The article sounds a bit fear-mongering.

It's not. It's really not. This exact same thing is happening in Australia.

The sad thing is, considering who's movie in in November, this thing will pass no matter what kind of petition comes forward.

And then that was followed with all kinds of bullshit like banning small breasted porn. Once someone figured out they could pass any censorship, they started trying to pass all censorship.

Only possible upside of such a horrid thing passing is perhaps people will be inclined to openly rebel - its about bloody time for some rioting and the beating of corrupt so-called public officials in my opinion. Then again perhaps I should stop idolizing Tyler Durden ><

^ Second this

I third this.

I appear to be attracting followers. Excellent. The next step is for them to spend 3 days and nights petitioning for entry, without food, comfort, or encouragement of any kind. If the applicant is not deterred then, they may enter. Let the revolution commence :P

lmao yeah, They tried to justify THAT one by saying "If they appear to look like they're underage, it should be banned." At the time, they were also banning "golden showers" in pornography, for moral reasons. :V

Like Chicago said, Australia is going through the same stuff right now, and it's pretty awful. Nevertheless, have an alternative article or two.

Is this for real? If it is, god help us all.

I am not american, should I do this as well?

You can, but it probably won't help. A lot of websites run through American pipeways, so it could still block stuff for you down the line.

You could phone the senators, I suppose, though I don't know how much they'll care what a foreigner thinks. You can definitely spread the word to others though!

Oh, boy, another one of these...quick, everyone sign a peition, nothing says "don't try to censor the Internet" like an angry letter from a bunch of deviants

actually, it works. if enough people show disapproval before it's presented to the higher stages, politicians may cancel it before it goes to the booths

From what I know, Internet petitions usually fail because it's anonymous. All that you need to sign up for that petition is any name and an e-mail, there's no verification system to see if people are spambotting it for extra signatures or if they're from America at all, or which state they're from. It's not very official, so few people other than Internetians take it seriously.

I have my doubts, but nonetheless.
People will speak, my voice among them. You could probably use it sanely, but there's doubtlessly going to be abuse.

I don't see a problem. As the law is written, it can only be used to shut down websites that provide content which infringes on copyrights (a violation of Title 17).

It's very misleading of these people to use the blanket term "censor the internet" when the censorship is directed against stuff that is already blatantly illegal.

No, it isn't misleading.

http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/coica

I love how you say "no, it isn't misleading" and back it up with the exact same source that I said was misleading.

See, smart people use unbiased sources.

In my defense, you never specified which article you felt was misleading. :V Nevertheless, if you can't already see the trouble this could cause, I'm certainly not going to be able to give you anything to think about.

Perhaps you could enlighten me.

Oh, other than giving the standard Tea Party Express "government always abuses everything" line of thought.

Now you're just doing this for the reactions, the Tea Party is completely irrelevant to this discussion.

It really doesn't take a whole lot to understand what's going on. The media shouldn't be in control of the law. As already outlined by Ransom below (and to which you've already shot down), the bill bypasses legal measures.

Are you aware of Net Neutrality? You should be, it's what allows free speech to exist on the internet. Even right now, it allows us to disagree with each other on our views about this bill. You should read up on it.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/po.....test_sena.html

Even if they don't use the law to take down a single site, the processes needed to enact the law could essentially break how DNS works as we know it.

Just to point out the government was created "FOR THE PEOPLE AND BY THE PEOPLE" what the government is doing right now is trying to put their hand into everything which is not what the government was created for. They need to keep their noses out of places it doesn't belong and back into the peoples hands where it created from. Read the declaration of independence and as far as the tea party that is going on now, They have lost what the tea party truly means and I don't like that. They need to back off and really think about what the tea party really meant. I'm haven't looked fully into the tea party movement we've got right now but from what I've seen and heard it isn't nothing like it started.

Now everyone should know why the internet was created in the first place, though over time it's grown and expanded into what it is now, and yes your whole life can now be found on the internet which isn't a good thing but anyways, the government didn't create the internet and they have no business sticking their noses in it. The internet is a free web search NO ONE IS FORCING ANYBODY TO GET ON IT. That is a freedom of choice to that person to get on. No one holds a gun to any ones head forcing them to get online. maybe website can work on fixing problems people are having, but as far as the government they need to worry about other things then something as small priority as the internet and something they don't belong in the first place. Anyways I'm done with my "rant"/ giving a little light O_o

When a government is granted a power, it abuses it. You think only the Pirate Bay will be affected? How long until the RIAA starts shutting down private sites because grandma used copyrighted music in some video? What about those sites that link to ones already banned? Major forums could come under attack even. Heck, think about what happens if the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog see this site and complain to an attorney general or other official with that kind of power.

This is a massive step towards censorship with an iced slope below it.

Ah, the slippery slope argument. First refuge of the lazy mind.

Slippery slope usually in laws is based upon assertion that if a fairly innocuous law passes, lawmakers will be emboldened to pass more heinous ones.

This simply put is a law that at it's best is a stab in the eye to the first amendment for the sake of copyright, and at it worst is a free pass for the courts to essentially reap any website for reasons related to copyright. Considering one man will wield the 'first black list' power, and considering how broadly some companies are willing to view their own copyright, this is will extend beyond torrents. It's a recipe for the same shit Australia is currently dealing with.

There doesn't need to be another law a year from now, this right here is unacceptable. I'm of the opinion that you do what's in your power to get unacceptable legislation killed before it starts.

only because it works.

I am going to have to concur that the slippery slope argument is a bad argument. It's widely considered to be a logical fallacy. We can't vote against a bill for our assumption of things that the bill doesn't actually say, it's not fair or logical to treat it based on things that it's not. What we can do fairly is treat it based on what it already says. What the bill does currently is give Congress the power to enforce things that are already illegal, but that which it has trouble enforcing because of policies that are open enough for most average people to work around (you can't take every to court if hundreds of thousands of people are posting music videos every day to YouTube, it's just not worth the money or effort and YT takes the videos down anyways, in theory solving the problem). What it comes down to is people thinking copyright laws are unfair and/or that other forms of media entertainment are far more convenient. What other website on Earth can you go to other than YT, type in absolutely anything and find thousands of results, everything from random videos of puppies, how to fix your car, Megadeth music videos or Star Trek episodes in full? There's very few other places that are as flexible as that, easy to use and (most of all) free. Places like YouTube, Wikipedia and Google have ways of more-or-less converging the entire Internet into one easy access page. This bill can potentially threaten that uniformity by chopping the Internet up in pieces and relying on the copyright holders to host their own websites with their information, or whatever limited information they choose to provide, like with how Wal-Mart gives you three random songs and only 20 seconds of a preview for each song and expects you to buy a 15 dollar CD when you can go to YouTube and listen to it all for free so you know if it's worth buying.

