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What are YOU doing to protest SOPA?

eric/ said:
It was only megaupload, and that was shut down illegally by Team America Wold Police. Fortunately this tactic doesn't work in countries that don't bow down to the whims of the American government, like Sweden.
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You misunderstood who I was referring to! Not the filesharing sites, but the often illegal sites the file sharers get their stuff from - child porn sites etc - that are opened one day, closed the next, and their stuff is only available from other file sharers after the 'sites they love' are closed by the authorities.
Sorry for any confusion!
 
UlsterApple said:
You misunderstood who I was referring to! Not the filesharing sites, but the often illegal sites the file sharers get their stuff from - child porn sites etc - that are opened one day, closed the next, and their stuff is only available from other file sharers after the 'sites they love' are closed by the authorities.
Sorry for any confusion!
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no problem those sites should definitely be destroyed
 
eric/ said:
It's like the Russian KGB coming to the US, detaining US citizens, and charging them with breaking the law in Russia.
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And what's the problem? Fleeing the country doesn't mean you shouldn't get charged. MU had servers in the US and hence they were breaking the US law. You can break the law without being in the actual country. For example, if I hacked a foreign bank and stole money from them, should I not be charged because I was never in the actual country?
 
Hellhammer said:
And what's the problem? Fleeing the country doesn't mean you shouldn't get charged. MU had servers in the US and hence they were breaking the US law. You can break the law without being in the actual country. For example, if I hacked a foreign bank and stole money from them, should I not be charged because I was never in the actual country?
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Is that illegal in the country you're living in? You have to provide an example of something that isn't universally illegal in order for your analogy to work.

But generally, you can't break laws in one country while living in another. I think it's Singapore where spitting chewing gum on the ground is illegal. Well if you do it in the US that doesn't mean that the Singapore police can fly out to the US and haul you back for breaking the law in Singapore.
 
eric/ said:
Is that illegal in the country you're living in? You have to provide an example of something that isn't universally illegal in order for your analogy to work.

But generally, you can't break laws in one country while living in another. I think it's Singapore where spitting chewing gum on the ground is illegal. Well if you do it in the US that doesn't mean that the Singapore police can fly out to the US and haul you back for breaking the law in Singapore.
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If you spit it from the US to Singapore, then yes.

The point is that MU had servers in the US. They owned something that was used for criminal purposes in the US, that's enough. If I owned a house in the US and there were cocaine in it, then I would be charged, assuming they can prove that the cocaine really belonged to me (looks like they were able to prove that the servers belonged to MU).
 
Hellhammer said:
If you spit it from the US to Singapore, then yes.

The point is that MU had servers in the US. They owned something that was used for criminal purposes in the US, that's enough. If I owned a house in the US and there were cocaine in it, then I would be charged, assuming they can prove that the cocaine really belonged to me (looks like they were able to prove that the servers belonged to MU).
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They may have had servers in the US, but their company was based out of Hong Kong, and they're not even US citizens.

The US tried to do the same thing with thepiratebay and fortunately failed massively.
 
Lazy slob that I am, I signed a bunch of online petitions (e.g. www.change.org, which is an interesting site for the indolent among us) and sent online letters to congresspersons.

Embarrassingly lazy, but something, I guess.:eek:
 
Nothing.

I'm also quite annoyed by all these sites telling me to contact my senator or representative. I don't have one. Some country specific coding would be nice.
 
Dagless said:
Nothing.

I'm also quite annoyed by all these sites telling me to contact my senator or representative. I don't have one. Some country specific coding would be nice.
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Well they are American sites, firstly. Secondly, you should be concerned about this as well, since it has implications across the world.
 
eric/ said:
They may have had servers in the US, but their company was based out of Hong Kong, and they're not even US citizens.

The US tried to do the same thing with thepiratebay and fortunately failed massively.
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Did TPB have servers in the US? Torrents are also a bit different since absolutely no copyrighted material is in the servers, whereas MU was a direct download service meaning that all the content was in their servers.
 
eric/ said:
Well they are American sites, firstly. Secondly, you should be concerned about this as well, since it has implications across the world.
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As that may be, telling me to contact people that I can't/don't care about me as a foreigner is a little annoying.

It doesn't affect me as my sites are SOPA friendly, apart from maybe a tiny boost in my sales from people who previously would only pirate my software.
 
Hellhammer said:
Did TPB have servers in the US? Torrents are also a bit different since absolutely no copyrighted material is in the servers, whereas MU was a direct download service meaning that all the content was in their servers.
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No they did not, but Americans still have access to the site ergo American material is being "stolen".

While MU may of have servers in the Us (no idea if they did or not), they were based out of Hong Kong. At the worst the US should have been able to close the US servers. Not go around the world arresting people.

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Dagless said:
As that may be, telling me to contact people that I can't/don't care about me as a foreigner is a little annoying.

