Kira Onime Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/115265-U-S-Congress-Shelves-SOPAI don't think any piece of proposed legislation has ever been the subject of condemnation and opposition as widespread as that of the Stop Online Piracy Act, better known far and wide asSOPA. A number of prominent game developers and publishers have come out against the act [although the Entertainment Software Association, unfortunately, remains a supporter] and many high-profile websites, including Reddit, Mojang and Boing Boing, intended to "go black" on January 18 in protest. The backlash against it was quite literally unprecedented.And, rather amazingly, it seems to have worked. On Saturday, the Obama administration, which had until that point not taken a position on the issue, came out against the bill with a statement posted on the White House Blog. "While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet," it said."Any effort to combat online piracy must guard against the risk of online censorship of lawful activity and must not inhibit innovation by our dynamic businesses large and small," it continued. "Proposed laws must not tamper with the technical architecture of the Internet through manipulation of the Domain Name System (DNS), a foundation of Internet security. Our analysis of the DNS filtering provisions in some proposed legislation suggests that they pose a real risk to cybersecurity and yet leave contraband goods and services accessible online. We must avoid legislation that drives users to dangerous, unreliable DNS servers and puts next-generation security policies, such as the deployment of DNSSEC, at risk."Shortly after that, the U.S. Congress shelved the bill. "While I remain concerned about Senate action on the Protect IP Act, I am confident that flawed legislation will not be taken up by this House," House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa said in a separate statement. "Majority Leader [Eric] Cantor has assured me that we will continue to work to address outstanding concerns and work to build consensus prior to any anti-piracy legislation coming before the House for a vote."Prior to the stepdown, SOPA's sponsor, Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith, made a "major concession" by agreeing to drop a provision in the act that required internet providers to block infringing websites. Even with that provision removed, however, Issa described the bill as "fundamentally flawed." Another SOPA-like bill could always be proposed at some point in the future [and, let's face it, almost certainly will] but for now, I think we can call this a win. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeKnuckle Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 PIPA is still active, though. We need to focus on that as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dateranoth Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 Indeed. We can't let one win blind us from the other issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kira Onime Posted January 18, 2012 Author Share Posted January 18, 2012 It's a start I guess lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skylark95 Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 You have got to be kidding me... looks like it was just "delayed"http://www.escapistm...OPA-Storms-Back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MWB Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 its a trick guys. no victory here, just another dose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avahra Posted January 18, 2012 Share Posted January 18, 2012 I like how the article Skylark posted talks about "t enact legislation that protects consumers, businesses and jobs from foreign thieves who steal America's intellectual property." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeeKnuckle Posted February 6, 2012 Share Posted February 6, 2012 Romanian Prime Minister Admits He Has No Idea Why Romania Signed ACTAHere's a bizarre one. With Poland putting ACTA ratification on hold, and Slovenia apparently regretting its signature, now we've got Romania's Prime Minister, Emil Boc, admitting that he doesn't understand why the country signed ACTA. It appears that opposing politicians are criticizing the government and promising that they will suspend enforcement under ACTA until there are actual public hearings held on the matter. It really is quite amazing that the folks in the entertainment industry, who thought they could ram this through are now discovering how much they've awakened internet users across the globe ever since they shot for the moon with SOPA. ACTA has been on the table for years, and only a few of us "copyright geeks" were paying attention to it. But SOPA really made it clear to huge populations of people just how the entertainment industry seeks to restrict the internet through copyright law... and they're simply not going to take that any more. Update: And... um... just like that, he's no longer Prime Minister, offering up his resignation today.http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20120205/14043517663/romanian-prime-minister-admits-he-has-no-idea-why-romania-signed-acta.shtml Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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