I don't think I like this bill, because it ignores modernism. Piracy is rampant because pirates are better providers than the real service. No DRM, no buy before you try and that sense of universality. This bill will just make the Internet even more caveman-like. The US already has one of the slowest broadband connections in the world that costs more than what most other countries pay (http://www.scientificamerican.com/a.....d-the-internet), now we can also have one of the most censored AND slowest broadband services! That'll really help out.

Much of this makes me think that this is a bill being constructed to address a self induced problem of modern media outlets. That is to say it feels like it is being made to cement modern media outlet's unwillingness to adapt to the fact that there is an internet. The competition of a free pirate source has of course alarmed such media organizations and rather than adapt and compete they have instead found ways to increase bureaucracy and 'format' control. History has shown organizations such as the MPAA and RIAA are so reluctant they've nearly blocked inventions such as the VCR. (http://supreme.justia.com/us/464/417/case.html)

And for fun: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY57ErBkFFE

This liquid has become a gas and suddenly their cups can't contain it.

Also I have this unshakable feeling that such a bill like this came up before and was shot down.

There are already legal avenues for that sort of thing. This bill bypasses the need to take legal measures, and goes straight for the blacklist.

I bet you thought that all legal processes in the United States were already created when the universe was created. Here's a little-known fact: The law changes, and legal processes often change.

Word of advice: Insults make you the lesser man in the discussion. Don't be so condescending.

Yes. Yes, that is exactly what I thought.


Asshole.

Certainly as the law IS CURRENTLY written. But after this bill has it's foot in the door, people will try to add to the criteria of what constitutes a blacklisted site. If the government can block sites infringing on copyrighted material, why couldn't they block OTHER things that are against the law in general? As the lines start to blur as to what is legal or not, maybe cub/child porn art will go too, and beastiality and maybe furries with them.

But keep in mind that even if that doesn't happen, and the law forever remained unchanged or amended, that this law will not pick and choose amongst each individual piece of content on the website before blacklisting it. Currently You Tube only has to remove individual content that breaks these laws, but if Viacom had it's way in court, which it did NOT, they could have shut the whole site down and made bank on it too. But if this law had been passed then, Viacom probably could have done just that.

And again, I stress that the law will probably not pick and choose amongst all the content in the site, and say you must remove this, and that, and allow the site to continue! So long as one contributor to the site is infringing on the rights of something else, the WHOLE SITE could potentially be taken down.

Say Disney made a really strong case that FA contained copyright infringement of it's characters and intellectual properties on it, they could very well have a very good chance of shutting down FA completely! And not JUST FA. DA is full of slash, traces, and outright copies of popular media.

As with driving your car, it's not just YOUR driving that could affect you.

Certainly, I am not saying that this will DEFINITELY happen. Perhaps I have misunderstood the law in SOME way. But in any case I don't want my government telling me what I can and can't visit online, even if the intentions behind it are somewhat good.

I got another example for you: sites containing essays and articles critical of the government.

I believe I read that one of the countries with blacklisted websites had a group pushing for inclusion of such websites. And if you want an example of how ridiculous it can be, Australia blacklisted websites that have porn of small breasted women, probably claiming it as a measure to snuff out child porn that simply claims the age of the actor to be older than it really is. However non CP sites got blacklisted in the process.

Hypocritical bastards!!!! They say they all hate communism yet what the hell are they all doing!!! Taking control of our own first amendment right and fucking us with it.

Why don't they just burn the constitution, piss on the bill of rights and wipe their asses all over our face and elect themselves as the eternal leaders of our God forsaken country, decreeing from this day forward that we are lifeless scum not even suited to be beneath their boots when they go trampling through and knocking down what we've spent HUNDREDS of years doing. Not to mention that it's not OUR fault that we're so far gone in debt. 14 TRILLION dollars to be exact. WHo's goin to pay for it all? Us... Our kids, Our grandkids... SO on and so forth until we finally fall back into the stone age and start over as neanderthals.

At least it said somewhere in your constitution that if your government is fucking up, you're allowed to take arms against them.

Though a civil war over the internet may seem a bit harsh.

All those guys in powdered wigs who started this nation went to war over a marginal tax. The internet may not seem like serious business, but it's a medium of expression, an emergent media that really is revolutionary. An attack on it is an attack on the what the 1st Amendment is designed to protect, not just for Americans, but for everyone.

Well Taxes levied upon them by a government that didn't exist in the country they lived in, and British soldiers laying about in their homes and eating their food.

here is a problem with this... when bush was in office he allowed marshal law affect come into play... so if we were to take arms... the whole USA would be on lock down... no one enters, no one leaves, all communication shut down, and everyone on house arrest...

I agree with taking arms... but the marshal law is something that also needs to be voted out...

Martial law, like martial arts, is just an adjective form of 'military'. It means there are troops in the streets. Apart from some bullshit during Katrina, I don't really know of any martial law under Bush.

http://www.infowars.com/articles/ps.....ant_see_it.htm

What we already about Bush's recent spate of executive orders, and in particular PDD 51 , is bad enough - the provisions outline preparations for the implementation of open martial law in the event of a declared national emergency.

New legislation signed on May 9, 2007 , declares that in the event of a "catastrophic event", the President can take total control over the government and the country, bypassing all other levels of government at the state, federal, local, territorial and tribal levels, and thus ensuring total unprecedented dictatorial power.

It is important to understand that, although these powers have been on the books for previous presidents, Bush is the first to openly brag of the fact that he will utilize them and officially become the supreme emperor of the United States in the aftermath of a catastrophe that the government itself has said will happen on innumerable occasions.

this is just part of what is being openly discussed. when i find more leads and better material i can send it if you want?

