SOPA what do you think ?

[GrahamL]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-01-17/wiki-to-go-dark-in-piracy-protest/3778452

[TrevorW]

I often download free to air TV shows so are they going to put a SOPA to that :question:

As to movies I can hire them for $1 on certain days of the week so I don't know what they are concerned about

Any new releases that appear on the net if not DVDrip then they are crap to watch so I don't bother

So I don't know why they are now targetting the web

[mill]

It is all about the $$$$$$
I have been many times to the movies to see a movie that was supposedly very good and walked out thinking "what the #$#@ was that for crap".
And other times a movie gets a bad review and it is very good :screwy:

[TrevorW]

I don't even bother going to the movies anymore, I have a 100" screen with projector and surround sound.

If I want a DVD I'll hire for a $1 on the specials night.

If it's worth adding to my collection I'll wait to the price drops to around the $10 mark before buying it.

I would think this is the same for a lot of other people as well.

[Stardrifter_WA]

I am the same Trevor, although I only have a large TV and surround. A projector would be nice, but have other priorities. I also rent them on cheap night too and wait until prices come down before adding it to my collection, which is quite large, as it is. It really has to be good before I add it now. :D

[Stardrifter_WA]

As for SOPA. It's aims are good but in practice will be disastrous for censorship, in general, I feel. A lot of what is put on the Internet has come from somewhere else, therefore, is probably copyrighted anyway, in some form or other. It could result in whole sites going down, just for one item.

Chaos may reign! But then again, I don't really care, as I only use legitimate sites anyway. :D

[DJVege]

I hate the movies. Wait... let me explain. I hate all the teenage, kiddie, moron peeps that go to watch the M rated movies... talk on their phones, throw popcorn at their mates and act like idiots!

I like going to the movies if there are not so many people in the cinema (less chance of annoyances). The cost is a lil exy at $13-$15 for adults, but when it's not an every week thing, it's ok.

BUT, I very much prefer to watch 1080p, 5.1 Dolby or DTS on my Home theatre setup (55" screen). :)

You want to kerb online piracy?? Simple. Grab technology by the ****s; utilise the internet, and offer SD and HD movies at a LOW price.

You will never kill piracy. If you're at school, or at uni (as a child), your parents aren't always going to get you the movie you want... you won't have the money for the games and movies etc... you want to play & watch. So pirated downloads are very attractive.

Once you start making money, like your alcohol preference, you start buying things you couldn't.

eg. At school/uni... how many people were after the cheapest alcohol out there for parties? Now I'm working full time, I indulge in the more premium spirits because I can afford them.

Keep collectors editions of DVD/blurays more expensive. However, keep your average bluray disc under $20. Streaming services with quickflix are $14.99 per month, unlimited. Good price, IF you keep up with title demand! Not as good as some streaming services i the US, but much better than AUS used to have in the past.

:) My 2 cents.

[Terry B]

I don't watch movies on the puter at all so this wouldn't affect me really. I thought that one hassle was people OS trying to watch stuff that is freely available on the net but blocked when you are OS. I was in Canada recently and wanted to listen to the cricket on the ABC. This was blocked even though it will never be available to buy over there. This is stupid.
My wife tried to look at an ABC show that is freely available on line here but again was blocked in Canada.
This legislation will just make this worse. Stuff that can't be bought legally or watched so called illegally as well.

[Poita]

This legislation is dangerous, it can cut off the supply of money to a website owner.

Say I posted an image here that was covered by copyright, under this legislation they could cut off all payments to Mike coming via the site, it is massively heavy handed and goes way beyond what is reasonable. It puts all the power with corporations, when did they become the good guys??

[traveller]

Piracy will always have the upper hand, so SOPA will only catch the dumb crooks.
My brother is currently in China and their GFC (Great Firewall of China) is monitored by an army of censors. But as soon as one post is shut down or a link is removed, it moves somewhere else with a different name (Chinese is a heavily phonetic language, so changing the tone or a single letter can completely change the meaning).
Bottom line: make on-line content low cost and more affordable. The book industry is a case in point, people still buy books, but just not at bookstores, and Kobo or whatever is not everyone's cup of tea.
That and improve the general education standards and on-line literacy of users so people make informed choices and decisions, but that's a different topic. :D
Bo

[DJVege]

@traveller: Nicely put! :)

[joe_smith]

The dark hidden truth about SOPA is not about copy right issues, its about Internet Censorship Thats why Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Twitter are against it so strongly, they know the truth. Its to kill free thinking and free speech. Social media sites can change world opinion of current events. This is what they don't like and it scares them. This law if passed can block any website with a complaint of copyright infringement whether its a real breach or not. Any site the government dosent like will be blocked, just like China, Iran and Egypt, except the people of Egypt hit the streets, when they blocked Face Book. Also if you think this will only effect the USA check out this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhwuXNv8fJM&feature=player_embedded)and this video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc) also with SOPA they passed this bill (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HrXyLrTRXso&feature=related) still think its about "copyright"

[Kevnool]

Not much really.
One day someone will tell me to stop.

