it..Because you won't make a difference in the outcome one way or the other..Also because i couldn't care less what you think about my opinion or how much thought you feel i put into it..

you came in generalizing from the start..What makes me or anyone else for that matter feel you are gonna start to be honest after that?

So i saved the time and energy because i don't have all day to sit around and play internet important person..

To be honest..I would have made my own video before..But my George Carlin impression really sucks..hehehehehe

Ok that wasn't really honest..I was just too lazy to make a video  lol

 

Like i was too lazy to make this one as well hehehe

 

 

[Ceka Cianci]

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Prokofy Neva wrote:

SL is a perfect example of a protyping world for the entire Internet that has re ealed exactly how SOPA could work, and work well.

 

---

---

On second thought. I have some free time.

The RIAA and MPAA even though you wish to take them out of the equation.  Are THE example of how it will not work well. Even though you WISH it not about them.

I like the knee-jerk attempt generalization thingy to try to take out the RIAA and MPAA  rather than listening to someone with common sense showing what history has proven in these two.

"Prok Wrote: It's not about RIAA, that's another kneejerk reactionary leftwing meme. The AFL-CIO backs this because it's about people's livelihoods and work and labour rights. It's about the little guy in SL, not just those big record companies."

Ok lol

I myself don't run with a pack. I kick at both sides..

My party is the same one Carlin is in. A few words from the party leader.

 The RIAA and MPAA to this day are still taking individuals to civil court. So don't think for a second they won't use this on you or me or content creators. They will be getting anyone in court. Only it will be criminal court and possibly civil court as well.

Their history yells loud and clear to a lot of us..I suggest you read up on their history and ours and current events.

You say you have only been in this battle for 7 years.

I was there when Napster started up when it was empty. All the way to the night it went down..In the chat room involved and watching it grow as soon as metalica became asshats. It grew even faster after RIAA became involved. Because it was not about piracy..And creators for Napster knew it..Greed motivated the other side as it does with SOPA. I was there first hand. So don't try to deflate RIAA and MPAA's involvement as just some political tool.

A person would have to be stupid not to see they and others like them are just waiting for it to pass to give the word to unleash hell.

I have my own opinion and it's based on experience..Not based on assumption that something is gonna work or not because we are told it won't be abused.

You seem to seriously believe that this won't be abused? history tells different..Don't let your pride cash a check that your butt can't cover.

135 billion in losses per year. A loss that paid for the exposure and advertising they received from US their clients..But you fail to hear them speak about the profits made from US the clients and the exposure we gave.

They should be cutting prices for doing such a great job..Not go after US the clients for the awesome advertisement job we have been doing  that  cause billions more profit that DWARF the 135billion loss.

Lets take a look at these guys you are taking out of the equation that will be wearing this law out.

This is an article that is only from one year ago. Yes i know i didn't write it myself. But. That doesn't mean i wasn't around when events were taking place. Lets imagine what would have happened if they had SOPA back then.

==

Nine years ago the RIAA won a groundbreaking suit against Napster.com in what would become the beginning of a nearly decade-long flood of litigation. The incident seemed to be a tipping point for the Entertainment Industry, as both the RIAA and MPAA up until then had enjoyed little success in stemming the piracy movement which was growing at exponential rates across the world. Peer-sharing, while still relatively new at the time, looked like it would be snuffed out in the legal battles to come; the populace that had taken to services like Napster were too afraid to continue for fear of being sued.

 

The RIAA alone had managed to sue upwards of 35,000 people after their win against Napster, and when they had finally announced in late 2008 that they would stop filing lawsuits on a grand scale, they still reserved the right to sue particular offenders whom they deem to be the worst. In the meantime, the duo turned their attention to the Internet Service Providers, in an attempt to exert a measure of force on those companies to handle offenders by disallowing them internet access, a move which the European Union has declared something of a human rights violation. Showing colors strangely unlike any expected, American ISP’s have actually resisted this pressure, disliking the implication that one industry can control another on little more than a whim.