Bush didn't become emperor. I'm more worried about BS like the internet kill switch to be honest.

true he didnt... but he openly bragged about it, saying he could be...

This has nothing to do with communism. Communism simply means the public owns everything.

no, communism actually means total government control they decide how your life starts and ends instead of you decide what you want to be and what job you want.

for example china decides they need a new national gymnast so they take a girl out of her school at age 3 and send her to train to be a gymnast... she didn't have a choice because her government which is communist, controls her life from cradle to grave.

America will be like that and much worse if we don't step up.

That's not communism. That's called dictatorship.

similar, but communism flows under same category as socialism... and then socialism is identical to dictatorship.

com·mu·nism
   /ˈkɒmyəˌnɪzəm/ Show Spelled[kom-yuh-niz-uhm]
–noun
1.
a theory or system of social organization based on the holding of all property in common, actual ownership being ascribed to the community as a whole or to the state.
2.
( often initial capital letter ) a system of social organization in which all economic and social activity is controlled by a totalitarian state dominated by a single and self-perpetuating political party.
3.
( initial capital letter ) the principles and practices of the Communist party.
4.
communalism.



com·mu·nal·ism
   /kəˈmyunlˌɪzəm, ˈkɒmyənl-/ Show Spelled[kuh-myoon-l-iz-uhm, kom-yuh-nl-]
–noun
1.
a theory or system of government according to which each commune is virtually an independent state and the nation is merely a federation of such states.
2.
the principles or practices of communal ownership.
3.
strong allegiance to one's own ethnic group rather than to society as a whole.


so·cial·ism
   /ˈsoʊʃəˌlɪzəm/ Show Spelled[soh-shuh-liz-uhm]
–noun
1.
a theory or system of social organization that advocates the vesting of the ownership and control of the means of production and distribution, of capital, land, etc., in the community as a whole.
2.
procedure or practice in accordance with this theory.
3.
(in Marxist theory) the stage following capitalism in the transition of a society to communism, characterized by the imperfect implementation of collectivist principles.



dic·ta·tor·ship
   /dɪkˈteɪtərˌʃɪp, ˈdɪkteɪ-/ Show Spelled[dik-tey-ter-ship, dik-tey-]
–noun
1.
a country, government, or the form of government in which absolute power is exercised by a dictator.
2.
absolute, imperious, or overbearing power or control.
3.
the office or position held by a dictator.

Socialism most certainly is NOT a dictatorship! The EU is socialist!

i didnt say it is... i stated its similar and lead to the same direction of losing our freedoms.

Socialism wouldn't take away any freedoms that we want. It would take away the freedoms of businesses to rip people off and to harm the environment. You know that red sludge that leaked all over that one country, Norway I think it was? The company that caused it was nationalised, or taken by the government, for 2 years. Don't you think that's a good thing?

not really

Why not? It was the company's fault, so the government took over where the company failed. I think the US should nationalise the oil industry.

sorry to say this... but if we nationalist it... there will be no competitors.. no sense ofcompeating for your own business... sure there are not many oil businesses... but once government takes control of what was owned by citizens... we lose more and more of the ability of freedom of sails and distribution... sure there was a leak... but that doesnt mean they lose private business for it...

I can see no reason why this lease should not be revoked and engineers from the military, augmented by the best talent from private industry, be assigned the tasks of stopping this leak and mitigating the harm to our national treasure, the Gulf beaches and estuaries. Once the well is safely capped, the government can bring the oil to market and use the proceeds to pay the hundreds of billions of dollars needed to ameliorate the effects of the spill and compensate those whose property and livelihoods have been affected.

There may be some here who do not hold the military in the highest regard, but there is one thing that cannot be disputed: when men and women of the United States armed forces, particularly the engineering corps, are given an objective, they will not stop until it is achieved. They don't sit around figuring out how to pad contracts and "having fun."

I am tired of overpaid suits and their pet pocket protectors who have the leisure of treating what is happening to our beautiful, beloved Gulf as an "exercise" take their best shots and then head home to comfy McMansions in Clear Lake and Kingwood.

Time to bring in some folks with mottos like. . .

See the hill, take the hill. The impossible takes a little longer. If logistics were easy, they'd be called tactics. Can fucking do.

Rather than folks with mottos like. . .

All appropriate measures. No one could have anticipated. Maximize shareholder value.

While there are certainly going to be a lot of legal objections to this idea, it's already clear that BP has abrogated its responsibilities in the management of the lease of the Macondo Prospect. Their mismanagement has resulted in a national catastrophe that threatens our economic security. If ever a private enterprise called out for government intervention, this is it.

For those who say such a move would be unprecedented, google "Resolution Trust Corporation."

And you think we can just let them keep their business? They'll do it again!

i would rather shut them down, than have government own it.

Why? That'll cause a shortage in the product?

BULLSHIT nuff said.

It sounds like something they already put up kinda.. in Germany.. well, nothing changed so far... At least I didn't notice any change...

Yeah, that stupid anti Nazi thing. I hate Nazis too, but censorship is wrong.

to be true... those pages and so are still out there in Germany... shrugs...

And I bet protesting the law is against said law, am I right?

In fact... no one really cared over here... it is strange...
and I won't sign that thing. You never know where your email adress is going and suddenly you get a lot of adverts and such...

best way is to call or write you senator right away or so...

I'm sure if the government looks at the petition, they won't consider non-US signatures valid anyway.

yep...

it will end like with Agenda 51 in 2007. No one cared, no one signed against it, nothing happened and no one remembers it anymore...

Did it pass though? I don't remember that one.

Sorry, Directive 51. It was meant to be the american variant of the "ermächtigungsgesetz" that gave Hitler his dictatorship... And Bush tried to bring it up ^^

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMs733gFg-I

In the end this thing with the internet will vanish as soon as that one.. And that one over there was brought up not by a mere senator but the president himself...

Wow. I am not surprised.

