COICA threatens to black list the Internet

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AshburnerX

AshburnerX

The Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act bill was introduced to Congress last week. It is a proposal to allow the US Government to force ISPs to block any website they choose, in a manner similar to Iran and China. I find it abominable that a country that supposedly stands for Freedom of Speech would have members of it's own government actually suggest that censoring the single most powerful information tool ever created is somehow in the benefit of it's people, especially in a manner that is so rife for abuse.

I hope you will all join me in letting our representatives know that the Internet must remain free. Call your Senators. Let them know that we won't stand for this.
 
Tress

Tress

Oh, an internet petition. That'll show 'em.

I encourage everyone to skip the petition and call your representatives directly. It's unfathomable that this sort of law would be acceptable.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

Tress said:
Oh, an internet petition. That'll show 'em.

I encourage everyone to skip the petition and call your representatives directly. It's unfathomable that this sort of law would be acceptable.
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This too. This is an especially good time as well, with an election looming overhead.
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

I would actually call your representative directly, as well.

Congress.org - : Capitol Hill Basics

Edit: DOH! :ninja:

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FYI to folks, this appears to be a Senate bill (dunno if there is a House portion), so call your Senator's office first.
 
Dave

Dave

Staff member
12 of the 19 members of the Senate Judiciary Committee are sponsors or co-sponsors of the bill. No matter what we do this is going for a vote.

Don't bother signing the online petition. Call your reps and tell them not to vote for it if you don't want it.

Text of the bill.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Clearly it is long past time for us to surround Washington DC, build a 50 foot wall around it, and burn it to the ground with all the politicians still trapped inside.
 
SpecialKO

SpecialKO

sixpackshaker;441226][QUOTE=AshburnerX;441224][QUOTE=sixpackshaker said:
It would likely shut down YouTube.
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This would shut down a whole lot more than Youtube. Basically every free file hosting, image hosting, video hosting, or live streaming site on the Internet would disappear virtually overnight.[/QUOTE]

And that is a bad thing?[/QUOTE]

As an extreme example, if someone posts unlicensed Getty images on their flickr account, this legislation would allow Getty to call the DoJ (not the FCC, interestingly enough), and have them tell the telecoms to block the DNS requests for every flickr server without legal review.

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oh wait, were you being facetious? My detecto-meter is broken today. :oops:
 
Tress

Tress

Upon closer inspection, I found out one of my state's senators is a co-sponsor. I just sent a letter to her office asking her to reconsider. Hopefully I won't be the only one.

I have to say, it's remarkably easy to contact your representatives these days. If you feel strongly about this bill, you really should call and/or write in.
 
Hailey Knight

Hailey Knight

I don't feel like I'm part of this state or that these individuals even represent me, but I'll write them anyway. Can't believe these idiots want to turn this into China. Are any of them aware that the constitution still exists, or did they assume we'd grown past that?
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
mr_thehun;441295][QUOTE=escushion said:
I don't feel like I'm part of this state or that these individuals even represent me, but I'll write them anyway. Can't believe these idiots want to turn this into China. Are any of them aware that the constitution still exists, or did they assume we'd grown past that?
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No, this bill would make it worse than the law China, that is quickly being dismantled.

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Seriously, why does it seem that as Chinese gains more freedoms, Americans are more than willing to throw theirs away.[/QUOTE]

Because for the vast majority of americans, freedom means the freedom to pick which restaurant they eat in, and which reality TV show they watch in the evening. Beyond that, they couldn't give a teeny tiny rat's hiney. Especially if it involves any kind of personal responsibility. The wake up call from this is going to be nasty, because we keep slapping the snooze button, and the longer we put it off, the nastier it is going to get.
 
Terrik

Terrik

In that case, the majority of Americans would find their freedom rather unrestricted in China, if not more "free" than in the US.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
Terrik said:
In that case, the majority of Americans would find their freedom rather unrestricted in China, if not more "free" than in the US.
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I have no doubt. So very many of my countrymen long for this freedom, freedom from having to shoulder any of the burdens of choice, responsibility, and the consequences thereof. And so very many of our politicians are so very, very eager to grant us all that freedom. The world is big and scary and we can't be reasonably expected to take care of ourselves!
 
drawn_inward

drawn_inward

It looks like there are Conservatives and Liberals sponsoring this. Bipartisan bills are a good thing??? WTF. I'm really surprised to see the who is working together in this. I know who I am not voting for this fall.

