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Lawmakers Intent On Approving SOPA, PIPA
snydeq writes "U.S. Congress appears likely to move forward with SOPA and PIPA, despite widespread opposition, IDGNS reports. The U.S. Senate is expected to begin floor debate on PIPA shortly after senators return to D.C. on Jan. 23, and supporters appear to have the votes to override a threatened filibuster. Some opponents of the bills hold out hope: 'We're optimistic that if members really understood the Internet architecture and cybersecurity measures, they would not support SOPA as written. Instead, members who are really committed to combatting online piracy would look for effective ways to do that without compromising cybersecurity or the open architecture of the Internet,' said a CCIA spokesperson. Others remain doubtful that Congress will come to this understanding."
You are free to do as we tell you. Buy BUY BUY....
Internet blackout day is sure to be a historical event for all ages.
When the foot seeks the place of the head, the line is crossed. Know your place. Keep your place. Be a shoe.
I think it's pretty naïve to think that SOPA passing is an issue of understanding, as though lawmakers wouldn't consider it if they knew anything about technology.
The vast majority or these people have already been bought and paid for by the entertainment industry. Their technological knowledge is irrelevant. They need to be removed from office, not educated.
competitors with little proof.
Hell apple and MS can both file claims and shut down each other web sites.
Good! I have a thing for legislation with pronounceable acronyms. In fact, that's really the only important part. I'm sure many legislators would agree.
Better known as 318230.
Soon, I expect it will be illegal for any private individual to utilize the services of a foreign DNS. Blocking by IP address will probably start happening. Owing to the lack of availability of IPv4 address space, the practicality of places using different IP's to continue to allow connectivity will be impeded, so IP address blocking may enjoy limited success. Incentives for IPv6, where there is no lack of address space, will start to quickly rise among the pirate communities to get around this limitation, but I expect this will likely be perceived as a measure that is created to bypass SOPA, and so new laws will probably be formed that will limit IPv6's overall adoption rate.
I hope I'm wrong. I just have a really awful feeling I'm not.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Put up a site outing the names of every lawmaker that ever votes in favor of such a bill, and allow visitors to sign a petition pledging to vote against anybody that does so. Show the count on the site, and forward a list of those who signed to said lawmakers a week before any major vote on the issue. That should make them sweat.
Gee, if someone wrote a program to automatically submit a claim against a site, and someone else wrote an extension to use that program to submit a claim against every single internet site on the planet, and many many people used it all at the same time, I wonder what would happen?
Has anyone written a good article on why this is so bad that non-geeks could understand? Something you could link non-technical friends to?
Whoever votes for this, their ISPs should disconnect their household from the internet entirely.
Some people on slashdot are saying things like, "this could end up disconnecting youtube!" But that's just the problem: it won't. Youtube is huge, everyone knows about it, nobody is going to want to cut it off. And that's where the problem lies: this legislation will be used only against less popular sites on the fringes and the margins - things the average DWTS watching idiot doesn't care about. So there will never be significant public support against it. THAT is why it's dangerous.
Nothing, because this bill isn't designed to help little people, it's designed to allow major corporations stamp out the little people and own the net.
I doubt that the reports are even going to be looked at unless they come from a lobbyist...us little people don't count for shit.
Education, and logical argument based on the realities of the technology, won't make our representatives budge. The only way to get them to change their position is to apply real political force. That means forming lobbies and throwing actual money at the problem, just like the large corporations do. It also means getting enough people ready and willing to vote for candidates who will actually represent them.
Of course, producing that level of political force requires a huge amount of cooperation (and hence understanding) from the governed. *THAT* is hard to do. Most American people, even the ones who vote and consider themselves politically involved, don't understand these issues well enough to self-organize properly. That is why the wealthy corporations (which for all practical purposes are already well-organized political armies with a handful of people calling the shots) have such an easy time of pushing the rest of us around.
THEY aren't the ones who don't understand. We are.