Who are you guys kidding Invasion of privacy is bad enough but censorship what are we? Are we facists? are we comunists? This country was built on freedom and yet people act like its no big deal when that freedom is violated. If we dont draw a line on the minor infractions into or liberty soon we will have no liberty. When that time comes we may as well recast the statue of liberty bending over or at least save her the shame and melt her down. sites like this and e621 will dissapear for ever. Not just them either, soon it will be any site that expresses any sign of individuality. We are not mindless drones we are not slaves we are not ruled by fear. We are free people and as such the only people who can defend our liberties is us. I dont know about you but I am not about to let sombody walk over my constitutional rights and draw their foot back without having lost that foot.

You just noticed this now? America has strayed so much from its values. It's not even the USA anymore. Not even close.

THIS!!!

Actually, you're wrong.

There are some things that the founders didn't want which happened here.. which is basically the fault of Christians who get the government to base laws off of what's 'good or bad according to the Bible,' but we've still got more rights than many other places.

Sure, we're not as 'happy' overall as sweden, but just move to Sweden if you wanna go..

Censorship has nothing to do with communism, it has to to with dictatorships.

are you implying that there wasn't massive control of what was printed, shared, and said in the communist countries? Do you know that people were jailed for telling JOKES about communism? It turned out to be JOKES that helped destroy the evil communist regimes, search for "Hammer and Tickle" on youtube.

they still ARE jailed for it. look at north koria

North Korea isn't Communist. They just claim to be.

what are you saying? their government is HARDER than most communists nations. if you even look at the ruler wrong they test chemicals on you, or put you into the mines, or put you to work making military uniforms

That's NOT Communism!

THAT COUNTRY HAS A COMMUNIST ECONOMY you can NOT deny that! communist is nothing more than a kind of economy, I dont care WHAT some book says. the country is ruled by a power crazy psycho who controls the country using the communist economy as his hammer

It isn't communism unless the PEOPLE are the ones in power.

thats not what communism is for fuck sake. thats called democracy and communism is not really a 'power' thing, its an economy. can you NOT get that in your head?

Well if people wouldn't be so afraid of communism, maybe they would vote for it and actually try to make it work.

I pity you =_= There is nothing more to say.

this guy just dosent get it... seriously, its starting to make me laugh

It's like banging your head against a brick wall, sometimes. I just pray that some other misinformed soul is reading my words, and gaining something for it. Thanks for lending a hand, sir!

no problem!

It could work if people would support it. Unfortunately no one will. And the comments below are just rude to me.

They weren't Communist countries. They merely claimed to be. Communism means THE PEOPLE are the government. The PEOPLE own everything together in Communism. Not some fatass dictator with a hate complex.

I am sorry to say, the only way to be fair to the people is to let them control their own resources, and protect their property from theft. If "The People" own everything, someone still has to figure out how to allocate all the resources "fairly". Anyone with that kind of power will become corrupted. It is an inefficient, wasteful, insane idea, and will never, CAN never work, at least not on a large scale. Unless you can tell me otherwise?

People are basically good, excepting the bad eggs. As far as figuring out how to allocate resources, you would have to have a supercomputer do it. Failing that, anyone who does become corrupt would be forcibly removed by the people. The military would be trained to only obey the people's will. I think it will wpork when we finally learn to stop bickering, as a race, and change our human nature from greed and looking out for self first, to one of sharing and helping our neighbours.

yeah well, good luck with that. Don't tread on me, keep your supercomputer out of my life, thanks!

I want to start my own country, where everyone is their own person.

I don't have a supercomputer. I wish I did though that would be so awesome!

What do you think of Capitalism though? Isn't it bad too?

"Capitalism", or the free exchange of goods and services between consenting parties, has done more to improve the living conditions of human kind than any force in history. It wasn't communism that invented the computer you are using, or figured out how to purify water, or created enough wealth that we can afford to generate billions more dollars in aid/charity than ANY other country on Earth. You have a sense that there is a finite amount of resources in the world, and that if one man has much wealth, then necessarily he must have taken it from someone else. When trade happens, both parties become more wealthy. Stop worrying about getting your piece of the pie, go out and bake some more pies.

please investigate http://www.mises.org if you really care to understand human action, which is what economics actually measures.

All I see are the poor and the downtrodden, and the people that corporations have stepped on. What about Socialism? Allow companies to exist, but don't let them be too greedy? It works for the EU.

In case you hadn't noticed, there are riots in the streets across the EU, because they have run out of money, and are having to cut payments to the welfare recipients and gov't workers, who are vastly overpaid compared to the private sector. The problem with socialism is, you eventually run out of other people's money. I love "greed". I want more wealth, don't you? I do not begrudge people having vast quantities of wealth, given that they didn't steal it. They don't just sit on their money like scrooge mc-duck, you know. they use it to make purchases, invest in new business, buy equipment, and, oh yeah, EMPLOY PEOPLE.

You need to look a little closer at your surroundings. The poorest people in this country have access to running water, indoor plumbing, televisions, cheap food stuffs from a vast number of sources, and you see the poor and downtrodden. Well, thanks to this stinking recession, there are quite a lot more poor and downtrodden than there should be. I am going to bed and am not up for debating what started the recession (don't tell me! Deregulation). Research mises.org if you care to know more about that.

People have desires and can therefore be corrupted. Let the country get ruled by a sufficiently advanced AI, replace all vital (as in vital for the wellbeing of the people) parts of the government by robots, and it could work.

The only two problems are the people who could build in backdoors during the programming - though that can be fixed by giving the AI the ability to reprogram itself - and the power-hungry psychopaths that want to get into power and to stay in power over a an as large as possible number of people. It is proven that too much power corrupts, the human mind seems not built for it, it could require genetic engineering or a machine that keeps brain functions ans reactions in check before we can effectively rule ourselves on a large scale. Means we need to find a way to get those under control. Preventive assassination would be inhumane, wouldn't it.

you.... you seriously know nothing about what communism is... its a type of economy. its where the government controls everything, and the people work for the government. the way it works is, you either work, or you die.

That's what everyone thinks Communism is. Have you read the Communist Manifesto?

can you point to a single example in history where the Communist ideals have succeeded to improve the human condition? If not, why has it never succeeded? Because there was no supercomputer to decide what resources YOU need to have allocated to you? You like the idea of being a faceless drone, with your "fair share" of an ever dwindling pie?

