Author Topic: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act  (Read 25413 times)

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Offline TL

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #70 on: December 04, 2011, 12:18:27 PM »
The internet is the greatest communication tool humanity has ever created. The US entertainment industry is trying to cripple it, because they're not making quite as much money as they would like to. Piracy is a scapegoat; the real issue is them not wanting to put the effort into adapting to the changing face of content delivery, and not wanting to give up the control that they currently have over it.
Basically, with the internet, sources of entertainment have become much less centralized, and they don't like that.

This bill is the equivalent of solving a small ant problem by burning your house down. Also, the fire spreads to several neighboring houses. It's a drastically exaggerated problem, and they mostly back it up with bullshit statistics and over the top rhetoric.

The music industry is making less money for two main reasons;
1) You no longer have to buy an album of mostly filler to get one or two songs you want. For a while, the model was just that; a pop artist would put out a mostly shitty album with a catchy song or two. If you wanted to be able to listen to those songs, you had to buy the entire album. Now, you can just buy those two songs, and some people just obtain them illegally, almost on moral grounds, since they feel like such a lazy effort doesn't deserve their money (I'm not saying this is okay, I'm just saying that this is how it is). Obviously one or two songs bought on iTunes bring in less money than an entire album. Since a large chunk of music sold is Top 40 pop, this is reflected as a huge loss financially, even though it will eventually even out.

Just look at two genres that haven't really taken a significant hit; metal and country. They tend to have more devoted fan bases, and rely less on catchy singles to sell albums. Going for the long term instead of a short term profit like pop has gone for, has paid off, and demonstrated that piracy isn't the main problem there.

2) Loss of focus. Look at the music scene over the years. It used to be that people mostly listened to a handful of bands or artists at any given time. That changed over the years, and now, in the age of the internet, it's extremely decentralized. There are so many options out there, many independent with no money going to the RIAA. As well, it both takes focus away from pop acts the industry tries to artificially cultivate, and shows people that they have more options, meaning that some people who would have purchased an album by a pop artist may be less inclined to do so. There's also the simple notion that they're putting out less quality content. Even some of the worst pop acts of past decades are brilliant artists compared to much of the schlock on the charts now. The average listener probably doesn't even know who half of the acts on there are right now, and even with the ones they do, they may be hardpressed to name any of their songs. If you put out lower quality content, fewer people will buy.

On the side of the MPAA and television, they're just worried about the rise of easy digital independent film making, and web series. These are still in their infancy, but are definitely getting bigger, and it causes the MPAA and major studios and networks to lose a bit of control. They don't like this.
The thing is, they're still making obscene amounts of money. For the past several years, we've had multiple films per year grossing over a billion dollars at the box office, with many more in the high nine figures. The home market is also doing quite well, with both physical media sales and streaming. For television, streaming has opened up a whole new stream of revenue for them. Again, they just don't like losing control of when people watch their shows, which is just silly and shortsighted. Viacom alone has pulled in over a billion dollars from streaming over the past few years. A billion. With a B. They're just mad that the internet and specialty cable, with innovative, creative programming, are beating their formulaic, cookie cutter schlock. They could actually try being creative themselves, but effort is hard, so they'd rather just squash the competition, which in this case includes the internet.

Piracy gives them an easy excuse to go after online content.

As a sidenote, the RIAA and MPAA tend to count every single illegal download as lost sales. While some are, how many are either people who wouldn't have purchased the content in question? How many are people who simply wanted to try before they buy, and purchased a copy if they liked it? Again, I'm not saying illegal downloading is okay, but it's extremely overblown.
« Last Edit: December 04, 2011, 12:24:20 PM by TL »

Offline Scheavo

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #71 on: December 04, 2011, 02:45:51 PM »
With all due respect, just because you say the slippery slope argument is a fallacy does not make it so.

Whether or not there is a slippery slope here is 100% opinion, nothing more, nothing less.  And it is certainly worthy of consideration in matters of censorship

No... slippery slopes are a fallacy, pure and simple. And that isn't me saying you are going to be wrong, it's me saying you're argument is fallacious, because it relies upon fallacious logic.

I hate to use the slippery slope argument, but where does it stop? 

The slippery slope isn't an argument, it's a fallacy.


It's a fallacy only if the premise for each step isn't given sufficient argument and jumps wildly to an end scenario without evidence.  Based on how quickly the internet works, and the savvy of those who pirate, the hit to piracy based on your keyword censoring would be minimal.  Yes, there is a "confusion" period, but not for long.  If the end goal is to stop piracy, then these actions need to be taken further to stop the majority of pirates who find their way around the censor.  Like I mentioned in my previous post, I wager that most folks wouldn't be affected by the censors since they already know the names of the sites they use.  Therefore, the ONLY option is to maintain the status quo or enact further restriction measures. 

Let me clarify that I don't think it's a bad thing to try and find a way to stem piracy.  But I don't think this bill or your solution are effective ways of removing access to piracy.

I think your point about people having the sites bookmarked is a good one; I never do that so probably why I overlooked it. However, you're logic is fallacious because it assumes people will accept the continual censorship. I mean, shit, look at how any bill regarding internet piracy get's treated by the people. Do you think that's going to change in the future? Not bloody likely! People act sometimes as if the government can just do whatever it wants; and the fate of the SOPA bill itself should show you just how untrue that is. Obviously, there are factions within the government that would love to completely censor the internet like China... and they're not being successful at all.

To not be fallacious, you have to show how exact proposals open the door for continual abuse, and not just some weird, conspiratorial assumption that things would just automatically get worse. The actual SOPA bill might be like this, but I'm not defending SOPA at all. Banning and blocking websites is bullshit, I've already said that, and already explained how that's not what I"m proposing.

Offline ClairvoyantCat

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #72 on: December 04, 2011, 03:03:12 PM »
To not be fallacious, you have to show how exact proposals open the door for continual abuse

I think there is considerable evidence supporting the notion that the government wouldn't take great measures to ensure that everything that is censored is affected only pirates.  If a fairly general set of keywords comes under the cross-hairs with the possibility of restricting more content than exclusively illegal material, something tells me the companies dictating the censoring will not nobly consider the collateral damage.  Of course, it would be a fallacy to say that this is definitely going to happen, but I think the reasoning to suggest that it would happen this way to an extent is strong.  Strong enough that I'd rather not give them the possibility.  I feel that this previously posted link supports what I'm saying here.   

And don't worry guys, the companies pushing this bill clearly know what they are doing:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/warner-admits-it-issues-takedowns-for-files-it-hasnt-looked-at.ars


Offline Scheavo

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #73 on: December 04, 2011, 04:44:21 PM »
To not be fallacious, you have to show how exact proposals open the door for continual abuse

I think there is considerable evidence supporting the notion that the government wouldn't take great measures to ensure that everything that is censored is affected only pirates.  If a fairly general set of keywords comes under the cross-hairs with the possibility of restricting more content than exclusively illegal material, something tells me the companies dictating the censoring will not nobly consider the collateral damage.  Of course, it would be a fallacy to say that this is definitely going to happen, but I think the reasoning to suggest that it would happen this way to an extent is strong.  Strong enough that I'd rather not give them the possibility.  I feel that this previously posted link supports what I'm saying here.   

And don't worry guys, the companies pushing this bill clearly know what they are doing:

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/warner-admits-it-issues-takedowns-for-files-it-hasnt-looked-at.ars

Are you actually going to address my position?

Online lordxizor

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #74 on: December 05, 2011, 08:56:06 AM »
As a sidenote, the RIAA and MPAA tend to count every single illegal download as lost sales.
This has always bugged me too. When I was a frequent pirate of music, I was only ripping off the stuff I never would have paid for. I still purchased the albums of all my favorite bands and purchased future albums of bands that I liked a lot that I had pirated in the past. Before I started pirating music, I purchased perhaps 2-3 albums a year and listened to the radio a lot. Once I started pirating, I was purchasing 2-3 times as much music. Me pirating music has been a net positive for the music industry. Not to say this is the case with all pirates of music, but I would guess it's not that abnormal.

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #75 on: December 05, 2011, 12:16:09 PM »
With all due respect, just because you say the slippery slope argument is a fallacy does not make it so.

