Actually, when it comes to VPNs. It would be illegal to provide them, but not illegal to USE them, under that section of the bill. So those of you that use VPNs are not breaking any law, but the PROVIDERS of VPN services, or other circumvention tools, could be hauled into court. The USERS or such services are not subject to prosecution under this bill. I would not be surprised if the bill was amended to prosecute users as well.

i wonder how long it’s going to be before those here that keep advocating the need for this bill, how right it is and how it wont be abused, get hit themselves because a favorite web site has been blocked or they have had to remove a home video from youtube due to claims of infringement? how long before they start moaning about getting the very thing they want? how long before they start complaining about ‘the internet is broken! how can it be fixed? how long will it take?’ will they then have the guts to admit how wrong they were? of course not! once a blind, self-centered idiot, always a blind, self-centered idiot!

Additional countermeasures are now being developed and deployed.

This was in reply to Bob above.

“But they’ll decide whether you have a valid complaint.”

In other words, they’ll give you the chance to prove that you’re innocent. If they feel like it.

RIP Internet 1969 – 2011

Are laws like this that make me more and more sympathetic to outlaws.

And of course, it makes me all warm and fuzzy to know that I rip off the industry every chance I get(they would do it to me if they could) and I will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

sssshhhh, you are shattering worldviews

“Of course we have trials for murders but they come after the murderers are arrested and put in jail.”

To the extent this happens it’s to deter the alleged murder from running off to another country before being detained and tried. But that doesn’t apply here, it’s not like a building of hard drives is suddenly going to run away. Seizing a domain doesn’t prevent a building from running away.

“If you think about it, having a “trial” before hand is just as much a pain. An accusation forces you to hire a lawyer.”

But, in the mean time, you don’t have to shut down your potentially legitimate operations.

“We only put people in jail when there is a belief that they might flee or interfere with the investigation and trial.”

and, usually, a court order is issued before they are detained before a trial. There are exceptions, like if someone commits a crime and is actively fleeing from an officer, then they maybe restrained upon being caught. But that doesn’t apply here.

“The cops gather evidence and arrest you. Then you get to plea bargain or put up a fight.”

They can’t just arrest you; they have to put you on trial. This is more like them arresting you and you having to sue the government in order to prove your innocence.

Simple, all the providers will operate from outside the United States, where US authorities have no jurisdiction.

I think that Bitcoins could also be illegal under this law. After all, sites that are cut off from US payment processors could simply to turn bitcoins for payment.

If you have bought bitcoins for investment purposes, I think you better cash your investment out now before they become illegal.

Would this put liability on things like MAFIAAfire? It sure sounds like it:

I think they might be able (and intending) to use that to shut down OpenDNS. (Or any DNS server that doesn’t comply with their demands.)

Learn to read, dickhead. I said they can’t just arrest you and leave it at that. The US Constitution gives people the right to a speedy trial. This means the government must either try you or let you go free. You don’t have to prove that you are innocent, and you don’t have to sue in order to do so.

I know like, why shouldn’t that drug dealer be allowed to keep working his corner till his trial is over. wtf, maaaaaaan.

“While I am not able to provide cause and effect, have you considered that the current worldwide economic crisis seems to match up really well with an increase in piracy and other under the table online activities?”

HAHAHA Oh my, you are funny.

shhh, don’t tell him. He’s more entertaining the more clueless he is.

Good point. I’ve noticed how stories relating to copyright, the Internet, ProtectIP and other similar laws always seem to attract every single one of the shills like yourself to post here.
Oh dear, how revealing of your position. Maybe you shouldn’t have mentioned it, you know, for your own sake.

I see this bill…and all I say is….
WHAT THE F*CK AM I SEEING!

dead trees, many dead trees.

” everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts” and here they are:

Regardless of your opinion of them, the content industries produce something that is valuable and desirable to consumers. If this were not the case you wouldn’t be so up in arms about the prospect of losing access to their content. content creators put in hard work and financial resources to develop this content under the premise that they will see a return on this investment. When they do, they have an incentive to produce more content and we all benefit as a result.

high-quality content is one of the primary drivers of the Internet. People dont pay the high cost of a broadband connection to watch dog on
skateboard videos.

All this bill says is that legitimate US companies that are part of the Internet ecosystem should have some obligation to stop organized criminal enterprises from exploiting the anonymous and borderless nature of the Internet to rob content creators of income they rightly deserve. It does not criminalize end users, it just attempts to make it more difficult for them to steal and encourages them to seek legitimate distribution platforms, of which there are currently numerous and that number is growing every day. Many of them in fact offer content for free. Sorry if you have to watch some ads.

If you believe that piracy should be legal then I can understand why you would object to this bill. But please be honest about it and stop trying to obfuscate your true motives by pretending that this is the first mile on the road toward US totalitarianism.

“Masnick has been asked repeatedly to post receipts for his music and movie purchases, which he would keep for tax purposes.”

Forget about his, what about yours? Seriously douche, where are your receipts of the music and movies you’ve payed for?
Post them, or admit to stealing from artists right now and be done with them.

Yes, you can move to China or Russia. BTW, what skills do you have?