Cheers Kev.

[TrevorW]

Is there something deeper here, are the paranoid US Govt afraid of the web in more ways than one, remember the war on terrorism goes on !!

If they take it off the web it'll only go into the streets, cd and dvds copied and passed on:question:

:screwy:

[ballaratdragons]

Big Brother exercising his strength :mad2:

[joe_smith]

I bet my money on it. :thumbsup:

[Stardrifter_WA]

Of course there is more to it! :P

Governments don't like "the people" they represent to have any control at all. They know what is best for us all. :sadeyes: So, nothing new here.

Politics, by its very nature, is a perverse corruption anyway. Having said that, now I will wait until the "men in black" crash through my door and cart me away.....never to see the light of day again! :D

[mithrandir]

It's purported to be about copyright. That it can be used for internet censorship is an added benefit as far as the legislators are concerned.

According to the latest SANS newsbites (http://www.sans.org/newsletters/newsbites/newsbites.php?vol=14&issue=5#sID307) they have taken the DNS disabling part out of the two bills - SOPA and PITS - and SOPA is stalled in the House. That provision would have let the US bock any site anywhere that relied on a US hosted DNS. It could affect anyone who has a .com, .net or .org domain (as I do) no matter where they or their servers are located.

Taking it to its logical conclusion, if these laws came into effect they would have the potential to disable IceInSpace if someone screamed "copyright" because it is hosted on a US server.

[jenchris]

It is of course more to do with censorship than anything - plus greed of course
I won't go to the movies, I wait til it is on Free to Air record it and take out the ads.
I reckon Tom Cruise or any of the others aren't worth 15 million dollars a film - it's disgusting

[AndrewJ]

I prefer "information" vs "control", as its more about dissemination of knowledge when used in a censorship vs copyright mode.
Ie just look back in history at the effects of the printing press,
or when the bible was translated to english.
Govts simply dont want you to know what they are doing.

Andrew

ps I wonder how the US will go banning the chinese/russian sites that constantly rip off everything from movies to operating systems :-)

[skysurfer]

I am definitely against it. There are other legal ways to stop piracy. It is like blocking the roads to places where much criminal activity occurs.
As a way of protest I put a protest banner on all my websites.

[skysurfer]

.com/.net domains are only withdrawn if you have registered the domain name in the US.
When IIS is not registrred in the US, it won't affect IIS.

[mithrandir]

IIS is registered with an Australian registrar (as the whois data for the domain states).

The web server it is hosted on is in the US (as the whois data for the netblock states and traceroute demonstrates), and consequently subject to whatever ratbag laws the US comes up with.

[renormalised]

Well SOPA, PIPA = Kristallnacht, Fahrenheit 451, Night of the Long Knives etc etc. That's its conclusion, that's where it's heading and has been for quite some time. Those bills are just the tip of the iceberg. And don't think it will only happen in the US.

[Moon]

Whilst this is not the first, nor the last piece of nasty and unpopular legislation, I am impressed by the amazing response that seems to be working. It does give me hope for the future. Perhaps we have finally found a way (other than elections) to get politicians to do what the vast majority of the public want? We can only hope.
James

[renormalised]

Problem, James, is that it's too piecemeal and all talk with little action. If you're going to talk, you've got to walk as well. You also have to be very well organised, but vague enough so that those you oppose can't get a handle on you.

[Moon]

Have you tried going to reddit or wikipedia today? They're offline in protest.
James

[renormalised]

24 hours is nothing more than an inconvenience. Most people will just wait it out and the government....they won't bother to notice or even care. Go offline for 48 hours, or 72 hours. You'll get people's attention then, and if you explain why you're doing it and what the consequences of the actions that have led you to protest are, then they'll take notice. You then have to get them to do something about it and that takes further organisation and effort.

Want to really hurt them....cut off all internet access to the government for a whole week. They could do it if they wanted to. Do it to the music, movie and TV companies too and whoever else is pushing for this. They'll soon get the message loud and clear.

[Moon]

There have already been some positive signs they are backing down, but perhaps my glass is half full today?
Still, I live in hope.

[Barrykgerdes]

This is another stupid US political stunt in the same vane as prohibition.
IF passed the good guys will be the ones to get caught and the bad guys will find another way to get around it.

While I don't like piracy of interlectual and physical property, trying to stop it with this sort of legislation will only catch the unwary while censuring free speech and the pirates will find another way to do it and make more money.

Barry

[TrevorW]

Look how they control (don't) the drug trade, without drugs you've got a whole section of their law enforcement agency that would be without a job ??