Whether or not there is a slippery slope here is 100% opinion, nothing more, nothing less.  And it is certainly worthy of consideration in matters of censorship

No... slippery slopes are a fallacy, pure and simple. And that isn't me saying you are going to be wrong, it's me saying you're argument is fallacious, because it relies upon fallacious logic.



Nothing is a fallacy just because you say it is.  It really doesn't matter how many times you assert something, it doesn't make it so.


Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #76 on: December 05, 2011, 12:17:29 PM »
As a sidenote, the RIAA and MPAA tend to count every single illegal download as lost sales.
This has always bugged me too. When I was a frequent pirate of music, I was only ripping off the stuff I never would have paid for. I still purchased the albums of all my favorite bands and purchased future albums of bands that I liked a lot that I had pirated in the past. Before I started pirating music, I purchased perhaps 2-3 albums a year and listened to the radio a lot. Once I started pirating, I was purchasing 2-3 times as much music. Me pirating music has been a net positive for the music industry. Not to say this is the case with all pirates of music, but I would guess it's not that abnormal.

The problem with this is you are an exception to the rule.  The plummet in CD sales over the last decade proves this.


Offline TL

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #77 on: December 05, 2011, 02:09:38 PM »
As a sidenote, the RIAA and MPAA tend to count every single illegal download as lost sales.
This has always bugged me too. When I was a frequent pirate of music, I was only ripping off the stuff I never would have paid for. I still purchased the albums of all my favorite bands and purchased future albums of bands that I liked a lot that I had pirated in the past. Before I started pirating music, I purchased perhaps 2-3 albums a year and listened to the radio a lot. Once I started pirating, I was purchasing 2-3 times as much music. Me pirating music has been a net positive for the music industry. Not to say this is the case with all pirates of music, but I would guess it's not that abnormal.

The problem with this is you are an exception to the rule.  The plummet in CD sales over the last decade proves this.
Did you read my post at all? The one he's quoting? Piracy is not even close to being the leading cause of the drop in music sales over the past decade or so. It's largely that casual listeners;
a) no longer have to buy entire albums to listen to a catchy single.
b) are able to find music they like more, without even really having to look, thanks largely to the internet. Much of this music is from smaller, independent acts, and doesn't show up in official counts of album sales.

Yes, people who are buying more albums are the exception, but that isn't because of piracy. It's because a shady business practice has become outdated and doesn't work anymore.

Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #78 on: December 05, 2011, 02:54:19 PM »
As a sidenote, the RIAA and MPAA tend to count every single illegal download as lost sales.
This has always bugged me too. When I was a frequent pirate of music, I was only ripping off the stuff I never would have paid for. I still purchased the albums of all my favorite bands and purchased future albums of bands that I liked a lot that I had pirated in the past. Before I started pirating music, I purchased perhaps 2-3 albums a year and listened to the radio a lot. Once I started pirating, I was purchasing 2-3 times as much music. Me pirating music has been a net positive for the music industry. Not to say this is the case with all pirates of music, but I would guess it's not that abnormal.

The problem with this is you are an exception to the rule.  The plummet in CD sales over the last decade proves this.
Did you read my post at all? The one he's quoting? Piracy is not even close to being the leading cause of the drop in music sales over the past decade or so. It's largely that casual listeners;
a) no longer have to buy entire albums to listen to a catchy single.
b) are able to find music they like more, without even really having to look, thanks largely to the internet. Much of this music is from smaller, independent acts, and doesn't show up in official counts of album sales.

Yes, people who are buying more albums are the exception, but that isn't because of piracy. It's because a shady business practice has become outdated and doesn't work anymore.

Right, piracy is not even close to being the leading cause of the drop in music sales.....no completely unsubstantiated hyperbole there at all, right?  :lol

You think I haven't seen the arguments you're posting here?  They don't hold a whole hell of a lot of water, and they rarely accompany any kind of substantiation, because, well, there is none.

But I'm not going to argue about whether or not water is wet with people that have convinced themselves that it's not.


Offline Implode

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #79 on: December 05, 2011, 03:40:20 PM »
CD sales drastically dropping and piracy going up are to two events affected by a confounding variable. Sure, some people may have stopped buying CD's because they could illegally get music, but the people who cared enough to buy CD's regularly before the internet will continue to buy them. I bet the loss of sales is due to the rise of listening to/buying music on the internet. iTunes, Pandora, and YouTube allow people to just listen or buy that one song they're looking for as most people have pointed out. iTunes is probably the biggest part. Everyone has it, and iTunes gift cards are probably one of the most common and safe gifts nowadays as well.