It doesn't affect me as my sites are SOPA friendly, apart from maybe a tiny boost in my sales from people who previously would only pirate my software.
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Well there's your problem. You should be caring, since this doesn't just affect the United States, it affects the world.
 
eric/ said:
Well there's your problem. You should be caring, since this doesn't just affect the United States, it affects the world.
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Oh, I know. But beyond potentially shutting down legally grey (in the UK) TV torrent sites I visit it wouldn't affect my day to day browsing experience.
 
Dagless said:
Oh, I know. But beyond potentially shutting down legally grey (in the UK) TV torrent sites I visit it wouldn't affect my day to day browsing experience.
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Maybe not now, but it sets a dangerous precedent. One where the US government can just have sites shut down, including sites that aren't operated by Americans or on American soil, such as Megaupload. If you're not familiar with the recent case, the FBI detained 10 foreign nationals in a foreign country operating a site based in Hong Kong for breaking American law.
 
eric/ said:
But generally, you can't break laws in one country while living in another. I think it's Singapore where spitting chewing gum on the ground is illegal. Well if you do it in the US that doesn't mean that the Singapore police can fly out to the US and haul you back for breaking the law in Singapore.
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You obviously don't travel much, every UN country practices the ability to remove one from a country to try them in another, if they broke the law in that country. It is called extradition....it is not the same thing as spitting out gum in the US and getting in trouble in Singapore for it. It is more along the lines of a tourist from the US spitting gum out in Singapore, getting caught by cops, and then getting extradited for it when he tries to flee any fines he gotten by trying leave while "under the radar"

For example, when I ride the train in France without a pass or ticket, I get a fine, if I didn't pay that fine before I left to the US, I could be extradited back to France and jailed. (Not that they would waste police time on that, but it is saying they had the ABILITY to)...BTW, I didn't evade the fare, its just an example..I follow all local laws and customs pretty well whenever I am in a foreign country

Its pretty important, as you don't want some guy from Europe coming to the US to be a serial killer, and then going back with no punishment.

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Shrink said:
Lazy slob that I am, I signed a bunch of online petitions (e.g. www.change.org, which is an interesting site for the indolent among us) and sent online letters to congresspersons.

Embarrassingly lazy, but something, I guess.:eek:
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That is actually all I ask :). Thanks for helping to support the cause!

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eric/ said:
They may have had servers in the US, but their company was based out of Hong Kong, and they're not even US citizens.

The US tried to do the same thing with thepiratebay and fortunately failed massively.
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They have servers on US Soil, which are breaking US laws, see my quotes above for examples. It is illegal. I don't condone SOPA, but I don't condone piracy either. It would have been fine if they didn't try to sell their Premium Accounts. THey are making money off of other people's work.

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Dagless said:
Nothing.

I'm also quite annoyed by all these sites telling me to contact my senator or representative. I don't have one. Some country specific coding would be nice.
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You can just sign the petitions in that case.
 
eric/ said:
No they did not, but Americans still have access to the site ergo American material is being "stolen".

While MU may of have servers in the Us (no idea if they did or not), they were based out of Hong Kong. At the worst the US should have been able to close the US servers. Not go around the world arresting people
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MU had servers in the US and that's also what gave the US the right to act. Also, FBI didn't travel to NZ. The local police handled the arrest as per US's request. That is done everyday around the world.

Though the company is based in Hong Kong and Dotcom was living in New Zealand, some of the alleged pirated content was hosted on leased servers in Virginia, and that was enough for U.S. prosecutors to act.
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http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/indu...-pirated-content-hosted-on-u-1005937752.story

dontwalkhand said:
It would have been fine if they didn't try to sell their Premium Accounts. THey are making money off of other people's work.
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They would still have been breaking copyright laws, even if the service was totally free. Of course, money drew the interest of the companies because they might actually be able to pay something.
 
eric/ said:
So in other words:

American government arresting foreign nationals in a foreign company for breaking American laws.
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If you commit a murder in a country and then move out, you can still be brought back and put under trial. Megaupload's servers were in America, therefore they were committing a crime in America, whether you currently live there or not.
 
roadbloc said:
If you commit a murder in a country and then move out, you can still be brought back and put under trial. Megaupload's servers were in America, therefore they were committing a crime in America, whether you currently live there or not.
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Murder is illegal universally so it's not equivalent.
 
eric/ said:
Maybe not now, but it sets a dangerous precedent. One where the US government can just have sites shut down, including sites that aren't operated by Americans or on American soil, such as Megaupload. If you're not familiar with the recent case, the FBI detained 10 foreign nationals in a foreign country operating a site based in Hong Kong for breaking American law.
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I'm fully aware of recent events. And in the case of Megaupload - servers were based in America.

dontwalkhand said:
You can just sign the petitions in that case.
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An internet petition isn't worth the paper its printed on.
 
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