SOPA - law

Hello,
I have not checked Thrive for a long long time. Its nice to see you have quite a lot of progress and might actually see this true eventually.

But i had to show this to as many people, because this new "law" is ridiculous.

Called the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) in the House of Representatives and the "PROTECT IP Act" (PIPA) in the Senate, these bills are a misguided attempt to curb the illegal piracy of copyrighted content (like movies, music and games). Preventing piracy of copyrighted content is a laudable goal.

However, SOPA/PIPA goes far beyond simply addressing piracy. This proposed legislation actually threatens any website that features user-generated content. In effect, any copyright holder could file a claim that a streaming website is hosting unauthorized content (such as a song in the background of a stream). Under the law, ad networks, payment providers and internet service providers are now potentially liable for their user’s infringement. These services could then be compelled to immediately remove support for a streaming website or face a costly legal battle – at a minimum cutting off financial means, and likely shutting off the site entirely.

How would SOPA/PIPA impact some of you?

Kills streaming. If any single streamer plays copyrighted music (or alt tabs into a movie or other owned content) on their stream, there is a significant risk of the entire streaming service being taken down. In some cases, it could even result in criminal penalties for the streamer.

Threatens independent content creation. Services we all use to create and share game related content, such as YouTube, Reddit, DeviantArt, streaming websites such as Own3d and Twitch, and more would be at risk of shutting down or greatly restricting the scope of legitimate content allowed on their sites.

Other harmful effects. SOPA/PIPA undermine established intellectual property legislation like the DMCA, raise serious constitutional free speech issues, and could even compromise the basic security infrastructure of the internet.

Congress will reconvene at the end of January, and with a long roster of supporters on both sides of the aisle, SOPA/PIPA could actually pass. The likelihood is so great that technology giants including Google, Amazon, Facebook and Twitter have gone so far as to publicly consider a simultaneous blackout in protest.

Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc

More information is available at http://keepthewebopen.com/

Write your congressperson today and voice your opposition to this misguided and harmful legislation: https://action.eff.org/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173

Quote from a us congressmen :

Quote :

Hi, this is Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado. As a member of the League of Legends community (partial to Anivia and Maokai), and as someone who made his living as an Internet entrepreneur before being elected to Congress, I’m greatly concerned about the future of the Internet and gaming if Congress doesn't wake up. You may have heard that Congress is currently considering a bill called the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. While SOPA has a ton of problems, there are some significant issues that I thought fellow gamers might want to know about.

I’m particularly concerned that SOPA might stifle the kind of innovation that brings us games we love, such as LoL. The bill makes it far too easy for angry competitors to sue good law abiding companies out of existence. It threatens any company or website that depends on user-generated content, even companies like Riot. Instead of coming up with great ways to keep making games like LoL even better, companies will have to spend their money hiring lawyers. That's why companies like Riot, who want to protect the games they create, are opposed to SOPA.

I’ve been working on alternative legislation that would protect the games companies create while also fostering innovation. But we also need you to call your members of Congress and let them know of your opposition to SOPA. This bill has a very real chance of passing, and it is up to all of who want to protect the Internet to take action.

I wouldn't of posted this, if i didn't feel its important for everyone to know and help stop this.

its very important that the whole world knows about it, even us who aren't denizens of USA and cannot participate there at least we can give some firms online......

Hi Darkov, glad to see you still remember us from time to time. Yes, SOPA seems to be universally hated by all internet dwellers, but there's not much non-Americans can do, and the rest has probably done something.

I'm an American, and I still can't do anything about it. Right now, voters have very little power over bills like this. We can plead our congressmen all we want, but the people pushing this bill (media giants) have a lot more say in the matter. All I can do is keep sending emails and hope for the best.

Mmm. This is a pretty scary occurrence really. I've done all i can as an Australian, which is upvote relevant reddit threads and sign petitions that aren't asking for US residency. Other than that, it's really up to how hard you Yanks can push these bastards.

Well, Not that I like piracy, but... SOPA and all the other acts are just hurting the freedom in the internet.
+ They let the big crops to control the US Residents Life... I find it... Unethical.