

SOPA: The End of the Internet as We Know it - sliggity
http://bostinno.com/2011/12/20/sopa-will-kill-the-internet/

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dangrossman
SOPA is a very bad thing. We've heard it every day for weeks here and
everywhere else techies hang out.

I'm sure I'm not alone in having already signed all the petitions, already
written to all my representatives, already spread the word to my personal
network so other people can do the same.

At this point, what can I do but watch it happen?

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Canada
I wish the music and film industries would just die already. They are nothing
but a drag on society.

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thebigshane
Okay I'm not going to attempt to support/defend SOPA but I have some serious
questions:

Why do all of these SOPA articles on HN fail to mention that this bill
specifically targets "foreign" sites?

They all mention a possible threat against youtube, facebook etc, but since
these are "domestic" sites aren't they excluded?

Is there a particular definition or qualification in the bill that I missed
that would widen the scope to include these existing sites?

(I do acknowledge that a potential youtube/facebook competitor overseas IS
affected by SOPA, so again, I'm not saying SOPA is good, as it should be
obvious it isn't. But lets bash it based on facts not conjecture or, worse,
emotion)

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zacharypinter
As I understand it, there are at least 3 different ways SOPA can affect a
person/company negatively:

1\. If your site gets targeted to be blocked.

2\. If you run an ISP and you have to manage the infrastructure to block
websites.

3\. If you develop a program that could be used to route around DNS blocks,
which SOPA would make illegal.

So, while targeting the bill at foreign sites lessens its impact for #1, which
is still bad, it does nothing to lessen the impact of #2 and #3.

~~~
thebigshane
Both #2 and #3 are addressed in the bill as well.
[http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/HR%203261%20Managers...](http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/HR%203261%20Managers%20Amendment.pdf)

For #2 see: No Duty to Monitor, No Technology Mandates and No Impact on
Security or Integrity in Section 2 Savings and Severability Clauses, and then
Service Providers in Section 102. My paraphrasing: Service Provider is not
required to actively monitor, design their service to "forestall or prevent
acts that would actually or potentially create a cause of action".

For #3 see: Enforcement of Orders in Section 102. My paraphrasing: Attorney
General may bring an action for "injunctive relief" against any product or
service that is designed or marketed for the purpose of enabling a domain name
affected by this act. I think MAFIAAfire and DeSOPA both apply here but a
general DNS cacher/sharer may not apply since they could be said to have
different purposes than just bypassing SOPA/ICE/ProtectIP.

So, yeah, some people can be affected negatively, but I think they have put in
some effort to address the issues you bring up while still being able to carry
out their mission of targeting foreign sites dedicated to infringing and
profiting off of copyrighted works.

I am not a lawyer, this is only my best attempt of explaining the bill which I
have read now a few times.

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synnik
A big sincere thank you to the author for giving concrete examples of why this
is bad, instead of general fearmongering and ranting.

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pan69
I'm no lawyer, by any means but this SOPA bill sounds to me like it's proposed
by either very naive or very devious people. Naive in the sense that this
whole SOPA thing seems to be wide open to abuse or devious in that this whole
SOPA thing seems to be wide open to abuse...

