[Mr. D.]

SOPA isn't the government. It's a piece of legislation. It doesn't create any new agencies. The government does not generate any revenue from it. With or without it, the government is in the same position as it was yesterday.

I'm sorry but if you think it is the government, you need to find a way to access Wikipedia to learn about the structure of the United States federal government.

And you think if SOPA passes, a new agency wouldn't be created to enforce it?


"Legislation (or "statutory law") is law which has been promulgated (or "enacted") by a legislature or other governing body,"

Governmentrefers to the legislators, administrators, and arbitrators in the administrative bureaucracy who control a state at a given time, and to the system of government by which they are organized.


Glad to see they are not the same.





Anyway I am done with this thread before I say something that gets me banned.


Back to GHOSTBUSTERS. The real reason this site exist.

[Ron Daniels]

Yes, there is a big difference between laws and the actual government; as your own text indicates.

Unless you want me to believe that legislators are the same thing as legislation. Because if that's so, I've got a Political Science degree you can have because it's been rendered useless.

And for your information, we don't remove people from the site for simply disagreeing with others. So you don't have to worry about carrying on in discourse with other users.

[CPU64]

As lame as all of this is, none of it actually surprises me. I'm kinda surprised it took this long to be honest..

[ThrowingChicken]

Up to 18 senators coming out against SOPA today. Think of how many more we would have if Wikipedia didn't impose a blackout

[julz]

Ok so the blackout was a big problem for everybody ok... I was trapped in an elevator for two hours and I had to make the whole time. But I don't blame Wikipedia. Because one time, I turned into a dog and they helped me. Thank you.

[Megalomaniac]

Thank you Louis. Short, but pointless.

[Joeyvenkman]

That is how you end a thread.

[CODE RGB]

No,this is how you end a thread!

http://www.forbes.com/sites/johngaudios ... gislation/

[Joeyvenkman]

Indeed.

[Kid Chameleon]

Ok, I have to say this. It has been almost 9 hrs into this black out day. I have been browsing the web. using stumble upon all night and majority of stuff is blacked out. So I guess SOPA won without having to even be passed. They got the people to shut down the internet for them.

The government is sitting back today laughing their butts off. For 24 hours most of the internet is shut down. We played right into their hands. And come tomorrow when all the blackouts are done. The government will continue on and the bills will be voted on and passed.

I am all for the meaning behind the protest. But this is not going to hurt the government any. If you want to get their attention, black out the banks sites, the media sites, the major tools the government uses to control the people.

Sorry for the rant and so many post in this thread about this. Just doesn't all make total sense.

The Wikipedia blackout basically served as a reminder to the US government that all governments are answerable to the voters and that they should be careful when passing legislation that has an impact on people's quality of life. Unhappy people don't tend to vote for the government that made them unhappy.

[AJ Quick]

I know Mr. D might not think it worked, but tens of millions of people contacted their congressmen.

Here is the level of supporters and opponents the day of the blackout, and the day after.



15 members of congress stopped supporting SOPA and PIPA... but another 55 undecided (or not public about it) members of congress announced that they are against the bills.

As of today the bills are not getting voted on any time soon.

[KCGhostbuster]

Amen brotha.

[ProtonCharger]

is there anyway to see that photo larger? i really need to see what mutton heads are that are supporting this mess.

[aceblackbelt]

[AJ Quick]

is there anyway to see that photo larger? i really need to see what mutton heads are that are supporting this mess.

Using Pro-Publica: http://projects.propublica.org/sopa/

[ProtonCharger]

im really surprised mark rubio is opposing sopa. that guy's done everything he could to screw flawduh

[Mr. D.]

SOPA Lives! Don't declare victory and quit now.

Congress puts PIPA and SOPA on back burner

Put down the champagne, protesters, it's not over yet

By Iain Thomson in San Francisco

From The Register, 20th January 2012 18:44 GMT

Share this story on Facebook: http://tinyurl.com/sopa-lives

Political leaders have cancelled plans to vote on the SOPA and PIPA legislation currently before Congress, saying more time is needed to examine the issue.

Nevada senator Harry Reid, who is shepherding PIPA through the Senate, announced that he would postpone a vote on the bill that was scheduled for next week “in light of recent events.” Nevertheless, he praised the proposed legislation and said he looked forward to eventually getting it to a vote.

“We must take action to stop these illegal practices,” he said in a statement. "We live in a country where people rightfully expect to be fairly compensated for a day's work, whether that person is a miner in the high desert of Nevada, an independent band in New York City, or a union worker on the back lots of a California movie studio.”

Shortly afterwards, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith said that the SOPA legislation currently in the House of Representatives would be put on hold, but warned that the government would have to pass some kind of legislation to deal with foreign thieves.

The MPAA signaled its determination to carry on the fight in a brief statement on the matter.