No, but I also don't like huge megacorporations controlling everything.

then you want to get the Government out of the business of interfering in the market. Huge gov't influence on big business, and vice versa, has given us the mega corporations that are ruining the world. You can't have one without the other. refer to http://wwww.mises.org for much more in-depth information.

OK. I do think that the government should monitor and regulate though. Otherwise our meat would still have rat feces in it. Have you read The Jungle by Upton Sinclair? It's what caused the FDA.

There need to be basic safety precautions in place. What you need to understand is that we have vastly vastly MORE rules and regulations than we could ever contend with. I hazard a guess that you have never run a private business, or had to jump through the mind-boggling stacks of paperwork, legal fees, tax code, and red tape that most American entrepreneurs must go through before even putting a price tag on a product. This is a result of lobbyists from those mega corporations trying to STIFLE COMPETITION.


I am not a huge fan of the FDA, they have let pass far too many troubling substances, and taken far too long to approve medicines that could be saving lives right now. The idea is sound, but when they have an endless supply of money to play with (your tax dollars) they inevitably become huge, bloated, and inefficient. It is impossible to resist.

Yeah, I suppose. My brother owns an insurance company.

God bless him and all of his employees.

Thanks, but he's only doing it because he wouldn't be able to feed his family as an employee of someone else. Minimum wage should be like, $12 an hour or something.

why? they have to set a low standard for simple work. they want you to work harder to get a better paying job, not to go into mcdonalds getting more than you would if you went to a small college

I mean if they're going to make the standard of living higher, they should force companies to pay their employees more money, so they don't have to eat unhealthy cheap food and shit.

they cant pay them that much without firing a lot of people, you cant pay people money you dont have...... also that would make the value of money go down, so in turn the standard of living wouldent change

Well then people should produce food and other necessities, and give them to people who can't afford them. And enough people should do that until everyone has enough to survive.

why don't you read this article: http://www.europac.net/commentaries.....imum_stupidity and then get back to us on that whole "raise the minimum wage" idea.

Well now I'm even more against capitalism. But I guess since were stuck with it, you're right. It's just not fair.

I sent both of mine emails. o.o;

I've been hearing a lot about the Zeitgeist and the "New World Order" going on. But to be honest, I didn't really believe it till I stated seeing shit like this on the news.

I'm not believing in this anymore... Tell me, if this would be so "secret" why everybody knows about it?

I was just reading about the overwhelming trash problem in Italy. That's what corrupt, criminal government, without the rule of law to bind them, gets you. Trash clogging the streets. Lovely. Lets start doing that here, too!

Signed it.

I have signed this as well.

so this is going worldwide... It's like the goverments of our countries doesn't want us to know what's going on in the rest of the world...

exactly, they want us to not know what they are doing, what is happening, so they hide it, and lie through their teeth. all for what.... "control"

from sources ive looked into... the government is trying to crash everything for us, so they can unify with other governments and make one currancy... they call it planetary credit... and your value of how much "money" you have is in credits instead of coins in your pocket...

the value of how much you have for example would be in a chip they install into your body on your hand or forehead. and it keeps track of where you been, health reports, credits you have, and laws you broke... and it has gps so you cant hide from the government...

heres a link to a vid i recently saw about the chip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l39XsMcyvgA


"those who will sacrifice their laws and security for safety... deserve none" (from unknown source)

(yeah, the same is already happening in mexico...)

This is illegal you know.

That including PayPal ?

Sounds like the US is desperately trying to protect its main export at this point. As with ACTA this is intended to protect US Intellectual Property, really the only thing aside from arms and food that the US exports.

The intention is not to 'censor' the internet, it's to lock down IPs as much as possible on a worldwide scale. This isn't just about violating your rights to freedom of speech it's much bigger. The want to commoditize culture and ideas all over the world, basically destroying the evolution and development of culture.

Oh and this isn't just hyperbole, this very thing happened in europe just prior to the renaissance. It was only when IP rights were relaxed that the renaissance could come to be.

What they're trying/already have done is complete bullshit.

I really hate government that has power. For the US to step outside the boundaries of what it was founded on...ugh.

The US didn't become independent for any noble reasons, that's just a white washing of history. The US has always been run by the wealthiest people and has been focused on making the wealthier.

What is wrong with people becoming wealthy? You seem to think there is some finite amount of wealth, that in order for one person to have wealth, some other people must have been made poor. This is a false assumption. America has lifted millions of people out of poverty. I want EVERYONE to become more wealthy.

If you see wealth only in terms of money then you are correct. However if you're talking about things that have actual value: resources, land, man power, etc. then we do actually have a finite amount and by acquiring it for yourself you must deny it to others.

If I dam up a river in order to sell its water I am denying the people that live near it that resource for my own personal gain.

I don't have a problem with people becoming wealthy. I have a problem with wealthy people causing bloodshed to further increase their wealth.

Hey, remember when an "endangered" inch long minnow in the river caused the EPA to damn them up, causing massive drought among the farm country in California? My almonds are twice as expensive due to the damage to the crops there. That really pisses me off!

That minnow going extinct could cause a chain reaction that would ruin something much more important, like the ecosystem. Almonds are much less important.

you'd rather human children go hungry because their parents can't make a living? What happened to your "I want to feed the poor" routine? Damming the river caused a chain reaction in the ecosystem alright . . . . thousands of acres of land went dead and dry. How do you think all the little bunnies and birdies and other animals feel when they can't get enough water in their home?

Maybe there could have been another solution other than damming the river. I don't get how that would help the minnow anyway. What they should have done was make it illegal to fish there.

Sadly, a lot of wealthy organizations seem to think this is exactly how it works. Just look at Enron - they never ever tried to generate wealth, only steal it through price manipulation.

Stolen wealth is not the same as earned wealth. That is what the Rule of Law is for, to punish those who infringe on the life, liberty, or property of another. Simple enough. Too bad our gov't is as crooked as the rest of them and want to play asspats for eternity while giving each other OUR MONEY.

Its interesting. I'm always skeptical when people start talking about government takeover and alligators in the street. 99% of the time it is just fear mongering.

If the bill only targets piracy, then I can't think of a rational or legal argument against it. Piracy is by definition illegal and a violation of copyright. I wouldn't want my work being sold by some other person without my express permission.

