US Senate tries to take us back to the Dark Ages

The average foreign citizen- except North Korea - likely knows more about the US than the average US citizen knows about other countries. The internet is not US territory and is not subject to US law.

SOPA and PIPA will not “restore rule of law to a frontier” - this is not the US Wild West!

The problem is not the internet, it’s what people do with it. It’s just a fast international mail system that doesn’t handle parcels. When stolen property is sent by mail you don’t jail the letter carrier or shoot the tires out on the mail truck. You try to catch the thief or the recipient or both, and lock up your valuables properly.


Gawd, Stumble, it's even worse than I thought . . . but if it happens like that how long would it take the rest of the World to set up data paths around the US? Most of the hardware is made in China these days after all. Wouldn't that tend to leave the US as a backwater in the affairs of Mankind as I wrote earlier?

 

Ancient,

The problem is that large portions of the major Internet Structure are still based in the US. S for instance if you are in Argentina, and want to connect to a European site that data flows through the US. Or if you are in Australia and want to connect to a site in Japan, about 80% of the bandwidth runs Aus-California-Japan. The same is pretty much true for the rest of the world, with the exception of Europe that has a pretty good internal system, But Europe to pretty much anywhere even including Africa And most of Asia runs thought the US.

It is certainly possible that new bandwidth could be added, but the types of major fiber optic trucks that are neccessary are not cheap, nor are they fast to place. And many of the manufacturers are either owned by US companies, or would like to do business with US companies. Since SOPA also had provisions that make it illegal to engage in behavior that might act to circumvent SOPA and it's DNS issues there is real concern that suppliers of fiberoptic cable could be in violation of the law if their cable is used to transport US owned IP content.

This really is a problem facing the entire world, since the US is the defacto regulator of the Internet, and this new law would effectively handcuff the Internet anywhere. I really am serious when I say, even if you are a non-us citizen, contact your government and raise concerns about SOPA. It will effect your Internet availability too.

A simple map of Internet bandwidth worldwide and how it interconnects. http://www.sankey-diagrams.com/a-world-internet-bandwith-sankey/

 

This is mildly worrying, mildly amusing for me. The thing I have a problem with is a group of people with enough money to buy a medium-sized country (ie. Hollywood etc.) whining about a few pirated copies of films. We had this a while back with DRM, as well. Same "problem" different solution. I can't see why the studios don't buy some servers and provide the films for $1 each online. Given that major causes of piracy are availability and cost, why not remove the causes.

Interestingly, the internet is not a "lawless frontier". If anything it's a loose collection of idiots who post sensitive data and then try to nail the user for downloading it. It's simple really, if you're IP is that important. Don't tell anybody what it is. If you wish to mark IP as your own (as in the case of open source software) use a revision control mechanism as proof of what was uploaded and when.

In terms of copyrighted data, the correct way to handle it is to link to the original content. I think most content-owners will be happy for you to use it, as long as it is attributed, and the meaning remains the same. Of course, asking them first is always good.

In the scientific arena, with published papers, it is acceptable to reference the paper.

The internet is so vast, that it is impossible to police. Targeted site removal from DNS isn't going to be the answer to reducing piracy, it'll just force a new DNS system.

Tim B.

 

As an addendum, of the 13 root DNS servers world wide (organizations, not locals), all of them would be subject to SOPA's banning requirement. With 3 of them being owned by the US government, and a fourth owned by a US college. The others may have some possibility of fracturing their service, but I couldn't track down easily the corporate owners of the organizations that run them.

But remember any company that wants to do business in the US at all will have to comply.


Also note, that I am not an Internet engineer, and so there may be some inaccuracies in the technology as I understand it.

 

Ok. Get Al Gore up here to invent a NEW internet since he claimed he invented the current one.

 

Blind cynicism is no more appealing or useful than blind faith. Use a little common sense: Obama has nothing to gain by promising to veto the laws, then signing them instead. But he has a lot to lose....

 

No. He didn't. What happened is that Gore's political opponents twisted what he had said, and falsely claimed he had claimed he invented the internet...

It went viral and is still stuck in people's heads, because a good soundbite will outlast the truth any day.

 

The SOPA/PIPA development may inspire an effort by other countries to establish independent capability even if it all falls through; it shows how US legislature think . . .

Some US leaders do not respect international law . . .

- already done and a request to do likewise distributed to all my contacts!

 

Why is it blind cynicism to mistrust Obama?

Maybe you can't, but I can imagine him buckling to pressure on SOPA and
offering a mealy-mouthed excuse for doing so. He might have nothing to gain
now, but it is still a long way to go before legislation lands on his desk.
(I can also imagine the miraculous situation where a Republican takes the
Presidency, promises to implement SOPA, and then doesn't.)

 

From algore's own lips, some braggadocio: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnFJ8cHAlco

 

dns is Hierarchical, own the root you then have control
not to mention check out who owns the undersea cables thats the 2nd part

 

The president and congress will barter positions on any topic. Obama in his campagn for president SWORE he'd end the war and bring the troops home. He said,"You can take that to the BANK!"
R..I..G..H..T!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WDwO1oVcsWw&feature=player_embedded

 

If anyone can file for copyright violations, one counterattack is for lots of people to file against the movie houses, recording companies and the like and get *them* cut off from the net. In fact, file against everyone with a popular web site and cause such chaos as to render the whole approach a farce.

Get in first as soon as the law passes (if it ever does).

There's more than 1 way to skin a cat.

PDW

 

It could probably be shown by facts and figures that there is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress. ~Mark Twain, Pudd'nhead Wilson's New Calendar, Following the Equator, 1897

 

well it seems to be game on with or without he legislation

first this

http://rt.com/usa/news/megaupload-shut-million-authorities-231/

and the response was this

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2399116,00.asp

so it might just be game on in the war on web surfing