 

The behavior of the RIAA/MPAA during the last decade has been nothing short of a schoolyard bully who has the teacher in his pocket. It’s not just the consumers who’ve had enough of the Industry’s nonsense, the ISP’s and even the actors and musicians who just ten years ago claimed they were being robbed are now standing up to call out the associations for their wonton disregard for their own customer-base. It’s important that it be stressed that it was not only the outlandish number of people that had been sued that brought this about, but several cases in which the RIAA, chiefly, managed to cross the line in such a way that the public could not help but demand action. Here we take a look at some of those most ridiculous suits they filed that they immediately regretted, as well as some associated lunacy that could affect you.

 

The Late Larry Scantlebury

 

Seven different recording labels banded together to bring the fight against a man named Larry Scantlebury. Larry was a vietnam veteran who loved reading books in his spare time, along with spending time with his wife and spoiling his three grandchildren. The RIAA was suing Larry for allegedly stealing their content, as usual, when during the long drawn-out process, he died. Where normally this kind of incident would lead to candle-light vigils, and scandal about a man dying while being sued by the RIAA, this only got more vile. Immediately upon hearing that the accused had passed away, Warner’s lawyers told his surviving family members that they had 60 days to grieve before their depositions were expected, and at that time the RIAA would consider amending the charges before moving on with the case, against them.

 

Fred Lawrence and His Grandson

 

The MPAA sued a Wisconsin Grandfather named Fred Lawrence for illegally downloading four movies via peer-to-peer sharing. True to form, they contacted him demanding $4,000 with the threat that if they didn't get paid, he'd be facing a lawsuit; when Mr. Lawrence flatly refused to pay them he found himself facing a potential $600,000 in damages. As it turns out, his 12-year-old grandson had downloaded the movies for no particular reason, since they already owned three of the four offending titles. This entire episode was especially stressful to Mr. Lawrence, as legal experts explained to him that even if he fight and won against the MPAA, the association would be fully within their rights to sue his grandson afterwards.

 

Sarah Ward: Mega-Pirate

 

Mrs. Ward was a 66-year-old retired schoolteacher who sculpted in her spare time, and suffered from mild dyslexia. She rarely used the computer for anything more than checking her e-mail, or the weather, and enjoyed listening to celtic or folk music. The RIAA sent her notice in late 2003 that she was being sued for illegally downloading and trafficking several million dollars worth of music using the peer-to-peer file-sharing program and network KaZaA. Specifically cited in the charges was her extreme pirating of artist Snoop Dogg. Also interesting to note is that KaZaA was strictly a Microsoft Windows application at the time, and Mrs. Ward’s old Apple machine would not have been running it.

 

Tanya Anderson

 

42-year-old single mother Tanya Anderson was informed by the RIAA in 2004 that she could either settle out of court or face legal action for her early morning piracy antics. She learned that she had apparently been downloading the rap song “Shake that Ass, Bitch” at 4:24 in the morning under the username “gotenkito.” This was news to her, and she promptly counter-sued the RIAA under state Racketeering laws. At the time, she worked for the Department of Justice, but was forced to leave for health reasons shortly after her legal woes began. She was severely disabled, and with the loss of her job added to the already soaring legal fees she was in for hard times. To put a nice cap on it all, the RIAA not only called her 10-year-old daughter’s school impersonating the girl’s grandmother in an attempt to get information from her, but they also threatened to “interrogate and confront her little girl at the offices of the RIAA lawyers” if Ms. Anderson did not drop her counter-claim, which she disclosed in her deposition against them.

 

Lola Scruse

 

In 2006 a grandmother of three, Lola Scruse, who was also 66 years old, and on dialysis. She lived off of Social Security checks, and she didn’t know much of anything about computers or the internet other than the fact that she owned one and paid for the other. Her grandchildren would use her computer when they were over to visit. Lola was informed by the Court that she owed $6,000 for 872 songs that she had downloaded illegally, and that she had already lost the case due to default judgement since she never responded to the initial lawsuit. She was already handling monstrous medical bills for the dialysis, and now with this figure added, she was quite upset. Lola’s since been more mindful of what her grandchildren are doing on her computer, and the RIAA has since targeted more grandmothers who don’t respond to strange court documents about things they don’t understand.

