The facts on SOPA

[initialsBB]

Originally Posted by John Eppstein

So who exactly is behind this site?

I have no idea, nor do I care. I just did a quick google and they were saying what common sense already told me. there are tons of other commentators also making the connection between the caps, the rise of netflix and the telcos own competing streaming video services. http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2011/...roadband-caps/

besides, freepers are hardly in favor of net neutrality. the free-market approach would be to let the telcos create the tiered internet they desire.

I know it's popular on the piracy forum to imagine all sorts of evil tech company conspiracies but I'm having trouble picturing what sort of freeper/anti-telco/pro-net-neutrality alliance you're seeing here.

[Don Hills]

Originally Posted by initialsBB

... the fact that australia doesn't have netflix or spotify ...

Why NZ isn't getting Netflix any time soon:

Netflix | NZ internet a 'deterrent' to online TV | Stuff.co.nz

Netflix changing TV viewing habits | Stuff.co.nz
(Disclaimer - I work for Alcatel-Lucent)

... but I can get Netflix if I want it. Proof that proxy services will make it easy for even "non-technical" infringers:

Unblock Us - unblock your favourite video and social websites

That last one was a surprise. I used the site search box on the Stuff news website to find the above two stories. The unblock-us site was the top hit on the results list.

[Don Hills]

Originally Posted by chrisso

Average UK speeds drop by 35% during evening peak hours. Best speeds are after 3am ...

According to the story linked below, one NZ ISP experiences speed drops of up to 25%. The ISP I use experiences drops of up to 15% (seems about right in my experience.) The rest seem to be almost unaffected.

Study shows drop in peak-time internet speeds | Stuff.co.nz

Predictably, there was a rebuttal:

NZ internet speeds 'rather good', companies claim | Stuff.co.nz

And then came this, for my ISP:
Unlimited internet deal may backfire | Stuff.co.nz

I'm typing this in the middle of the mentioned weekend. Speed doesn't seem to be affected. My daughter has been watching Pokemon episodes all day and says hasn't noticed any difference.

[Matt Allison]

Originally Posted by John Eppstein

The simple fact of eliminating listings of pirated material in mainstream search engines will cut casual piracy rates by at least 75%, probably more. And casual piracy accounts for 80%-90% of music piracy.

Says who? Do you have a citation for this? Any proof?

And if it can be demonstrated that a primary use of those proxies is facilitating piracy the proxies can be blocked and the sites linking to them can be blocked.

And how would you demonstrate a proxy was doing something like that?

Most kids aren't geeks, nerds, or hackers and don't want to be.

Once again, you are clearly clueless when it comes to how savvy kids are with computers today. This isn't brain surgery. These kids won't have to be geeks, nerds, or hackers to steal music if this bill, as written, is passed.

As long as piracy is a no-brainer it will be popular. Eliminate the no-brainer aspect and it loses its appeal pretty rapidly because, popular fiction notwithstanding, actually DOING all that stuff is BO-RING!

And nothing in this bill will stop it from continuing to be a no-brainer.

And I still don't see you coming up with any more effective suggestions. Or as even as effective. Or any practical suggestions at all, for that matter.

It isn't my job to write the laws. It's Congress'. And they had better do a better job writing this one or nothing is going to change.

We're not getting any more piracy legislation after this.

[rack gear]

who knows how accurate this is, but we have to see the next draft of the bill...
SOPA on the ropes? Bipartisan alternative to 'Net censorship emerges

Sites which are truly bent on counterfeiting and piracy are unlikely to pay much attention to a US-based cease and desist order, of course, so the new plan envisions two remedies. If such an order is issued, Internet advertising firms and financial providers would have to stop offering credit card payments and ads to the site in question.

Website blocking by ISPs and DNS providers is not part of the plan, nor would search engines or others be required to remove links to such content.

we'll what we get, but thus far looks like any redraft will do little for music piracy. what I don't understand is if we can already do this...

Digital Music News - What SOPA Debate? The Department of Justice Just Seized 130 Domains...

why do we still have the pirate bay accessible from within the USA? do all the seized domains originate from within the USA?

[AwwDeOhh]

Originally Posted by rack gear

Digital Music News - What SOPA Debate? The Department of Justice Just Seized 130 Domains...

why do we still have the pirate bay accessible from within the USA? do all the seized domains originate from within the USA?

I believe either one or more owner and/or the server has to be based from the US. If there's anything there that extends beyond that, it would have to be from a Bernes obiding country.

[Matt Allison]

Originally Posted by rack gear

why do we still have the pirate bay accessible from within the USA? do all the seized domains originate from within the USA?

All the seized domains use TLDs that originate from the US.

ICE could take out the piratebay.org, but they would just be up a few seconds later at piratebay.lv or something similar.

Which is the idea behind SOPA/PIPA, to block them from coming into the US.

Of course, when all you have to do is type in "foreign proxy" in Google, and then whatever your favorite pirate site happens to be, the entire exercise of blocking domains becomes pointless.

[John Eppstein]

Originally Posted by initialsBB

besides, freepers are hardly in favor of net neutrality. the free-market approach would be to let the telcos create the tiered internet they desire.

The start with let's just remove that phrase "net neutrality" from the conversation because it's meaningless.

Or two be more precise, it has two diametrically opposed meanings depending on who's using it - the telcos mean the exact opposite when the use it than the "internet freedom" advocates.

[unitymusic]

I think the main point of this bill is just to make piracy less accesible to the average person by targeting the source, which IMO is a good thing. Sure it probably has flaws, and will have revisions before it is passed so skepticism isn't necessarily a bad thing either. Kids are more tech savvy these days, but the average kid still isn't a hacker or a programmer. Cutting off the source is really the only way to start taking action, otherwise you're just looking for after-the-fact compensation because you couldn't stop it in the first place... and if you can't stop it, it's only a matter of time before you won't get any compensation for it either.