A few questions/concerns about PIPA/SOPA

1. 68

   SPomposelloposted 12 years ago

   1. I can understand how they will throw people who UPLOADED the pirated music/movies online. But what about the people who downloaded or "streamed" it? Are they also to be put in jail? Or it just the people who upload the pirated stuff?
   
   2. If this thing gets passed, does this mean I have to take down all the pics/movie posters for my film reviews (which is FAIR USE) down and replace them with something from morguefile or somewhere? Or will Morguefile go down too?
   
   3. Speaking of film reviews, all of mine are about bad movies, so obviously they're negative opinion-based. I guess these will get taken down to and I will also be thrown in jail for my negative opinion?
   
   
   On a side note, I know this won't only affect content farms like HubPages, but I personally feel that they don't want the middle-class to have other ways to earn income outside of a job. Even if we're doing nothing wrong and we post our own original content. That is just so wrong.
   
   North America and North Korea might as well become friends.

   replyreport
   1. 61

      Lissa Joyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Do you quote from the movie or reveal any of the plot in your review? Do the movie posters depict actors in the movie or scenes from the movie? If so, then yes. You would be infringing copyright and, essentially, threatening HubPages.
      
      SOPA is scary because, in a nutshell, nobody knows what it will do. In fact, the most dangerous aspect of both bills, as is, remains the vagueness of certain terms. Original content, if it even barely alludes to something now accepted as part of pop culture, can be counted as copyright infringement and allow the government to drag the website through month-long legal battles. Sites like Wikipedia, that rely on consumer-generated content, simply don't have the manpower to police their site against links to copyright material; such a legal restriction could also shut down Youtube (for the many music-with-lyrics videos it hosts right now) and any major search engine that dared to provide a link to a website with something remotely resembling copyright material...providing the government with legal backing and tools to police the Internet (and in conjunction with another act just recently passed) possibly stretch its authority to arrest political dissidents for negative comments. This is why the online community is up in arms about first-amendment freedoms, and has been for almost three months now.
      
      (My apologies for such a long and presumptuous-sounding post; the words had to be a little longer for my logic to make sense.)

      replyreport
      1. 68

         SPomposelloposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Wait a second, if I talk about the "plot" in the review then that counts? That's ridiculous, what's the whole point of the review then? Wow...

         replyreport
2. 0

   Stevennix2001posted 12 years ago

   Yeah, I think if this lousy SOPA does get passed it'll definitely change the landscape of the internet.

   replyreport
   1. 68

      SPomposelloposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Man, I'm scared to publish my next review now...

      replyreport
      1. 0

         Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see what happens.  I know I already did all I can do, as I just called my local Senator twice today about this, and I wrote various letters to Congress and the Senate over SOPA, and why I think it's a bad idea.  Heck, I can name countless of sites where i registered my name to protest the bill.  However, in the end, there's really not much more we can besides the things i just mentioned.
         
         I just hope for the best at this point.  If this SOPA bill does get passed, I know it's definitely going to force me change my writing style which is really bad considering that the Oscars are almost here, and I was looking forward to publishing my predictions on that soon, but with this SOPA thing,...I may have to reconsider...

         replyreport
         1. 61

            Lissa Joyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            As I said, the bill is worded vaguely enough that reference to any of the copyrighted work that the company can claim as original intellectual property can turn around and bite the author in the butt on piracy claims.

            replyreport
            1. 0

               Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Well, I know many of my readers won't like this, as I might have to cancel my Oscar predictions for this year if this gets passed.  Kind of a shame too, as writing about the oscars around this time of the year is always so much fun for me.

               replyreport
               1. 68

                  SPomposelloposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  I hear ya. But tell me, Steve, if it gets passed, are you going to unpublish all your film-related hubs that you already have?

                  replyreport
                  1. 0

                     Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Edit:
                     
                     Unfortunately, I probably will seeing as how I won't have any other choice.  Of course, it might also mean that I'll have to give up reviewing films altogether online.  I can't speak for most critics, but I don't see how I can review a film properly without making some sort of reference to the story of it.  oh well...maybe I'll start writing more hubs on online safety and poems for now on instead.  Besides, at least, I think writing about those two topics won't violate any SOPA rules as far as I know.

                     replyreport
                  2. 0

                     Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     What about you?  Are you going to unpublish yours if this bill goes into effect?

                     replyreport
                     1. 68

                        SPomposelloposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        I think I'm in the same boat as you. I don't know what other choice I will have. It would definitely break my heart though.

