Slashdot Mirror
Protect IP Act May Be Amended
angry tapir writes "The controversial U.S. copyright enforcement bill called The Protect IP Act may be amended on the Senate floor later this month in response to ongoing concerns about its provisions affecting Internet service providers and the domain-name system, according to the bill's chief sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat."
We still don't want it even with an amendments.
What's that business concept called where they run the business to its crashing point, then try to run it just a hair above that? They do it to try to figure out where the rock bottom is on what they can get away with to maximize profits.
I'm thinking the same thing goes on in government. They do something that has people breaking out their guillotines so they can do juuuuuuust slightly less than that.
After reading the earlier Slashdot story, I wrote all three of both our Vermont congressmen and urged them to reconsider support for PIPA and SOPA. The only reply I received was from Sen. Patrick Leahy.
Here's a snippet from TFA with a relevant notion: contacting your representative can't hurt:
"[...]However, sponsors of the bill have heard concerns about its effect on the domain name system from fellow lawmakers, Internet engineers, human rights groups and "a number of Vermonters."," [Leahy] said.
This isn't so much an amendment, as a plan to think about amending it. From the article:
"...plans to offer an amendment that would require a study of the impact of the ISP provisions in the bill before they are implemented. If the study found negative impacts, it's likely the ISP provision would be killed."
The above is pretty much all of the article which is not political filibustering, back patting or stating things which won't change (the payment freezing, and search engine stuff).
TL;DR version: they're thinking about maybe possibly backing down on one point.
The sad reality is that if it took a public outcry for them to realize this was a bad idea then they really have no grasp as to what is going on here at all.
Congress passes too many ill considered laws without thinking things through properly. I don't need a congress that passes lots of laws all the time if the price is that they won't actually understand what they're passing.
As much as possible, congress must be comfortable with the idea of taking things slow and not being hasty. Congress should really think about completely rewriting the whole thing from the start with a fresh understanding of what they're actually legislating.
We don't need grandstanding politicians full of their own self importance pushing on agenda or another. We need sober and mature statesmen that will investigate issues, hear all sides, and THEN craft legislation. Anything that comes expressly from one lobbying group or another will be a creature of that faction against every other.
And if all sides cannot agree to a final bill... let us all learn to love the deadlock for it is in the deadlock that our freedoms are truly kept safe.
I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
All you need is a couple of midgets, a parrot, a bartender and an Irish nun.
But this is serious - the need to shut down, and block search engines that link to them. any sites the US DOJ considers puts American jobs at threat. Like fake Gucci, Reebok, Adidas items - that rob sales of companies that employ so many North Americans. And those big movies (made in New Zealand or Australia), that never seem to make a profit (because of the pirates). Jobs, it's just about jobs [insert tasteful joke about dead marketing "genius" here].
If he could point at foreign websites selling pirate cheese I'd buy the concerned, but senile politician line - but as it is he's the one who appears to have been bought.
But as several "Vermonters" and the "majority of ISPs" (Cable companies) are "concerned" - he might, maybe, possibly, consider, a bit of a test first (to see if anyone is awake) before pushing through the legislation needed to begin another stupid war. I'm betting that jobs line will get the bill through.
That anarchic internet was nice while it lasted, but it just isn't enough like television for some "people" (sigh).
- Increase the length of a copyright to 200 years.
- Make the minimum penalty for copyright infringement 2 years jail, and make it a criminal offence, so the MAFIAA can't pick and choose who gets pinged.
- and make it mandatory to defend your IP in court or lose your rights - similar to trademarks.
Then see how much the MAFIAA want this fight.
Where it exists.
I.E. burn it in a trash can.
I just hope all the fervor over SOPA is translated to every time this thing morphs. as SOPA is already being rewritten and name changed.
The scumbags in Congress will not stop until they do the bidding of their masters.
Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
I remain confident that the ISPs -- including the cable industry, which is the largest association of ISPs -- would not support the legislation if its enactment created the problems that opponents of this provision suggest,
And there's absolutely no conflict of interest between their role as ISPs and their role as content providers here, none whatsoever. They don't hate that fact that people can watch other things than their programming and wouldn't like to turn Internet back into cable TV.
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
The bill still allows ISPs, web hosts, social networks, search engines and content providers to be forced to take content down even when the one issuing the take down notice has no ownership or connection to the content. And it still provides no option to challenge the take down.
There's a pattern to this. Politicians at the behest of self-interest groups and self-appoint moralists, begin to regulate what was a benign social issue. Uninformed, policy gets drafted by these people which gains traction from these self-interest, righteous minorities and soon thanks to ignorant third-parties the very inaccuracies that are used to draft these policies are perpetuated. The use of loaded words like criminal, scourge & terror helps to convince a mostly oblivious public. Before long the regulation comes into effect and pushes the issue underground, initially it's deemed a success. However as it becomes apparent that the matter is thriving underground, a war is declared, harsher penalties combined with the perpetuation of gross-inaccuracies and lies continue to waste your tax dollars.
