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US Congress May Not Have Stomach For Another SOPA
alphadogg writes "As a new session of Congress convenes in early 2013, don't expect lawmakers to rush out a new version of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) or the Protect IP Act (PIPA). While some groups representing copyright holders still want to see stronger online enforcement, U.S. lawmakers don't seem to have the collective will to reintroduce similar bills and potentially face another massive online protest. In January 2012, more than 10 million Web users signed petitions, 8 million attempted calls to Congress and 4 million sent email messages, and more than 100,000 websites went dark in protest as the Senate scheduled a vote on PIPA. Lawmakers supporting the two bills baled out in droves, Senate leaders cancelled the PIPA vote, and SOPA's sponsor in the House of Representatives withdrew his legislation. 'That was an avalanche they've never seen,' said Ed Black, head of the Computer and Communications Industry Association. 'They're going to tiptoe in this area very carefully.'"
This kind of "oh they won't do that again" serves the other side, not ours. They'll just sneak it onto another bill, if they have to. Only calling them to account for their actions will work.
Too bad they don't get this kind of response on all the other crap legislation they produce.
Sheesh, evil *and* a jerk. -- Jade
They'll just slip it in piece by piece by attaching amendments to "feed the orphans" and "love thy flag" bills.
Pathetic, I know...
Shoes for Industry. Shoes for the Dead.
I guess calling it PIPA wasn't enough to slip it past everybody. Maybe they'll have to call it KATE MIDDLETON or something.
The RIAA and other industry groups buy support in both houses with massive political donations. They don't give it freely! They expect legislation that favors them. They bought it and they want their congressional lackies to provide what they paid for. If they don't get it they support another candidate who will give it to them. There is so much corruption in the US system now that it's no wonder the country is falling apart. The government no longer acts in the best interests of the people, but in the best interests of their largest corporate sponsors. One person one vote no longer means anything when legislation can be bought with campaign donations.
This means keep up the pressure. It doesn't mean take it easy on them.
We are all God's parents.
That the public doesn't turn out to protest every horrible bill that way. Pretty sure the patriot act could have used that kind of response.
... and it may not even be the end of the beginning, but here's hoping.
they may tiptoe in the area ... but they still intend to go there.
What that really means is they will break it up and tack it onto unrelated bills.. including some that are impossible to oppose.. in order to sneak it in under the radar. Excellent example of this... the TIA (total information awareness) program from like 10 years ago. All the elements of what that was supposed to do are effectively in place.. or being implemented right now.
Instead of representing the will of the people... congress these days is more about finding ways to undermine it without attracting attention.
TFA is a cynical jest, or worse. Heinlein's definition of a committee comes to mind: a beast with no brains and a hundred bellies. Congress has got all the stomach it would take, and then some.
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
'They're going to tiptoe in this area very carefully.'
Why should they have to tiptoe? The People have spoken loudly and clearly. They've told them exactly what they want and how they should vote. There is no tiptoeing. You either do what your employers tell you to do or you're fired. "Tiptoeing" implies that you'll still try to do it anyway, but in a way that won't piss off several million constituents.
"Tell me doctor, with all of your defenses, are there any provisions for an attack by killer bees?"
I'm no grammar nazi, but baled != bailed.
Unless that means legislators are really rolling their sleeves up and getting to work, or getting out of jail.
This will help stop another Mickey Mouse-like copyright extension too. Hopefully copyright renewal will be bought up.
SOPA was one of those things that 95% of the people outraged by it were only outraged because thats the cool thing to do online is jump on some bandwagon blindly because its what others do online. Its cool to dis the president online, its cool to say you hate call of duty, its cool to bash michael bay movies, its cool to hate sony online and so on just because its what everyone else does. And most people who go on a crusade just spit out the same exact thing as the next person because they dont actually know anything, they see what someone else says and repeats it again.
People want security, safety and all that other stuff but when someone comes along that is willing to make a tough choice then suddenly everyone is against because they want things fixed, they just dont want to be inconvienced by it.
No one really knew what SOPA was or what it was in place for, they all just ran some half assed conspiracy theories with no real knowledge of what they were talking about. People love to think they are smart enough to understand and love to bitch so they just made up a bunch of cockamamy bullshit in order to say the world is ending.
