Saw it on Twitter, can't remember who it was that posted it.

Looks like it's still in committee and that committee has adjourned for the day. I don't know what the whip count looks like but I hope it can get beat down somewhere along the way.

Looks like it's still in committee and that committee has adjourned for the day. I don't know what the whip count looks like but I hope it can get beat down somewhere along the way.

 

I don't see how this will pass.

I don't see how this will pass.

 

I hope not. It looks like it has the votes to get out of committee. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet has a woeful lack of knowledge of the internet, it appears.

 

This debate really embodies everything people hate about Congress. The committee vote was stalled yesterday, not over substantive arguments about the bill (all of which were easily voted down), but because two members had a spat over Twitter and demanded a retraction and apology be placed in the record. Then we have the actual legislation which was essentially crafted by the MPSAA and the RIAA. It appears the lawmakers have very little understanding of it or the internet, confusing IP addresses and Internet Service Providers among other glaring faults, yet they are vociferously defending the bill nonetheless. Everything about this is backwards.

From everything I can gather, the House Judiciary Committee is going to continue work on the bill tomorrow, but it doesn't appear to be scheduled on their calendar. Hopefully there will be a live feed to link to as well.

I hope not. It looks like it has the votes to get out of committee. The House Judiciary Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition and the Internet has a woeful lack of knowledge of the internet, it appears.

 

This debate really embodies everything people hate about Congress. The committee vote was stalled yesterday, not over substantive arguments about the bill (all of which were easily voted down), but because two members had a spat over Twitter and demanded a retraction and apology be placed in the record. Then we have the actual legislation which was essentially crafted by the MPSAA and the RIAA. It appears the lawmakers have very little understanding of it or the internet, confusing IP addresses and Internet Service Providers among other glaring faults, yet they are vociferously defending the bill nonetheless. Everything about this is backwards.

 

That's pathetic and practically sums it up.

Looks like hearings are postponed again. I know I'm cynical, but it sounds like classic posturing to take this up when as few people are paying attention as possible.

^ As a regular reader of Reddit, where people REALLY hate this thing, I'm kept pretty well up to speed. I'll make sure to let everyone know when it's coming up again. :lol:

 

In SOPA-related news, the MPAA-funded group doing research and lobbying for this thing has released a paper about how well DNS filtering can work to prevent copyright infringement. As evidence, they cite systems already in use in... wait for it... China, Iran, UAE, Armenia, Ethiopia, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Bahrain, Burma, Syria, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam. The other thing these countries have in common: they actively engage in internet censorship and use these DNS filtering systems to that end.

 

Some really good stuff about SOPA is being done at boingboing.net by both its founder, Cory Doctorow, and the readers. Here's a link to the stuff posted on the site that's been given the "SOPA" tag...

 

http://boingboing.net/tag/sopa

 

The stuff from today is mostly user-generated videos but go back a few days and Doctorow's done some really good writing on the subject.

I'll check that out. It seems the more tech-oriented websites have had much better coverage of this. I've barely heard much about it from the regular sources, even the Hill has paid scant attention to it.

^ Once the general manager of Reddit announced that if SOPA passed he'd be forced to shut down the site, the internet went NUTS. It's part of what threw the tech sites into such a frenzy. His basic problem was that since Reddit relies entirely on user-generated content, sometimes people link to copyrighted material. And there are thousands upon thousands of posts to Reddit every day. He said that a site like his simply couldn't survive if the government could simply turn off the domain if copyright infringement was discovered. Reddit has been and remains helpful in taking down copyrighted material when it's discovered, but it's simply impossible to manage it before it happens given the nature of the site.

Wikipedia and Reddit will both be shut down on Wednesday to protest this bill. I wouldn't be surprised to see others join (would facebook and Google - both against this bill - be too much to ask?). Instead of the regular sites there will be information about SOPA and PIPA (the similar bill winding its way through the Senate) and lists of all the contact information for each member of Congress. I imagine the switchboards in DC will fry Wednesday.

Getting Wikipedia to sign on for this was huge. While it was a great move by reddit, its users are limited in number and are already well up-to-speed on SOPA and PIPA. I can't imagine Facebook taking part in this, but it would be great.

This would be a terrible, terrible thing.

Has there been an alternative offered to protect the owners of the material being downloaded?

Wikipedia and Reddit will both be shut down on Wednesday to protest this bill. I wouldn't be surprised to see others join (would facebook and Google - both against this bill - be too much to ask?). Instead of the regular sites there will be information about SOPA and PIPA (the similar bill winding its way through the Senate) and lists of all the contact information for each member of Congress. I imagine the switchboards in DC will fry Wednesday.

That's awesome news. If facebook and Google would jump on board this bill would be dead before the end-of-business on Wednesday.