I know this contains material relating to politics, but mods, please give this a chance. I think this could turn into a discussion that doesn't turn into a flame war.

As many of you should be aware (as most of the members here are from the United States), there is a bill that could be passed that severely comes into conflict with the 1st amendment of the United States constitution. It's funny how they name these bills to be something that would sound good but are really not good at all. It is called The Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA for short.

This could lead to trouble for many sites such as Google, Facebook, Tumblr, Youtube, Reddit, etc. in that it could limit what you post. Right now the DMCA act is in place to say that you can use copyrighted material for fair use (such as criticism of said material). This act could eliminate the ability to use something under fair use. Many companies such as the websites I mentioned are strongly against this act, and are encouraging their users to be against it as well.

For example of what this could mean, if someone on youtube is talking about the news, and shows a short news clip to show that it is actually going on, they could get in big trouble over something that small.

The Protect IP act is similar in that it could let the government take down entire sites for having copyrighted material on it.

Another recent act that also threatens the 1st amendment rights is S.978. If you have ever seen someone do an LP of a game, these people are some of the most threatened by this bill. If you stream copyrighted material for more than 10 minutes total in a 180 day frame, you have committed a felony by the definition of this bill. Now this doesn't affect you, unless you are someone who makes money off of these streamed videos. This also affects people who post trailers for games, such as IGN does on their youtube channel and on their website. I even saw one person say that this would have affect Justin Bieber and it could have sent him to jail.


It seems to me like a lot of bills being passed are taking shots at limiting the 1st amendment, and that's something we don't want to lose. I would definitely place it as our most important amendment, which should never be limited. What do you think?

Oh, sources. I forgot to put those.
SOPA piracy bill is 'draconian,' Google and tech giants say - Nov. 16, 2011


SOPA/PROTECT IP Would Be Hideously Bad For Video Gamers | Techdirt


Could S.978 land artists like Justin Bieber in jail? - BlogPost - The Washington Post

Yes, This is a bunch of bull crap (Choosing my words wisely so the mods don't B& me for swearing).

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Please note: All post by this user are very sarcastic. Reading Discretion is advised.

What the guy above me wrote

This won't pass.

Similar bills have been made in the past and everyone was making a big deal about it.Nothing happened.

The fact that they keep coming up with these acts makes me worried they might pass. Hopefully they don't pass.

Justin Bieber in jail? Sounds worth it.

That's what the creators of the bill must've thought. I see no other sense in getting this through otherwise, though.
Rebecca Black maybe?

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Used to be president.

Nintendo, EA, Sony sponsor Internet censorship bill | Joystiq

I don't like this one bit.

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MY HATE IS THE LIFEBLOOD THAT PULSES THROUGH THE VEINS OF YOUR UNIVERSE. IT IS MY GIFT TO YOU. YOU'RE WELCOME FOR THAT. YOU UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF ****.

Why so serious?
It's just the internet.

The problem is that they keep on trying to rewrite and pass the ideas.
Protest IP and SOPA won't go anywhere, but the persistence is concerning.

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