 

Berry the Hobo

 

Chaz Berry fell on hard times, and became one of New York City's thousands of homeless people. He was going about his business in early 2007, presumably just being homeless, when he found out that he was being sued by the RIAA for copyright infringement. Apparently, the Industry lawyers had found that they couldn't locate Mr. Berry, and were aware that he was in fact homeless. That didn't stop the process server from adhering the summons to the door of his former apartment. They reported to the Court that they had "made every effort" to locate Mr. Berry, and requested default judgement in the case. After much legal ado, the case was dropped against Mr. Berry, and the RIAA barely escaped the courtroom without sanctions on their legal team.

 

Jammie Thomas: First in Court

 

In 2007 the RIAA took a case all the way to a jury in Federal Court, suing Jammie Thomas on 24 counts of illegal file-sharing. This was the first case to go all the way to court, as every other had either been settled or was tied up in litigation and negotiating settlement. Being the first, it was extremely important to both sides of the issue, which at the time was red-hot in all media venues. At the time of the trial, well over 20,000 other suits were active, and the RIAA had a point to prove. In the end, the jury found Thomas guilty on all 24 counts, and set an award to the plaintiff of $222,000, despite the testimony of expert witnesses that proved a degree of reasonable doubt.

 

The Displaced Granny: Rhonda Crain

 

In 2006 Ms. Crain, a grandmother who had been displaced by Hurricane Katrina to East Texas, was told by the RIAA that she had the option to pay them the pittance of $4,500 or see them in court. They explained to her that they knew all about her KaZaA account name "kcrain" and that her sharing of tracks by the likes of Usher and 50 Cent, totalling 572 songs, were well documented. Ms. Crain ended up settling in court with the RIAA under stipulations that she delete the offending files, and she did not have to pay them any damages. The judge in this case had decided that simply paying for internet access that someone else uses to download files does not make a person entirely liable for those downloads. It's too bad Mrs. Scruse didn't have that judge.

 

Brianna LaHara

 

At just 12 years old, Brianna LaHara was forced into settlement with the RIAA and had to pay $2,000 in damages for illegally sharing music. The breakdown was roughly two dollars per song. Out of 261 defendants in the first round of mass-suits, Brianna was the first to settle. At the time, the association had stated that it was only going after offenders who had been shown to have shared more than 1,000 songs illegally, and that anyone who stepped forward before a suit was filed against them would be given amnesty, though only for tracks officially represented by the RIAA. Not many people actually took the chance, since it would have only opened them up to secondary suits from interest groups working in tandem with the RIAA. This also came at the same time that the association was targeting universities and the students who used their networks to acquire music through them.

 

The Ghost of Gertrude

 

83-year-old Gertrude Walton was sued for illegally sharing over 700 songs on peer-to-peer file-sharing networks in early 2005, under the username "smittenedkitten." The problem with the case, was that Gertrude Walton not only did not own a computer, or know how to use one, but had in fact died in December of 2004. The RIAA quickly dismissed the case, after the entire known world laughed them out of court.

 

Tenenbaum Fights Back

 

In 2007 a man named Joel Tenenbaum decided not to settle and took his case all the way to court when he was sued by the RIAA. He began the adventure defending himself, but as time wore on, the RIAA lawyers delayed as much as possible, stalling whenever the opportunity presented itself. When the delays and court actions got too thick for him to handle without help, a Harvard Law professor named Charles Nesson stepped in to carry the mantle. The team then proceeded to not only stand their ground, but to attack the RIAA in both open court and open media. Not stopping their, Tenenbaum and Nesson called on the Court itself, declaring that allowing the RIAA to sue for such large amounts was unconstitutional, and violates Due Process. To truly make their point sink in, and gain massive attention Nesson brought to the foreground the fact that the RIAA itself used the very same argument in its own defense in a previous round of suits in which it was accused of the unauthorized use of music samples.