If they want to reduce piracy there are a few steps they can take. First off, lower prices. I stopped buying blurays or DVDs, they are too expensive. Hard drives are getting so cheap that having a digital always version is way easier. Rentals also need to be dropped in price. A good example of this is 2012. I know the movie was terrible, but this was the time of year to watch it. Not available on Netflix or other streaming. Most companies wanted $4 - $5 to rent it. Sorry, not going to dish out that much for a single use. Hell, I wouldn't pay that for many good movies let alone bad ones.
Second, I still can't believe how many movies I can't find in digital. Everything should be available in digital form, they have the money and the resources to make this happen. They choose not to.
Third, stop being so damn annoying with ads. You are just being greedy when you put 4 trailers in front of the summer block buster movie when released on DVD or Bluray. What is even worse is that you can't skip them right to the menu. You either need to fast forward or skip each trailer 1 at a time.
What do I end up doing in these 3 cases ? Welp, off to a torrent site. Where I don't need to deal with any of that crap. If you want my money, fix your business model and I will be happy to pay. I do not enjoy getting raped.
It will eb a rider for the "protect the orphan of our military anti-porn act 2013" or some other rider in a bullshitty law nobody can refuse.
C. Sagan : A demon haunted world:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345409469/
visit randi.org
yeah, um, having ads in your movies does not equal rape.
lobby interests paying serious money, versus potential voters that don't/hardly contribute. this will be raised again and again until the funding goes away. It's not that I'm cynical, and these guys are assholes, but more like HFT games the system; those who are paying for results are making things happen over those of us who merely protest.
In NSA America social networks join you!
Afraid to use your real nick, eh? Making up your political position based on who you hate, eh?
now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
people should be more concerned about their lack of spines.
Are you... seriously... implying....
I mean, politicians being employed by constituents and doing as they are told? What do you think this is, some kind of republic or something?
Man, some people are just so deluded.
Of course it doesn't have the stomach for it. The US Congress collectively does not have the stomach to hold its own dick while it relieves itself. If there were no dick holders provided in the Congressional restrooms, they would all burst open from not having the balls to relieve themselves, nor the common sense to realize that they HAVE to relieve themselves. These assholes don't even have the guts to address the nation's real problems. All they do is bring up useless frill after self serving pandering bill. That is, when they can move themselves to stir from their beauty sleep at all.
Punks, that's all they are. Corrupt remains of a system which is the biggest enemy of their own population.
As it is, the rot that is inside them is enough to wipe out the population if the pustulence ever escapes into the general population. I am goddam sure what the folks in 1776 would have done with this loathsome group of bought and paid for poseurs.
We basically beat that one too, they're at like 0-4 and they're pissed. Hence we're seeing the spin campaigns starting. I think the Fiscal Cliff is crowding out the meme space, so they have to get past that one, and then we might see more updates about spring.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
Congress shouldn't be wasting time trying to protect multi-billionaires from having to pay their fair share. They have more important things to worry about, like trying to stop our children being mowed down by right wing tea party lunatics with machine guns. Between Phoenix AZ and Aurora CO and now Newtown CT, it should be crystal clear to anyone that the mission of government for at least the next decade should be to get guns out of the hands of everyday morons once and for all. The only people who should have them are police and active-duty military while engaged in conflict.
"yeah, um, having ads in your movies does not equal rape."
Yeah, um, Yes it DOES! We already pay for the content, it should be completely free of ads and promotion. Or at least you should have to choose a menu option to see that crap, and it should never precede or interupt the movie!!
HollyWEED obviously has a very (erroniously) inflated view of the actual value of its products, thus the universal overpricing of movie and TV show disks, which in part drives people to find ways to get the content that they want for free. Annoying ads and promos that can't be skipped doesn't help either.
Well thank goodness your newsletter there has a great deal of substance and informed rational thought. I'm intrigued by this notion of yours that the GOP doesn't call people that don't agree with them terrorists. I'm fascinated by this idea that only liberals resort to name-calling.
Hyper-partisanship, dogmatic stubbornness, and inflexible obstructionism are the problems. And neither major party is entirely to blame.
But sopapipas are delicious with honey!
Those who can, do. Those who can't, write technology blogs.
Lawmakers supporting the two bills baled out in droves,
bale 1 |bl|
noun
verb [ trans. ]
make (something) into bales : they baled a lot of good hay | [as n. ] ( baling) most baling and field work have been finished.