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[nemesun]

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

 

[Nachkebia]

 

[Deleted member 1235]

"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."

no it isn't it's piracy.

 

[Slayer-33]

:lol ......

 

[Terrordactyl]

This is fucking stupid, and junior a couple pages back, smarten up! These are our rights being flushed down the fucking toilet, it has nothing to do with accepting or rejecting piracy. Where's it gonna stop if something like this were to ever be approved?(It won't go anywhere though, this is big talk with a little action to make lobbiests STFU)

Regardless, the internet always finds a way. I wonder if we they are going to start monitoring random IRC channels to see if we are filesharing though it? Where do you draw the line? The worst thing is that the mentality in place here is that every pirated copy=lost sale, which couldn't be less true.

 

[Zaptruder]

Piracy is one of the best democratizing tools of the 21st century.

The spread of information, the spread of entertainment equity... lets be frank here... it makes a lot of people goddamn happy. And you can quote my avatar.

But do they honestly think they're going to do much more than rattle cages?

It's even worse than the war on drugs. So much worse. Increase the stringency, but what are they going to do? Monitor every single packet on the internet, destroy its functionality, put everyone in jails?

Do they not care that it's the pirates buying the goddamn stuff? It stands to reason; watch the stuff first, if you like it, you put money into it. If you don't get to see it, you're probably not going to care, and just keep doing what you're doing... facebook, myspace, farmville.

Talk about missing the forest for the trees. Enforcing the law for the sake of enforcing law, all consequences be damned.

 

[Karma Kramer]

Wat

Possibly the most moronic idea you could propose at this time

 

[HiResDes]

I don't understand why people refuse to vote for Nader, fuck things would be a lot better at least in my eyes.

 

[Karma Kramer]

I don't understand why people refuse to vote for Nader, fuck things would be a lot better at least in my eyes.

People think Nadar is crazy because the media has made him out to be such. When everything is controlled by corporations, even our elections, its almost impossible to get the more un-informed/un-educated playing for the right team

 

[SpacLock]

No. We can't let you do that, Obama.

 

[Dead Man]

People think Nadar is crazy because the media has made him out to be such. When everything is controlled by corporations, even our elections, its almost impossible to get the more un-informed/un-educated playing for the right team

Or, in a 2 party system, with no preferential voting system in place, it would be a wasted vote... depending on your goals when voting, of course.

 

[Hawkian]

Piracy is not theft

A handier guide

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Or, in a 2 party system, with no preferential voting system in place, it would be a wasted vote... depending on your goals when voting, of course.

It would be easier if we'd just throw out the Electoral College... and if our supreme court didn't hand over the reigns of Democracy over to a bunch of rich thieves.

Ehhh, thinking about it. We're fucked.

Time to just back away slowly.

 

[itxaka]

The bill would make P2P or BitTorrent client development a criminal offense if the distributed software was used for infringement.

The fuck is this?

So this means that the bittorrent creator could be charged if someone used the protocol for copyright infringement? Because if so, that is the dumbest thing ever.

 

[fortified_concept]

Or, in a 2 party system, with no preferential voting system in place, it would be a wasted vote... depending on your goals when voting, of course.

The only wasted vote is when you're voting every time for the same 2-party corporate dictatorship expecting different results. It's also the definition of insanity.

 

[Lebron]

I'm throwing out all my Obama water.


You on your own, turkey.

 

[WickedAngel]

This bill is indefensible if real.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

The only wasted vote is when you're voting every time for the same 2-party corporate dictatorship expecting different results. It's also the definition of insanity.

:lol your tag is still funny

 

[fortified_concept]

:lol your tag is still funny

not that funny to me

 

[Dead Man]

It would be easier if we'd just throw out the Electoral College... and if our supreme court didn't hand over the reigns of Democracy over to a bunch of rich thieves.

Ehhh, thinking about it. We're fucked.

Time to just back away slowly.

Well... yeah.

The only wasted vote is when you're voting every time for the same 2-party corporate dictatorship expecting different results. It's also the definition of insanity.

It's a definition of insanity. Certainly not the clinical one. And many people vote to prevent a party getting power, rather than elect one. Not saying it is right, just that a lot of people in America feel that is the only sensible way to vote. I think everyone should look at Australia and NZ's electoral systems if they want more than 2 parties to have power, but now I am starting to get off topic.

 

[SlipperySlope]

Isn't this technically already illegal in the US, has been since 1998.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_Millennium_Copyright_Act


Many GAF avatars are technically copyright infringements, so are scans of magazine articles (which GAF punishes) and the copying/pasting full text of articles other websites not licensed under CC/GNU (which GAF doesn't punish but should).

I was about to post this. People defending this law need to realize that they too are infringing on the law hundreds of times every single day (and possibly nearly 50 times every thread view).