Offline TL

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #80 on: December 05, 2011, 05:37:47 PM »
You think I haven't seen the arguments you're posting here?  They don't hold a whole hell of a lot of water, and they rarely accompany any kind of substantiation, because, well, there is none.

But I'm not going to argue about whether or not water is wet with people that have convinced themselves that it's not.
The irony and lack of self awareness in this post is absolutely staggering. You are literally doing what you've accused me of doing; ignoring information and sticking to your predetermined opinion.

Then there's the extremely overused and very telling tactic of "well, I'm not going to argue with you anymore" people often use when they realize they're not going to win an argument. You don't know what you're talking about.

About the bill in question; This isn't a bill created "with good intentions" as you suggested on the first page. It's a bill lobbied by entertainment companies. They either don't want to bother adapting to the changing face of media consumption, or don't know how to. Either way, while piracy hasn't had zero effect on purchases, it's a small enough effect as to be irrelevant. It makes for a very compelling scapegoat though.
Yes, artists should be compensated fairly for their work. In that regard, piracy has only really had a noticeable, negative impact on performers clinging to the 'few catchy singles and a bunch of filler' business model. Many smaller artists have actually gotten more attention thanks to downloading and such. Oh, and if we're going to get into fair compensation for artists, the RIAA are the last people around who can say anything; they're so unbelievably hypocritical on that.
« Last Edit: December 05, 2011, 05:51:43 PM by TL »

Offline Scheavo

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #81 on: December 06, 2011, 02:02:32 AM »
With all due respect, just because you say the slippery slope argument is a fallacy does not make it so.

Whether or not there is a slippery slope here is 100% opinion, nothing more, nothing less.  And it is certainly worthy of consideration in matters of censorship

No... slippery slopes are a fallacy, pure and simple. And that isn't me saying you are going to be wrong, it's me saying you're argument is fallacious, because it relies upon fallacious logic.



Nothing is a fallacy just because you say it is.  It really doesn't matter how many times you assert something, it doesn't make it so.

It's a fallacy for the reasons I gave, and the definition of the slippery slope fallacy. I mean just because you assert something doesn't make it so, so no matter how many times you say it isn't a fallacy, that doesn't make it so.

https://www.fallacyfiles.org/slipslop.html

Quote
Form:

If A happens, then by a gradual series of small steps through B, C,…, X, Y, eventually Z will happen, too.
Z should not happen.
Therefore, A should not happen, either.

That's the form of your arguments so far, and I've even given my reasons for thinking why that's what you've been arguing. You conventionality ignore the argument I'm giving, because it's not me "just saying" it isn't a fallacy, it's me saying it's a fallacy, and giving an argument as to why it's a fallacy.

Offline Fiery Winds

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #82 on: December 06, 2011, 02:42:31 AM »
From that same article:

Quote
This type of argument is by no means invariably fallacious, but the strength of the argument is inversely proportional to the number of steps between A and Z, and directly proportional to the causal strength of the connections between adjacent steps. If there are many intervening steps, and the causal connections between them are weak, or even unknown, then the resulting argument will be very weak, if not downright fallacious.

Besides, I'm not arguing (and I don't think others are either) that should censoring specific keywords will inevitably lead to full censorship a la China.  I (and others) have provided reasons why that specific measure won't be very effective, and provided a possible (not inevitable) next step that could be taken to try and mitigate piracy even further.  I think the article posted earlier shows that it isn't unlikely that corporations and government would apply these keyword censors indiscriminately and penalize legitimate sites from being promoted on search engine results. 

Using the definition on the site you posted, that's a jump from A to B, with evidence presented that provides a possible causal link between the two.  I highly doubt that would be considered fallacious reasoning.

Offline El Barto

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #83 on: December 06, 2011, 08:25:42 AM »
While I wouldn't go so far as to call the effect of piracy on record sales negligible,  I do think TL's arguments are sound.  There are plenty of reasons why record sales are down,  and plenty of them stem from the seriously flawed model that the music industry has evolved into.  The same thing applies to Hollywood. 