The government is shaking down the Internet related businesses, and that's what these laws are aimed at I think. The politicians are looking at Google, Yahoo, Amazon, etc., and asking themselves a question: WHAT THE FUCK? Why aren't these putzes paying us the racket money like the rest of them? Of-course those businesses are also paying something that has to do with taxes, but there is so much money there (and everybody knows about it), that the politicians want more than just tax optimization/evasion money, they want REAL money, they want - "hey, you have a nice business going here, it would be a shame if something was to happen to your entire business model and you were shut down" money.
That, and also of-course they want the RIAA and MPAA money and they want ISP money and they want your money and they want to be able to shut down the Internet because it's scaring them - just look at the way Ron Paul support grew because of the Internet.
So you have too much freedom - and that's what politicians want to take away and I had a long discussion about the fact that every single law that politicians push forward ends up reducing your freedoms and increases 'strength' of the government while weakening the individual liberties and the economy and the society of the nation, and even on this site people don't see this.
You can't handle the truth.
I'm doing what I can on the social front (emailing and calling), but if (when) this does pass, what is the best way to route around the damage on a personal level?
We got a large number of suggestions for alternate providers with the GoDaddy debacle; can we get some suggestions of good international VPN / Proxy providers? Alternate suggestions for dealing with this?
If I vote for it, I get a kickback, if I vote against it, I get squat.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I'm quite confused about who this serves.
Usually, moves like these are pushed as in the interests of large corporate interests - but as far as I can understand the only company interests this will actually serve will be law firms and a few confused entertainment groups that don't mind acting like public villains to punish their potential customers.
The whole thing just looks like a big legal clusterfuck - where everyone demands everyone else pull everything from the internet. The net effect will just be a huge drain on the economy, as even more resources are spent on useless legal back-and-forths, and everyone gets even more nervous before being able to accomplish something businesswise in the world.
The net effect should mostly be to deepen the recession, force more consolidation with a smaller pool of useful resources for everyone, and push more business out of the US.
It just doesn't make sense - why would any lawmaker be interested in lowering the economic tides for everyone, further stalling a huge and important part of our economic recovery just for the sake of a very small number of companies without much actual money?
From a moral perspective it makes no sense - which is what I usually expect - but even from a sociopathic perspective of gathering resources at all costs, it makes no sense.
Ryan Fenton
Umm... two wars including war crimes, ignoring the Den Hague court, Guantanamo and you needed THAT to come to that conclusion?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Some of you won't like this, but I hope you'll at least give this a hard consideration. The bottom line is that it's our fault.
For example, I know from the comments here over the years that some of you are complete partisans. I'm surprised that, even this early in this thread, we haven't already seen "It's the Evil Republicans(tm)," followed by, "no, it's the stupid Democrats," complete with scores that go up and down like a VU meter on a rap tune: troll, insightful, back to troll, then insightful, over and over, as each partisan group lashes out.
BOTH PARTIES ARE CORRUPT AND HAVE SOLD YOU OUT. This doesn't mean there aren't a few honest congresscritters running loose. But folks, there's a REASON why, during the primaries, candidates can call each other every name in the book, but once a nominee is selected, all of the losers magically say, "well, of course I'll support him/her! He/She is a fine person!"
It's all about the money and the power: Chairmanships in Congress, lucrative appointments, voting blocks and power brokers. This plays out every two years, and the best we can do is scream, "less filling/tastes great/less filling/tastes great," Dem vs. Repub over and over.
Here's the example that some of you really, really aren't going to like. I know (again, from reading comments) that there are some of you here who supported the Health Care bill, but who are vehemently opposed to SOPA. (For the record, I am in opposition to BOTH.) You can't have it both ways. Every reputable poll ever taken has shown that the American people were strongly opposed to that HealthCare bill, but there were some of you here who said, "yay!" when it passed. You called those who passed it, even knowing that they might be un-elected, "brave heroes."
(Or, a quick conservative example: Scott Brown wins Ted Kennedy's old seat in Mass, and right wingers rejoiced. A few months later, he voted for a treaty that the right wing hated. They attacked Brown and wondered why he had "betrayed" them. What they should have asked was, "what do the people of Massachusetts want?" If he was reflecting their desires, they need to SHUT UP. He represents THEM, not a party or an ideology.)
So, SOPA. If you can convince enough Congresscritters that enough of US care to un-elect them if they vote for it, it can be stopped. But if they (and more importantly, their strategists) convince themselves that they can finesse it, or find some other issue that will cause you to hold your nose and re-elect them, they'll vote for SOPA.
In plain English: some of you who hate the "Repugs" may have to vote for one in November, if your Dem congressman votes for SOPA. Will you do that?
Likewise, my conservative friends: will you vote for a "Demoncrat" if your beloved Repub congresscreature votes for SOPA?
If the answer to either question is, "no" (or even just a little hesitation), you have only yourself to blame. That's the bottom line.
Cogito, igitur comedam pizza.
Gee, if someone wrote a program to automatically submit a claim against a site, and someone else wrote an extension to use that program to submit a claim against every single internet site on the planet, and many many people used it all at the same time, I wonder what would happen?
People would be arrested for filing false reports until everyone was too terrified to keep up the effort. Filing a false report is not a form of protest; protests are supposed to be held in free speech areas where nobody has to be bothered.
Palm trees and 8
Our founding fathers declared themselves an independent country and went to war over shit like this. No taxation without representation...are we truly represented in this government? The people? Of course not. It's time to stop trying to play their stupid game, the game is rigged against us from the start. It's time to start flipping boards...
We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.
Revolution is our birthright. The Bill of Rights grants all U.S. citizens the right of revolution by guaranteeing the freedoms that facilitate it, freedoms that our government has been trying to rein in with every passing year. Every branch of this government is corrupt. We have no representation in congress anymore. History has come full circle...
Time to start looking to those 2nd Amendment solutions, boys and girls. Put your trust in God, but keep your powder dry. I never in a million years thought I would see this in my lifetime, but it seems that it is inevitable at this point.
Now, now... if that would accomplish anything, maybe you'd have a point, but what if you wipe out congress? What changes? Nothing changes. The next line of seat warmers just gets moved in. Different people get their pockets filled, else, nothing changes.
Why bother?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
the internet community just decided to violate SOPA and PIPA. they would be taken to court and if the general populace is strongly opposed enough to the legislation, the jury could nullify the legislation? would that be enough to overturn the new laws? or is that just wishful dreaming?
Actually, this is worse than usual--the definition of the willfulness requirement for criminal copyright, technically ambiguous for about a century, will make it absolutely clear that a massive percentage of the American population--even those who have never shared a file in their life--will be felons.
-- IANAL, this isn't legal advice, and definitely isn't legal advice for you. Also, Squee!
There will be one good consequence of SOPA: The US will lose control of DNS.
Rethinking email
Youtube has money. Such laws are rarely used against companies with that much money. I imagine though that, were SOPA around when youtube was founded, the site would have been killed before it ever became popular enough for you to know the name.
Make those people in Congress fear for their jobs.
Their jobs? How about their lives? Some old school assassination is in order. And not just the politicians, but the executives of the corporate interests controlling them. These people need to die.
"Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor; and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and their freedoms.” -- Robert A. Heinlein
Is that if SOPA gets passed that it could have positive consequences.
Yeah, like finally waking up a populace that's been asleep for many years. If this shit passes, the U.S.'s days are numbered. If you consider that a positive (and given the nature of our government, I absolutely fucking do) then that's probably about the only positive effect this shit is going to have.
You''ve got to be kidding! If you think SOPA and PIPA are going to "wake up" the populace, you need to adjust your medication. The Patriot Act was *welcomed* by many Americans. If the Patriot Act wasn't enough to wake people up, they're out for the night, bud. Yes, it's sad.
SOPA sure seems unconstitutional to me.
These days if I hand someone a flier and they proclaim "Oh, I don't read" without pride in their voice I consider that a victory. Americans aren't just ignorant, their willfully ignorant. Ask a marketer, and one of the things they'll tell you that works is an appeal against "elitism". There's just about nothing Americans hate than somebody who "knows better then them". Even if they do. On of George Bush jr's biggest political selling points is he was just a dumb as they where; American like to believe there are simple answers to problems and in the myth of 'common sense'.
