All Your Chat Are Belong to SOPA and PROTECT IP

[Fringe Pioneer]

On midnight of Wednesday, January 18 EST, many sites banded together to protest SOPA and PROTECT IP, the latter of which is due to be voted for on January 24. Some sites, such as Google merely censored logos with prominent, hard-to-miss links to petitions and instructions to contacting congressmen and senators, whereas others like the English language Wikipedia blacked out access to everything except for information about SOPA and PROTECT IP and contact information for senators and congressmen who have you as a constituent.

In short, both bills attempt to stop piracy and miserably fail to do so, all while guaranteeing a new age of censorship at unprecedented levels with little to no means for due process.

Oh, you're not American, so this doesn't matter? You couldn't be more wrong. These American bills attempt to screw around with the underlying architecture of the Internet and World Wide Web, and such evil bills coming from "the leader of democracy" would likely get other world leaders to follow suit.

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In solidarity with the efforts of nearly all other Internet users and developers, we have decided to replace the chat with a message about SOPA and PROTECT IP that links to an easy petition form from Google. The ToS for the petition is straightforward: only email and zip code are necessary, the email will only be used for sending you updates about the petition check the box for optionally opting in to receive updates, the zip code is to make sure the correct representatives are informed that SOPA and PROTECT IP are to be stopped, and that neither your name, email, nor zip code will be linked to any Google related account in any shape, way, or form.

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Too long and didn't read? Sign petitions to stop SOPA and PROTECT IP, email your representatives, and tell everyone else to do so too.

The chat will be placed back up when the blackout fades away, or until you all actually do something to stop this madness, more likely the former but preferably the latter...

[Qwerty]

Also, if you have to, the chat is still available. Just not onsite.

[Fringe Pioneer]

Another way you can stop this madness, which by itself might not do much good but combined with contacting your representatives (or American embassy, as the case may be) is to install this special addon for Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox called "Stop SOPA." All it does is warn you if a site you're visiting is a SOPA supporter by putting up a prominent, translucent stop sign to block the top half of the site.

Why install that addon? Use it to identify targets to boycott. Is Marvell Comics a SOPA supporter? Stop reading their comics, buying their action figures, and so forth. Are Microsoft and Apple both SOPA supporters? Significantly decrease your use of those products and support free/libre open source software (no more purchasing iTunes music or XBox games, use OpenOffice instead of Microsoft Office, and so forth). Is LucasFilm a SOPA supporter? No more Star Wars merchandise...

[Anonymousperson5]

If GV is going to give up Star Wars, he's serious about this. It's been mentioned on the CBs by some too.
I already signed the Google petition.

So, the following is basically why the bill is absolutely ridiculous:
The SOPA bill will blacklist sites that play a key role in getting around, contacting others, socializing, entertainin oneself, and in many other ways affect how we live in a positive way, JUST so that we can stop pirates online from stealing about 5 dollars apiece from people who make millions of dollars, and who will in all likelihood find a loophole such as creating their own browser to access these sites.

[Fringe Pioneer]

It will be even simpler that creating their own browser: in many cases, just type in the IP of the site rather than typing in a URL and relying on domain name resolution to turn it into an IP so you can visit a site.

Anyways, I will bring the chat up shortly, and although the message will be reduced, it won't be eliminated entirely. We have until January 24 (relative to EST, where Capitol Hill resides) to make sure that if no one has yet contacted a senator to stop PROTECT IP, then people can do so...

[nmagain]

calm down guys, no way the new president is going to let this pass.

[Anonymousperson5]

I don't think so either, but just in case of a two-thirds majority.

[ganondorfchampin]

Question: of the people who download pirated goods, who would actually buy it if they had to pay for it? Second, how many downloaders actually do later end up paying for products they support?

[Anonymousperson5]

Over 9000 and over 9000.

But in any case, I think we all agree that this bill is ridiculous, and one of the most hypocritical and stupid to be written in the US.

Apparently someone has tracked down members of Congress and even the author of SOPA to be downloading pirated goods.

[Fringe Pioneer]

On one hand, I relied on a Portal-for-Free weekend to get Portal. On the other hand, I purchased two copies of Minecraft Beta 1.7.2 (and already gave one to a relative, who has long since used the gift code last summer).

Perchance, do you have a source indicating where you learned that someone tracked down members of Congress as having themselves pirated?

[Anonymousperson5]

www.dailytech.com/Obama+Admin+Declares+War+on+SOPA+SOPA+Author+Caught+Stealing+Work/article23783.htm

[Fringe Pioneer]

I sure hope congressional election voter turnout will be high and result in hypocrites losing office...

[Qwerty]

The author of SOPA didn't pirate, no. He just used a photograph without the permission of the photographer, which would still take his own site down.

[Anonymousperson5]

It says something about Congress members downloading porn.

[nmagain]

lulzsec leaked tons of government members' porn website accounts if i recall correctly.