That being said, I do think it is rational to restrict the government's powers. So I think it is a very good idea to read this bill and be very critical of it. If something is too vague, it needs clarity.

I have NOT read this bill yet, so I can't make a firmer statement than this.

I wouldn't want my work being sold by some other person without my express permission.

If the person selling your work without permission was doing so on FA, or even just advertising on FA, would you want FA blocked by ISPs?

No. But that's one of those details that should be addressed prior to passing the bill.

I'm not trying to argue for the bill, just for a rational critique of it.

When Fox News and the HuffPo rage against something it is usually much ado about nothing. When they both do it, maybe there is some concern. I'm just not inclined to scream and grab my AK-47 right off the bat

Yes.

If the administration here is going to be so irresponsible to allow piracy on their site when these laws are passed, then yes, FA should be shut down.

I love FA. I love it to pieces. But, it's up to the admins to keep this place running, safe, stable and legal. That's part of being in authority. Everyone can report a breech of copyright. If the users want to keep it going, then why don't WE take a stand against piracy?

Why don't you do so for all the Sonic recolors, Bolt porn or Toothless images then?

Because I don't own Sonic, Bolt or Toothless. I'm not going to file assault charger for some who gets kicked in the balls, but I will testify as a witness.

Also, hate to harp on a point, but unless this bill attacks Trademark infringement, then that's all moot. Unless, of course, you're talking about someone taking a still from an episode of the Sonic cartoon, stripping out all the color, and literally re-coloring it.. But then again that may be enough of a change to the original to classify as the offending artist's own work.

Again, I don't know Trademark laws.. It could be that all you have to do it offer attribution. Hell, re-naming and drawing a trademarked character in a different style than the official trademark registration may be enough to circumvent trademark infringement. *MOST* of the "bowser" porn, while recognizably similar in form to the bowser character, are CLEARLY not the creation of Nintendo. If the artist doesn't fall it "Bowser face-fucking Fox" then there is no legal line drawn. The artist can say "No no no.. that's Hombre the anthro dragonturtle! Face fucking.. Cyber Voop the space vulpine!"

Bolt and toothless.. harder to get away with, maybe.. But in the end, as you've said in another response.. the owners of those characters already to sue for damages and file cease and desist orders. And, personally drawing known-character porn is not the same as ripping the new Metallica album and letting your site's visitors torrent it.

What people are doing to Furry revolution is Copyright infringement.
What people are doing to Bowser is Trademark infringement.

Two different things.

But, To add a little more clarity to my point to which you responded. I would want the entire site shut down if someone here was stealing and selling my characters because I would take it personally; it's my character and my creativity. If this law was passed and the people who run it are so stupid and irresponsible to breech the law in that way, then screw them! Morons and assholes don't get special protection. If they are too stupid to adapt to the law, then they deserve what they get. Would I *want* FA to go away? OF course not. I love FA. I just hate morons and assholes.

I don't have to worry too much because in the end, theres always Judicial Review. Tell the courts something's unconstitutional and they'll jump on it.

It's all that, or the House will actually grow a brain(and maybe a pair) and *not* pass it.

what? the economy is in a shithole right now, and this is what they're worried about??? what the fuck?!

the same thing happens here in venezuela. here, we have unemployment, a terrible crime spree, social unrest and division, and yet, our presidnet is such a megalomaniac basterd who is travelling around the world and thinking about building nuclear plants....FUCKING NUCLEAR PLANTS! DIDN´T CHERNOBYL TEACH THAT COMUNISM AND NUCLEAR ENERGY JUST DON´T MIX? well, i hope when the cataclysm happens, i mutate into a racoon-human hybrid....anyway, fuck censorship, FIGHT THE POWER!

They're claiming this would be good for the economy; they estimate that $100 billion is lost to piracy. I personally don't deny that piracy has detrimental effects on the entertainment industry but this response is way out of proportion.

Also, another thing to consider: the legislative branch consists of several hundred people, who are quite capable of worrying about many different things at the same time.

this wont help piracy anyway... like I said in my comment, the govt. is already able to take down websites in its own way, and if they arent able to stop piracy now, they wont ever be able to

The timing sounds suspiciously like something they wanted to pull over the peoples eyes before they could properly react.

Good info! I'll spread the word.

My my my. This is slow. You guys should of known about this more than a month ago.

We all want our porn, and most of us don't care how we get it. I wonder how many of the people who are responding to this screaming and shouting about how terrible this bill would be, have found, downloaded, fapped to, and thoroughly enjoyed pirated copies of, say, Furryrevolution's work. Who among you cares about him? What about his feelings and needs? He wants to draw to make money, shouldn't he be allowed?

I mean, sure he's not a U.S. citizen, but this is the U.S.A! It is the traditional dream of the denizens of this country to be able to turn their skills and talents into a livelyhood. How many U.S. Furry Artists have begged that folks not steal their work, only to have it cashed in on by Russian porn sites? (pirated work = content, which generates traffic, for which banner ads pay)

"Waah waah wahh! We're not RUSSIA! We're NOT Commies!!!" Yeah, so why even passively facilitate this kind of theft (which directly benefits Russia and Commies)? Seriously, people! If this bill passes, then websites that are guilty of Information and intellectual property piracy are in danger. Okay, well, the admins have a lot of work to do. Welcome to social evolution. If FA doesn't grow and change, I promise you some other furry porn site will. So, either the admins need to brush up on their Trademark laws (Because that's where FA will run into trouble), or they need to get ready the banhammer and image removal protocols.

Also, think about it this way, pro-Americans. Most of you won't care, but bear with me. Think of the most heinous act or organization you can. Be it bestiality, Nazism, The Westlake Baptist Church, Obama, The Censors- Whatever it is. the WORST organization you can think of. Now, imaging them taking YOUR personal character, and using it as a mascot. Let's say they start using Fender as the mascot for the God Hates Fags campaign. ON their signs, their websites.. you name it. AND they are selling merchandise, and their artists are selling commissions! Fender pissing on the rubble of the twin towers. Rednef shitting on the coffins of dead U.S. soldiers. The two of them praising Jesus over the corpses of gay and lesbian teenagers who were beaten and tied to fences. Wouldn't you want them shut down, and I mean REALLY shut down? So why should it be okay for YOU to distribute a picture of Sonic in a diaper eating shit out of your character's ass while your character eats Amy on her period? If you see ANY difference between those two instances, then you're a hypocrite and you deserve for every one of your favorite porn sites to be blacklisted and shut down.

