Just read this message on PicDepic.com, the image hosting service I mostly use, because it's so fast and easy.
Does that mean, that all the pictures which are posted in the forums are lost, leaving ugly holes behind?
What about other similar services?
http://www.picdepict.com/info.php?act=about_us
GRRRRRaylox
I am gonna take a wild guess...and say...Yes!
Every one is running scared..
Stop Online Piracy Act: What You Need to Know [INFOGRAPHIC] - http://mashable.com/2011/11/16/sopa-infographic/
I am not going to say any more about this..because I would get banned just for my language.
This isn't about piracy..it's about our thoughts, our opinions, our feelings, our jokes on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, our own EMAIL and forums..just like this one held up to scrutiny by people who don't know how to use the internet and think it is made with Tubes...Senator Ted Stevens talking about the Net Neutrality Bill(I think about 5 yrs. ago..)Series of Tubes - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f99PcP0aFNE
They decide if it's to stay or the webmaster is held accountable..or worse..you are. The trolls will have a field day..just report someone...
It's not going to stop anything, just delay the pirates and annoy everyone else.
I use minus.com, though it's still located in the US. It has a bit more to it than picdepict - you can upload larger files and not just images. I think each account has a 10gb limit and no file-size limit. Sign-up is free, though you don't even need an account to upload. Just drag and drop.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Far worse than this, if it goes through, all Non-US DNS servers will reroute via servers outside of the U.S.A to avoid possible take down/blocking. This is because practically any small firm might get a copyright action maliciously under SOPA against them by the biggies at any time, for who knows what reason.
RESULT The internet for all non-US (AND U.S.A) web users will run tens if not hundreds of times slower. No-one likes nonsense censoring of the Internet.
Computers as it is, set up thousands or tens of thousands of mirror sites, sometimes just to try to get your business. New P2P sites would appear DAILY or even HOURLY to beat any US censorship blocking!
By far the worse for ALL of us if this goes through.
If you live in the USA, please write or email your senator very quickly informing them of this result if it goes ahead....
Anonymous
Unregistered
Sorry need to explain why ALL non-US DNS servers would have to avoid the USA (Which has a very large capacity of DNS servers and many major international internet trunk routes)
Routing is done digitally by digital IP addresses, and DNS servers do not have the means to differentiate between sites and traffic. Therefore to avoid major traffic jams at the DNS servers caused by blocked traffic, they would have to reject all USA routed traffic, and not use USA routing at all. It even means US residents using USA DNS server IDs will be unable to access ANY non-USA web site, including FTP sites outside of the USA. It could also make many if not all US websites inaccessible to non-US residents.
SOPA = total stalemate, if not checkmate between USA internet traffic and rest of the world internet traffic.
But then again many US senators are so totally stupid and ignorant, this won't have occurred to them. Try to wake them up not too gently!
>.> The decisions my country makes never cease to amaze me...
Oooops, my title got censored... ;)
My feelings about S.O.P.A. and similar intentions in other parts of the world are not really like "Hoopla" - much more like *....*
I had to ask my dictionary what "hoopla" means, and I don't think, that S.O.P.A and the like are just a big hoopla - I see it as a threat.
graylox
Anonymous
Unregistered
Yes, SOPA is a huge threat to the internet as we know it. DNS servers depend on sites being available. If a good few or even worse many major sites were to get blocked in the (now 'not so good') 'ol USA, it's like a major plumbing blockage and the operators of Non-US DNS servers couldn't afford a DNS lock down with their servers locked out of the system. It could even temporarily take down the entire internet for several days as all non-US DNS servers have all US IP addresses removed from them. Because some of the most major trunk internet lines go via the US, we'll all (including the US) suffer the most massive internet slow-down for as long as the US government operate a site blocking policy.
The whole internet depends on most sites with major traffic NOT being blocked.
Who backs SOPA ?