“As a consequence of failing to act, there will continue to be a safe haven for foreign thieves; American jobs will continue to be lost; and consumers will continue to be exposed to fraudulent and dangerous products peddled by foreign criminals,” MPAA CEO and former US senator Chris Dodd wrote.

The move is a partial victory for protestors who have been active online and off. However, the legislation is currently only on hold, so there are plenty of opportunities for the media industry to take another shot at it once all the fuss has died down. There has been too much money spent on campaign contributions to give up now, and the industry will be patient, hold some telegenic hearings, and try again later – there's a marvelously distracting presidential election that could prove very useful.

But the move also brings attention to the bipartisan Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade (OPEN Act),which would block funds going to foreign piracy websites but not attempt to block them by disrupting the DNS infrastructure. Instead of the Justice Department adjudicating sanctions, the task would instead be assigned to intellectual property experts at the US International Trade Commission (ITC).

"Supporters of the Internet deserve credit for pressing advocates of SOPA and PIPA to back away from an effort to ram through controversial legislation," said OPEN Act co-sponsor and trenchant SOPA critic, Congressman Darrell Issa.

"Over the last two months, the intense popular effort to stop SOPA and PIPA has defeated an effort that once looked unstoppable but lacked a fundamental understanding of how Internet technologies work," Issa said. "Postponing the Senate vote on PIPA removes the imminent threat to the Internet, but it's not over yet.”

Given the stunning ignorance shown by the legislature and the Department of Justice on internet matters, having some experts on board might be welcome. But the OPEN Act is far from perfect - there’s nothing on fair use, for example. Nevertheless, it is supported by companies such as Google and Facebook, so has a shot at passing.

But the media industry isn’t going to give up, and with an election year in the cycle, politicians will be hungry for campaign funds. Given the nature of the US political system, this may come down to who has the deepest pockets.

[Mr. D.]

I know Mr. D might not think it worked, but tens of millions of people contacted their congressmen.

Here is the level of supporters and opponents the day of the blackout, and the day after.



15 members of congress stopped supporting SOPA and PIPA... but another 55 undecided (or not public about it) members of congress announced that they are against the bills.

As of today the bills are not getting voted on any time soon.

*sigh* I never said the black out didn't or wouldn't work. I said there was a better way to do it. But No point in repeating that. No one read it the first 20 times I said it, You won't read it this time.

[Charnel]

[Ron Daniels]

im really surprised mark rubio is opposing sopa. that guy's done everything he could to screw flawduh

He was for it, before he was against it.

[julz]

Just saw this quote in relation to people blacking out their websites...

“A lot of them blacked out completely, meaning that users couldn’t even get them – including Wikipedia, which is the sixth largest site in the US. This was a huge message to Congress.”

Timm noted that many in the American public had not even heard about the bills before the blackout day, and once these sites blacked out, a multitude of people began calling and emailing their congressional representatives."

Looks like the blackouts worked huh...

[MandoMan]

But obviously they would have worked much better had they just been simple pop-ups, a minor inconvenience that can be easily brushed aside and forgotten.

I'd say the blackouts worked exactly as they were supposed to.

[irricanian]

Congressmen Who Received Money for SOPA Vote
Here is a list of Congressional politicians in favor of the bill known as SOPA and PIPA and the amounts of money they received from the SOPA backers who bought their favor in voting yes for both bills.

The Winners are:
Money Received from Pipa Sponsors:
Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY] $864,265

Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] $665,420

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D, NY] $556,525

Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA] $544,424

Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT] $416,250 (head sponsor of pipa btw)

Sen. Michael Bennet [D, CO] $347,406

Sen. Roy Blunt [R, MO] $341,700

Sen. Robert Portman [R, OH] $337,525

Sen. Richard Burr [R, NC] $275,950

Sen. Patty Murray [D, WA] $272,750



Money Received from Sopa Sponsors:
Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] $3,502,624

Sen. Charles Schumer [D, NY] $2,648,770

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand [D, NY] $2,080,651

Sen. Barbara Boxer [D, CA] $1,431,843

Sen. Scott Brown [R, MA] $1,364,872

Sen. Robert Portman [R, OH] $1,363,009

Sen. Patrick Toomey [R, PA] $1,291,744

Sen. Michael Bennet [D, CO] $1,019,172

Sen. Mark Kirk [R, IL] $911,296

Sen. Patrick Leahy [D, VT] $905,310



Read more: http://www.politicolnews.com/congressme ... z1k8AfWpoo

[Ron Daniels]

Behold all of those Liberal and Moderate-minded thinkers!

[ProtonCharger]

yeah, but look at the guy that came up with the idea.

[Ron Daniels]

Ron Paul he is not.

[irricanian]

SOPA, PIPA, ACTA...different spots on the same animal?




http://www.thejournal.ie/ireland-and-eu ... 4-Jan2012/

[featofstrength]

Sen. Harry Reid [D, NV] $3,502,624