These laws are intended to protect the creators of works. There is NOTHING stopping ANYONE from drawing WHATEVER they want. You want Hitler porn, draw Hitler porn. You want Sonic porn, draw Sonic porn. Can't draw? Fucking learn how! Why the hell should people who have devoted their lives to obtaining a skill and nourishing a talent see their creativity raped for the sake of a bunch of stupid fuckers who have neither? And, don't say it's their responsibility to fans.. People who want to see Mickey mouse ass-tied to Pluto are in the VAST, vast vast vast minority of Disney fans, and to those of who who do want it: (and read this carefully; it's very important) YOU ARE NOT THEIR TARGET AUDIENCE, and YOU ARE ENTITLED TO NOTHING!

We are consumers. We want porn. We are not ENTITLED to porn. It is not our RIGHT to have free access to whatever porn we want, and it is absolutely not our right to have intellectual property stolen and porn-ified for our sake. Get the fuck over yourself. Make what you want in this world, or learn to enjoy the scraps you are fucking tossed.

*stands up and cheers* HOORAY! Don't forget to VOTE!!!

Eew, vote?! Fuck that.
too much trouble. I'd rather whine about this on FA blogs for paragraphs and paragraphs!



Heh heh heh trust me. I am an active voter.

AND they are selling merchandise, and their artists are selling commissions!

Then you sue them for damages and lost earnings. Most furry artists don't actually make any money off their porn, and if they ignore DMCAs there are legal avenues already for getting the site taken down.

This bill essentially sets up a black list judges and the attorney general can add to without any other legal proceedings. It takes the website removal from a last resort to a first step, and since it's about denying ISPs and payment organizations from dealing with the site rather than the site actually coming down, it doesn't just affect US sites, a massive breach of the concept of jurisdiction. Does America have a right to shut down a brothel in Moscow because Americans engage in illegal activity there? How do you think Russian authorities would feel about the FBI on their soil?

There are cases where the government is wrong, and they often don't care.

Would it shut down the Russian site, or merely prevent American ISPs from giving users access to it?
I don't think it's jurisdiction as much as it's filtration.

Is that idea scary? The "government" deciding what we may and may not see on the Internet? Sure.. Is it scary that the organization empowered by this bill would have the power to block a piracy site from being displayed by U.S. ISPs until the offending material is removed? Fuck no.

Pirates used to have to crawl around in shadows to steal their wares; this bill will push them back into the darkness of minor inconvenience. Shit, there's no way to stop the dedicated pirates; this will only padlock the casual Int-Prop thief. Personally, I dont' give a shit about their inconvenience.

Here's another thought... Maybe think of this as a limited embargo. "Movie-and-music-pirates-dot-com", we're imposing an embargo on you until you stop pirating. We did it with Cuba. It's not a matter of MAKING Russia shut down the site.. We just block it from U.S. Users.

Unless all of the Internet routing occurs in the U.S.A. If that's the case.. *laughs* Every website in the world is hosted in the U.S. Too Bad, China! Maybe Eurasia should come up with its OWN Internet.

This is one of those "shock" bills that even the author will never expect to make it into law, but is just designed to grab everyone's attention (like the occasional bill introduced to bring back military conscription). And even if it made it to Obama's desk for his signature (HA HA! As if he'd ever sign the damn thing), even the most hardcore rightwing tilted Supreme Court would be complelled to just void the thing overnight as a violation of the 1st Amendment).

Here's a chunk of irony to ponder: The GOVERNMENT itself is not allowed to have the power to censor, but there is no law that prohibits the CORPORATIONS from doing so. If Comcast decides that they don't want you to visit Pirate Bay, then you'll just have to eat it like the bill-paying drone that they see you as.

Signed it and donated some cash as fast as my llittle fingers could type.

I could go on a big huge rant about this, but suffice to say I'm enraged and ashamed.

SIGNED!

Give 'em a ring too—not the kind you've got in your avatar though.

X3

(gotta love that)

I signed

Thanks, dude. Be sure to call as well.

What's Chinese style? This is sounding pretty scary, the gov't seems to be getting more and more controlling. Any suggestions?

for having a democratic president its pretty confusing isnt it.

Chinese style, as in how the Chinese government blacklists websites to control is populace. Australia's trying to do the same thing. My suggestion was to call your senator.

1984

One step closer.

as i live in the usa, i have noticed how much of the gov't is a total joke. I will say this as loud as i fuckin can
FUCK THE USA!
They are taking away the freedom they fought for.

this bill couldent make it through anyway. its "unconstitutional", the same way they cant make it illegal to be gay. the government is already able to stop illegal websites using legal procedures, why would they need this express ticket? the government may have the right to limit what you say during war time, but last I heard, we were NOT under those conditions

*looks at watch, looks at date on website*
>Sept 27
>"this Thursday"

Well, if they aren't dragging their heels, then someone has been misinformed.

Look, kid, hun, this kind of thing gets drug through the wringers plenty of times, and if it wasn't for media sensitization, it would never be known, and it would die a quiet death, like the dozens of bills purporting the same idea before it have. Do you know how many 'CENSOR THE INTERNET' bills have been tabled? And anytime anyone finds one of those old, tabled bills, they freak the eff out, or try to get others to freak out, in an attempt to garner personal information out of the fearful.

The worst part about this is the idea that you think young people have a voice in political power. They don't, and it's of their own volition. You urge people to sign up, to call in, to write... but how many of these youth do you think actually voted for a 70 year old senator? Young people are historically disinterested in politics and the actual working of voting.

Am I saying any action taken against it is the wrong action? No. But I am saying that a lot of people are getting overly worked up over nothing, and will ultimately not even strike at the bill at its heart - the people who put it into action - sending another message that the youth of America are the biggest group of blowhards out there.

either way, i signed it. and i am not getting in to any debate with any one over politics.

They're doing this AGAIN?