The bill too long. I didn’t read it. So if this is spelled out in the bill then I apologize to those of you who took the time to read the bill. But…

How exactly do they think they are going to protect me from myself? If they have my ISP remove the offending website from their DNS server then I’ll just use another DNS server in another country. If they have my ISP do some sort of packet inspection and then not forward along packets from the offening website then I simple use one of the many anonymizing service. I could even use TOR and select another country as my exit point.

Unfortunately, it seems they won’t.

Think about this: songs I created and recorded are owned by someone else. I essentially get no money for my work even though it sells. I hope all distribution companies get robbed blind and that every one involved in the industry becomes disfigured cripples.

No I have to go out by some tuna to eat.

You obviously don’t understand the proposed bill. There’s no action taken against the site. Only against US based enablers from servicing the website. There’s a huge difference between that and the goofy “innocent until proven guilty” or bail/bond example you’ve proffered.

As repugnant as it is to the 1st Amendment, the US government isn’t stopping with just blocking access to foreign sites. We’ve seen several cases just in the last few months where the US has pressed for extradition for *criminal charges*– they want to arrest foreign nationals and lock them up in the US– because they didn’t obey US law while in their own country(s).

In other words, what they did was perfectly legal in their own country but Uncle Sam is trying to have them arrested and shipped back over here to serve prison time because they didn’t obey US law, even though every principle of international law says they had no obligation to do so.

There are a number of narcotics-producing countries where conspiracy is not a crime. Yet drug lords from these countries are routinely charged with conspiracy to import drugs into the US, conspiracy to launder money etc. And yet they’ve never set foot in the US. This is the same legal theory. It’s tested, it’s proven and it meets all Constitutional challenges. Forward your address, I’ll ship you a box of hankies.

Occupy Wall Street needs to protest something specific, like these outrageous laws that the entertainment industry keeps on passing.

Then why don’t you put on some patchouli oil and hit the streets with your “Down With PROTECT IP ACT” sign and catch a face full of mace for your trouble? Oh, that’s right. It’s easier to snivel here on Techdirt.

If you have bought bitcoins for investment purposes, I think you better cash your investment out now before they become illegal.

Bitcoins is a scam. A private fiat currency? It’s almost as safe as investing in Zimbabwe. Isn’t Bitcoin off about 90% from its high?

“If you pirated a copy of a member of Congress, you’d get the exact same quality as the original.”

But with added porn ads

I keep trying to click on ‘pure bullshit’ but you apparently forgot to add the hyperlink to something, anything that backs up your claim. You know, like the post you’re responding to did.

And once again, the tl;dr version:

I don’t like Mike or his opinion, so I’ll misrepresent everything he stands for in order to further my agenda/my paymaster’s agenda/my own stupidity int he hopes that it’ll catch on.* This will use as many logical fallacies as is poosible in order to deflect from my own shortcimings/my master’s short-sightedness/a refusal to adapt to a changing marketplace (c.f. banks)*

* delete as appropriate.

You still end up with the same problem: Where did the content come from? Nobody is suggesting anyone “lug” around a CD collection. Since the music wasn’t magically appearing on the MP3 player from nowhere, it was coming from somewhere. They stopped buying and started pirating.

When trying to make the comparison between Blockbuster and Netflix, and trying to put it next to Itunes, you miss a few key points: Even with Itunes sales, the amount of recorded music purchased has dropped significantly – yet the consumption is way up. In movies, you saw a shift in consumption from one type of legal service to another, but consumption didn’t go down (in fact, with netflix, it is suggested that overall legal consumption has gone up). Itunes sales are still a drop in the bucket compared to what has been lost in the period since Napster came along. You can blame X or Y or Z, but in the end, the one common thread is piracy.

Hellfire missiles are outfitted with shaped charges, devices intended for and necessary to penetrate the types of targets for which it was originally developed…tanks and other armored vehicles.

An apartment building is not on its list of suitable targets, and to try and use it as such would be a waste of time.

You must have it confused with another munition such as a laser guided bomb.

You are seriously out of touch….

The current economic crisis ‘seems to match up really well with an increase in piracy and other under the table online activities’….. Seriously?

How about…

The current economic crisis seems to match up really well with the recent increases in the governments disregard it’s citizens civil rights in preference of corporations profits, and the excessive law suits and lobbying actions taken by the **AA’s that have sucked BILLIONS of dollars out of the useful economy and dumped it into the lawyers and corporate coffers…

Sounds more like reality to me, but then I’m not a Shiltroll…

Hate to be the one to break it to you, kid…

Under this bill, YOU YOURSELF are guilty. There is nothing you can do to prove your innocence.

You can act holier than thou as long as you want. Won’t save you once you’re accused.

You’re the worst troll techdirt has seen in a while.

I hope you get paid well for your soulless shilling.

Heck try to find season 6 of Stargate SG1 at a store.

http://www.amazon.com/Stargate-SG-1-Complete-Sixth-Season/dp/B000F8O2PG/ref=sr_1_13?ie=UTF8&qid=1319728734&sr=8-13

That wasn’t so hard! Unless by “store” you mean someplace I have to get in my car to visit.