Personally,  I find it rather annoying that instead of cleaning their own house,  they're desperately looking for a legislative solution that will allow them to continue the same insane business practices that have led to where they are now.   
Argument, the presentation of reasonable views, never makes headway against conviction, and conviction takes no part in argument because it knows.
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Offline Scheavo

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #84 on: December 06, 2011, 06:44:52 PM »
Using the definition on the site you posted, that's a jump from A to B, with evidence presented that provides a possible causal link between the two.  I highly doubt that would be considered fallacious reasoning.

Except B and far from A, and would be many steps in between. Just because what's between A-B (or, in this case, Z) and left out in someone argument, doesn't mean that those premises aren't necessary for the argument to be valid. Giving the power to regulate copyright infringements is a far cry from censorship, and China is being used as the example end. There'd be a lot of steps along the way, none of which are necessary, many of which are implausible.




Offline Progmetty

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #85 on: December 13, 2011, 06:19:43 PM »
https://americancensorship.org/infographic.html

Quote
It's do-or-die time:  The House Judiciary Committee will likely pass the Stop Online Piracy Act THIS Thursday. Once the bill moves out of committee, the House can pass it at any time.
BUT, if we're able to kill it at this stage it'll probably never recover.
That's why we need your help this week:  We want to make sure people understand what the Internet could be like if SOPA passes, so we're asking millions of people to protest censorship as part of our #CensorshipEverywhere campaign -- use our tool to censor parts of your own posts to Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and anything and everything else.
 
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Offline Super Dude

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #86 on: December 13, 2011, 10:13:03 PM »
Wow, I'm basically watching with baited breath.
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As frequently happens, Super Dude nailed it.
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Offline Implode

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #87 on: December 13, 2011, 11:16:02 PM »
Worst case scenario...

I don't even want to think of the worst case scenario. There will be so many awesome people I won't be able to talk to again. So many communities will be destroyed.

Hopefully nothing like that will come to pass.

Offline Super Dude

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #88 on: December 14, 2011, 06:42:43 AM »
Damn, I didn't even think of that. It'll make following the leak/pirating rules here so much more vital because so much more will be at stake.
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Offline Genowyn

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #89 on: December 14, 2011, 08:04:51 AM »
Not to mention any sort of review websites that use clips or sounds or images from what they review will get shut right down, no questions asked.

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Offline kirksnosehair

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #90 on: December 14, 2011, 08:26:51 AM »
Not only that, but if you even hum a melody from a copyrighted song in public, your head will instantly explode!   :eek

I'm telling you now!  It MUST BE TRUE because I saw it on the internets  :hat

Offline 7StringedBeast

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #91 on: December 14, 2011, 08:53:30 AM »
Not to mention any sort of review websites that use clips or sounds or images from what they review will get shut right down, no questions asked.

This is not true.  This kind of thing is protected under fair use. 
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Offline Aramatheis

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #92 on: December 14, 2011, 09:36:26 AM »
Wow, I'm basically watching with bated breath.

Offline Genowyn

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #93 on: December 14, 2011, 10:47:59 AM »
Not to mention any sort of review websites that use clips or sounds or images from what they review will get shut right down, no questions asked.

This is not true.  This kind of thing is protected under fair use.

Fair use is not even considered NOW, let alone after a bill like this passes.

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Offline 7StringedBeast

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #94 on: December 14, 2011, 10:49:05 AM »
Fair use is considered now.  It is a real thing and holds up in court.  What are you talking about?
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Offline Genowyn

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #95 on: December 14, 2011, 10:54:55 AM »
I mean that if I went out right now and made a video using copyrighted music for the purposes of review, parody, or tribute (that is to say, FAIR USE), and posted on Youtube or a similar website, it can and will be taken down without warning, or else have the entire soundtrack muted to cover up the song I used.

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Offline 7StringedBeast

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #96 on: December 14, 2011, 10:57:00 AM »
I mean that if I went out right now and made a video using copyrighted music for the purposes of review, parody, or tribute (that is to say, FAIR USE), and posted on Youtube or a similar website, it can and will be taken down without warning, or else have the entire soundtrack muted to cover up the song I used.

