SB Nation Officially Opposes SOPA

We usually keep politics out of DBD, but this is important and has everything to do with our blog and SB Nation. I'm sure most of you have heard of SOPA and the legislation that is in progress. This could have incredible effects on the internet world wide and threatens to take away many of the freedoms we've enjoyed.

Today, many major sites are "blacking out" in protest of SOPA, a measure that is driven by corporate lobbying and is not something that is for the good of the people. We join that protest and we hope that, in this case, the right thing will be done in the end.

4 months ago Brandon Worley 32 comments 0 recs |

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For people who are unfamiliar with SOPA....

here is a CNN article roughly detailing what it is about.

My personal thoughts on the bill — While the idea behind it is a good one, the execution of the bill itself is horribly flawed. Piracy should stop, but not at the cost of first amendment rights, plain and simple. The bill is so vague it can allow for quite a bit of abuse, and places blame on the people who can’t actually control some of the issues. It needs to be seriously reworked, and not rushed through into law. More importantly, the bill should be backed by the technology firms that they are trying to hold responsible for other people’s piracy.

But if you don’t know about it, read the article, and read more about it. Form your own opinion, and contact your congressional representatives.

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 9:36 AM CST reply actions

No law

should ever exist which infringes on my personal freedom. Safety, nothing. I’d rather be free and in danger than safe and controlled. Libertarians unite!

by StarzenheimerSchmidt on Jan 18, 2012 11:02 AM CST up reply actions

can't tell if you're being sarcastic or not.

Since seatbelts and motorcycle helmets would fall under your definition of infringement, haha.

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 11:11 AM CST up reply actions

I'm serious

I mean, within reason yeah I don’t mind some of that, like seat belts. Although it still pisses me off the time I got a ticket because I was latching it as I was backing out of a parking space years ago.

Basically people should be able to do whatever they want as long as it doesn’t negatively affect others. It’s what the country is SUPPOSED to be(according to the founding fathers) but is very far from that. I don’t pay much attention to politics, I can’t handle it..easier to pretend things aren’t the way they are and assuredly getting worse considering both political parties are pretty much against what I believe.

by StarzenheimerSchmidt on Jan 18, 2012 11:23 AM CST up reply actions

haha okay... just making sure your scope wasn't THAT broad.

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 11:26 AM CST up reply actions

Not to derail the idea of this thread, but seatbelts or helmets don't need to be mandatory.

It’s common sense to put them on. Any individual capable of thinking for themselves knows that and would wear it whether it’s required by law or not. If seatbelts weren’t mandatory and something happened to someone because they weren’t wearing it, that’s just Darwinism. There are obvious exceptions to such a thought process such as children or another type of dependant incapable of making their own decision.

Anyway, back to the main point of this post; SOPA is an incredibly oppresive bill which everyone should be fighting against. I have a feeling if Facebook participated in the blackout movement a lot more calls would be made to congress representatives. As it stands, individuals unaware of what SOPA is or may result in just seem to be pissed at Wikipedia rather than the bill.

by LilEagle on Jan 18, 2012 11:40 AM CST up reply actions

Exactomundo

by StarzenheimerSchmidt on Jan 18, 2012 11:40 AM CST up reply actions

Except when someone gets into a car accident and requires major medical care due to not wearing a seatbelt...

…we all pay for it through increased insurance premiums and hospital costs.

by Sugaa on Jan 18, 2012 12:13 PM CST up reply actions

this is an excellent point.

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 12:21 PM CST up reply actions

Well

I don’t mind it but really, if you or I want to be idiots and get ourselves killed in a crash, whose right it is to stop us? Also, motorcycles are very dangerous anyway, why not outlaw them? If weed is illegal, pretty much everything should. It’s not very harmful(I HATE it, but have no problem with people smoking).

by StarzenheimerSchmidt on Jan 18, 2012 11:40 AM CST up reply actions

I'm with you on that one!

The maximum extent to which the government should be involved in our lives is the minimum required to set up a civil society.

Carpe diem!

by dmoore44 on Jan 18, 2012 11:52 AM CST up reply actions

It seems like this is something that would have a negative effect on lawful sites

but i think the illegal overseas sites wouldn’t be too adversely affected, they will always find a way to get across. It would be quite ironic if this goes through and the US takes a step towards the same system China has when it comes to policing the web

by ukstar on Jan 18, 2012 10:06 AM CST reply actions

precisely.

This is setting it up so that the government can regulate legal websites just to keep out ones they don’t want to public to see.

What’s ironic if that congress slams china, iran, korea, egypt, and libya for limiting their civilians on the internet at the exact same time they are drafting this bill.