My recommendation? Focus on living a life where you don't feel the need to drown out the misery in copywrited content. I find most people fall back on movies/music/TV as a way to cope with and escape from the misery that is their day to day lives. Keep needless and unpleasant complications out of your life and to hell with the rest of the world.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I am anticipating a lot of positive consequences from SOPA. More funding for Internet-based businesses, more income for hosting companies from international customers and more interest from foreign companies in selling their products here.
I should probably mention that I don't live in the USA...
I am TheRaven on Soylent News
Go to http://sopatrack.com/ and take a look at your state,
Here's California
Dianne Feinstein
* $1,298,218 from big media
* $796,581 from pro-PIPA groups
* $244,700 from anti-PIPA groups
Barbara Boxer
* $2,522,816 from big media
* $1,647,015 from pro-PIPA groups
* $1,144,820 from anti-PIPA groups
Here's New York
Chuck Schumer
* $1,465,160 from big media
* $1,191,700 from pro-PIPA groups
* $323,475 from anti-PIPA groups
Kirsten Gillibrand
* $747,991 from big media
* $1,682,667 from pro-PIPA groups
* $882,986 from anti-PIPA groups
Oh yeah it's getting passed,
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
Think a bit outside the box. Especially, don't see it as the end product. It's the first step towards a legislation that allows to pull content off the net. Because, well, you already HAVE to implement it, why not give us the right to pull content off for ... well, we'll get to that once the whole thing is in and running.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
By the way, MSM LOVE SOPA.
Pick your favorite: MSNBC, FOÐ¥, CBS, ABC, NBC - they don't talk about it, they only call Ron Paul a 'kook', while Ron Paul is the ONLY candidate in the elections who is talking about actual issues (and I mean he is the only candidate, regardless of the 'party' denomination), be it the Patriot Act, NDAA with the indefinite detention of civilians by military based on POTUS's request provision (so think concentration camps not just for funny looking foreigners, but for your own citizens).
CNN devoted an evening to mentioning SOPA.
Judge Napolitano on Fox Business talks about it often.
But that's it. Where do you think the MSMs of the world stand on the entire Internet idea? They fucking HATE IT. They can't control it, it cuts into their BULLSHIT that they are spewing and it cuts into their bottom line as few people are watching.
The only reason for SOPA not to pass is because of-course there is a lot of money on the other side of it as well, but even given Google, Yahoo, Facebook, whatever Internet company/provider/content provider, eventually in USA laws like SOPA and PIPA (and maybe these very laws) will pass, it's not a matter of 'if', it's just the question of 'when', and the 'when' will hit hard IF something happens and Ron Paul becomes too popular all of a sudden during these elections going further on and even if he doesn't win (which is most likely), to prevent anybody like that from competing with the establishment power in the future, the government will see that it is necessary to prevent people from being able to do their own 'congress' on line and to prevent any rise of popular candidates that will take the country on the course of liberty, they will build in every possible thing into the system to shut down the Internet and throw whoever they see as dangerous into their newfangled military ran concentration camps, and deny them any rights (the real name of NDAA that passed should be "Repeal the 4th Amendment Act").
You can't handle the truth.
Imagine the shit hitting the fan when the Congresscritters realize that SOPA is useless.
They don't care if their legislation is useless. They wrote what they were paid for and until they get paid again they don't give a $hit. "Your government at work for you"
"We are just a war away from Amerikastan. When god vs god the undoing of man." Dave Mustaine
Yeah, I'm actually hoping it will pass.
Every once in a while, the people need a wake-up call. Yours is long overdue. This might be it. So here is what I think would be the best-case chain of events:
* SOPA gets passed
* all the large Internet sites (Google, Facebook, Twitter, ebay, Amazon, etc. etc.) do as they threatened and shut down for at least a few days
* massive outrage ensues
* said Internet sites have the advantage of direct communication and explain to the people just what just happened, in terms they understand
* massive outrage is directed against every representative who voted for SOPA
* the entire corrupt establishment gets kicked out and replaced by other people, who will last the country a century or so before they turn into the next corrupt establishment that needs kicking out.