... The following list is every single member of the Business Software Alliance. Each of them is complicit in supporting SOPA unless they publicly distance themselves from the BSA on the issue. As the companies are, presumably, dues paying members of the BSA, they are financially supporting the enaction of SOPA.Adobe
Apple
Autodesk
AVEVA
AVG
Bentley Systems
CA
Cadence Design Systems
CNC Software – Mastercam
Compuware
Corel
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation
Dell
Intel
Intuit
Kaspersky
McAfee
Microsoft
Minitab
Progress Software
PTC
Quark
Quest
Rosetta Stone
Siemens PLM Software, Inc.
Sybase
Symantec
TechSmith
The MathWorksTo learn more about SOPA, and why you should be afraid of it, head here.
Who fights it?
Companies and organizations fighting against the legislation include eBay, Human Rights Watch, the ACLU, Facebook, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, AOL, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Wikimedia, Reporters Without Borders, Twitter, Yahoo! and Zynga.
Read the complete articles here:
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/11/17/which-tech-companies-back-sopa-microsoft-apple-and-27-others/
http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/11/16/sopa-is-an-easy-no-these-idiots-are-coming-for-your-internet/
graylox
"Hoopla"? I would prefer "H E double L Hockey sticks"!
More info...
Companies and organizations against .... eBay, Human Rights Watch, the ACLU, Facebook, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, AOL, Google, LinkedIn, Mozilla, Wikimedia, Reporters Without Borders, Twitter, Yahoo! and Zynga.
Say No To SOPA - http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/11/16/sopa-is-an-easy-no-these-idiots-are-coming-for-your-internet/
Companies for: .... Adobe, Apple, Autodesk, AVEVA, AVG, Bentley Systems, CA, Cadence Design Systems, CNC Software – Mastercam, Compuware, Corel, Dassault Systèmes, SolidWorks Corporation, Dell, Intel, Intuit, Kaspersky, McAfee, Microsoft, Minitab,
Progress Software, PTC, Quark, Quest, Rosetta Stone, Siemens PLM Software, Inc., Sybase, Symantec, TechSmith, The MathWorks.
29 Tech Companies Back SOPA - http://thenextweb.com/insider/2011/11/17/which-tech-companies-back-sopa-microsoft-apple-and-27-others/
Edit: We must think alike!. OOps, Lady Gray!!! Your call! :)
Anonymous
Unregistered
Quote from one of the Say No to S.O.P.A. sites by Alex Howard.
"The Electronic Frontier Foundation calls it "disastrous""It would mean the end of the internet as we know it. It would force changes to the Domain Name System making (USA) DNS servers blacklist all US government ordered blocked sites".
The only way to presently do this is to manually remove the domain name IPs from each and every DNS server, which is very costly and time-consuming. To be able to automate blocking would cost very many hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not millions of dollars to replace equipment that presently functions fine. These costs would be passed on directly to all American internet users and to all American tax-payers.
As no non-US DNS company would want the bother, disruption and expense involved, and any IP address could be requested to be taken down at a moments notice and they would wish to avoid conflicts in the DNS worldwide system, they would link up with other non-US DNS links and sever all USA DNS links, totally crippling the internet.
Also, the rest of us in the free world (ie excluding China) have the interest of maintaining free speech and not having the internet subject to ANY political or legal control. It would sure make USA lawyers a lot of money, but many small sites in the US would have to close down as they couldn't afford possible litigation. As much of this content is entirely legitimate and legal, we all end up losing out. US websites wouldn't be able to take the slightest risk of any possible litigation.
It affects technology as the present host of copyright claims would magnify enormously. Any innovation would be subject to automatic blocking by the likes of Apple or Microsoft who would immediately block any new innovation by claiming the site was in breach of copyright, even if after lengthy (and extremely costly for the defending website) action, the claim was thrown out.