Make something cheap enough for the masses so they wouldn't worry about piracy but you can tax it then you wouldn't need these draconian laws.

The same applies to certain drugs.

As Barry said they'll find another way to make money.

[renormalised]

Precisely, Barry. However, this legislation is far more insidious than prohibition ever was. Don't think it will be confined to the internet, exclusively.

[Stardrifter_WA]

For an update on SOPA see:

http://www.cnet.com.au/sopa-blackouts-weaken-bill-support-339329975.htm?ocid=nl_d_19012012_la t_l23

[TrevorW]

from the Wired site which is also blanked out

"The problem with SOPA and PIPA doesn’t end with false positives. They would create a terrible precedent that other regimes could use to justify their own censorship efforts, potentially fragmenting the internet into so many islands"

the flow on effects to internet including retail sales would be significant

[skysurfer]

You mean that the internet providers of the Congress / Senate / House or other Washington DC institutes cut off internet access from the US government offices ?
Would be a good idea.

[TrevorW]

you can't do that they'd have nothing to do :P;):D

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: Does it not cost 25 cents to manufacture a DVD , with a movie inprinted into it ?
We are being ripped off , so I se no problem with this .
Brian.

[TrevorW]

Yeah, but they have to recover the $100,000,000 production cost when it flops at the box office

[brian nordstrom]

;) OOPs , them they have to stop paying actors 20 million for 1 movie , they got to get real !!!:thumbsup:
Why should we pay for their silly busness decisions ?
Brian.

[ballaratdragons]

U.S. actors are waaayyyy overpaid.

The 6 main actors in 'Friends' received over $1 Million each, per episode!

Some actors get $10 - 15 million per movie!
No wonder they have to recover the $$$

At our expense :mad2:

When I worked in TV 30 years ago the highest paid Actors I knew of were Don Lane and Paul Cronin.
Don received just under $300,000 per year even when 'The Don Lane Show' went from 2 shows per week to 5 shows per week.

Paul Cronin recieved $500 per week as the Lead Actor in The Sullivans!

Paul Hogan was on a very low income as John Cornell had him contracted to do the 'Paul Hogan Show' for a pittance.
Some of the Crew made more than Paul did!!
He didn't make any decent money out of acting until Crocodile Dundee 2.

When I worked on Movies they actually paid David Gulpilil under $1000 per movie for major roles.

Not many big name Aussie actors were paid more than $5000 per movie back then.
YET, we still had to pay the same price for an Aussie Movie as we did for a U.S. movie :mad2:

Huge profit in someone's pocket! and it wasn't the Aussie actors.

The whole industry is massively $$$ oriented. And now they want even more.

[TrevorW]

I remember the days when we maybe had 1 new release a month now we have so many don't know the exact numbers as a lot go straight to DVD ???

[Stardrifter_WA]

Actors may get paid a lot, but that is because everyone wants to see there movies. If we all stop seeing these movies, they will not get paid the big bucks......and we wouldn't have anything to watch! :D

Besides, actors are a dying breed anyway, as animation is improving in leaps and bounds. All that will be required in the future are voices. Lot cheaper for the networks. :P

[brian nordstrom]

:shrug: I dunno, there Peter , Laurance Fishbone , acts a cool SIFI movie ? ..
He would be hard to beat . :thanx:
Brian.

[Stardrifter_WA]

Yeah mate, that's why they get the big bucks; we keep on seeing these great movies. :D

[brian nordstrom]

:eyepop:What ,," Sam Neil that Kiwi ? '' and Laurance Fishbone . ... SI FI that made no $$$ 20million , but gets SIFI people from way's apart , together .As Mates .
Brian ,
There are worse job's . .. aye Peter .

[GrahamL]

The entertainment industry globally is experiancing huge growth
in online revenue by the figures , the idea that piracy is impacting on this revenue is likely very true but I'd wager the losses are no where near $58 B or as a percentage of gross are insignificantly small ,imo the real long term goal has little to do with online piracy

Its hard to see through all the fog on this issue , my feelings are that
the big players in the industry were always a little lost on how
to deal with the web, Mr Murdochs spray of $540 M against the wall regarding myspace sort of supports that ,but they do understand the notion of a controllong interest and someday somehow through legistlative help,buyouts or plain old conniving persistance they will get there way.

[renormalised]

Well, Graham, they can be stopped in trying to take over the net via conniving or whatever. They rely on us for their bread and butter....and so do the politicians;):)

[Regulus]

They have backed away from presenting the legislation in congress. But ONLY backed away. Probably looking for another way to go about it that wont draw so much attention.
Seriously the United States is isolating itself with stuff like this but Oz will follow suit if they US pushes us enough.
Not good.
Trevor