This is the change that everyone voted for when they voted for Obama, isn't it?
Assorted stuff I do sometimes: Lemuria.org
"I worry about my child and the Internet all the time, even though she's too young to have logged on yet. Here's what I worry about. I worry that 10 or 15 years from now, she will come to me and say 'Daddy, where were you when they took freedom of the press away from the Internet?'" --Mike Godwin, Electronic Frontier Foundation
Not a sentence!
The USA will force an equivalent law down the throat of your government, as well.
The threats are probably already being made to your governors, in fact.
I guess it's really handy for them then that they can throw you in some hidden prison forever for just saying that now. By saying that, you could probably be considered by them, a "terrorist". It was no accident they passed that. Nor is it an accident that they plug their ears and want to establish as much control as possible over the Internet or even destroy it by unleashing these thugs loose on it with the ability to destroy it.
This is all about domination and control by the rulers of this country. They watched the Arab Spring and the riots in London and it has them scared. But they are dangerous when they are scared. They are now taking the steps they need to take to preserve their way of life and control over us all. This is no accident, they aren't playing dumb, they are doing as they are told to do by those who control them.
Now here is where it gets interesting. What do we the people do about this? Absolutely nothing, is what we will do. Collectively, we are dumb, fat and happy. We will not for such a puny concept as "freedom" risk our comfortable lives. Sure there are a few disgruntled people, but this isn't 1776, and we aren't going to have a Revolution.
Your lone gunman theory isn't going to work. They will simply just cover it up. They have proven themselves quite capable of controlling the media in this country. The Internet is the only leak they need to plug, and this SOPA bullshit, is just the excuse they need to stick their foot in the door, and then turn off the mechanisms. Once they destroy the free flow of information, they survive. It's desperate, and destructive to humanity, but once you understand that this is indeed a war on us the people, versus those who wish to dominate us, you will understand that sacrificing the Internet means nothing to them.
I will stop here before I end up in a cell next to you. It's a God damned sad day in America when I have to ponder what I am about to post because I fear I might end up in a prison with no rights, or ability to defend myself. Make no mistake, we have cross a line recently. It's official, we are the evil empire. We are the modern Nazis.
What it boils down to is this, once laws become so far gone, twisted and evil, one has not only the moral right to ignore them, but they have the moral duty to resist them to the death. We are talking about pussy Americans though. We've let so much slide, that we have proven to be a collective bunch of dumb pussies. If our founding fathers could see us now, they would cut their own ball sacks off so that they didn't sire descendants this cowardly.
Think about it, we have this "Tea Party", which is a laughing joke at the original Boston Tea Party. Our founding fathers did "terrorist" acts in Boston harbor on tea shipments because they had a tax on them. It was violence over Taxation without Representation, and it's our history of how we carved our freedoms out in blood from the British. Do you think we would get off our asses now over Taxation without Representation? We don't get off our asses when our Constitution is systematically shredded before our eyes.
We are too dumb to see it happening, and even if we do see it, we are a big bunch of pussy cowards and just let it happen. To me this defines us as a people who are collectively a bunch of pussies. And I am not talking about violence, hell, I am talking about how half of us don't even FUCKING VOTE. You talked about the boxes, well damn it, why fuck with the last one, when the other 3 have hardly been touched? Do you seriously think you will have support on the 4th when these pussies will not even lift up a bleat with the other three?
Just whine about it all at the kitchen table, forget the Internet, it's fucked. Go about your life, enjoy what comforts you have while you have them. You are in the Matrix and there is no escape.
Take the Red Pill.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable."
John F Kennedy, 13 Mar 1962, Address_on_the_First_Anniversary_of_the_Alliance_for_Progress
'The tyrant will always find pretext for his tyranny.' - Aesop's Fables
Congress proposes bill -> The populace realizes they're getting fucked, and complains loudly about it -> Congress tables the bill -> The populace quiets down -> Congress passes the bill into law.