If everybody on a page is using a copyright/IP-infringing avatar, boom, you've broken the law 50 times on one click.

And 50 bucks says Obama himself and everybody else who votes for this law breaks this law at least several times a week. By downloading porn (who doesn't?).

 

[Thunder Monkey]

The only wasted vote is when you're voting every time for the same 2-party corporate dictatorship expecting different results. It's also the definition of insanity.

Too bad thing can't go back to the days when people had principles and you knew what you were voting for before hand... :lol

It's not like I don't agree with you... but America isn't a country that changes easily. For one thing, people would have to realize corporations are hurting them and these poor saps don't even realize the drinking water they're sipping is being poisoned.

But that's okay! That's where regulators are supposed to come in!

Oh... the last decade pretty much wiped out any power our regulators had, and our current government has done little to fix the problem.

...

I stand by my assessment. We're fucked.

Voting for Dems doesn't help, and voting for Republicans makes the problem much worse. We can't have a 3rd party candidate, because they won't have the backing of enough money to expect to win. Because people are swayed by flashy ads.

So we're fucked, we've done it to ourselves, and without drastic restructuring of our election systems... and government... and education system nothing can be fixed. And I never see any of those things being a high enough priority.

I'll just keep voting for Dems. At the very least I can't see some problems with deregulation getting much worse under a Democrat. But "God" help us if another Republican gets in.

We will never have that utopia you wish for... because humans aren't built that way. We are selfish, and greedy. Also shortsighted, and completely ignorant to reality. Mainly because we've become very adept at creating our own reality. And we're very easily distracted.

Ummm... it sucks, but what do you expect? Humans had a hand in it, therefore it's inherently flawed. Some can see the faults and exploit them for all it's worth.

But throughout all of these... very depressing truths, comes the happy realization that life has an ending. For everyone. No matter how hard some like to hold onto their power, they'll die just like everyone else.

Alone.

*bows*

 

[Cheerilee]

thank god i'm Canadian

Stephen Harper is in the process of making the Americans happy by pushing through a law saying that any and every entertainment purchase since VHS or even older is not actually a purchase, it's a licensing agreement that you automatically agreed to by handing over money (unless it was free, like TV, in which case you agreed to it by... I dunno... letting the Conservatives stay in power too long), and that it's legally-binding terms are whatever the copyright holder happens to think those terms should be, even if they violate your rights as a Canadian citizen, and the copyright holder has no obligation to inform you of those terms.

The whole world is fucked. Time to start hoarding ammo.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Too bad thing can't go back to the days when people had principles and you knew what you were voting for before hand... :lol

It's not like I don't agree with you... but America isn't a country that changes easily. For one thing, people would have to realize corporations are hurting them and these poor saps don't even realize the drinking water they're sipping is being poisoned.

But that's okay! That's where regulators are supposed to come in!

Oh... the last decade pretty much wiped out any power our regulators had, and our current government has done little to fix the problem.

...

I stand by my assessment. We're fucked.

Voting for Dems doesn't help, and voting for Republicans makes the problem much worse. We can't have a 3rd party candidate, because they won't have the backing of enough money to expect to win. Because people are swayed by flashy ads.

So we're fucked, we've done it to ourselves, and without drastic restructuring of our election systems... and government... and education system nothing can be fixed. And I never see any of those things being a high enough priority.

I'll just keep voting for Dems. At the very least I can't see some problems with deregulation getting much worse under a Democrat. But "God" help us if another Republican gets in.

We will never have that utopia you wish for... because humans aren't built that way. We are selfish, and greedy. Also shortsighted, and completely ignorant to reality. Mainly because we've become very adept at creating our own reality. And we're very easily distracted.

Ummm... it sucks, but what do you expect? Humans had a hand in it, therefore it's inherently flawed. Some can see the faults and exploit them for all it's worth.

But throughout all of these... very depressing truths, comes the happy realization that life has an ending. For everyone. No matter how hard some like to hold onto their power, they'll die just like everyone else.

Alone.

*bows*

NO! thats our problem! Americans just vote along party lines which is stupid. Why do we need a party to tell us what we believe in? Why not just voting for the guy who we think will make the country better? The Republican agenda, and the democratic agenda just wont get things done. One is too far to the left and the other too far to the right. Fuck party lines. It's time we get rid of democrats and republicans and political parties in general because they just F things up!

/rant

 

[Dead Man]

NO! thats our problem! Americans just vote along party lines which is stupid. Why do we need a party to tell us what we believe in? Why not just voting for the guy who we think will make the country better? The Republican agenda, and the democratic agenda just wont get things done. One is too far to the left and the other too far to the right. Fuck party lines. It's time we get rid of democrats and republicans and political parties in general because they just F things up!

/rant

What? They are almost the same.

