So apparently the Stop Online Piracy Act hearing is today.

[manlybrian]

I kept it short and said I was opposed to SOPA and PIPA. Sent it to the three reps in my region.

[CCorsair]

SOPA/PIPA isn't going to go away over night and the fight is just starting .. this goes back to the days of the VCR and the photo copier.. they claimed it would destroy and well it didn't the DVR and the internet are the tow main targets for many of these bills yes copy right need to be protected but not by these bad bills the laws would effect all forums of art and music and more..

CC

[manlybrian]

http://fightforthefuture.org/pipa

[velderia]

Renard (Lapfox) did this and I thought it was very striking and well made.

[Arshes Nei]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology...-google-reddit

[Arshes Nei]

Sorry, bumping because it looks like the same happened for PIPA

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technolo...170147754.html

[Kuroyue]

^YES. (For now.)

[blogmatix]

This has been floating around on the web. No idea if it is true...

[Arshes Nei]

It's apparently talked about in this article.

http://www.uproxx.com/webculture/201...opyright-laws/

I like how some people are blaming an intern, but it's HIS site. He should be responsible

[JFierce]

well once again if you watched the video on the committee the people have no idea what they are talking about , or ironically what is in the bill

[JDSart]

haha blaming the intern, thats a brilliant new idea that has never been done before.

[blogmatix]

haha blaming the intern, thats a brilliant new idea that has never been done before.

Seems like in America, politicians either fuck the intern or blame him/her... :-)

[Arshes Nei]

Well, looks like MegaUpload got shut down today.

http://www.fbi.gov/news/pressrel/pre...t-infringement

[velderia]

Someone pinch me, this is a weird-ass dream and I forgot how to breathe:

https://twitter.com/#!/MicheleBachma...68159268933632

[JFierce]

Well Megaupload is notorious for Copyright infringement that was happening no matter what eventually.



And when I see politicians suddenly opposing it I don't think it is legit, they are because of the waves of support against it, same as all these companies that are suddenly pulling out before it hurts their profits.

[iambanana]

Sent the Foreign Minister of Norway, Jonas Gahr Støre, an e-mail today, urging him to show his concern about SOPA to the US.

[Arshes Nei]

Well Megaupload is notorious for Copyright infringement that was happening no matter what eventually.

So do most file upload sites like dropbox etc...and hey so is youtube.

But as much as there is piracy, there is original content. A lot of photoshop brushes, PSDs tutorials and goodies were hosted on megaupload due to size and ability to upload certain formats.

I think it's chilling to just dismiss it outright when many sites are plagued with the same issues.

[JFierce]

I'm not saying the issue is just the infringement (I was pretty vague above) but their behavior towards it. Megaupload is not the only site it's a series of them, Megavideo, and apparently some others . But Megavideo is notorious for hosting full series of looooong running shows. Want to watch that series of Z Gundam it's there, that new season of Breaking Bad, probably there.


Main thing I think the issue is the difference between say Megavideo and Youtube. Youtube works pretty hard to get rid of things like full episodes off their site. While Megavideo they're on the site for ages. Though yes it isn't as black and white as that there are other sites that host copyrighted files, but I don't know of any site bigger that hosts videos of full episodes. Search to watch a video online your likely getting a megavideo link.



I don't really care either way if it's gone or not, just saying it was inevitable the way things were headed. Though something will pop up in it's place most likely.

[biglu]

a list of goods the Department of Justice seized from Megaupload's owner, not counting bank accounts:

