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DNS Provision Pulled From SOPA

New submitter crvtec sends this excerpt from CNet: "Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas), one of the biggest backers of the Stop Online Piracy Act, today said he plans to remove the Domain Name System blocking provision. 'After consultation with industry groups across the country,' Smith said in a statement released by his office, 'I feel we should remove (DNS) blocking from the Stop Online Piracy Act so that the [U.S. House Judiciary] Committee can further examine the issues surrounding this provision.'"

11 of 232 comments (clear)

  1. Just like the NDAA 2012 by AHuxley · · Score: 5, Informative

    First it was not for US citizens, then it was to be changed to exclude US citizens, then .....
    All you have now is a signing statement about values to protect you from indefinite detention :)
    As for US law enforcement and the inter tubes, recall the 84,000 "a domain" website efforts:
    http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110220/17533013176/ice-finally-admits-it-totally-screwed-up-next-time-perhaps-itll-try-due-process.shtml
    Ignore the pre committee PR and follow the bills :) Even the 2 page ones like S. 1698 the Enemy Expatriation Act

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    1. Re:Just like the NDAA 2012 by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 2, Informative

      Re: NDAA

      First it was not for US citizens, then it was to be changed to exclude US citizens, then

      And then the version actually signed by the President specifically excluded US Citizens, US Resident Aliens, and ANYONE actually caught inside the USA.

      Remember that Obama didn't issue a signing statement because the NDAA allowed indefinite detention of US Citizens, he did that because he thought he ALREADY had the power to detain someone captured outside the USA indefinitely, and didn't like Congress suggesting he needed their permisssion.

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      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
  2. Re:isn't it interesting by Fned · · Score: 4, Informative

    What DNSSEC mainly prevents is the forging of DNS responses to redirect users to another server.

    Which SOPA/ProtectIP, as written, would require.

  3. Re:so what obnoxious bullshit did they leave in? by EvanED · · Score: 5, Informative

    We have it. It's called "voting."

    Gee, I wonder if "preference voting" might be a specific term for something which allows votes to express more nuanced opinions than first-past-the-post plurality votes do and could lead to better outcomes, more viable third parties, and other beneficial features?

    Nah, it must just be a synonym for voting.

  4. Day Late Dollar Short Big Govt Reply by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 4, Informative

    Just pull the plug on SOPA and nobody gets hurt.

    This means you too, EA.

    I've given you tens of thousands of dollars over the decades, but my checkbook and credit card is shut if you don't back down.

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  5. Re:so what obnoxious bullshit did they leave in? by complete+loony · · Score: 3, Informative

    In Australia, everybody votes and (obviously) everybody pays taxes. The candidates that you actually vote for, get paid $2.31191 (+CPI) per vote that they get, and only if they get at least 4% of the total votes (eg Final 2010 federal election payment to political parties and candidates.
    Would you really complain if $2 of your taxes went to the candidate that you actually voted for?

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  6. Re:Update The background image is now gone. by jackbird · · Score: 4, Informative

    Lamar Smith's website was infringing something with a declared copyright - a Creative Commons-licensed photo that specified attribution and noncommercial use (not even a license fee!)

  7. Re:Stuff Still In by jonwil · · Score: 5, Informative

    Under SOPA, downloading a film from the internet could result in MORE jail time than if you walked into a store and stole the DVD at gunpoint.

    If the fact that downloading a file from the internet is considered a more serious crime than stealing things at gunpoint doesn't show that the USA is totally screwed up, I dont know what does.

  8. Re:Looks like the game companies are in on the fig by symbolset · · Score: 3, Informative

    Forgot to mention a couple of the best ones. Minecraft and mojang will go dark (19M users). The entire family of icanhazcheezburger humor pic sites too, including FAIL Blog, Know Your Meme, Memebase and The Daily What (16M users). I do believe that the lack of lolcats will spur some serious action. Firefall company Red 5 Studios will also go dark. nVidia has come out strongly opposed to the legislation, but hasn't announced any action yet. This is really starting to roll, and blackout day is still 5 days away.

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  9. Re:Update The background image is now gone. by Jane+Q.+Public · · Score: 3, Informative

    No, just a claim.

    According to the old rules, which were in effect for a very long time (and pretty much everybody seemed to think worked just great), you had to CLAIM a copyright in order to enforce it. In other words, one of those notices that looked typically like "Copyright © MyCompany 2011". (I don't know if the circled "C" will come through properly on Slashdot.)

    If you hadn't claimed the copyright up front, you could not enforce it. Which was fine with most people because they didn't want to bother with copyrighting everything in sight anyway.

    Copyright registration is not a "copyright". You own the copyright anyway. That's why it's called a "right". Registration is nothing more than "official" evidence that you own the copyright on a work. It is neither proof per se (because it's possible you could have registered something from someone else), or any kind of stamp of Government approval or anything. In the same way that legally, a signed piece of paper is not a "contract". An agreement of any kind that is otherwise legal is a contract. The piece of paper is just evidence of that agreement. Copyright registration works pretty much the same way.

    There were exceptions, for situations like photographers and artists who sold original works for profit. They did not have to carry a copyright notice in order for the copyright to be enforced.

  10. Re:Update The background image is now gone. by symbolset · · Score: 4, Informative

    It's worse than that. They want to strip you of your rights to due process and freedom of speech as a preventive measure to protect their IP. That's not OK. A big Seattle TV station, KING 5 supports SOPA. They have comments, so you can let them know how you feel about this here.

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