I am John Hurt.
where are my mod points when I need them. Texas is only doing well because of a tonne of short lived oil jobs. When the wells dry up it'll make Detroit look like a summer home.
Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
I now see SOPA/PIPA as a litmus test for whether democracy actually exists anymore. EVERYONE who has had these bills explained to them ends up being outraged, and the fact that politicians are determined to push it through, in the face of almost 100% opposition to the bills from their VOTERS, show that they no longer show any interest in representing the PEOPLE.
If these bills pass, it is incontrivertible proof that the political system is no longer functioning to serve the will of the people, and that an entirely new political system is required.
Please, write to your representative, expressing this fact. They need to be made aware how much the future of the nation as a whole is riding on these bills.
What is fair is fair. If enough of you complain by asking for a take down of a music piece, from your favourite store, because you suspect it was pirated, there must be immediate compliance. There is no penalty for making an error.
Leslie Satenstein Montreal Quebec Canada
Why are you so angry? Compared to my memories of earlier years things are going pretty well. There are no Nazis, no Soviets, no Osama bin Laden anymore. No race riots. No soup kitchens or bread lines. Even the Arabs are awakening. Life seems to be pretty good.
What exactly is going on that is so incredibly intolerable? Are you mad that you can't get music for free? Pandora is great for free music or even a simple YouTube search often returns the song. Are you this mad because you can't advocate for the overthrow of the US government by violent means?
Who is the ruling "they" that comprise the rulers of this country? Who is the "they" that is making you so angry? What stops you from becoming one of the "them" and changing things?
First of all, the fact that Mr. Obama has made it clear he respects the Constitution doesn't mean some other idiot (let's say some clone of Mr. Obama's predecessor) who neither understands the Constitution nor respects it, won't add or remove a section of this legislation resulting in the total gutting of due processor and citizen's civil rights. Even with Mr Obama, you think if someone declared open season on the White House, that they wouldn't forget all about that "Constitutional Stuff"? The American Civil Liberty Union states that the lack of duration or geographic limitation of this law makes it particularly troubling. If for one moment, you don't think this isn't a serious brick in a wall that spells totalitarianism, you my friend need a reality check. There is no way to be concerned enough about this legislation.
As for shooting puppets vs. puppet masters, excuse me, but the line of puppets is longer than the eye can see, I hope you have a lot of ammunition. Other than satisfying your unwholesome distaste for compromised statesmen, I have to ask why plug pawns and leave the the higher point pieces walking the chess board with impunity? Anyway, the act of parting some fools hair (no matter how deserving) has never been the answer, to quote Gandhi "I appall the use of violence, because even when it seems good; the good is only temporary, the bad it does is always permanent."
You may be right, it may be too late, especially with a general populace that is superstitious, mislead, misinformed and sadly complacent. I still hope that a small dedicated group of people can move the masses. Its happened before and today more than ever, a single committed voice can make a real difference.
This is the problem. Vapid, ignorant, uninterested people who don't even bother to illuminate the vast empty place between their ears. You mention Nazis. So let's do this by the numbers. WHY WERE NAZIS BAD? Because they were Fascists and slaughtered a bunch of innocent folks. What is a Fascist? Well, Mussolini, a Fascist, said its the corporate state. Why is this bad? Well when a nation's corporations determine the fate of that nation and its people all kind of predictable things, bad things, begin to happen. You see profit is a great thing to motivate people, but as a guiding target for a society, it can lead to dark things. At first everything is great and the society enjoys explosive growth. But soon, the system begins to cannibalize itself. Ultimately the wheels come off, it crashes and explodes, and often a lot of people die. That why we don't like fascism. If you want to know how to tell a Fascist State here are some signs to look at. If you've not been in a coma for the last decade, you may notice that modern day America now has something in common with Germany and sadly its not the love of beer. So your Nazi comment as clever as you might have thought it was echoes a sad and frightening irony.
As for soup kitchens and bread lines, are you brain damaged? Here, try these sites: People in line at foodbank, The State of Poverty in America, What replaced the Soup Kitchens, The real state of Unemployment in America Today, Tent Cities Sprouting up all over the country. One in five children in America today goes to bed hungry. One in six people in this country suffers chronic malnutrition. One in eight is out of work and can't find employment. Entire regions of America have been depressed for so long, they now have names like "The Rust Belt." One in seven people in this country is saved from hunger by food stamps or federal food programs. There are scenes all over the country of people lined up for blocks waiting for food from food banks. There are shanty towns and tent cities across the nation of homeless people who were formerly middle class, and tens of millions of middle class Americans who live a single pay check away from becoming homeless. Food banks are pleading for support, they've never before been required to support so many people and many are on the verge of collapse. Are you so blind and poorly informed that you don't even see the profound state of social collapse around you? Are you sleep walking? Medicated? Either you have no mind or you have no heart, please which is it?
As for the ruling class, the top 400 people in this country now have the same wealth as the bottom HALF of the country, over 160,000,000 people. The imbalance of wealth in America today is greater THAN ANY TIME IN HUMAN HISTORY. That is the ruling class. They have hijacked our government. They have hijacked the media and our sources of free information. They have robbed us of our Bill of Rights and damaged our form of government to the very edge of its ability to be repaired. They are working hard to rob us of our last best hope for human freedom and development, the internet.
I don't advocate violence, and never have, but I tell you now, I am plenty angry. I pray that we find our way back without the spilling of blood, but I have a hard time imagining a bright future with so many like you walking the street today. You scare me more than the despots.
How many people does the "facist government" put to death in concentration camps each year?
Ever heard of Guantanamo? It's not just for foreigners any more.
In the last 30 years I remember a ton of new billionaires being created out of their own new talents. What stops you from doing the same and changing things?
Software patents. You can't afford to be noticed by anybody in the industry by being too successful. Just look at the patent wars going on in the mobile space at the moment.
Even if you don't have the intelligence or capabilities to succeed, why don't you simply start a referendum to have the bills you don't like repealed?
Because he's not rich enough to do that? You need a lot of money for the general public to even notice anything.
How many people have been killed in Guantanamo? How many US citizens are currently being held there? How do these number make the US the new Nazi's?
Nobody outside the military knows exactly, but three people are said to have been killed, with hints to more.
The "nobody knows exactly" part is the answer to your third question.
Software patents cover existing technologies, what stops you from creating something new?
No, software patents cover ideas, not technology. Besides that, how should I know what has been patented? There are thousands of patents I'd have to check for every line of my code, with many many more being approved constantly. Only a huge company with its own legal division can even come close to do something like that, even in theory. In practice, nobody does, they just cross-license or sue the hell out of each other. All three are not an option for small startups.
Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook in the last decade -- why didn't software patents stop him?
He probably got lucky, and/or did some sweet deals... Being at Harvard probably did help a lot.
If SOPA is so egregious that it warrants a violent revolution then it seems like it would be easy to collect the signatures to start a referendum, right?
Nope, because people are lazy. However, this has been covered multiple times in this article's comments, so I won't get into details.
If you truly feel none of the four boxes are going to work, there still remains the fifth, original, option: leave. The founders of the US emigrated from what is now the UK (more or less, I know, I'm keeping it short) for a land where they could create a nation of their own, rather than stay and engage in what they felt would be useless revolution. Why not do this again? Find a country where your skills are valued and your ideals are accepted. You'll (hopefully) carry the best of what it means to be an American with you, and if enough of you emigrate to the same place, you'll found a new America, at first in spirit, perhaps someday in name.
If you don't want to emigrate, alternatives include moving to any of the US states that you feel still hold true to pre-fall values in the hope that they will avoid the rest of the nation's slide to a banana republic, but I don't know enough of US politics to comment as to which ones. Heck, you never know, the country still might manage to find the brakes on the hand-basket. After all, it could be worse, we could be in a Fallout game.