what will happen this year

[srijantje]

then the americans get their way

[Wildcard]

It would be more accurate to say 'the American government' than 'the Americans' SJ. If I had my way, none of this would be a problem . . . just saying.

[srijantje]

i stand corrected,you're absolutely right

[Wildcard]

I wasn't trying to rude though

[srijantje]

no mate,i didn't take offence at all,you were right

[billy]

if we consider the american gov is selected by the american people then i'm okay with american people. not as individuals but as a country.

the same as the british people have a lot to answer for. like why do allow them to do as they wish. we're one of the few nation capable of making them fuck off. but no, we just put people in power who diminish out capabilities to do anything. europe like china could i'm sure create it's own net but it never will. the usa wouldn't like it. big American business wouldn't like it. the american people would hate it. jmo

[Wildcard]

I am going to digress before I even start on this one . . .

[billy]

at the end of the day we're all the same people, we all put the same idiots in power and all cry about it the first time they take something from us or do something to us. individually many of us a pretty smart, as a group we're all wankers, all little lambs to the slaughter.

[Wildcard]

Just an update on SOPA/PIPA: It seems the tide may be turning!

[billy]

a bit more infow would help us out
steal a post and put it up here

[Wildcard]

Okay. Here is a nice little article about the success of the Internet blackout:

Successful internet blackout, Zuck tweets, but has Don McLean been ripped off?

As you can’t have failed to have noticed, yesterday some of the world’s most famous websites chose a variety of ways to protest against proposed anti-piracy legislation in the United States.

Sites such as Reddit, Wired, Boing Boing and Google either blanked out their content or displayed clear links explaining why they were against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) being debated by Congress.

Wikipedia, for instance, used a simple JavaScript to obscure its website to English speakers.

And it wasn’t just major websites which participated in the blackout – plenty of smallers sites and home-spun blogs jumped at the opportunity to express their dislike for the proposed legislation.

It seems to me like the blackout was a success in at least one way – more people, including those who don’t commonly follow technology news, will now be aware of the proposed US laws and how it might affect them and other internet users.

Indeed, Wikipedia claimed that more than 162 million saw their blackout page, and over eight million went on to look up how to contact their elected representatives’ contact information via their tool.

And I almost fell off my chair when Mark Zuckerberg tweeted – yes, tweeted! – urging Americans to contact their congressmen:

" Tell your congressmen you want them to be pro-internet. My Facebook post is here: facebook.com/zuck/posts/101…—"
Mark Zuckerberg (@finkd) January 18, 2012

It was the first time Zuck has tweeted in almost three years. I guess he’s not that much into this social media malarkey, so I’m glad he could remember his password.

But it wasn’t just a day for internet celebrities to have their voice heard on the issue. Plenty of regular Joes had their say too, and some folks even found entertaining ways to get their point across – like in [the video above].

I wonder what Don McLean thinks about SOPA/PIPA? I wonder even if he knows about this video? He, after all, was the singer-songwriter who composed “American Pie”, well remembered for the line “the day the music died“.

One thing we all should be mindful of, is giving proper credit where it’s due.

The SOPA/PIPA legislation is, in my opinion, daft and unworkable. It’s not going to be effective way of dealing with piracy.

The news that more US lawmakers are withdrawing support for the laws is something that many of us will be relieved to hear.

And if the internet blackout helped make more people understand the concerns and depth of feeling about this flawed legislation, then I think we can say it was a good thing.

Source

And a better copy of that image:



And a video: