Stop Online Piracy Act

papawheelie said:
"The FBI added that there is no connection between this action and the anti-piracy SOPA bill debated at the US Congress."

classic.

StaticToybox said:

I really doubt there is. As I understand it the investigation into Megaupload has been going on since before ether the SOPA or PIPA bills were written.

PointBlank said:

Why would that make it less likely that they chose that day to shut it down?

StaticToybox said:

Coincidence maybe. Maybe not. It's mere speculation ether way, but the fact is the case building against Megaupload long predates SOPA. Unless I am entirely mistaken.

mydogfarted said:
It's dead Jim.

the article said:

“The online theft of American intellectual property is no different than the theft of products from a store.

papawheelie said:

... which is entirely untrue. If you steal an item it is missing from inventory, when you "steal" an MP3 both parties get to have it

mydogfarted said:
It's dead Jim.

The main sponsor of a House bill targeting online piracy announced Friday that he will postpone further action on the measure that has triggered fierce protests, blackouts from Internet sites and some rethinking among lawmakers.

The action by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Tex.) on the Stop Online Piracy Act came a couple of hours after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) said that he would delay a cloture vote on a similar Senate bill, the Protect IP (Intellectual Property) Act.

The bills are intended to narrowly address the problem of piracy on foreign Web sites. They differ slightly, but both measures grant the Justice Department the power to order Web sites to remove links to sites that are suspected of pirating copyrighted materials. Proponents of the legislation, including movie studios and recording companies, say that the bill safeguards American intellectual property and protects consumers against counterfeit goods. But opponents argue that the legislation gives the federal government too much power to take control of Web sites and amounts to a form of Internet censorship.

“I have heard from the critics, and I take seriously their concerns regarding proposed legislation to address the problem of online piracy,” Smith said in a statement. “It is clear that we need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products.”

The decisions came just two days after prominent Web sites such as Wikipedia and Reddit darkened their sites for 24 hours in protest and, along with others, such as Google, encouraged visitors to urge their Congress members not to support the bill. The sites collected signatures from millions of users opposed to the measures, and several co-sponsors of the measures withdrew their support of the online piracy legislation.

Smith said the House Judiciary Committee will postpone consideration of the legislation. Markup on the bill, which began in December, had been slated to continue in February.

Hollywood's top lobbyist and former Sen. Chris Dodd is threatening to cut off campaign funds to President Obama's re-election effort because of anger over the White House appearing to side with tech companies in a bitter fight over anti-piracy legislation.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News, Dodd fired off a warning to Obama -- his former Senate Democratic colleague in this election year -- "don't take us for granted."

"Candidly, those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake," Dodd told Fox News. "Don't ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don't pay any attention to me when my job is at stake."
Dodd, who became CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America after leaving the Senate in 2011, noted the movie "Avatar" was stolen by online pirates 21 million times. Such acts, he said, threaten to decimate his industry.
"You can complain and say, well, actors make a lot of money and they don't have to worry about this," said Dodd. "You tell that to that camera guy, you tell that to that makeup artist, you tell that to that truck driver out there who made, makes a living because they work in this industry."

"Candidly, those who count on quote 'Hollywood' for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who's going to stand up for them when their job is at stake," Dodd told Fox News.

mydogfarted said:
It's dead Jim.

JorgeCartman said:

But be warned: They'll try to sneak this into some other bill that always passes...

JorgeCartman said:
But be warned: They'll try to sneak this into some other bill that always passes...

A social network cannot be required to install an anti-piracy filtering system, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled.

Belgian music royalty collecting firm SABAM wanted the social network Netlog to stop users infringing copyright.

But the court said the filtering required would contravene rights to freedom of business, personal data and freedom of information.

The judgement could have consequences for similar cases across the EU