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PROTECT-IP Makes Its Way To the Floors of Congress

Posted by Soulskill on from the they-call-him-bill dept.

New submitter trunicated writes "Everyone on Slashdot seems to know about PROTECT-IP Act — how it will push responsibility for the contents of the internet onto the search engines that index it, how it will give even more power to the *IAA industries, and, worst of all, how it will provide the U.S. government with a kill switch they can use at their discretion. However, this write up may provide you with a bit more information and help you explain the issues to those that won't be able to get around the poisoned DNS entries that this bill will allow."

10 of 145 comments (clear)

  1. So much for the internet. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It was fun for a while. Too bad they've decided to kill it.

  2. More accurately... by mykos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Nothing ever improves when corporations and the governments team up to screw the populace.

    1. Re:More accurately... by RenderSeven · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. ~P.J. O'Rourke

    2. Re:More accurately... by PopeRatzo · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Right. That's why California, New York, Illinois and many other states are near bankruptcy.

      Texas was closer to bankruptcy than Illinois before they used all that Federal stimulus money to buy their way out of debt.

      Maybe those states are near bankruptcy because corporations that make all the money in those states aren't paying taxes. Here in Chicago, every big box store that opens up does so thanks to a tax abatement in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Koch Brothers only decided to do business in Wisconsin when Scott Walker pushed through his big tax giveaway to them.

      Again, what I'm saying, that corporate lobbyists are currently in charge of at least two of the three branches of the US government, is not really disputable. Most new legislation is literally written by lobbyists. Every single new regulation is written by lobbyists. Every change to the tax code, without exception, is written by lobbyists.

      Just by promising fat paydays to congressional staffers, they control more than 80% of all legislators. If you're a congressional staffer right now, your average salary on the day you leave congress is more than a half-million dollars. If your congressman is a member of a powerful committee, you're guaranteed seven figures. The first thing every single elected official does when leaving office is become a lobbyist. It's a big club and it has replaced our constitutional representative government in a silent coup which started in earnest in January of 1981 when Ronald Reagan declared the US government for sale to the highest bidder.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  3. Self Healing & Self Explanatory by EdIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

    help you explain the issues to those that won't be able to get around the poisoned DNS entries that this bill will allow

    When Pakistan screwed up, according to their own internal policies, and altered the routing (BGP) and effectively caused youtube.com to be /dev/null'd for a half a day, the rest of the world responded. They fixed the routes, and Pakistan lost a lot of credibility and respect from other IT people. Were Pakistan to continue affecting the rest of the world with its internal policies, the rest of the world would respond more and more stringently, to the point that Pakistan would not have access to such systems anymore.

    This is no different. If the US decides to mess around with DNS in accordance with its own internal policies, the rest of the world will respond by taking that control away. Either through a EU sanctioned DNS infrastructure, or some sort of p2p infrastructure.

    The alternative is the rest of the world dealing with clearly incorrect DNS entries and businesses having to deal with US control.

    This problem does not need to be further explained, and the ones that do understand it, will work around it. This is a good thing. It will push DNS beyond US control, and might actually start a decentralized/fractured DNS system where those that care can resolve host names the way they see fit.

    In short, this only provides more motivation to "solving" our problem of a monitored Internet. Create a secondary Internet on top of it that is not monitored and cannot be interfered with. Several projects in the works, and this only puts more fuel on the fire so to speak.

    1. Re:Self Healing & Self Explanatory by EdIII · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I think I understand what you are trying to say, but it does not apply to a secondary layer or DNS.

      DNS is just name resolution. It does not imply splitting into many pieces at all, and in fact, would more than likely be redundant. I can see DNS resolution becoming more granular, and its set up and operation more than just a few dialog boxes in a control interface.

      You can have DNS networks that forward their questions to other networks. That's not new. Using it in a way to create a separate infrastructure and preferred resolution with other networks depending on the TLDs, etc. would be. I don't see that as far fetched either.

      As for the secondary layer, that is not affecting the primary layer at all as far as divisions, peer and transit agreements, etc. There could be multiple secondary layers, which is highly likely, and would be more like protected communities. The secondary layer that delivers the most popular features with the highest level of service will win.

      In any case, I don't think it will have an outcome as dreary as the one you portray. It's going to happen eventually, and some people might get left behind for awhile. Right now we live in a idealistic paradise compared to what content companies, carriers, and governments want us to have. Even if it is like you say, we are headed for it.

      The Internet will fork. That's my post 2012 prediction.

    2. Re:Self Healing & Self Explanatory by prowler1 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      What you will end up seeing is that the internet in America is going to end up looking and working a lot like the internet in China does but instead of being controlled by the government, it will be controlled by corporations. In this case, *IAA will be initially in charge but if the bill is passed and goes into effect, how long will it be until other corporations start to jump onto the band wagon and start to control/block things they don't like.

      Lets also be honest, how many other governments/corporations out there would love to do something similar in their country of choice and how many have already started to bring out watered down control laws, look at Australia with its internet filter as a start.

  4. Tech industry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Please buy the media industries already. They have way too much power over your business in comparison to their economic weight.

  5. Re:its a limit problem actually by Curunir_wolf · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They don't even have to do that. Just blame it all on the [other party], and point out how much more the [other party] is, and the public is sure to avoid voting for any third party, because it might mean the [wrong party] gets elected.

    --
    "Somebody has to do something. It's just incredibly pathetic it has to be us."
    --- Jerry Garcia
  6. Distinction without a difference by mykos · · Score: 3, Insightful

    When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators. ~P.J. O'Rourke

    "I hope we shall crush in its birth the aristocracy of our monied corporations which dare already to challenge our government to a trial by strength, and bid defiance to the laws of our country." ~Thomas Jefferson

    Looks like Jefferson didn't get his wish.