“…pay for what you want to consume.”

Q.E.D. If I “pirate” a DVD or MP3, what have I “consumed”?

You don’t know what you’re talking about…. literally, you don’t understand the meaning of the words you’re typing.

dead wrong. they need to remain broad. the second you narrow demands, or whatever the MSM keeps asking for, you narrow those interested in making a change. keep it broad, keep it indefinite, keep it of we the people.

Ive said it a million times it feels like. If you have to ask what occupy wants, when it is gonna be over, etc, you have no clue what is going on, and have no real desire for the status quo to change. You have been watching the news, not following the action on twitter or in person. You are a listener, not someone who forms their own ideas and takes action.

What are they protesting and why?

A)the answer could well be any of the hundreds, if not thousands of grievances people have against their government for choosing to no longer represent their interests.

B)This movement WILL change our world, and you will watch it happen with out you. It has already changed more than I could have imagined.

its true. government sanctioned monopolies. do you deny it?

” Even with Itunes sales, the amount of recorded music purchased has dropped significantly – yet the consumption is way up.”

wanna know something funny? artists figured out that the myth you still believe, is in fact just that, a myth. They realized through traditional distribution systems and labels, they made about 3% per CD sold. Distribute yourself, and you can get almost all the money yourself.

Better yet, do what many in the electronic music scene, and more recently, Immortal Technique do, release the album online for free, let it spread and be shared, and see WAY more profits from tours and shows.

but you know, what people are really paying for is a hunk of plastic and some vultures to mark it up and sell it to you. not the music.

naw, they did hellfire that building.

The major difference is that in order to lock someone up before a trial, you need to go before a neutral judge and get an arrest warrant. Then you need to have a hearing to decide if there’s enough evidence to hold them for prosecution at all. THEN you need to have ANOTHER hearing to decide whether they can get bail. At all stages, there is a judge involved, clearly defined legal procedures with strict protection for constitutional rights, a requirement for actual legitimate evidence and testimony being made under oath. At the later stages, the defendant gets to talk to the judge.

I’ve grown up as piracy has been an option. I have used Kazaa, Ares, IRC, and Azureus/Vuze for illegal purposes. I don’t anymore.

I have found legitimate and convenient alternatives to the stuff that I want to get most: music. Amazon MP3 is making so much money on me per paycheck it’s ridiculous. They give me no-DRM high-quality MP3s, a free cloud backup of all the music I buy (and anything I upload that I got from elsewhere [also legally]), and a really good selection.

I’m this younger generation you speak of. I don’t pirate, at all. It’s still an option for me, and I consider being legitimate and the “warm cushy feeling” of supporting the artist (I buy a good bit of indie) far more important.

And I find it a load of crap for you to say “back to a relationship between content producers and content consumers that is more healthy for both sides.” The content producers have been upping the DRM ante on their LEGITIMATE and LEGAL customers who are PAYING MONEY for over a decade now. The pirates don’t have to worry about such things, as has been hammered down time and time again. Why is a legitimate consumer of content treated like a criminal when the people actually breaking the law don’t have to worry about it at all? That’s Bass Ackwards logic at its finest.

These are the kinds of laws that our legislature wastes time on and that do nothing except protect lobbyists while bloating the rules that businesses have to keep track of.

No wonder people can’t find jobs in this country. Businesses can’t prosper while governments continue wrapping more nooses around their necks.

Are you suggesting that because Windows users could add resolved names/ip numbers into their hosts file, Microsoft may face a lawsuit? Microsoft should be quite concered that you have identified their premier OS is a tool for the circumvention of this fine law.

true, occupying an areas gonna do something. it has so far, hasn’t it? NOPE

Bout all I got to say about this.

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0YbaYXLzpDo/TrD7DqLiYvI/AAAAAAAAAFc/JMkOEYaDF9w/s500/Copy%252520of%252520EMPIAH.png

Honestly.

“Yes, but it does stop some infringement.”

and government tyranny does (allegedly) stop some crime. A lack of due process does (allegedly) stop some crime. That’s no excuse to instate a police state.

“Or are you one of those full bore creator haters”

False Dilemma. I suppose when you have no good arguments the most you can use are bad ones.

and this is (or at least should be) a civil matter (well, it ought not be illegal, but that’s besides the point), not a criminal matter. My next door neighbor can randomly sue me for my car, for no good reason whatsoever, just because he felt like it one day. My car doesn’t get taken from me without court order though. Or if someone sues a corporation or individual for money, that money doesn’t get taken from them without court order. You get to keep your money, that which may belong to you, until a judgement is held against you. Likewise, people should keep their website until a judgement is held against them.

You are the creator hater who doesn’t care about creators who post their material on Youtube. You want them, and service providers (who will pass its costs back down to everyone else or who may go out of business or avoid starting various services) to bear all the burden of having to prove that they aren’t infringing and to police content. That’s bad for creators who want to post their work on the Internet. All you care about are the IP holders, not the creators, because what you want is bad for creators. It’s bad for service providers which effectively makes it bad for the creators that want to use those services.