                        replyreport
                        1. 0

                           Stevennix2001posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Same here.  Hubpages is the only site that I can feel free to talk about movies that i like without ever feeling judged.  If that goes away for me, then it'll definitely eat me up inside.  Sure, I'll probably still stay to write other things, but it won't be the same again...

                           replyreport
3. 0

   Stevennix2001posted 12 years ago

   Yeah, I concur with SPomposello here, as I know in a lot of my reviews, I always like to usually start by telling my readers a bit of the story.  Not all of it obviously, but just enough to let them know what it's about.  Then as I'm writing out the story, I go over my thoughts over the movie from there.  If this SOPA doesn't allow us to talk about the story, then that's really going to force me to change my writing style.  Not saying it can't be done, but it'll really make it difficult for me to depict why a film is good or bad if I can't make any reference to the story of the movie at all.

   replyreport
4. 69

   CarltheCritic1291posted 12 years ago

   **This reply has been censored by SOPA**

   replyreport
5. 76

   skyfireposted 12 years ago

   If SOPA/PIPA/ACTA gets passed then using pre-release spoilers, set images and other stuff is going to cost you jail and website will be taken down as well.

   replyreport
   1. 68

      SPomposelloposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I guess they can't put me in jail if I remove everything completely, that is if the bill gets passed.

      replyreport
      1. 76

         skyfireposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes. "If" that bill gets passed... other than that, there's always possibility of editing the hubs for removing spoilers (in case of upcoming movies) or removing links to streaming sites or anything that violates rights of those corps in entertainment industry.

         replyreport
6. 84

   Joe Machoposted 12 years ago

   Ah, instead of worrying about it, try and stay positive. We could all use a little optimism right now. Don't let the fear stop you from doing what you love!

   replyreport
7. 61

   Lissa Joyposted 12 years ago

   Because of the online blackout yesterday, at least two co-sponsors of the bills are backpedaling: thanks to the people that protested, SOPA may actually become NOPE-A. Hopefully, Congress responds further to the protest of the Americans, or perhaps more importantly, the mounting threats to vote them out come election day.

   replyreport
8. 59

   knolyourselfposted 12 years ago

   "Internet Blackout Causes 18 Senators to Flee from PIPA". "Roy Blunt (R-MO) *
   John Boozman (R-AR) *
   Scott Brown (R-MA)
   Ben Cardin (D-MD) *
   John Cornyn (R-TX)
   Jim DeMint (R-SC)
   Orrin Hatch (R-UT) *
   James Inhofe (R-OK)
   Mark Kirk (R-IL)
   Jeff Merkley (D-OR)
   Lisa Murkowski (R-AK)
   Marco Rubio (R-FL) *
   Olympia Snowe (R-ME)
   David Vitter (R-LA)*
   Tom Coburn (R-OK)
   Pat Toomey (R-PA)
   Mike Johanns (R-NE)
   Kelly Ayotte (R-NH)*

   replyreport
   1. 61

      Lissa Joyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      If this were Facebook, I'd be hitting "like" PRONTO. Thanks for adding that. I'd only heard of six senators/reps total as of yesterday. Unfortunately, SOPA had about 80 supporters to begin with. So the next week-ish is crucial to getting them away from the bill.
      
      On another note, does anyone know anything about OPEN, the bill that's rumored to replace SOPA/PIPA if they go dead?

      replyreport