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 10:16 AM CST up reply actions

right there with you guys

this SOPA thing is bad news.

government is getting far too large.

by Travis Drybread on Jan 18, 2012 10:13 AM CST reply actions

Lawmakers put honey on SOPA PIPA to sweeten deal

by cC Dallas on Jan 18, 2012 10:17 AM CST reply actions

Sopaipillas?

Delicious.

by Sugaa on Jan 18, 2012 10:20 AM CST up reply actions

If anyone reads The Oatmeal, he also is objecting to SOPA.

It’s worth a look on his website. It’s hilarious.

http://theoatmeal.com/sopa

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 10:25 AM CST reply actions

You just became one of my favorite humans

I love the Oatmeal, but so few people (at least the ones I know in meatspace) know of that site…

Carpe diem!

by dmoore44 on Jan 18, 2012 1:34 PM CST up reply actions

The BBC gave done a kind of 'points of view' article that's worth a read

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16604990

by ukstar on Jan 18, 2012 10:29 AM CST reply actions

Overall it's not a bad idea

But the execution is just awful. While it’s fine to stop piracy, clear violations of freedom of speech can’t be tolerated. Great to see places like SB Nation joining up to fight this bill.

"If the laws of physics no longer apply in the future, God help you."

by Virginian Star on Jan 18, 2012 10:50 AM CST reply actions

Defining internet piracy is like defining pornography.

“I know it when I see it”.

Good luck with that. I hope it dies a fiery death right beside the PATRIOT Act.

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by Josh Lile on Jan 18, 2012 11:31 AM CST up reply actions

"Citizens United"?!?!

We need Bill Hicks now more than ever…

The King of Little Things

by Jere's Golden Laces on Jan 18, 2012 11:49 AM CST up reply actions

As a victim of online piracy, I think something needs to be done.

That said…this is not it. :/

by WingnutInStarsCountry on Jan 18, 2012 11:50 AM CST reply actions

What?

by can we get hatcher back on Jan 18, 2012 1:13 PM CST via mobile up reply actions

Her work has been pirated on the internet, much like others that make their living through books, music, or movies.

But it seems like all of the small people/businesses oppose this bill. It’s only the large industries who are already raking in billions of income a year are for this bill to pass.

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 1:59 PM CST up reply actions

Exactly.

Every single week, time which could be spent on writing and generating more income is instead spent on finding which new places have my work available for free, sending out takedown notices, following up on those I sent out before to be sure they’ve followed through on taking my work down, etc.

If I offer something I’ve written for free, that’s my decision to make. And it is one that I’ve made a few times, and I’ve been very happy to do so (and I’m sure I’ll do again). But it is something that, as I’m the copyright holder, it is legally MY decision to make, not yours or that of anyone else.

Piracy stinks. SOPA is not the answer.

by WingnutInStarsCountry on Jan 18, 2012 2:33 PM CST up reply actions

Well, here's one of the other issues...

SOPA doesn’t actually do anything to stop piracy… It would empower the government to demand that accused DNS servers stop serving DNS rerequests… But the accused site would stay up… People could still access the site if they know the IP address of the accused site… Additionally, we could just remap our preferred DNS server settings to DNS servers outside of the US and thus outside the jurisdiction of SOPA.

Carpe diem!

by dmoore44 on Jan 18, 2012 1:41 PM CST reply actions

I get that they're trying to stop piracy

but, this is so poorly worded it will cause collateral damage to a lot of things. I say no.

"Graham's Week in Sports," my blog.

Never, under any circumstances, should you ever make fun of Brandon Worley.

by DFWTrojanTuba on Jan 18, 2012 2:49 PM CST reply actions

it's like saying that guns kill people

so all workshops that melt down metals should be shut down.

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 3:15 PM CST up reply actions

Or, because roads are used to transport stolen goods

We need to remove all road signs.

Carpe diem!

by dmoore44 on Jan 18, 2012 5:21 PM CST up reply actions

Or since all murderers are people

we need to keep all babies from being born.

"He punched the highlights out of her hair.... He punched the HIGHLIGHTS out of her hair!!!" -- Young Neil

by Tsudbury on Jan 18, 2012 5:40 PM CST up reply actions

SOPA....

If they razed the servers to the ground and deleted every strand of information like a virtual Library of Alexandria it would not be enough. We will continue to enlighten and seek enlightenment from each other in the interest of bettering ourselves and our fellows until life flees us and we melt away in a haze of kinship and universal knowledge. Nothing can change this.

by Hillbutton on Jan 19, 2012 12:55 AM CST reply actions