You have Wiki, Google, Twitter, Facebook etc etc coming out and saying SOPA is censorship, SOPA is infringing on free speech and so on.
All these things are true but there is a much bigger issue with SOPA and all these multinational companies seem to either be ignoring or have simply not thought about.
1. The SOPA bill is saying the government can punish citizens by bypassing the legal system. Alledged infringers can be punished indirectly by the government without the government having to prove guilt.
And it goes much further than that. Not only does SOPA try to make it possible for government to indirectly punish people without proving guilt. SOPA says citizens are guilty until proven innocent.
The plaintiff, your multi national music label, movie studio, journalist, artists or anyone with a beef with you, can say you are guilty and you are guilty until you prove you are innocent.
Imagine you were accused of fighting in a pub 4 weeks ago. The victim has filed a complaint against you which makes you guilty of the offense until you can prove it was not you. Imagine you cannot remember what you were doing 4 weeks ago, if you cannot prove you were somewhere else you will be guilty in the eyes of SOPA.
That is the first thing, this is a big enough issue, but here is one more thing that Wikipedia is not exposing.
2. The government is forcing private companies and people to punish other private citizens and businesses against their will.
So not only do you have to pay taxes even if you do not agree with what your money is being spent on. The government is now telling you, as a hosting company or website owner, you are now under the employment of the government.
If you are a hosting company or if you run a website, you are now a US government employee working for free and in addition to being a government slave you also have to inflict physical punishment on your fellow citizens against your will, even if there is reasonable doubt that your victim is innocent.
Why physical? If you take away another’s persons income I class that as physical violence. I think I would prefer a beating that have my income taken away. SOPA should at least give defendants the choice of a beating by a fellow citizen, a prison sentence or loss of income, that would make it a fairer bill.
SOPA is the text-book definition of fascism.
1. The state using its power to force independent private companies and individuals to enforce the will of big businesses. (You really think this law would pass if it was about protecting small business?)
2. In addition the citizens have to pay to protect the same multinationals who are working against their interests, in the form of taxation.
Not only is the government now the tool of the large corporations, the government is now declaring every US citizen guilty until proven innocent.
And yet the likes of Wikipedia and Google are talking about the technicalities and the effects of the bill (which are all valid) rather than addressing the core issue of what SOPA is saying.
Can it have slipped Wikipedia and Google by that SOPA is probably the most fascist piece of legislation ever put forward? In addition to being a gross infringement on personal liberty.
And for all those people out there saying people who distribute things without paying their dues to the person that made the original. There are laws already in existence that deal with this issue.
The 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) includes the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act, that provides a “safe harbor” for websites that host content. Under that provision, copyright owners who felt that a site was hosting infringing content are required to request the site to remove the infringing material within a certain amount of time.[39][40][41] SOPA would bypass this “safe harbor” provision by placing the responsibility for detecting and policing infringement onto the site itself, and allowing judges to block access to websites “dedicated to theft of U.S. property.”[42]
Make no mistake, the purpose of SOPA is very simple, it gives large private companies the right to use force against private citizens.
SOPA sets 3 main precedents
1. SOPA allows large corporations and government to bypass the legal system
2. US citizens are now guilty until proven innocent
3. The legal costs of private companies are passed onto the taxpayer.
SOPA makes the US government the tool of multinational businesses, and US citizens pay for the privilege. It’s that simple.
Jimmy has taken a stance and this is the best way he can show how damaging SOPA/PIPA will be to millions of people, probably billions, around the world. But the U.S. congress won’t back down just because we are without Wikipedia for 24 hours. Something tells me that most congress people are so antiquated they hardly use a computer, much less know what Wikipedia is. I actually believe they are living with the mindset of people of the 19th century, and probably some even have the notion that all they have to do is carry out what the founding fathers did in the 18th!
Does anyone out there think so too? And also, would it really make any difference if we contact any of these people in Congress?
Thanks for the reply.
I believe the consequences of the bill go far beyond the internet. Either the politicians do not understand the full ramifications of the bill or they simply do not care. Either way they are not qualified to be in office. Any politician that votes for the bill should be brought up on charges.
I wrote a small post about people arresting a judge in Britain, citizens arrest. Believe me, that got the attention of judges all over Britain.
Until the decision makers are prosecuted for their actions they will carry on care free.
the government has been screwing us over for years….now that they are messing with the internet ooohhh all these people want to be concerned…what about modern day segregation? what happened to the taxes issue? what about the unsolved murders? what about the richer getting richer and the poorer getting poorer…..no we all stand for the internet because boohoo all our porn will be gone. all you have to do is move to canada if youre not happy here..
SOPA effects you no matter where you live in the world