It would hugely affect cyber-security because the huge number of mirrored P2P and other sites would make policing and tackling threats (by 'dangerous injected web site manipulation') far more difficult from the ongoing multitude of new sites. Are they then going to legislate that all sites that provide news of updates to P2P sites will also be illegal in the USA, and then blocked? It just gives the impetus of a host of new sites, each then hours or days later blocked in the USA. It would also close down practically all US porn sites apart from the biggest Hollywood porn makers (and big note - pay for only content!) themselves as other sites would be risking copyright claims over their image content, or for smaller companies be unable to operate in the face of possible defence costs against litigation. Again the big players could (and surely would!) maliciously block all other sites, claiming copyright infringement. American viewers of such material and indeed any other internet non-porn material would be forced into a pay to view practically anything and everything situation. Every free to view US site and every free web hosting/web storage/uploading site in the entire USA would vanish almost overnight under S.O.P.A. Very many smaller businesses will cease to trade for risk of being sued.
The list goes on.
Only the very biggest companies (any surprise about this?) will be able to continue to operate in the legal minefield S.O.P.A. would create.
So much for human rights, free speech and freedom of expression and online innovation via the USA. They will be dead as the Dodo in the USA.
S.O.P.A. just HAS to be STOPPED.
It would sure make USA lawyers a lot of money...
Are the lawyers immune to accusations? Their bank accounts could also get frozen.
It would also close down practically all US porn sites...
... I'm wondering who has a copyright on sex? Adam & Eve?
Sorry, just couldn't resist, but I'm not going to carry this thought any further...
graylox
Anonymous
Unregistered
I normally try to avoid controversy but graylox opened the door. As far as who has a copyright on sex you need to go back just a bit further in history than Adam and Eve to the Creator. He has a copyright on sex because He invented it. And I would not have a problem if porn sites were shut down. Porn is a scourge.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Sorry, it would only be US FREE porn sites and POORER producers that would go. The pay for thirty pieces of silver ones would stay . . . and many free US sites would pay to be hosted outside of the USA with the serious risk of added pedophile content...
And on a (hopefully!) less serious note
Heello, thees is the Kremlin, reemember us, the USSR. We hava a test ban treaty yeta you would nuka our Eenternet?
"Yes it is S.O.P.A, against online piracy"
You woulda try to cleen up our beloved Russia witha S.O.A.P? I have a nice alreddy clean beeg red button in front of me . .
Listen to this for 10 hours and forget about all this drama:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lk6Gmx-2CE8
Chip..Thank your lucky stars it wasn't Disney..as I sure if this law is passed..You would probably get one of those letters.. Just for posting the link..
I could get in trouble for posting this link. This is Chris Pirillo of LockerGnome.com fame...It's his video.
What is Protect IP and SOPA? - YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=VxPQ320jBLc
It's long but informative. Videos of pitchforks sounds good about this time. :)
"If enacted, SOPA's blacklists will start to make the United States resemble more repressive regimes." Sheeple, better wake up!
SOPA's latest threat: IP blocking, privacy-busting packet inspection | Privacy Inc. - CNET News - http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-57328045-281/sopas-latest-threat-ip-blocking-privacy-busting-packet-inspection/
Anonymous
Unregistered
may be the end of YouTube looks bad a big firewall
https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173
Stop the Internet Blacklist Legislation
The Internet Blacklist Legislation - known as PROTECT IP Act in the Senate and Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House - is a threatening sequel to last year's COICA Internet censorship bill
As drafted, the legislation would grant the government and private parties unprecedented power to interfere with the Internet's domain name system (DNS). The government would be able to force ISPs and search engines to redirect or dump users' attempts to reach certain websites' URLs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
Free speech concerns
Many proxy servers, such as those used during the Arab Spring, can also be used to thwart copyright enforcement and therefore may be made illegal by this law
because it lowers the barriers to who can be considered liable for IP theft, saying that sites that don’t do enough to prevent piracy — such as search engines — can also be held liable for infringement.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Yes in effect the USA would be firewalled by the rest of the world and any (very limited!) traffic permitted to/from the USA would be charged very steeply to pay for the cost and inconvenience of removing all US IPs from non-USA DNS servers and routing ALL non-US traffic away from via the USA, and for the development of new non-US trunk cabling and the major increase that will be needed in Non-US DNS servers. This will increase broadband fees ten-fold or more in the US, maybe even 15 or 20 fold.
