Stop the Internet Blacklist & Keep the Internet Neutral - General

[QUOTE]When it really matters to them, Congressmembers can come together -- with a panache and wry wit you didn't know they had. As banned books week gets underway, and President Obama admonishes oppressive regimes for their censorship of the Internet, a group of powerful Senators -- Republicans and Democrats alike -- have signed onto a bill that would vastly expand the government's power to censor the Internet. The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA) was introduced just one week ago, but it's greased and ready to move, with a hearing in front of the Judiciary Committee this Thursday. If people don't speak out, US citizens could soon find themselves joining Iranians and Chinese in being blocked from accessing broad chunks of the public Internet. Help us stop this bill in its tracks! Click here to sign our petition. COICA creates two blacklists of Internet domain names. Courts could add sites to the first list; the Attorney General would have control over the second. Internet service providers and others (everyone from Comcast to PayPal to Google AdSense) would be required to block any domains on the first list. They would also receive immunity (and presumably the good favor of the government) if they block domains on the second list. The lists are for sites "dedicated to infringing activity," but that's defined very broadly -- any domain name where counterfeit goods or copyrighted material are "central to the activity of the Internet site" could be blocked. One example of what this means in practice: sites like YouTube could be censored in the US. Copyright holders like Viacom often argue copyrighted material is central to the activity of YouTube, but under current US law, YouTube is perfectly legal as long as they take down copyrighted material when they're informed about it -- which is why Viacom lost to YouTube in court. But if COICA passes, Viacom wouldn't even need to prove YouTube is doing anything illegal to get it shut down -- as long as they can persuade the courts that enough other people are using it for copyright infringement, the whole site could be censored. Perhaps even more disturbing: Even if Viacom couldn't get a court to compel censorship of a YouTube or a similar site, the DOJ could put it on the second blacklist and encourage ISPs to block it even without a court order. (ISPs have ample reason to abide the will of the powerful DOJ, even if the law doesn't formally require them to do so.) COICA's passage would be a tremendous blow to free speech on the Internet -- and likely a first step towards much broader online censorship. Please help us fight back: The first step is signing our petition. We'll give you the tools to share it with your friends and call your Senator.[/QUOTE] [URL="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-segal/stop-the-internet-blackli_b_739836.html"]http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-segal/stop-the-internet-blackli_b_739836.html[/URL] [URL="http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/"]KEEP THE INTERNET GOVERNMENT NEUTRAL...SIGN HERE[/URL] This crap scared the shit out of me just removing any site without warning or hesitation

Just another shitty petition, won't do anything. Best thing you can do is run naked In the streets yelling your problems and concerns. Petitions are useless unless official.

[QUOTE=Valon Kyre;25104736]Just another shitty petition, won't do anything. Best thing you can do is run naked In the streets yelling your problems and concerns. Petitions are useless unless official.[/QUOTE] yea ill just sit back and watch my favorite sites get pulled down then...

[QUOTE=Valon Kyre;25104736]Just another shitty petition, won't do anything. Best thing you can do is run naked In the streets yelling your problems and concerns. Petitions are useless unless official.[/QUOTE] This. [i]Internet[/i] petitions aren't much use for "saving" the [i]Internet[/i].

You can apparently leave the name entry field completely blank and they'll accept it. They ask for first name, last name, e-mail, and zip code. I left them all blank and they're okay with it apparently...

reminds of the california gaming law where ppl just sat back and watched. It sux having no power in life.lol if I lived in cali all my games would be considered porn now since violent games are considered adult entertainment

It won't happen, it's even more bullshit than our government, they aren't starting shit and hasn't been mentioned for 6 months.

Everyone back up the internet on their petabyte drives!

[QUOTE=luck_or_loss;25104793]Everyone back up the internet on their petabyte drives![/QUOTE] Thank's but I'd rather back up the internet in my 1024 1TB drives.

[QUOTE=Hboybowen;25104769]reminds of the california gaming law where ppl just sat back and watched. It sux having no power in life.lol if I lived in cali all my games would be considered porn now since violent games are considered adult entertainment[/QUOTE] What :v:

Well we're screwed

Im sure people will find ways around it

I bet this is because of wikileaks.

[QUOTE=Hboybowen;25104739]yea ill just sit back and watch my favorite sites get pulled down then...[/QUOTE] Shit happens v:v:v

[QUOTE=Valon Kyre;25104736]Just another shitty petition, won't do anything. Best thing you can do is run naked In the streets yelling your problems and concerns. Petitions are useless unless official.[/QUOTE] I actually received a reply from one of our state's senators when I sent in an email about ACTA. It's worth signing, it only takes 30 seconds, and it's better than nothing.

[QUOTE=nicatronTg;25106842]I actually received a reply from one of our state's senators when I sent in an email about ACTA. It's worth signing, it only takes 30 seconds, and it's better than nothing.[/QUOTE] Why bother? Even if this doesn't pass it will be simply temporary. Our government today is an unstoppable golem. We might as well grab some popcorn and watch the world explode. :munch:

[QUOTE=s0beit;25111821]Why bother? Even if this doesn't pass it will be simply temporary. Our government today is an unstoppable golem. We might as well grab some popcorn and watch the world explode. :munch:[/QUOTE] Yea Im willing to do that but give me the internet [editline]04:04PM[/editline] [QUOTE=Janizaurd;25106388]I bet this is because of wikileaks.[/QUOTE] I think so aswell they also are tryna call him espionage. I think they are trying everything but this is extreme resort here [editline]04:05PM[/editline]

Can't you guys who always make threads like this at least put in your own two sense? It's like every time i'm half interested in something the thread is just a quote and a link. You guys can elaborate a little too you know.

Hey! Welcome to Facepunch. Get the fuck out.

[QUOTE=greendevil;25118807]Hey! Welcome to Facepunch. Get the fuck out.[/QUOTE] who is this even directed at

Does this have one of those acta things where it spams the phrase INTERNET BLACKLIST UNCONSTITUTIONAL into google to get it trending?

Petitions? Worthless. Stop wasting your time, if you want something done, get everyone you know to e-mail, call, and fax your Senators demanding that they vote no on the bill presented to censor the internet.

It's not like they're just going to say "Hey, I don't like them, let's shut them down." Seriously, I doubt it will even be that big of a deal.

Nothing will happen.

[QUOTE=greendevil;25118807]Hey! Welcome to Facepunch. Get the fuck out.[/QUOTE] yea he should have gotten banned for useless posting but anyways I hope Thursday it gets denied

God, this is ridiculous. Not to mention a fucking awful idea. Censor the internet my ass.

[QUOTE=-GTFMiika-;25124398]God, this is ridiculous. Not to mention a fucking awful idea. Censor the internet my ass.[/QUOTE] I think the US government trying to censor the internet would really backfire. They'd piss off too many people and cause a shitstorm of epic proportions. And they'd only make it an inconvenience for us to get to the censored sites.