•2010 Maserati GranCabrio, VIN ZAMKM45B000051328, License Plate No. “M-FB 212” or “DH-GC 470”, registered to FINN BATATO;
•2009 Mercedes-Benz E500 Coupe, VIN WDD20737225019582, License Plate No. “FEG690”;
•2005 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM, VIN WDB2093422F165517, License Plate No. “GOOD”;
•2004 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM AMG 5.5L Kompressor, VIN WDB2093422F166073, License Plate No. “EVIL”;
•2010 Mercedes-Benz S65 AMG L, VIN WDD2211792A324354, License Plate No. “CEO”;
•2008 Rolls-Royce Phantom Drop Head Coupe, VIN SCA2D68096UH07049; License Plate No. “GOD”;
•2010 Mercedes-Benz E63 AMG, VIN WDD2120772A103834, License Plate No. “STONED”;
•2010 Mini Cooper S Coupe, VIN WMWZG32000TZ03651, License Plate No. “V”;
•2010 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, VIN WDC1641772A608055, License Plate No. “GUILTY”;
•2007 Mercedes-Benz CL65 AMG, VIN WDD2163792A025130, License Plate No. “KIMCOM”;
•2009 Mercedes-Benz ML63 AMG, VIN WDC1641772A542449, License Plate No. “MAFIA”;
•2010 Toyota Vellfire, VIN 7AT0H65MX11041670, License Plate Nos. “WOW” or “7”;
•2011 Mercedes-Benz G55 AMG, VIN WDB4632702X193395, License Plate Nos. “POLICE” or “GDS672”;
•2011 Toyota Hilux, VIN MR0FZ29G001599926, License Plate No. “FSN455”;
•Harley Davidson Motorcycle, VIN 1HD1HPH3XBC803936, License Plate No. “36YED”;
•2010 Mercedes-Benz CL63 AMG, VIN WDD2163742A026653, License Plate No. “HACKER”;
•2005 Mercedes-Benz A170, VIN WDD1690322J184595, License Plate No. “FUR252”;
•2005 Mercedes-Benz ML500, VIN WDC1641752A026107, License Plate No. DFF816;
•Fiberglass sculpture, imported from the United Kingdom with Entry No. 83023712;
•1957 Cadillac El Dorado, VIN 5770137596;
•2010 Sea-Doo GTX Jet Ski, VIN YDV03103E010;
•1959 Cadillac Series 62 Convertible, VIN 59F115669;
•Von Dutch Kustom Motor Bike, VIN 1H9S14955BB451257;
•2006 Mercedes-Benz CLK DTM, VIN WDB2094421T067269;
•2010 Mini Cooper S Coupe, VIN WMWZG32000TZ03648 License Plate No. “T”;
•1989 Lamborghini LM002, VIN ZA9LU45AXKLA12158, License Plate No. “FRP358”
•2011 Mercedes-Benz ML63, VIN 4JGBB7HB0BA666219;
•Samsung 820DXN 82” LCD TV;
•Samsung 820DXN 82” LCD TV;
•Samsung 820DXN 82” LCD TV;
•Devon Works LLC, Tread #1 time piece;
•Artwork, In High Spirits, Olaf Mueller photos from The Cat Street Gallery;
•Sharp 108” LCD Display TV;
•Sharp 108” LCD Display TV;
•Sony PMW-F3K Camera S/N 0200231;
•Sony PMW-F3K Camera S/N 0200561;
•Artwork, Predator Statue;
•Artwork, Christian Colin;
•Artwork, Anonymous Hooded Sculpture;
•2009 Mercedes-Benz ML350 CDI 4MATIC Off-Roader;
•Sharp LC-65XS1M 65” LCD TV;
•Sharp LC-65XS1M 65” LCD TV;
•TVLogic 56” LUM56W TV;
•Sixty (60) Dell R710 computer servers.


http://venturebeat.com/2012/01/19/me...ad-indictment/


.. apparently there's lots of money in the file sharing biz

[Raoul Duke]

Mega Upload is the biggest piracy deterrent. Unless you are cool with malware.

[littlebones]

If you guys thought SOPA was dead, don't get too comfortable. Cue the key change and the latin choir, here comes its ultra-powerful second form who'll kill all your dudes with one big supermove: ACTA.



This isn't just the US. This involves a whole slew of likeminded countries. From the youtube description:

ACTA is one more offensive against the sharing of culture on the Internet. ACTA (Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement) is an agreement secretly negotiated by a small "club" of like-minded countries (39 countries, including the 27 of the European Union, the United States, Japan, etc). Negotiated instead of being democratically debated, ACTA bypasses parliaments and international organizations to dictate a repressive logic dictated by the entertainment industries.