But there's a lot more. The internet Cloud will disappear from the US (all it would take would be for eg Adobe to claim all Cloud hosters have stolen pdfs and effect a takedown of every Cloud host, or innumerable other companies might claim copyright breaches with the same effect). The 'brave new world' of US Cloud, might be operated and very rigorously policed by the likes of non other than Adobe etc
Then there's the economic side. With the internet crippled and limited or no access to the worldwide chains of suppliers that have been outsourced by thousands upon thousands of US firms, it would shake the stock markets worldwide to the core. Plus the very many small or smaller forms forced out of business by the threat of S.O.P.A. . It would probably spell the deepest depression in US history and kill off all major international currencies and many peoples investments.
Oh, and with the blocking mechanism in place, The secret services and the US government would set up a string of fictitious companies who would stop at nothing to takedown ANY dissenting opinions, by claiming 'ridiculous breaches' of copyright. End of free speech as you know it in the USA.
Come the next election after the internet becomes almost useless for many things and runs catastrophically slow, and the American and worldwide stock and currency crashes, the electorate will be outing all senators who have voted for it, and who by doing so who will be ruining the USA economy completely. I.e. all senators voting for the bill will be committing outright political suicide.
(effect on piracy = virtually NIL), Effect on possible MAJOR or MASS riots and demonstrations as yet undetermined!
We might get upwards of 2 million people heading for Capitol Hill to protest sometime near soon.
Buzz
Member
I wonder if sites like Hotfile, Fileserve, FileSonic, etc. will be off limits too?
Petition against it: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/
Anonymous
Unregistered
Probably less likely unless they are US based sites. These sites do remove files containing any notified copyright breaches. Sometimes this takes time but not usually more than a day or so. Of course if it is felt that some of these sorts of sites operating in the USA are even just initially distributing copyright material, or seemingly continuing to do so and hence contributing to online piracy, yes they might decide to block them 'just in case'.
It's the shades of 'just in case', or 'they might be' that is so unfair. The onus will be put (at whatever expense to them) - on the defending company or private individual to PROVE that they are not carrying out or assisting copyright breaches or online Piracy and this is where many serious troubles will arise, at least in the legal aspect of things, and the likelihood of an absolute plethora and torrent of lawsuits and defense cases. It's such a complicated legal situation that even the smallest cases will require hiring very expensive lawyers either by the litigating side if a defense suit is raised or those challenged with a takedown order. And takedown orders will be issued very routinely, immediately (and without question) on the copyright holders request without ANY reference to the courts or judiciary. (Yes, very big OUCH)
The big question re file upload sites utimately is whether your internet will be fast enough to download more than 2Mb in 2 days, if all external via the US routing is terminated if S.O.P.A. goes through (- as is completely expected to be the case with the internet and how it will have to operate in the aftermath of S.O.P.A.).
The worldwide DNS system excluding China depends on the integrity of the DNS IP address database. This would be entirely compromised by S.O.P.A., leaving no alternative but to remove all US IP address references (both personal and business) from the worldwide DNS database and to avoid routing any data packets or requests via any route which crosses or goes through the USA. The USA would have to negotiate links to and from the world wide web, and many very displeased non USA routing companies would either reject such requests or charge USA ISPs the earth for the facility. They could cap data transfers, severely limit transfer speeds and turn the facility off at a moment's notice making USA internet access outside of the USA, and our access to US websites as perilous and as difficult as reaching most Chinese websites.
If even more draconian action was taken under S.O.P.A. such as serving a multitude of takedown notices or even just serving aiding and abetting copyright breach notices on sites such as major search engines, USA internet access both outgoing and ingoing might be completely cut.
Also note that aside of trials for particularly heinous crimes, the number of likely defense suits in the courts would totally block up the entire US judicial system including the courts, for very many years to come for the foreseeable future.
