SOPA apparantly isn't dead yet!!

[watson387]

And right on cue in my inbox, this is kind of neat.

http://sincerely.com/cause/cispa

Plug in your personal information and they'll (allegedly, I guess--it's not like I vetted their organization) mail off a postcard to your representatives.  Non-US people might want to keep away, since that could plausibly hurt the case.

North of the Border (yes, the border), C-12 and C-30 sound nearly as annoying...and a bit suspicious.  C-12 basically says that all that PIPEDA work was just silly and protecting privacy could be done best by getting rid of privacy protections.  C-30 is basically a "Canadianized" CISPA:  Less information can be legally gathered, but the immunity to abuse is broader.

I gave them my info. It definitely can't HURT anything as far as I can tell. My email spam filter is pretty good too, so even if they sell it off i don't care. lol

[John C]

I was half-joking, just to be clear.  It is vaguely possible that any organization is a fraud, but the EFF recommended them, and they're not exactly gullible.

[docsavage]

The problem here in the US is is that the MPAA/RIAA/etc. has all the money, and he who controls the money controls the politicians.  The government is run by big business.  It's very sad but it's the truth.

Then put the money against them. The response should be in the form of consummer activism. I used to be a frequent buyer of Warner products. Since recent actions by RIAA and etc. I have practically stopped buying, and i'm advising my friends to do the same. 

[John C]

I'm not saying not to vote with your money (I try to, myself), but the problem is that lost sales magically translate to piracy in MPAA/RIAA land.  It couldn't possibly be that you decided not to watch the Avengers (or whatever), so clearly, you must have downloaded it illegally, and that explains the dip in sales.

Remember, after all, that Hollywood loses a Hollywood and a half's worth of jobs every year.  Right now, everybody in the LA metro area is (as far as I can tell from the numbers) unemployed two or three times over.  That's the kind of logic we're fighting.

And their money comes from weird places.  I know that, in software, every Android device puts something like ten bucks into Microsoft's bank account because of their patent bullying ("you may be violating one or more of our patents, though we won't tell you which ones unless you make us take you to court") and in at least some parts of the world, every time you buy blank media, you're charged a tax that goes to the RIAA because only pirates buy blank CDs, apparently.  Likewise, merely having Internet access probably means paying a cable bill or equivalent, which puts is money going to the major media outlets.

Again, it's not to stop anybody from doing it, just to say that it's a very difficult plan and could just as easily end with the same draconian laws and/or bailout money, unfortunately.

[Yoc]

Canada has a 'tax' on all black media, hard drives, etc to Hollywood as well as another one for disposal at the end of the devices life.

[paw broon]

You might be interested in this:-
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/01/irish-sopa-legislation-passed?newsfeed%3Dtrue
The Republic has succumbed.
And what the Irish Times has to say about it:-
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/0412/1224314639423.html

[John C]

I'm also surprised that ACTA didn't cause open revolt across Europe.  Whereas most of these laws at least are public and have an open vote, ACTA was negotiated in secret and signed by parts of the governments that may not have the authority to do so.  I remember, for example, the Obama administration has been trying to pass it off as an "agreement" (I think that's the term) rather than a "treaty," and somehow unrelated to trade, because either condition would require legislative involvement and void our signing.

Plus, of course, it stomps on a whole pile of laws in each of the signing countries.  It's kind of shocking that there was outrage against the United States passing a stupid law, but somehow not for our inflicting the same basic law on the rest of the world.

[John C]

Regarding CISPA, it passed the House by something like a 2-1 margin.  My understanding is that the opponents were all shouted down with the author repeating that the law is narrowly targetted, protects privacy, and will protect us from the big imaginary doomsday resulting from when some hacker crashes Facebook's servers because they couldn't be bothered to upgrade their software or something...

None of those are true, but apparently if you repeat them enough, Congressmen just agree.

Anyway, this now moves to the Senate.  But, in the Senate, they have their own insane draconian bills to keep tabs on every Internet user.  Err...I meant to say "protect us."

After that, the White House did issue a statement that it'd probably get vetoed, but it's the usual politics-speak of in its current form, the President's close advisors would most likely recommend that he veto the bill, not an actual statement of "this is stupid."

I like the concept, but the bill itself is crammed with misunderstandings about where risks come from, how they propagate, and who needs protection.  It also seems to utterly misunderstand the Bill of Rights, since my count is that it allows for routine violations of at least three rights (against warrantless search and seizure, against self-incrimination, and for confronting accusers) by trying to deputize (all) companies without giving them the responsibilities that go with it.

The right way for government to get involved in "cybersecurity" (idiotic a word as that is) is to ban the trafficking (and use) of software exploits, allow people to sue for negligence if flaws aren't reported or fixed quickly, and keep public records of what software is up to date.  Oh, and exempt security researchers from the DMCA provisions about bypassing DRM.  Much easier.