Bill S.978 Aka "The screw you, gamers" Bill

[GlindorOcculus]

No action since June.

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s978/show

Thanks Steel =)

[Akrion]

Yes, thank you Steel. Good to know the Bill has at least not really gotten anywhere in this time.

[Phillip]

ok, this is no joke:
Here in Germany GEMA wants to take fees from kindergardens,
when the children are singing "their" songs (songs they have the rights for).

That nearly caused a revolution- but last word on this is not spoken yet.

lol

_______________

[Steelclaw]

Oh, fun. The House version of this bill just got released yesterday:

Text: http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/...0HR%203261.pdf
Tracker: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show

[Darziak]

Here's a vid to help those who don't understand

[awdz]

Thank you for that link, Darziak. I'd love to see what the Colbert Report would make of that issue if they decided to run with it.

[Xanthia]

Thank you for that link, Darziak. I'd love to see what the Colbert Report would make of that issue if they decided to run with it.

Best episode ever.

[Fratricide]

This bill is quite overreaching. Why can't congress ever write a bill that is easy to read, easy to understand, and made without Lobbyists interests at heart.

It is quite disheartening that there are so many, supposed, leaders in the government that choose to jump on the money train, instead of writing legislation that makes sense, is readable, is understandable, and actually benefits the US and the US economy.

Not saying that the Entertainment Industry doesn't deserve to have their copyrights protected, because they do, but seriously... They shouldn't be taking it out on the whole internet community. Why toss out the barrel over a few spoiled apples?

[Xanthia]

Thank you for that link, Darziak. I'd love to see what the Colbert Report would make of that issue if they decided to run with it.

So I was watching the Colbert Report (you know where this is going already don't you!) and he starts talking about something called H.R. 3261. Supposedly has something to do with piracy on the internet. Hmmm-I'm listening....

Oh really! So if I post "copywrite" material on Youtube, I can single handily destroy the entire site unless they find it within 5 days among the billions of videos posted daily? And then I would get to enjoy a 5 year vacation with a cellmate name Denice? Hmmmmm why does this sound so familiar?

*Walks up to H.R. 3261 and pulls off the cloak it's hiding under to find S.978*

S.978! What are you doing there! Have you gotten fatter? ;D

I did a little googling just to check and turns out it just a combination of S.978 and S.968 which was in the other youtube video about Protect IP mentioned by Darziak.

So this basically the same -just no longer "10 tries- and you lose" but now "Do it once and we'll break your kneecaps-and then we'll find the people who run the site and break their kneecaps too!!"

P.S. I liked it...but I was hoping Colbert would do something more outrageous with it. Oh well.

[Steelclaw]

So, the House Judiciary Committee is currently marking up HR 3261. Thursday was long, Friday will probably be longer. Watch the action! (Discussion should resume around 10:00 EST [GMT-5].)

I feel at least somewhat reassured that some of the Representatives there are concerned with issues such as abuse of the act to stifle freedom of speech, inhibit competition, and perform extortion. At least for this act, Congresswoman Lofgren and Congressman Issa appear to serve the public interest. If you're one of their constituents, please drop them an email -- they deserve a pat on the back.

Random trivia: The lyrics of Avenue Q's "The Internet is for [rhymes with 'corn' and starts with 'P']" have been submitted for entry into the congressional record.

[Akrion]

It would appear that Stanford has stepped into the ring in opposition of SOPA and Protect IP: http://www.stanfordlawreview.org/onl...break-internet

[GlindorOcculus]

Great video here, watch it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc