Something a number of my friends might be interested in knowing about.

[xaq_the_aereon]

Last night I learned about something known as SOPA, or the Stop Online Piracy Act. (Link goes to a copy of the entire bill, just a heads up.)

At first glance, it's meant to, oddly enough, stop online piracy. (Good luck with that crap.) Opponents, however, claim that it would give the Government the power to censor the Internet in much the same way that China and Iran are known to.

Groups supporting it include the MPAA, the RIAA (which immediately raised a red flag with me given the last time I recall hearing about them), and Pfizer. Groups against it include pretty much the entirety of Silicon Valley.

I'm still reading through the bill so as not to make an uneducated opinion, but already I think it's a bad idea. What you guys come to think about it, I'll leave to you.

Comments

[xaq.livejournal.com]

I won't deny being occasionally guilty of doing the same, though I do save that as a last resort for when there isn't a viable, legal, not-screwing-a-company-out-of-money option available. If I can get a song off iTunes or the artist's personal website, I'll forfeit my soda for the day to balance the costs. If I can't...c'mere MP3!

I can definitely see the problem with that case you mentioned...by the old pre-web definitions of crimes, about the best they could get him on, I think, would be plagiarism.

Hack into a company, copy top-secret information, sell it for millions....get held back a semester as punishment. *woop-de-doo finger whirl*