Then you can challenge that and have it put back up.  You could also challenge it in court.  But either way, that's a youtube policy.  Not a government one.  The reason youtube does that is because they don't want any legal trouble at all.
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Offline Genowyn

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #97 on: December 14, 2011, 10:59:34 AM »
But this bill would essentially make that policy THE policy. Copyright holders can basically have websites shut down on request, and the Attorney General has the right to block any website they see fit. Surely you don't think that with the amount of corruption in Washington that that power is going to be used responsibly?

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Offline 7StringedBeast

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #98 on: December 14, 2011, 11:01:39 AM »
What I'm saying is that any site that is using something for education or review will still be allowed to keep their stuff up.  Bill or no bill.  Fair use will still be in our laws. 

And I don't like this bill at all, so don't make it out like I'm supporting it.  I'm just saying review sites will not have stuff taken down.
If anyone in this thread judge him; heyy James WTF? about you in Awake In Japan? Then I will say; WTF about you silly?

Offline Genowyn

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #99 on: December 14, 2011, 11:02:49 AM »
What I'm saying is that any site that is using something for education or review will still be allowed to keep their stuff up.  Bill or no bill.  Fair use will still be in our laws. 

And I don't like this bill at all, so don't make it out like I'm supporting it.  I'm just saying review sites will not have stuff taken down.

Review sites can have their content removed under the current copyright laws. This will only make that problem worse.

Edit: And I have seen it happen on a review site I visit regularly. I can pull it up if you want me to.

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Offline 7StringedBeast

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #100 on: December 14, 2011, 11:07:57 AM »
It really depends on how said site presents the review and the copyrighted material in it.  If it's a video game review and they show some clips of game play, that is protected and cannot be taken down.  If it is a movie, they can post certain clips that have been approved for promo reasons.  You can't just show any part of the movie you want.  It has to be within reason that you use it.

I think this act is mostly to shut down sites like Megavideo or the Piratebay or wherever else you can find stolen or pirated content.  I don't think it is going to be targeting people who use a picture of a book cover in the review of a book, or the CD art to a review of a CD.
If anyone in this thread judge him; heyy James WTF? about you in Awake In Japan? Then I will say; WTF about you silly?

Offline El Barto

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #101 on: December 14, 2011, 11:13:00 AM »
What it's most likely to be used for doesn't really matter if it has the effect of scaring people into changing their lawful habits.  Fair use doesn't really help much if you can't afford to hire Bosk to defend you in court,  for example.  The chilling effect on free speech is just as damaging as the outright curtailment of it. 
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Offline Genowyn

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #102 on: December 14, 2011, 11:15:44 AM »
It really depends on how said site presents the review and the copyrighted material in it.  If it's a video game review and they show some clips of game play, that is protected and cannot be taken down.  If it is a movie, they can post certain clips that have been approved for promo reasons.  You can't just show any part of the movie you want.  It has to be within reason that you use it.


Then any sort of comedic reviews (that is, the reviewer shows a clip of the movie and then jokes about it), Rifftrax, things set up to be like MST3K, "Let's Play" reviews of video games, would not be allowed. And that would make the internet about 50% less fun.

What it's most likely to be used for doesn't really matter if it has the effect of scaring people into changing their lawful habits.  Fair use doesn't really help much if you can't afford to hire Bosk to defend you in court,  for example.  The chilling effect on free speech is just as damaging as the outright curtailment of it. 

All of this as well.

...my name is Araragi.

Offline Implode

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #103 on: December 14, 2011, 03:32:06 PM »
I think this act is mostly to shut down sites like Megavideo or the Piratebay or wherever else you can find stolen or pirated content.

I know that the bill was probably first conceived for that, but who knows how far companies like Viacom will actually take their new rights. Also, I don't understand how they think this will help against the pirating issue; it's already illegal. People will find other ways to illegally share music and movies, but it'll be much easier to hurt the casual YouTuber or other online communities like Tumblr and forums such as this one.

Offline Progmetty

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Re: SOPA/"Protect IP" Act
« Reply #104 on: December 15, 2011, 04:05:38 PM »
I wouldn't want somebody with 18 kids to mow my damn lawn, based on a longstanding bias I have against crazy fucks.