 

The Pirate Bay

 

Of all the sites on the internet dealing with peer-to-peer sharing, The Pirate Bay is widely known as the largest and most established. Based in Sweden, TPB has operated with near-impunity to American copyright laws, at least until recently. The MPAA tried repeatedly, at one point on a weekly basis, along with its sister association the RIAA, as well as several other special-interest groups and even Microsoft itself, to frighten the operators of the site to shut down by threatening legal action. In 2006 the MPAA released a public memorandum exalting in their success and stating that TPB had been shut down, and commending the U.S. and Swedish authorities for doing such a wonderful job in "the raid". There was a raid, and there were technically arrests, and seizures, but TPB was only shut down for 3 days and largely unaffected by the loss of equipment. The MPAA's press-release actually backfired, and became a more effective marketing tool for the Swedish Pirate Bay here in the U.S. than anything they could have done themselves. It read like an advertisement, showcasing what is available, for free, if one were to visit TPB. The full release can be read here. When the site came back online, it had an even larger following than it had before the raid. In 2009, after amendments to Swedish laws, the Pirate Bay founders were put on trial for breaking Swedish copyright laws; this was the first time they could be prosecuted by anyone. In the end, all four founders of the site were convicted on less than half the original charges, and sentenced to one year in prison and required to pay large award sums to the groups behind the suit. Under Swedish laws, however, no sentence is legal until all appeals are carried out in full, meaning The Pirate Bay's founders are unaffected by the outcome and will remain so for several more years to come.

 

Sue and Sue Alike: Real Networks vs. MPAA

 

IN 2008, during the feverish litigation-fest the U.S. Government was hosting for the MPAA lawyers, Hollywood reacted violently to a new piece of software released by Real Networks, called RealDVD. The software was simple, it basically broke the Industry's DRM (Digital Rights Management) on DVD's so that consumers could copy the DVD or save it to their computer for posterity. The MPAA began using the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, or the DMCA as it's more commonly known, to sue every entity that has come in contact with this DRM-bypassing software. The drama became even more spectacular when Real Networks turned the tables and counter-sued the MPAA, and demanded the court rule that their software be legitimized under a previously-established set of laws governing software and technology for the consumer. Technically, at that point, both sides had laws to substantiate their own claims, and the entire ordeal became a media fiasco dubbed "Dumb and Dumber" in the headlines. Recently, the MPAA has accused Real Networks of destroying evidence that showed the source of their code, which they claim to be "hackers."

 

Shawn Hogan

 

When the MPAA attempted to get a piece of the action by suing Shawn Hogan for illegally sharing Meet the Fockers in 2006, the case received a lot of media attention. This was partially because of the fact that Shawn never shared the movie, nor did he download it to begin with. He also owned the movie on DVD, but this wasn't what had made headlines; Shawn's ire for justice at being slandered in such a way drove him to hire a legal team to prove that the MPAA was wrong, and in their research they discovered that the Industry never actually owned the copyright to the movie in the first place due to clerical errors at the time of the filing. The case was quickly dismissed.

 

These ridiculous cases aside, the RIAA and MPAA continue to wander around the internet harassing innocent bystanders as they see fit. The RIAA raised eyebrows again in late 2007 with the sudden declaration that ripping your own CD's to your computer is illegal, which surprised many owners of mp3-players who had read the manuals to their devices. As strange as this was, it didn't really surprise people, as RIAA had also just sued XM Satellite Radio only a year beforehand, for selling a receiver that could record songs.The MPAA recently made headlines by in a landmark decision made by Swedish courts. The case will spend years in further litigation in Stockholm, but it was the verdict that nobody ever expected, given the amount of times the MPAA has targeted the Internet's most notorious peer-to-peer sharing hub. This is clearly an issue that has no clear end in sight, and in the meantime, the best anybody can do is cover their own end, whether they actually participate in piracy or not.

 

[Talarus Luan]

SOPA is garbage.

Beyond the ridiculous overreach in its provisions, bought and paid for by the MAFIAA, the mere fact that it is supported by someone who believes that FOSS is a communist plot to destroy the world pretty much obviates how bad it is.

[Pussycat Catnap]

---

Talarus Luan wrote:

SOPA is garbage.

Beyond the ridiculous overreach in its provisions, bought and paid for by the MAFIAA, the mere fact that it is supported by someone who believes that FOSS is a communist plot to destroy the world pretty much obviates how bad it is.

---

After seeing the last reality TV show of the kids of Mafia families... I think they're too busy playing Xbox and getting drunk or going to clubs and acting like hazbeen movie stars to have the energy left to pay for a bill through Congress...

