Support NeoGAF

[Jamesfrom818]

I knew Obama was a sham.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

It's only a matter of time before ACTA (or at least part of it) becomes law. It's basically a global anti-piracy governing body. Other countries will feel the effect just as well, and it's scary. Also very sad that corporations continue to take over the world little by little.

While it appears as though Obama is making himself more unelectable by the month, it's hard to pin this on him 100%. Hillary would have done this too. That being said, I am very disappointed in him as I know Senator Obama was not caring nearly as much about this. In fact he spoke strongly of things such as net neutrality. He still does, but there's such a corporate bend to it now.

I think BitTorrent needs to go away, and fast. An alternative needs to be developed, something that will keep people anonymous. Whether you use it legally or illegally, new legislation would imply a complete invasion of privacy every time you download.

This very proposal shows the true colors of nearly all Washington politicians. They are indeed corporate pigs. Even if we had a President McCain with a split Congress right now, these kinds of things would still have been in the works. Just like the Telecommunications Act of 1996, it's something enough people in both parties will support because so many politicians are in bed with corporations that it doesn't matter. It's also very true that a great deal of these politicians don't know or care about how technology works, and thus they go along with it for the sake of bipartisanship.

Regarding "imminent infringement" -- wow, Bush must get really happy in his pants when he reads that. It's like an ode to him.

My question here is: how the fuck can you charge someone for potentially infringing? If someone goes to a BitTorrent search site, public or private tracker, and searches for a torrent of a leaked album... how is the government going to know you even attempted it, especially if you decided not to download? They'd need server logs from the site itself to be absolutely sure. Good luck with that.

The uh, thought, of thought crime legislation going mainstream in this country and the rest of the world leaves me absolutely terrified. We are losing our freedoms. And no, conservatives, you can't save the world from it either. It's a completely different animal that seems to be affecting a lot of the world.

All I can say is that the day ACTA or even its predecessor (i.e. this) passes will surely be a devastating one for the United States, the world, and a free society in general.

Agreed. Very much on that last part.

 

[SapientWolf]

The "imminent infringement" provision will immediately get struck down by the supreme court. Innocent until proven guilty. Thinking about committing a crime is not the same as having committed a crime.

That and the 1st amendment.

 

[teh_pwn]

I think the biggest issue at hand is no more free porn on the internet (except amateur). Amateur's great but...

This doesn't make the distinction. Bittorrent for pirated porn or amateur are both illegal under this thinking because the bitorrent protocol (or client) can be used to share illegal files.

Pretty fucking ridiculous of a slippery slope isn't it?

 

[Stat Flow]

If this does happen...it doesn't matter...people will find another way to do whatever it is they're doing. The internet...it's impossible to keep tabs on it.

 

[entremet]

Obama has been such a disappointing President. The problem is that the clowns on the other side don't have any vision either.

I'm really sick of this two party corporate conglomerate.

 

[Jamesfrom818]

This doesn't make the distinction. Bittorrent for pirated porn or amateur are both illegal under this thinking because the bitorrent protocol (or client) can be used to share illegal files.

Pretty fucking ridiculous of a slippery slope isn't it?

I think he was referring to streaming flash video.

 

[BertramCooper]

He states, "This is theft, clear and simple. It's smash and grab, no different than a guy walking down Fifth Avenue and smashing the window at Tiffany's and reaching in and grabbing what's in the window."

This is incredibly stupid, even by Biden's standards.

 

[Gallbaro]

thank god i'm Canadian

Don't you beaver fuckers have to pay a tax on broadband that goes to the intellectual property industry?

 

[Cuu]

Hmm... sounds like they need to put some attention on the subject to get the constant nagging from the RIAA/MPAA lobbyists off their back.

How many presidents have spoken about piracy as a serious problem? Do we still have piracy? It's not something that just up and vanishes. Tell that to "terrorism" or "drugs" - people are mad and people want to get high. Can't declare war on an idea.

 

[Captain Sparrow]

It's one thing to reduce piracy

It's another thing to fine someone hundreds of thousands of dollars or imminent piracy.

 

[Dragon]

Hmm... sounds like they need to put some attention on the subject to get the constant nagging from the RIAA/MPAA lobbyists off their back.

