Stand Together: The Gaming Community vs SOPA and PIPA

I don't think at this point it's going to pass in its current form. Blacking out wikipedia seemed to do the trick as tons of congressmen changed their opinions on it (including most of the co-sponsors)...

What's more interesting to me atm is that the gov't just shutdown megaupload, and in response anon shut down the DOJ, MPAA, and RIAA websites. This is unrelated to SOPA and if you recall a few dozen major artists (in the Puffy category) came out and made a video in support of Megaupload a few months back

Apparently they've been tracking the case for years now. Here's a copy of the indictment: http://www.scribd.com/doc/78786408/Mega-Indictment

According to the indictment mega "

engaged in criminal copyright infringement and

money laundering on a massive scale w

ith estimated harm to copyright holders well in excess of $500,000,000"

Hands down the best video on issue so far

I don't really know what to think of SOPA. I'm glad it's almost over, but the policy of the US when it comes to the internet censorship still sucks. It started with tons of torrent websites, later Wikileaks, then they tried SOPA/PIPA, and now MegaUpload. Just leave the web alone, G*ddammit!

Sopa is a bit different then taking down sites who knowingly infringe on copyright laws. Torrents illegally share copyrighted files, as does MEGAupload. I don't know if they show this when watching US films abroad, but there's even an FBI warning at the beginning of each film warning you that you can't copy or distribute the film. As much as I may indulge in the service, what right do I have to tell a movie company, who spent tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars to produce a movie, that I have some right to watch that free of charge?

WikiLeaks is a different case. We don't really censor it. but we of course take measures to prevent it from further divulging state secrets.

Free speech? Maybe? No? Yes?

How is me watching for free something that other people paid for and that the producers charge a fee for free speech? That's like me going into an ice cream store and saying "well I really like mint chocolate chip ice cream, so im just going to go ahead and take a nice big scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream"

How is that anything like that? Are you implying that it's like stealing an ice cream? (Which is completely false)

Ps. You got a bad taste, bro.

It's not exactly like stealing ice cream, but you're still essentially using illicit means to take a a product from a lawful entity - sounds like stealing to me.

It is like going to a friends house and watching a movie at his place. Zero difference other than you don't have to physically go anywhere. It is accepting an offer to get entertained, nothing more nothing less. Some one has paid for the product and is offering to share it with you and it would be very rude to decline, don't you think?

A few problems arise from that, in the case of MEGAupload they were selling both premium memberships to their site, and advertising space. Not only were they depriving the movie makers from their due revenues (via ticket or dvd sales) but they were illegally profiting off that material.

Further sites like MEGA, and torrents allow you to obtain and save a digital copy of the media. Having you're own unique copy of the file completely different then you watching a movie with a friend. A better analogy would be like you copying a friends dvd and then taking that as your own.

Conservative estimates show MEGA cost the industry half a billion dollars, while personally profiting upwards of $175 million. How is it not theft when MEGA essentially took $175 million from the movie industry?