This has me saying that there should be an age limit to who use the Internet, but clearly kids aren't the only problem sadly.. I wouldn't be surprised if the gov.t have a riot waiting since half the US uses the Internet for such content. The freedom of this country is really starting to go down the toilet with Obama..

Rather than an age limit, parents and children alike need to be educated on proper internet use.

And it's not Obama! Why do you people always blame the president in charge!

In addition, this article shows a lot of links you can click on that relate to how internet is being censored.
http://www.infowars.com/microsoft-p.....ternet-access/

One of the most important senators have stated that "Internet Should have never existed"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ct9xzXUQLuY

This video shows the details of the plan called Internet 2 (Gated, glorified cable essentially):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFhbSolKWP0

Also, Foxnews has reported on Internet 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puaYLiUuXT8

http://www.infowars.com/lieberman-c.....t-why-cant-we/

Hot Girl & Crew spreading more net neutrality messages

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t89W.....layer_embedded

http://www.infowars.com/cybersecuri.....-the-internet/

http://www.infowars.com/false-flag-.....-the-internet/

lol alex jones,

The bilderbergs, and new world order just has to be behind this all

The same people that caused 9/11 to put the world into perpetual war

the same people who caused the economic meltdown to force ww3

the same people that wanna make everyone on the planet their serfs and slaves

The same people hired by Satan to start the rapture so he can eat all our souls............

just lol...

your more than willing to sign this bill go for it, but like someone said don't get your ak-47 out yet, people forget how easy the US can easily cause a second revolution and or second civil war in a heart beat. Them minute anyone passes anything like what this bill has is likely the last day of that senator's/ presidents life.

Even if it were to pass just like the DCMA there will still be provisions, extreme bills have never passed with any sort of option, and if they have the next government in power dilutes it or repeals it just for the score of political points...

The concern here is that republicans are also part of that system. If people don't hold their feet to the fire, they will just sit on it, wait for the people to calm down and then quietly pass it. (It is called incremental-ism)
The new world order is a philosophy and not a group of people as such. It simply means, centralized control. In society there are enough corrupt people that go along with that and they belong to multiple think tanks, Billderberg, Trilateral commission, Club of Rome etc....
It's not a conspiracy theory, but simply human history. In the history of civilization there has always been bullies that climb to the upper levels and claim power for themselves while the rest of the people suffer and starve to death.
I view Alex Jones as a simple messenger. Calling this person names or dismissing him will not change the fact that the bills are being passed and the controls are being implemented. Will not change the fact that huge banks are getting away with foreclosing homes that they had offered with fraudulent mortgages and that they were re-selling securities backed by those mortgages over and over again to become richer and to sabotage the economy on purpose.

Need i remind poeple that with the advent of IPv6 comming and the end of IPv4 in 3q 2011 most of this stuff will be irrelavant anyways?

Cause 80% of the internet ain't ready so its all going down the tubes anyways when those addys go down. Its just not profitable to bother changing ageing equipment because the artificial scarcity of IP addresses is just going to make the internet the realm of the "6 richest kings of Europe"

Im not talking about mom and pop iISPs either the only major Teir 1 ISP thats properly set up for IPv6 is NTT the rest just don't give a you know what. Let alone the big consumer level ISPs.

its not gonna happen :|

our government is run by the people for the people.

this isnt a totalitarian government just yet

It pretty much is getting there.

hence "yet" xp

ill be dead or in australia before this happens though.

Don't go to australia, they have already passed a law like this.

seriously? LAME. UM. canada?

Maybe.

sweet

So did this bill actually get passed? What's the news?

This is the must stupid bill I have ever seen. And people come up with some doosies. Do they honestly think they can control the internet, when they can't control a human being, or control a country's economy, or control a country's war. If this does come to pass, it will probably be one of those laws that no one enforces.

Everything I've said having be said.

I would probably oppose this law because enforcing it would cost money, and I think there are better ways for the government to be spending our tax dollars. If Metallica wants to shut down a website for stealing its albums, then let Metallica's lawyers go at it; there are already laws in place. If an overseas website is pirating Metallica CDs and that country's government is unwilling to do anything about it......


Hmm.. tough call.. It' either side with protecting the artist, or side with pampering the entitled consumer, and in this case, fuck the asshole consumer. But then again, do I want my tax dollars going to protect Metallica? No.

But then again.. New law = New expenses.. We're fucked enough as it is, we don't need ANOTHER fucking government organization.

Perhaps I would endorse this: The government endorses and provides for a private organization of maintain a suggested black list. ISPs may elect to enforce or ignore the blacklist, but they ignore it at their own peril.

If Metallica's lawyers find that $100,000,000.00 worth of their CDs were illegally downloaded through Grande servers.. well.. Lawsuit time.

Of course, what about the small artist? Say, what about .S. Furry artist X? Maybe he makes the equivalent of $200.00 in sales of his portfolios, but $1,000.00 worth are downloaded from Russian rip-off sites. He cant afford to go head-to-head with Grande.. Why should he not enjoy the same protection as Metallica? Perhaps this bill can contain verbiage to cover that discrepancy.

On one hand protection of creators is big, sweeping, and expensive to the taxpayer, on the other hand, it's the artist's responsibility to stand up against corporate machines on his own.

Which seems less "American?"

For me, personally, I'd rather my tax bucks went to finding a cure for cancer.

Signed! Mind if I quote your journal in mine?

Part of me really, REALLY wants this bill to pass. Part of me wants Net Neutrality destroyed, the First Amendment spat upon, and our government to become stupid powerful and scary. Why? So that we can defenestrate everything and start over, government-wise.

The rest of me wants this to get shot down and for our lives to continue as usual. *shrug*

we must protect are rights as Americans.

"Grab your dick and double click for PORN PORN PORN" "The internet is for porn. The internet is for porn!" "Why else you think the net was born? PORN PORN PORN!"

>C signed, passed it onnnn~

Unbelievable... do these politicians even USE OR UNDERSTAND the internet? Everything with them is about the fucking bottom line.

screw the old dusty suits clinging to the good old days of TV and clean air...signed cause i like my dirty stuffs on the net just the way it is...gov't and fun don't mix..

whr do i sign i cant tell my eyes are one sore and two cant go through the text due to my eyes hurting so much could i be guided to it please.