How many presidents have spoken about piracy as a serious problem? Do we still have piracy? It's not something that just up and vanishes. Tell that to "terrorism" or "drugs" - people are mad and people want to get high. Can't declare war on an idea.

Interestingly enough, Jon Stewart last week ran clips of the past eight presidents saying they need to solve the energy crisis. Besides Nixon, none of them have done anything :lol. But if this thing somehow passes, wow.

 

[The Librarian]

Where is the article getting "imminent infringement" from? I've looked at the press release at the white house page, the wikipedia page it links to, and the strategy .pdf link at the white house page and I don't see any mention of it.

How many of you who are freaking out over this have followed the links in the article to the White House page and have read through it? I'm not seeing how it's as bad as many of you are making it out to be.

 

[Lunchbox]

this hasnt passed yet right?

maybe kim jong il will do something stupid and divert the attention from this away

 

[-PXG-]

Well, it was either him or McCain. But damn, can Obama be more useless than has been? :lol

 

[pahamrick]

This is great! Once piracy is stomped out once and for all, you can bet prices for CDs and DVDs / Blurays will be adjusted and lowered as thanks for the honest consumers!

.... Oh wait. Who am I kidding, $10 price hike and even more unskippable anti-piracy ads will be our thanks.

 

[Xabora]

It also implements an interesting provision called "imminent infringement", which allows the government to charge people who they think might be about to infringe with a civil offense (for example if you searched "torrent daft punk").

Does this mean https://www.google.com will be illegal?

 

[Laughing Banana]

For a site that is so quick to put the ban hammer in terms of piracy

Spoiler

except for manga scanlations and the like

, GAF members are surprisingly resistant to this news/announcement.

Why is that?

 

[pahamrick]

For a site that is so quick to put the ban hammer in terms of piracy

Spoiler

except for manga scanlations and the like

, GAF members are surprisingly resistant to this news/announcement.

Why is that?

I would assume it has more to do with the black listing of the whole bittorent protocol, which while sadly is abused mostly by the pirates it is quite active in the distribution of legal media.

 

[C.Dark.DN]

I was watching Bill Cosby yesterday. Denise had a boyfriend come over. It was the kid who got accepted to Ivy League, didn't believe in grades, and dissed doctors and lawyers. Before all of that he brought a album to Heathcliff: "You can borrow it and make a tape."

 

[Jamesfrom818]

This thread got me wondering who offers the cheapest prices on music. I haven't bought
music in a while since I just listen to the radio or use Pandora.

 

[thekad]

That it's ironic a dedicated Obama supporter is praying for a LACK of change less than 2 years later?

Wow, that's quite possibly one of the biggest reaches I've seen you make. Impressive.

 

[paranoidfortean]

Hmm, so what, is there like a supercomputer that keeps track of everything you do on the internet and can predict your next actions?

Yes. Yes there is. Believe.

 

[-PXG-]

I was watching Bill Cosby yesterday. Denise had a boyfriend come over. It was the kid who got accepted to Ivy League, didn't believe in grades, and dissed doctors and lawyers. Before all of that he brought a album to Heathcliff: "You can borrow it and make a tape."

:lol

 

[Branduil]

I eagerly await the law making cars illegal because they can be used to transport drugs.

 

[Gaborn]

For a site that is so quick to put the ban hammer in terms of piracy

Spoiler

except for manga scanlations and the like

, GAF members are surprisingly resistant to this news/announcement.

Why is that?

I can't speak for gaf, only for myself. I don't use drugs, I defend the right to do so. I don't use prostitutes, I think prostitution should be legal. I'm not religious, I believe in protecting religious freedom. I don't pirate, I think there should be a mutual accomodation to deal with piracy without draconian measures, we need to adjust to our digital age.

thekad - It was a joke, lighten up.

 

[datruth29]

Where is the article getting "imminent infringement" from? I've looked at the press release at the white house page, the wikipedia page it links to, and the strategy .pdf link at the white house page and I don't see any mention of it.

How many of you who are freaking out over this have followed the links in the article to the White House page and have read through it? I'm not seeing how it's as bad as many of you are making it out to be.

That's not part of the press release, that's part of ACTA.

 

[RevoDS]

Just you watch as the whole internet switches to encrypted protocols instead of sending data around freely. ACTA is a frightening agreement in principle (where's your freedom now?), but in practice it'll never be applied in any meaningful way.