But yeah... SOPA is bad news. When people on both sides of the political aisle oppose something, and when the business that its designed to protect -UNITE- with the people its meant to protect them from... against it... something has to be ill in the waters...

 

[Pussycat Catnap]

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Ceka Cianci wrote:

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Prokofy Neva wrote:

SL is a perfect example of a protyping world for the entire Internet that has re ealed exactly how SOPA could work, and work well.

 

---

---

On second thought. I have some free time.

 

---

PWND.

Seriously... Ceka's got the right angle on this one.

[Esteemed]

I don't think that people lose billions of dollars to piracy.  The problem is that most design and artistic intellectual property is probably marked up beyond most customer's means.  If copyright is enforced, given the economics of art and design, I would guess that people would start developing better quality art.  They would produce more original designs at a much lower price.  The intellectual property problem is actually a result of the history of production -- people grow up seeing a very limited set of design due to entertainment monopolies.  With new internet technology, people are learning they can make free high quality art themselves for the first time. After years and years of monopoly culture dominating society's visual vocabulary, people are just starting to learn how to express themselves artistically for the first time.  These billion dollar estimates are way off.  All people need to do is make their own completely original art, document the cost, and there, they have the real price of copyright infringement.  Projections are not as good a control group as comparison production. 

It is "The Last of the Monopolies" in some sense...

I think artists who really want to ensure a good future for themselves will focus on generating their own unique ideas and support people and groups who in turn support original art. 

[Mircea Lobo]

Probably because most Second Lifers have common sense. Why would anyone support brutal internet censorship like that, apart from rich fat and greedy corporations? There are enough copyright laws, and the way things are now is ok and fair. I'm asking everyone to please fight this and help keeping the internet free! Here is my topic where I found this thread: http://community.secondlife.com/t5/General-Discussion-Forum/Help-fight-internet-censorship-and-SOPA/td-p/1266343

[Mircea Lobo]

FYI. Someone made a petition on the government's website, where people can sign against SOPA. Not sure how much they'll care, but anything is worth trying. Registering there just to sign it. http://wh.gov/DfY

[Mircea Lobo]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc

[Ceka Cianci]

SOPA has been bumped until 2012 to be voted on..it was set for  the 21st of this month..

they are probably just hoping we get distracted or feel like we won something..

they tend pull little tricks like this when it comes to trying to pass bad legislation..

the only thing we have going for us right now is that there are major corporations on our side..

it sure isn't because they give a crap about what we have to say aboutit..

it's time we updgrade those old dinasaurs in the government and get people in there that are living in present times and not so far back in the passed that they still believe we are some norman rockwell families and that whole white picket fence bull crap..

 

[Medhue Simoni]

Piracy, sorry, I don't see it as a problem for me. Piracy is a technical issue, and social issue on the net. This is something for businesses to workout and for society to shame. Lawmakers can't and do not have a clue how to control it. The bottom line is how does this bill help me. It does not help ME at all. Nor did I or any other creative person I ever met ask for what is in this bill. Personally, I have little need for any government to help me. I create. That's it. If people steal. So what, it happens. I create, that's what I do. I'm not looking to make 1 million dollars on 1 thought. I have millions of thoughts, and creations, most of which people will pay me for. Now, if people want to steal too much, and I can't even afford to eat, guess what, I will probably stop creating for others to steal. Most people understand this very basic thing. Whatever the government does, it aint gonna help me at all. What government does have the power to do, is give corporations a right to claim everything as created or own by them, hence destroying anything I would ever want to create. So, government is no friend to the creative community. It is only a friend to other fictitious entities that use language to steal from the real. Me, I'm real.

I do find it strange that an artist would give all their work to a corporation, then that corporation can't control the distribution, and the artist gets mad at the public. That, to me, is fricken backwards. The whole reason they make any money at all is the public. How about these artist learn a little and stop giving away they work to ficticious entities that are stuck in the 1950s.

[Ann Otoole]

Yup. The sooner people stop voting for democrats and republicans and vote out all incumbents then we can commence repealing all the bad things that have happened since 2001. And maybe get some serious campaign finance reform in place. Make it illegal to sell votes.

 

Vote smart. Vote independents.