GTB will "blackout" tomorrow as well

Sure, this isn't the biggest site in the world, but I'll be joining in tomorrow's protest of SOPA and PIPA. The site will be "blacked out" quite literally. Black background with black text. The blackout will begin tonight, and go into tomorrow.

I encourage everyone to boycott these two oppressive bills tomorrow, in any way that you can. If you can't find a public way of protesting, perhaps giving all the greedy SOPA supporters an annoying robo call tomorrow. Let our senators know that campaign contributions from greedy corporations won't allow them to get elected after destroying fundamental American rights. 

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Wikipedia Will Go Offline in Protest of SOPA

Tomorrow, Wikipedia will go completely offline in protest of SOPA and PIPA, as will Reddit. These two similar acts try to prevent piracy, by making it a serious offense on the level of assault or breaking and entering, as well as censor the internet. Instead of the online encyclopedia you know and love, tomorrow you'll see a page that looks like the image above
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Google will be joining in the protest as well, although unfortunately, without the same level of dedication. Google will post a banner advertising the affects of SOPA and PIPA. Seeing as there hasn't been a huge outcry over these bills, perhaps a little education into the matter would be very beneficial for Americans, as well as detrimental to the senators' agendas (and wallets).
via Gizmodo

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Call All the SOPA Supporters

Want to show your distain for SOPA, but don't want to send out hundreds of emails and phone calls? Simple, use a robocalling service just like the ones companies and politicians use to flood your voicemail inbox! For $25, your recorded message will be phoned into every supporter of SOPA, politicians and companies alike.

To send the calls out, head over to Reverse Robocall. A mass boycott made GoDaddy change their stance on the piracy bills (too little, too late). Perhaps mass phone calls will do the same.
via Gizmodo

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Man Gets Year in Prison for Uploading a Movie

Piracy laws in the United States are completely absurd. It's the perfect example of everything that's wrong with this government. Those who can afford lobbyists and huge, anonymous campaign contributions get whatever legislation they want.

Gilberto Sanchez uploaded X-Men Origins: Wolverine online. However, he did draw attention to himself by uploading the video an entire month before the theater release of the actual movie. He bought the leaked copy from a street vendor in the Bronx, and then uploaded it for everyone to see.

It probably wasn't a bright idea to upload an unreleased movie, but it seems the real criminal here is the one who leaked the pre-production copy of the movie. That, or the street vendor who made a profit off of it. But certainly not the one who made it available for free. Sending a man to prison for an entire year over a single movie? That's absurd. Anti-piracy laws are only going to get worse in this country, proving that it takes money to influence law.
via Gizmodo

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Google Co-Founder: US Piracy Laws on Par with China

Google's co-founder Sergey Brin recently stood up against the Stop Online Piracy Act and Protect IP act, which would allow websites to be taken down without legal discourse. He said the act would put the United States right up there with China and Iran in terms of censorship. The government will be able to take down sites, hijack DNS domains, and even file lawsuits without ever going before a court.

The problem is that this isn't just about piracy. Companies could easily fight piracy through the free market, but they'd rather control pricing and distribution, as well as how their customers use their purchased content.



But, these bills aren't just about piracy. Recently, Universal Music proved just why this act will enable internet censorship. Universal Music had a video taken off of YouTube because the video featured various celebrities speaking in favor of MegaUpload. Rather than allow celebrities speak in favor of a tool use for file transfers (and occasional piracy), they had the video taken down for "copyright violations".

Did the video violate any of Universal Music's intellectual property? No, but it had a message they didn't like, so they had it taken down. But they didn't stop there. They also had a news story covering the takedown removed from the site.

In China, censorship protects a corrupt government. In the United States, it protects the businesses that fund our politicians. No wonder so many of our politicians are in favor of SOPA and Protect IP.

But you can warn them. Tell them you won't stand for it. You can head over to AmericanCensorship.org and tell your politician you won't support censorship in America. They're spreading word about these bills, and have already gotten recognition from over half a million people. They've also been supported by Mozilla, the EFF, Creative Commons, Wikimedia, and many more.

AmericanCensorship.org also makes it incredibly easy to tell your politician that you're not happy. You can send an email, or you can even call your representative through them. They'll give you talking points, as well as facts about the bill, so you can give your representative an argument against censorship based in fact (rather than rambling).

With enough support, politicians won't have to worry about getting campaign funds from their "anonymous donors", they'll have to worry about your vote, which is the way it should be.
via NPR, Gizmodo, Ars Technica, and AmericanCensorship.org

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The American Internet Censorship Bills

If you want to do something, go here: http://americancensorship.org/.
An info graphic is below, with more updated information.

Read the rest of this post »

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Protect the Internet

A bill is going through congress that could allow anyone, without the consent of a judge, to simply have a site taken down if they believe it infringes on their intellectual property. That means, if I find any site using an image I made, I could have it taken down without notifying them or even getting legal representation. It also allows the government to censor or take down any webpage they find infringing.

It also means a site could be taken down simply for having one of it's users posting a link to content. Streaming sites? Gone. Like Dexter but don't want to get premium cable for a single show? It's prison time for anyone who hosts the latest episode, or even links to it. If someone posts a comment on a page, even this one, that links to infringing content, such as a tv episode, I could have my site taken down if I don't remove the comment quick enough.

Instead of measures like this, media companies should make their content more readily available. Customers would gladly pay more for monthly services like Netflix if they could get all the latest shows and movies on it. I've even said I'd be fine paying $40 per month or more if I could ditch my cable and not have to buy an expensive premium plan just for one show. Besides, I get most of my music from iTunes or streaming through Spotify anyway.

So, you may have notices a popup when you first visited this page. It's a one time thing, and allows you to quickly write a letter to congress saying you're unhappy with this bill. Don't let the RIAA and MPAA control your government, tell your senator that it doesn't matter how much they get in campaign contributions, you won't vote for someone who doesn't represent the public's best interests. The media industry doesn't need measures like this, it needs more innovative ways for us to pay for their content, because honestly, consumers would be more than happy to pay if the content is provided in a convenient way. Take control of your government and say no to internet censorship today. You can learn more, and show your support here.

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