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Wirehead Studios > General Discussion > Controversy Corner > Obama vs piracy
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scalliano
 

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« on: 2010-07-18, 01:28 »
Not so much another piracy debate, as something much more sinister:

http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=18815

Quote
"The White House's vision is perhaps a prelude to the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, which will go before Congress later this year.  The bill would make P2P or BitTorrent client development a criminal offense if the distributed software was used for infringement.  It also implements an interesting provision called "imminent infringement", which allows the government to charge people who they think might be about to infringe with a civil offense (for example if you searched "torrent daft punk").  This is among the first official "thought crime" provisions to be proposed by the U.S. government.  The bill also makes it a criminal offense to bypass DRM."

Pho, I apologize. It would appear that my "cautious optimism" was indeed misplaced.
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Thomas Mink
 

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« Reply #1 on: 2010-07-18, 05:52 »
All I have to say is:

Wow. Just.. wow.
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« Reply #2 on: 2010-07-18, 12:47 »
The weird thing is that I'm actually pretty sure that most people who think this shit up have actually read 1984. And still think these are good ideas, somehow.

The Dutch "copyright protector" organization "Brein" has pulled some weird punches lately, too.

However, there's still some hope, since the whole business of prosecuting copyright infringement is unbelievably improfitable and inefficient. Millions upon millions spent result in only 3% of that in income/reimbursement. If everybody keeps up doing what they're doing, organizations such as Brein are going to be on the receiving end of government bailouts next..
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Phoenix
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« Reply #3 on: 2010-07-18, 21:25 »
Where I see a problem with this is not so much the overt RIAA/MPAA-style prosecution attempts as coupling this sort of legislation with this sort of system:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/a...ance-monitor-internet-cyber-attacks.html

There are already systems like Carnivore that have been in use for surveillance.  So they start with torrents and prosecute using presumption of guilt if this sort of law gets passed.  That then creates a judicial precedent for prosecuting other "crimes" in that manner.  So much for innocent until proven guilty after that.  Left-leaning judges have a tendency to apply judicial precedent in a manner that fits in with their political thinking, and tend to do so selectively.  This is where that term "activist judge" comes into play.  I'm not saying this will definitely happen, but the way things have been going in Washington, it's a dangerous possibility.  Once people are prosecuted for "thought crimes" and such sentences are not overturned as unconstitutional, then liberty is effectively dead in this country.

Scal:  I understand your disappointment, and believe me when I say it brings me no joy when I am correct in such matters.  I was disappointed with how Bush behaved while in office, and how the wars were conducted in Afghanistan and Iraq.  The only thing Bush got right in my opinion was passing tax cuts.  Other than that he blew an opportunity to shrink the size of government and expand personal liberties.  But then, he was a politician.  I distrust politicians as a whole and I am loathe to put my faith in one to improve the world.  As far as present US politics are concerned, the Republicans and Democrats have been taking the country in roughly the same direction for the last two decades at least.  Obama is just the current embodiment of political arrogance run amok.  He made one promise after another before getting elected, and he's carried through with none of them.  Whenever something doesn't go his way he blames Bush and the Republicans.  The Democrats have control of both houses of Congress and the Presidency.  How can the current problems be anyone's fault but the current administration?  If Obama was to be "the man" to bring radical change, and he's incapable of overcoming minor obstacles while his party controls two branches of the Federal Government, then does this not mean he's a complete failure?  Many of the people who voted him into office have been left wondering what happened.  He's completely ignored his voter base.  Then again, he could just be a narcissist and a liar.  It would seem to better explain his actions while in office.  I would not trust Obama to serve anyone but Obama at this point.

The Tea Party movement in the US is a direct result of citizens becoming fed up with the entire process.  They have a bad reputation on the internet and within most mainstream news organizations because they are not tools for one party or another, so they're mocked repeatedly, but the fact that grassroots organizations like this not only exist but are flourishing despite targeted media attacks shows how badly the political process has fallen apart.  Despite what people may think about what the Tea Party members stand for, their existence is a sign of genuine discontent in the citizenry.  This kind of legislation is only going to fuel even more discontent.  I really hope it doesn't get anywhere.  Laws are supposed to protect the rights of the citizenry, not establish a thought police.
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« Reply #4 on: 2010-07-19, 08:27 »
We're slowly losing our freedoms IMO.
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Phoenix
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« Reply #5 on: 2010-07-19, 22:28 »
Well I just ran across this gem:

http://news.cnet.com/8301-31001_3-20010923-261.html

So all it takes to shut down a major blog service is for the FBI to tell the web host "We think there's terrorist info there" and they get scared and pull the plug.  70,000 blog sites shut down over someone saying they think there might be terrorist-related materials present.  Now that it's worked once, where does it stop?
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scalliano
 

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« Reply #6 on: 2010-07-28, 00:36 »
How come they haven't banned the movie "Fight Club" yet? That movies more or less explains the entire process for home-made dynamite.

In other news, some hope for common sense remains:

http://arstechnica.com/software/news/201...breaking-drm-for-a-fair-use-is-legal.ars

Hopefully this will set a precedent, but I doubt it will.
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« Reply #7 on: 2010-07-28, 15:37 »
Because that film has a star-studded cast that keeps anyone from actually thinking about the message itself. The book, while not my favorite, is much more provocative.
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Phoenix
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« Reply #8 on: 2010-07-29, 01:09 »
There's always a double standard when it comes to Hollywood.
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Kajet
 

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« Reply #9 on: 2010-07-31, 07:32 »
More like a double standard when anyone with a lot of money is involved.
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