*Update 21 Jan 2012:
Original post, 20 Jan 2012:
Please read the letter on the subject of the proposed bills in the US Congress, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA):
If you think that the laws concering what is copyrighted and what is not are simple, think again:
Copyright protection against piracy is a vital and important issue to corporations, creators and many others, and one that I support. It does appear, though, that Congress needs to further engage the discussion on this issue. While my confidence in politicians often wavers, my confidence in humanity, when propelled by steadfast inspiration to overcome perceived obstacles and arrive at positive solutions, is unyielding.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader, announced via Twitter that the vote would be delayed.
But he indicated that the issue, which had been scheduled for a vote Tuesday, had not died. "There's no reason that legitimate issues raised about Protect IP can't be resolved," he wrote, referring to the Senate bill by its shorthand name. "Counterfeiting & piracy cost 1000s of jobs yearly. Americans rightfully expect to be fairly compensated 4 their work."
Please read the letter on the subject of the proposed bills in the US Congress, Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA):
While reading, consider that these laws will affect not only artists and creators, but all users of the Internet. Due to the wording of these laws, it has been suggested that:
You could possibly be found guilty of a criminal act and/or have your profile or a whole website deleted if you do, for example, something like upload a video to YouTube of your child dancing to music that happens to be playing in the background in your home, or if you unknowingly link to a website accused of copyright infringement—without due process of the law. These laws would go beyond simple enforcement of the law, but place the policing and judging of website users' activities into the hands of coporations, domain servers and websites, as entire websites could be shut down for any user's unauthorized activity. That would mean legitimate users of these sites could be deprived of their profiles and online property, as well.
You could possibly be found guilty of a criminal act and/or have your profile or a whole website deleted if you do, for example, something like upload a video to YouTube of your child dancing to music that happens to be playing in the background in your home, or if you unknowingly link to a website accused of copyright infringement—without due process of the law. These laws would go beyond simple enforcement of the law, but place the policing and judging of website users' activities into the hands of coporations, domain servers and websites, as entire websites could be shut down for any user's unauthorized activity. That would mean legitimate users of these sites could be deprived of their profiles and online property, as well.
If you think that the laws concering what is copyrighted and what is not are simple, think again:
Congress may take books, musical compositions and other works out of the public domain, where they can be freely used and adapted, and grant them copyright status again, the Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.
- from: "Supreme Court Says Congress May Re-Copyright Public Domain Works" on wired.com, 18 Jan 2012
Copyright protection against piracy is a vital and important issue to corporations, creators and many others, and one that I support. It does appear, though, that Congress needs to further engage the discussion on this issue. While my confidence in politicians often wavers, my confidence in humanity, when propelled by steadfast inspiration to overcome perceived obstacles and arrive at positive solutions, is unyielding.
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