 

[RedShift]

Oh good, another war on an abstract noun

 

[chico]

please dont click...you may end up in jail.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=torrent+daft+punk&aq=f&aqi=g6g-m2&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=

 

[perfectchaos007]

What? They are almost the same.

Well one party always votes the fiscal conservative route no matter what the bill is and the other always votes tax and spend. hell 90% of politicians don't even read the bills anymore! They may read the cliffnotes from the one guy who did read it and then just vote on party lines. How about we just vote for whats best for our country, instead of whats best for a political party?

 

[Thunder Monkey]

NO! thats our problem! Americans just vote along party lines which is stupid. Why do we need a party to tell us what we believe in? Why not just voting for the guy who we think will make the country better? The Republican agenda, and the democratic agenda just wont get things done. One is too far to the left and the other too far to the right. Fuck party lines. It's time we get rid of democrats and republicans and political parties in general because they just F things up!

/rant

Because it won't change until people change.

People won't change unless they have no other choice.

And I really laugh at the idea that Democrat agenda is too far left. The Democratic agenda of today was Ronald Reagan's agenda in the 80's, or Nixon's in the 70's.

The big reason voting for a 3rd party candidate is futile in America today? There's a very good chance they won't be on the ballot nationwide, they won't be portrayed as legitimate in the media, and they won't have the financial backing to get more then a few votes.

The only way to fix a system as broken as this is to become a part of it, and that almost always leads to someone becoming what they were fighting against.

It's fucked, and it has been for far too long for a peoples votes to shake anything up. People won't change. None of these "Teabaggers" will protest their candidate becoming part of the Republican party.

They sure as hell haven't yet as their pet projects throw away everything they once believed in to get campaign contributions. So yes, it sucks. It really fucking sucks. But you want a truly wasted vote? Vote for Nader, or an explicit Tea party candidate. You'll waste your vote and have the same old system to bitch about. It won't change, it's impossible to change until people get their shit together and realize just how fucked it is.

We apparently aren't there yet. Obama continues his further slide into purely Republican territory, and the entire country falls apart underneath us.

If liberals think being pissed and not voting is going to solve the problem, just wait until the Reps gain a majority in the Congress, and watch as what little changes we've made stall or are outright repealed.

Then there's the lovely option of them holding up the government like they did in the 90's for two months.

Here's the very simple truth. We don't own our government anymore. It's owned by the powerful, and they will never give up that control.

I vote for Democrats not because of some altruistic sense that they represent me, but because I see the damage they cause as the lesser evil.

These issues I have with the system as it is will just be exacerbated since money is now equated with speech.

 

[perfectchaos007]

Agreed thunder monkey, it's Fucked with a capital F. Government has taken out the Free in freedom. It's now $$$$dom, because money is what drives politicians to vote how they vote and to lobby for what they lobby for

 

[Deleted member 1235]

this is almost as awesome as the bill to give obama pull the plug power over the entire internet.

http://www.stuff.co.nz/technology/digital-living/3831440/Obama-internet-kill-switch-proposed

(I made a thread but my title was innacurate and it got locked)

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Agreed thunder monkey, it's Fucked with a capital F. Government has taken out the Free in freedom. It's now $$$$dom, because money is what drives politicians to vote how they vote and to lobby for what they lobby for

Sorry that I got crazy preachy without adding in some penile massage to soften the blow.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Well one party always votes the fiscal conservative route no matter what the bill is and the other always votes tax and spend. hell 90% of politicians don't even read the bills anymore! They may read the cliffnotes from the one guy who did read it and then just vote on party lines. How about we just vote for whats best for our country, instead of whats best for a political party?

I'm sorry which party are we talking about being fiscal conservatives?

 

[perfectchaos007]

Sorry that I got crazy preachy without adding in some penile massage to soften the blow.

I gotcha covered

I'm sorry which party are we talking about being fiscal conservatives?

I assume that if I say republicans you are going to tell me I am wrong?

 

[Scalemail Ted]

wasted money...

 

[Thunder Monkey]

wasted money...

That's one thing our government Republican or Democrat can never fail at.

I assume that if I say republicans you are going to tell me I am wrong?

Well... for the most part that is wrong.

The only time anyone is a fiscal conservative in politics is when they don't have the political power to get their agenda's moving.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

I assume that if I say republicans you are going to tell me I am wrong?

It's just that I haven't heard the words fiscal and republican in awhile. Brings me back

Spoiler

to the 90's GONNA MAKE U SWEAT TILL YOU BLEED IS THAT DOPE ENOUGH? INDEED

 

[perfectchaos007]

It's just that I haven't heard the words fiscal and republican in awhile. Brings me back

Spoiler

to the 90's GONNA MAKE U SWEAT TILL YOU BLEED IS THAT DOPE ENOUGH? INDEED

That's one thing our government Republican or Democrat can never fail at.


