SOPA and this Forum

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

This SOPA thing could be a bigger bitch than I thought. I do not know how it would apply to this site. I post a lot of YouTube videos on this site and that may all have to come to an end. It would kind of suck, but I don't need to post those videos up here, I can just listen to them in private.

We'll see what happens.

I've done my usual routine when something bad is going on and I don't like it; called the White House, both Senators and my House rep and told them I am opposed to it and why it sucks.


WEB

[Locke9-05]

To be honest, based on the kind of screaming raging internet response it's receiving, I don't think it will go through. It's already been pushed back. Also, companies that came out and publicly announced their support for SOPA got blasted by the consequences. They lost money, customers, etc. GoDaddy for instance lost a ton of money and business after publicly voicing their support for SOPA. After they lost their money and business, they made a lame attempt to save face and publicly announce something to the effect of "oh actually we're not really in favor of it," but their business is still suffering. Gaming companies like EA have had to publicly voice that they are against SOPA, when in fact, they are probably in favor of it. The internet is a powerful tool and it connects all the people with one another. I have my doubts that it will ever pass, but if it does, I think the people are going to be very very upset, and Washington needs to think long and hard about what they're doing with this bill. It's blatant censorship and government/corporate control over internet content. Like you said in the other thread, they have plenty of anti-piracy tools already, and SOPA won't even necessarily stop downloaders. They'll always find ways around the system. That's what they do.

[W.E.B. Du Bois]

I guess it really depends if the opposition to SOPA goes from being among those people who left GoDaddy to a cause adopted by the political blogosphere. If it becomes the latter, then I think that would really be a powerful force on the left because I think the internet is very powerful on the left. I think it is less powerful as a force on the right. My impression is that the bill was near passage, and people have a way of clinging to something once they've gone that far. The bill might be revised so its language is narrowed; that would certainly be the reasonable thing to do. They can go after the guys who host whole movies and even force YouTube to crackdown on music videos, but it goes too far for sites like this to get nailed for posting something like a 2 minute clip of Rambo or something.