News Can You Help Prevent the Internet Blacklist?

[MysticDude]

Okay so this is mainly for the people in the United States but people everywhere can help too. Please sign this petition in order to help save the Internet.

So a http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/coica has been proposed that can actually block any site that is "dedicated to infringing activity" that the court or an Attorney General puts on a list(two different lists, one for the court rulings and the other for the Attorneys). Any domain name that is put on the court list is required by the ISPs to be blocked. So YouTube, which has loads of songs that are infringing copyright, can be blocked. ThePirateBay(you know what I'm talking about) will surely be blocked and you can't do anything about it.NOTE: THIS WAS QUICKLY TYPED SO SOME THINGS MIGHT BE INCORRECT.

More about the Bill: http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/coica
The Bill itself: http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-3804
Petition:http://demandprogress.org/blacklist/?source=bb

Sorry if there is already another thread like this.
This isn't a world affair, but since it involves the govt. I thought it would fit here.

 

[Newai]

Reading over the text of the bill, I'm not so sure that Youtube qualifies as an "infringing website:"

(A) primarily designed, has no demonstrable, commercially significant purpose or use other than, or is marketed by its operator, or by a person acting in concert with the operator, to offer:

(i) goods or services in violation of title 17, United States Code, or enable or facilitate a violation of title 17, United States Code, including by offering or providing access to, without the authorization of the copyright owner or otherwise by operation of law, copies of, or public performance or display of, works protected by title 17, in complete or substantially complete form, by any means, including by means of download, transmission, or otherwise, including the provision of a link or aggregated links to other sites or Internet resources for obtaining such copies for accessing such performance or displays; or

(ii) to sell or distribute goods, services, or materials bearing a counterfeit mark, as that term is defined in section 34(d) of the Act entitled ‘An Act to provide for the registration and protection of trademarks used in commerce, to carry out the provisions of certain international conventions, and for other purposes’, approved July 5, 1946 (commonly referred to as the ‘Trademark Act of 1946’ or the ‘Lanham Act’; 15 U.S.C. 1116(d)); and

(B) engaged in the activities described in subparagraph (A), and when taken together, such activities are central to the activity of the Internet site or sites accessed through a specific domain name.[2]

http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-3804

 

[MysticDude]

Reading over the text of the bill, I'm not so sure that Youtube qualifies as an "infringing website:"


http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=s111-3804

Maybe YouTube was a bad example, but what about RapidShare, MegaUpload, and 4Shared. I've gotten my fair share of music from those sites. I've gotten some Android applications that I should have paid for from 4Shared, so those sites might as well be lost too. I don't want those sites to go. To some people they see this as a good thing, but the Internet is the only free place that I know.

 

[CRGreathouse]

I think a person could have reason to worry that it would qualify under 2324a 2 A (i) as "enable or facilitate", even if they might not believe that it should.

Also relevant is Australia's blacklist, which while much narower in ostensible focus was used for general censorship purposes beyond that allowed by statute, see e.g.:
http://www.uberreview.com/2009/03/w...-internet-blacklist-says-about-censorship.htm

 

[Newai]

Maybe YouTube was a bad example, but what about RapidShare, MegaUpload, and 4Shared. I've gotten my fair share of music from those sites. I've gotten some Android applications that I should have paid for from 4Shared, so those sites might as well be lost too. I don't want those sites to go. To some people they see this as a good thing, but the Internet is the only free place that I know.

I don't see file hosts as qualifying, either. But there are many, many forums and hosts that don't just offer file hosting; they encourage the sharing of cracked software and other pirated media.

BTW, the library is almost a free place. I paid fifty cents for a card.

Maybe YouTube was a bad example

It's an example from one of the links you posted.

 

[skeptic2]

Once a site appears on the list, how long will it take owner to change its name and URL? It seems to me that this bill will do little more than perpetuate a game of cat and mouse.

 

[MysticDude]

Once a site appears on the list, how long will it take owner to change its name and URL? It seems to me that this bill will do little more than perpetuate a game of cat and mouse.

The only thing is that, it's not blocking IPs, the bill is blocking domain names. And to answer your question with another question, how will that person tell his/her visitors about the new site? I understand what you are saying though, and considering that the blacklist is public, this will most likely be like Tom and Jerry, where Jerry is the domain and Tom is the court :D

 

[Office_Shredder]

I enjoy stealing stuff online as much as the next person, but I think I'll find a way to live without it

 

[MysticDude]

I enjoy stealing stuff online as much as the next person, but I think I'll find a way to live without it

What if this gets out of hand the court starts to block sites that go against the US, or things that the US just doesn't want the public to know about? Then what?

 

[Newai]

What if this gets out of hand the court starts to block sites that go against the US, or things that the US just doesn't want the public to know about? Then what?

Didn't they already try that with the Afghan Diary?

 

[Evo]

Violating copyrights, illegal downloads, offering cracked software is ILLEGAL and VIOLATES Physics Forums guidelines.

From our guidelines

Copyright Guidelines:
Copyright infringement is illegal. Physics Forums will enforce the law. Never post an article in its entirety. When posting copyrighted material, please use small sections or link to the article. When posting copyrighted material please give credit to the author in your post.

Solicitations for copyrighted materials of any form will not be permitted. Advertisement of locations where copyrighted materials may be obtained will not be permitted.

DO NOT ask for or post links to sites offering these services.