Well... for the most part that is wrong.

The only time anyone is a fiscal conservative in politics is when they don't have the political power to get their agenda's moving.

true. I guess I should just say anti-tax and try to make money to fund things appear out of nowhere. But I don't know the political term for "hoping money appears out of nowhere to fund shit"

 

[Thunder Monkey]

true. I guess I should just say anti-tax and try to make money to fund things appear out of nowhere. But I don't know the political term for "hoping money appears out of nowhere to fund shit"

Borrow and Spend seems to be the dumb shit Dems were running with in 2006.

Gah... I hate our system. It makes me want to cry and have pity sex with ugly chicks.

 

[Meliorism]

Piracy. Such an interesting thing in this day and age.

 

[jim-jam bongs]

The bittorrent stuff is bollocks but anti-circumvention rules are also stupid. Some games, for example, use outdated forms of copy-protection, like System Shock 2 and the old Safedisc implementation it uses. In Australia it's legal to bypass these, which is the only way that, 12 years after the game came out, I can still play my CD-ROM copy of it on a modern PC.

 

[kevm3]

Awesome... Obama doesn't have the resources to go after a war criminal like Bush or to go after the bankers who blew up the economy... or even BP who is causing the worst manmade disaster we've had, but he'll magically have the resources to get people who download a cd. Another corporatist. Hard to believe all those speeches, every single bit of it were lies and he's just a tanned Bush.

 

[subversus]

Finally they grew a pair of balls to do it.

 

[jorma]

Oh lord. Obama allies up with Sarkozy and Berlusconi. What a fucking disgrace. I'm in camp Obama no longer. At least with Palin you know what you get.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Oh lord. Obama allies up with Sarkozy and Berlusconi. What a fucking disgrace. I'm in camp Obama no longer. At least with Palin you know what you get.

war with russia? :lol

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Oh lord. Obama allies up with Sarkozy and Berlusconi. What a fucking disgrace. I'm in camp Obama no longer. At least with Palin you know what you get.

It's America...

If you're not cockriding special interests, you aren't getting elected.

 

[jorma]

war with russia? :lol

touché =)

 

[Calcaneus]

Wasn't he supposed to be the president who knew how to deal with internet issues? Its fine to go after piracy, but this is totally the wrong way to do it.

 

[milkyjay20]

uh-oh

Oh good, another war on an abstract noun

lol, nice

 

[gcubed]

so a random blogger on daily tech takes a press release and makes the mental leap that said press release will be enforcing ACTA. GAF rages, sun sets.


to repost from another poster...

So, I know ACTA is horrifically bad, and that's what most of the posts in this topic are about.

But what about the actual thing that the administration announced.

According to the release:

First, we will lead by example. Specifically, we will work to ensure that we do not mistakenly purchase or use illegal products.

Boring. Not about "my torrents".

Second, the strategy underscores that this Administration supports transparency. That includes transparency in our development of enforcement policy, information sharing, and reporting of law enforcement activities at home and abroad.

Still not about "my torrents".

Third, we will improve coordination and thereby increase efficiency and effectiveness of law enforcement efforts at the Federal, state and local level, of personnel stationed overseas and of our international training efforts.

Also not about "my torrents".

Fourth, we will work with our trading partners and within international organizations to better enforce American intellectual property rights in the global economy. In that regard, we will initiate a comprehensive review of current efforts in support of U.S. businesses that have difficulty enforcing their intellectual property rights in overseas markets, with a particular focus on China.

Once again...

Fifth, we must secure our supply chain. To achieve this most important goal, we will take a close look at the unique problems posed by foreign-based websites and other entities that provide access to counterfeit or pirated products, and develop a coordinated and comprehensive plan to address them. We will make sure our law enforcement has the authority it needs to secure the supply chain and also encourage industry to work collaboratively to address unlawful activity on the internet, such as illegal downloading and illegal internet pharmacies.

Finally something about "my torrents"! But this kinda sounds hand wavy, like "sure we'll encourage something about torrents blah blah give us campaign money RIAA!"

Sixth, and finally, we will make sure we spend your money wisely, a process we have already begun. To do that, we have, and will continue to collect and track the amount of money we spend on intellectual property enforcement per year. We will use this information to map out the most effective way to fight this theft.

Case in point, the next thing is about money.


So yeah, what's actually written here doesn't look like anything bad... yet. The real problem is still ACTA, which deserves all the contempt it can get. Anyone who votes yea on that sham should be immediately evicted from office. We'll see how Obama & co. play it.

this is akin to a fox news blog story saying Jesus will arrive in 2 weeks... or the oil spill was god's punishment and we need to pray to end it...

the utter stupidity in this thread is astounding