 

[Dead Man]

Where is the article getting "imminent infringement" from? I've looked at the press release at the white house page, the wikipedia page it links to, and the strategy .pdf link at the white house page and I don't see any mention of it.

How many of you who are freaking out over this have followed the links in the article to the White House page and have read through it? I'm not seeing how it's as bad as many of you are making it out to be.

http://trade.ec.europa.eu/doclib/docs/2010/april/tradoc_146029.pdf
Articles 2.3 and 2.5 My legalese is weak, but I believe that is what they are talking about. The concern just as great as 'imminent infringement' for me is this crap about products that are used for infringement.

 

[linkboy]

For a site that is so quick to put the ban hammer in terms of piracy

Spoiler

except for manga scanlations and the like

, GAF members are surprisingly resistant to this news/announcement.

Why is that?

Under this, downloading Ubuntu from Ubuntu.com (or any other Linux distro) would be illegal if you use bittorent.

This would be similar to outlawing CD\DVD\Blu-Ray burners because you can use them for illegal uses as well as legal uses.

Its total bullshit.

I'm all for stopping piracy, but actions like this really don't accomplish anything, all they do is make the problem worse.

 

[PflargBlarg]

Meh, I haven't pirated anything for years except music. Which I do buy my favorites. I guess it would be slightly more annoying to not have the same access to more obscure bands though, but I could deal.

Some things in that article don't seem like they have any basis in reality in that I'm pretty sure they just made shit up.

 

[Agnostic]

Can someone give me a link to the bill.

 

[Cereal KiIIer]

http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/index.asp

 

[Agnostic]

...nvrmnd-go back two posts

 

[Dresden]

leave animu out of this

 

[projekt84]

Isn't there a better way to fix this? People will always pirate online, they'll just go back to private mIRC chatrooms and ftp and all that nonsense.

Instead of making it a criminal offense to torrent, can't they just make it a criminal offense to own and operate an illegal torrent database?

Typing in google the word Torrent will be a crime?

Some of these things a bit far fetched.

 

[Future]

Haha, good luck. Piracy is pretty blatant and I agree something should be done. But prosecuting makers of good software that also can be used for piracy is a bit much. Just go after the distributors. Not everyone is going through 8 proxy servers to upload content. Should be easy to find most piraters

 

[SapientWolf]

If the government was efficient enough to actually make sweeping, long lasting changes in two years we would be fucked. Think about it. I'd bet dollars to donuts that the bill goes nowhere. The government is good at doing nothing.

 

[i_am_ben]

as an Australian there's a degree of schadenfreude in this.



Then i remember Australia will undoubtedly follow suit

 

[S1lent]

The "imminent infringement" provision will immediately get struck down by the supreme court.

With the court we have now, I wouldn't be so sure...

 

[Toby]

It also implements an interesting provision called "imminent infringement", which allows the government to charge people who they think might be about to infringe with a civil offense (for example if you searched "torrent daft punk").

That is bullshit. I am far from some law expert, but I doubt that could stand in court.
And I thought the DMCA already made it an offense to bypass DRM?

 

[786110]

I don't think this will get that far. Or maybe I'm hoping it won't.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Wait... if I could download diamonds I would!

I'd then sell them on the black market for weed and hookers.

 

[MetatronM]

I'm all for stopping piracy, but actions like this really don't accomplish anything, all they do is make the problem worse.

Oh it does accomplish something.

Just that something is the criminalization of the vast majority of American citizens and an overwhelming number of small (and, for that matter, large) businesses.

 

[Dresden]

Wait... if I could download diamonds I would!

I'd then sell them on the black market for weed and hookers.

just download hookers and cut out the middle man!

 

[hateradio]

^ But those always have viruses.

 

[nemesun]

I knew Obama was a sham.

Wow

 

[Thunder Monkey]

^ But those always have viruses.

And I spend too much time defragging my penis as it is.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Obama has been such a disappointing President. The problem is that the clowns on the other side don't have any vision either.

I'm really sick of this two party corporate conglomerate.

me too lets join together and do nothing about it

 

[MightyKAC]

Wow

That's pretty much my response to 90% of the posts on this thread.