It's history repeating itself, and it's always follows a similar pattern. Though the end result is the same; tax dollars are wasted, usage increases unabated and the constant game of cat and mouse continues because those elected to listen to the people who know best, won't.
If I went about my job with the same level of ignorance, incompetence and sheer corruption as the supposed leaders of the United States, I'd be out of a job very quickly. If the private sector won't tolerate it, why does capital hill seem to be a breeding ground for these bottom-feeders?
so unless someone much better than myself, and much braver than myself, will step up (along with millions of other better, braver people) out of the woodwork to fix the broken system
such people attempted to come out of the woodwork recently. you ridiculed them, despised them, called them names, called them out about shit, and then beat them down with police batons. it was called 'ows'.
im sure at the moment you read the word 'ows', a good many of you immediately lapsed to very reactionary and negative mindsets. let me tell you : it doesnt matter what you feel about what particular aspect of a revolution/change movement - NO revolution/change on the planet is going to be in the way you exactly want it. there will always be things you dont like, there will always be things you do like. the important thing is overall change to be for the better.
Read radical news here
May I suggest an amendment? /*
... yeah, that's why.
Prefix the bill with:
Postfix the bill with: */
Because it looks prettier that way
The top 5% of society is taking 72% of everything.
... or 90% more abundant ...
http://sociology.ucsc.edu/whorulesamerica/power/wealth.html
of course, that is an optimistic statistic. since, the bulk of the wealth at the top is undetectable in offshore banks, swiss banks, various fund schemes etc. if you count this unaccounted for wealth in, it really goes towards 1% owning near 90% or more. (the total wealth in swiss banks is assumed to be 7 times or so the value of everything - goods, services, land, everything - in the world, so go figure.).
now, see, the 1% people on the top, want to keep taking such 70-90% of everything. and the whole story behind laws like this, is that. that is a bigger share of the economy than biggest dukes had in medieval times.
so life, is 90% more expensive because this 1% segment gets 90% out of the economy and everyone has to work to generate that extra 90%, and give it to them through the system. imagine how life would be, if everything was 90% cheaper
so, instead of thinking this like 'some law bought by lobby interests', think it as like 'feudal lords trying to keep their hold on peasantry' -> for this is exactly what it is.
doing this, would break various mental conditionings that were built into your brain through the education and media systems and through conditioning of society at large. and, you would be free to seek any alternatives. the least benefit would be that you would be able to analyze the situation objectively, instead of instinctively skipping by the fact that someone in this society is taking 90% of every effort you spare, away from you through the economy - not even taxes. taxes are calculated after that 90% is taken away from you.
( for the naive out there - NO, if you are running your own business, this does not change - you are still spending on a lot of costs to run your business or your life, and ANY cost you spend out of your pocket - or opportunity costs - has that 90% drain on them - for, you cant exist outside economy while being in it, even if you work for yourself )
Read radical news here
So this is about Comcast/NBC Universal as the largest "ISP" in the "largest association of ISPs"? Fuck that. Not only is their main business content rather than service, but they're a last-mile provider, in which capacity they'd be far less affected by the onerous requirements of this bill than backbone providers or hosting providers.
What this really shows is that service providers should not be allowed to have a business interest in content. Period. It corrupts their perspective. And it allows them to get big enough to corrupt the perspective of paid-for representatives.
"with their freedom lost all virtue lose" - Milton
Details always matter (except to most Americans; you prove otherwise!)
While what is going on is similar to the past it is also similar to the fall of Rome and even more generally the fall of every non-conquered democracy. It "rhymes," that is, it is a similar pattern. All democracy falls into despotism by the accumulated incompetence of the people over time. The more successful and distracted the more quickly things are likely to slip bye the public. Its a flaw of human nature to accept a past of only 20-30 years as the way it always has been; this makes evolutionary sense given how much shorter life spans were and how the old procreated much less (still much less.) Anyhow, this fact of human nature is why there is always a slow downward fall as small bits are lost over decades and the people get used to the boiling water they themselves added the last few degrees; well, more likely added quite a bit more because at the end it accelerates during the panic as some realize there is a crisis and create confusion and panic. (see Tea Party)
Here is a rhyme you may find interesting, watch the late 80s documentary "The Panama Deception" and pay attention to the officials involved. Only about 10 years later they repeated almost the same thing but went further; having got away with it previously they knew they could do it again. Next time, it can be taken further; perhaps far enough to attack Iran (which is still the plan BTW.)
Something that "repeats" is how political group form rather publicly. There are think tanks and books put out in the open to bring in like minded people and once they have enough people then they become more closed and more secretive, but in the beginning when building their core architects put the information is out there. Its harder to see with a 2 party smokescreen which sometimes I think exists solely to hide what is going on (their members can differ so much its truly sad they share the same label.)
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news