---------- Post added at 10:15 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:12 AM ----------
GasBandit;441362][QUOTE=Terrik said:
In that case, the majority of Americans would find their freedom rather unrestricted in China, if not more "free" than in the US.
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I have no doubt. So very many of my countrymen long for this freedom, freedom from having to shoulder any of the burdens of choice, responsibility, and the consequences thereof. And so very many of our politicians are so very, very eager to grant us all that freedom. The world is big and scary and we can't be reasonably expected to take care of ourselves![/QUOTE]

Sadly, as long as the people in the U.S. have cable t.v. and internet, they could care less about the erosion and trampling of the Constitution.
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
drawn_inward said:
It looks like there are Conservatives and Liberals sponsoring this. Bipartisan bills are a good thing??? WTF. I'm really surprised to see the who is working together in this. I know who I am not voting for this fall.
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If there's one thing republicans and democrats can agree on, it's that the federal government needs more power to tell you what you can and can't do. They just disagree about the particulars.
 
Espy

Espy

GasBandit;441368][QUOTE=drawn_inward said:
It looks like there are Conservatives and Liberals sponsoring this. Bipartisan bills are a good thing??? WTF. I'm really surprised to see the who is working together in this. I know who I am not voting for this fall.
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If there's one thing republicans and democrats can agree on, it's that the federal government needs more power to tell you what you can and can't do. They just disagree about the particulars.[/QUOTE]

Yup, yup, and yup.

I'm ashamed but not at all surprised that one of my esteemed nutjobs, er senator I mean, is, I believe a co-author on this bill.
 
Tress

Tress

The thing is, I don't deny that it's a good cause. Copyright SHOULD be protected and piracy SHOULD be opposed. But this bill is all wrong. It's such a clumsy, heavy-handed way to go about it. I think these politicians just got caught up in trying to stop piracy and didn't think about the real consequences.
 
C

Chibibar

GasBandit;441368][QUOTE=drawn_inward said:
It looks like there are Conservatives and Liberals sponsoring this. Bipartisan bills are a good thing??? WTF. I'm really surprised to see the who is working together in this. I know who I am not voting for this fall.
Click to expand...
If there's one thing republicans and democrats can agree on, it's that the federal government needs more power to tell you what you can and can't do. They just disagree about the particulars.[/QUOTE]

heh, start blocking Facebook and twitter (it "could" promote piracy via pages and stuff) and people will riots!! riot!!

or maybe someday the government will block WoW cause it promote violence between the races.
 
AshburnerX

AshburnerX

In all honesty, if this passes the House and Senate, I expect it to be vetoed in the White House. Obama is looking at re-election in 2 years and he certainly doesn't want to be known as the President that killed the Internet in the US, especially considering how his biggest demographic is/was the college age adult.

The only real question is whether or not they will get the numbers needed to pass it through regardless.
 
Espy

Espy

Of course not. God forbid people actually stand for something.

I am honestly at the point where I don't know if I can vote for anyone anymore. This is looking like the first election that I won't be voting in because I can't choose between crazy, crazy and dumb as shit.
 
Norris

Norris

Tress said:
The thing is, I don't deny that it's a good cause. Copyright SHOULD be protected and piracy SHOULD be opposed. But this bill is all wrong. It's such a clumsy, heavy-handed way to go about it. I think these politicians just got caught up in trying to stop piracy and didn't think about the real consequences.
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I would liken it to trying to cure an ingrown toenail by removing your foot. Strictly speaking, the toe will no longer hurt but a little more time and effort could have lead to a better solution.
 
J

JONJONAUG

You know, this is a pretty dumb bill. The way it proposes blocking websites is by having DNS servers not return queries for certain websites. This can be defeated with a modified hosts file.

A waste of funds, time, and it doesn't even work!
 
GasBandit

GasBandit

Staff member
JONJONAUG said:
You know, this is a pretty dumb bill. The way it proposes blocking websites is by having DNS servers not return queries for certain websites. This can be defeated with a modified hosts file.

A waste of funds, time, and it doesn't even work!
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Maybe instead, they should consult the ghost of Ted Stevens on exactly what size wrench they need to close the valve on the series of tubes.
 
C

Chazwozel

I swear to God, politics just piss me off anymore. All these fuckers really ever care about is remaining incumbent in their current position; they care nothing for and about the people they're supposed to represent. Half of these Senators are the stupidest sons of bitches that have ever graced the Earth; they sit around making bone-headed decisions like this current bill because they're too dumb to actually run the country.
 
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