There is also the aspect of right to invade ANYONE or ANY BUSINESS'S privacy by decrypting and inspecting data packets. This would reveal your browsing habits, private personal information and private communications, private and business financial information, secret business information and goodness knows what else to the authorities, government and judiciary. (Heaven help opposition politicians on this one).
We might all have to invent new forms of indecipherable language to communicate with any privacy on the net or by email or forums or live messaging. 'You hairy monkey have a tail up the mustang not we have over robo and them pirate flag' which loosely translates as 'we have a serious communication problem in getting anything around under S.O.P.A.! (or to the authorities it could mean the fast mustang isn't moving until the (dead-skulled) robo-like monkey gets its tail out of the mustang's butt!!)
S.O.P.A. is a complete and total menace to any not huge firm, to innovation, to the internet in particular, and to the US and Global economy, never-mind its completely nullifying effect on free speech, freedom of expression, freedom of ideas and human rights.
Anyone anywhere in the world's rights, privacy and means of communication will be severely affected and disrupted, not just by the precedent of S.O.P.A, but by the ongoing effects S.O.P.A. will have worldwide, economically, on the internet, socially and personally.
Anonymous
Unregistered
Hi rta53, this part is a general discussion thread about whatever posters submit. We have a separate branch in the forum for games discussion matters relating to freeware games that regularly has some excellent free and downloadable games reviewed.
I am not making any further contribution to this thread other than to tone things down a bit and say a short concluding and closing comment in as polite a manner as I can.
The politicians have a narrow blinded and blinkered objective of trying to eliminate online piracy and breach of any copyright or intellectual copyright. They haven't looked at the wider picture, and as a matter of fact and very sorry to say, I see S.O.P.A as a direct attack on the free and rapid exchange of ideas, on the US and hence global economy, on the entirely legitimate present format and operation of the free internet and on our personal rights of (legal!) entertainment and on our rights to privacy, access to justice and our right to freedom of civilized expression.
But I also see the US politicians carrying on in their narrow blinkered way regardless of the extreme likelihood of other consequences far beyond the (supposed!) express intention of the act. I also see S.O.P.A as the by far biggest (internal) threat we have yet to face, to democracy, human rights, and peace and peaceful living within our own lands.
I close by saying whether we want S.O.P.A. or not, it looks very likely to be thrust upon the USA and the free world whether we like it or not and we may all have to live in a post S.O.P.A. world with very unknown (at least in extent) and possibly very determinalistic consequences for us all over which we have no control, at least - until the next US-wide elections.
We may not like it, and it may sink more than half the internet and cause who knows what, but short of peaceful democratic protest, petitions and contacting your Senator, there is very little we can do about it in any case either way. Very sad to say.
===========================================|=========================================
Hi, rta53,
The difference PETA ./. Sopa: SOPA is related to our subject: computer, IT, software...and even games.
When I opened this thread, I had only my picture hosting service in mind, not a world wide disaster. The title of this thread has been changed several times meanwhile, by several mods/admins.
But you are right, the way how this discussion goes is not appropriate for a tech forum. There are better places in the world wide web, where politics can be discussed lively and wide-ranging.
...
@ all debaters:
For the further discussion please post only info about facts.
Thank you.
graylox
Info: The giants have finally woke up!
"The Business Software Alliance, which includes tech giants such as Microsoft, Intel Adobe and Apple, has pulled its support of the Stop Online Piracy Act, saying that some “valid and important questions” have been raised and that it “needs work.”" Ya think???
Tech coalition backs off SOPA support - Post Tech - The Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-tech/post/tech-coalition-backs-off-sopa-support/2011/11/22/gIQAAp95kN_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_tech
Just to keep you posted: SOPA opposition goes viral - The Washington Post - http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/sopa-opposition-goes-viral/2011/11/22/gIQAZX7OmN_story.html?wpisrc=nl_cuzheads
Strange that I can't find anything on NYT Just WP pages...But then, they have a "paywall".
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