ACTA would impose new criminal sanctions forcing Internet actors to monitor and censor online communications. It is thus a major threat to freedom of expression online and creates legal uncertainty for Internet companies. In the name of trademarks and patents, it would also hamper access to generic medicines in poor countries.

Shit.

[JFierce]

Good God, Why is this like Internet War 1.

[Diarum]

If you guys thought SOPA was dead, don't get too comfortable. Cue the key change and the latin choir, here comes its ultra-powerful second form who'll kill all your dudes with one big supermove: ACTA.



This isn't just the US. This involves a whole slew of likeminded countries. From the youtube description:



Shit.

FUCK me.....(not literally..but you know what I mean!)

[JDSart]

I have noticed a lot of the "this video is not available in your country" "for copyright reasons we decided that you inferior people are not worthy of this content" , those are getting more and more common, and always seems like a load of bull.

Nothing can exist without some small groups or douchebags feeling entitled to exercise control over it and deciding for everyone else.

[manlybrian]

Maybe a little paranoid but it still doesn't sound good.

[Kuroyue]

[s.ketch]

Megaupload/Megavideo isn't down. The DNS is, but not the IP (as of last night), you can still access the site through it's IP address. It's just more convenient to remember a DNS name rather than nine numbers.

If you want to help fight the good fight, please start using Tor.

Tor was originally designed, implemented, and deployed as a third-generation onion routing project of the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory. It was originally developed with the U.S. Navy in mind, for the primary purpose of protecting government communications. Today, it is used every day for a wide variety of purposes by normal people, the military, journalists, law enforcement officers, activists, and many others.

Basically, onion routing takes your data, bounces it around relays and sends it through an exit node far, far away. It protects you against traffic analysis (seeing what pages you visit, what you download, etc). It does have weaknesses, but exploiting them takes a whole bunch of effort. If someone like the FBI owned an entrance and exit node, then they could see what you were doing. But since nodes are just personal computers or public/private servers all over the world, that's pretty hard to pull off. In Tor, everything within a stream is encrypted. When someone looks at your computer, they can tell you're tunneling they just can't tell what's going on "inside" it.





The more people that lend their computers to relaying (it's voluntary you don't have to be a relay if you don't want) the more secure it becomes. As there would be more nodes, more randomization, and less chances of being able to pinpoint a congruent entrance and exit. Plus the network would be faster if more people used it. If you have the bandwidth, please be a relay. But even if you can't support this project by downloading it and using it.

Tor gives you access to the deepweb. We need more normal people using and contributing to deepweb because most of the outer layers are comprised of black hats and unsavory people. The more normal people that use it, the less scary and mysterious it becomes. The more socially acceptable it is, the more people will use it. And then we go back to what I said before. More people involved = more secure and faster service.



I was watching one of the SOPA hearings before this last one and one of the supporters said that the bill was neccessary to end child pornography. And I thought to myself how funny it would be for them to make a bill called "Please think of the children Act"

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.1981:

[Prometheus|ANJ]

If the IP address is still available, and you don't feel like using numbers or bookmarks, you can use something like 4LW, four little words. Basically, each number if the IP adress, 0-255, corresponds to a common little word.

E.g. "www.whitehouse.gov" might be "buy.your.laws.here" and "lamarsmith.house.gov" could be "the.smile.from.hell".

Legislation of this type is like trying to stop drug trafficking by installing two cameras in every toilet room, one up in the roof, and one in the toilet. Some people put drugs in condoms, swallow and eventually have to poop the packages out, you know. When people point out privacy concerns and ways to circumvent this kind of surveillance, a "compromise" is made. There will simply be the camera up in the roof, and all footage will be deleted after 16 months. Also, the bill is now named Protecting Our Children from Scat Pornographers.

[Crane]

What would the passing of PIPA or any other idiot law mean for those of us who want to get into concept/game/film/etc design? I am worrying about this a lot I know these laws are very bad, would they effectively end jobs like this?

[TinyBird]

Also apparently they are trying to push ACTA through, but in Europe: https://www.accessnow.org/page/s/just-say-no-to-acta