Talk:SOPA

Is what they want
this? 212.85.6.26 (talk) 16:46, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
 * Only the most extreme and stupid.--il&#39;Dictator Mikal (talk) 16:51, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
 * What botheres me the most about all these attempted laws, is there is no evidence (in fact, quite the contrary) that film and music industry is losing money via pirating. Economic studies consistently show that people are spending as much (even in the recession) on flims and music as they have in the last 10 years.  they are going to less movies, and buying less cds, but that's cause teh cost has gone up.  Also, study after study shows that people most often pirate things they would never have bought in the first place.  "there's this song from the 80's that I remember dancing to, and i like to hear it now and then to remind myself how silly I was.  But I'd never buy any album for it, cause it's just nostalga. I'd wait till it came out on a radio or something".  "I heard this song on House, and wanted to see what the album was like".  That said, there is one industry which is seriously hurt by pirating, and that is software.  Cause people who know how to pirate, do actually use computers and the software for computers, and know how to get it.  Oddly, they don't complain nearly as much as movies or music industry.  [[Image:Pink mowse.png|25px]]Godot    Dear god, fucking grow up 16:56, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
 * this picture comes to mind...; but yah; they aren't losing that much, but theres the logic of "well, HOW MUCH MONEY COULD WE MAKE if they weren't stealing some of it and not buying!"--il&#39;Dictator Mikal (talk) 17:04, 20 January 2012 (UTC)
 * I download lots of tv. especially BBC - some of it illegally, most of it streaming.  I download (legally if i can) or go to the library to try any CD before I buy it.  Since much of what I like comes from europe, I tend to have to dl it first, rather than library.  I do download illegally lots of french movies, cause they are not available in the states, even from netsites.  but i've never downloaded software, and I still buy the same 10-20 cd/dvds per year.  I'm neither ashamed or guilty about my habits, except for the BBC stuff.  I do wish i could "payment in lieu of taxes", since I don't pay british taxes.  :(  [[Image:Pink mowse.png|25px]]Godot    Dear god, fucking grow up 17:12, 20 January 2012 (UTC)

Is the idea of stopping internet piracy bad?
Just to clear things up before anyone says anything, I do not support SOPA in its current form. In its current form, SOPA would make it very difficult for sites like Youtube to operate.

However, I feel as if parts of the internet are rejecting the idea of stopping internet piracy at all. Remember that the internet is just a tool, and Congress does not need to guarantee it to all Americans. The issue of piracy, however, is a matter of interstate and international commerce. Congress is not only allowed to regulate it, but is actually required to as one of their duties.

I'm not going to be making any major edits to this page, but I'd just like to know what others think. Mr. Anon (talk) 04:14, 28 April 2012 (UTC)


 * Ignoring the fact that Internet piracy is almost always a red herring when it comes to anything dealing with the internet, it is good to stop it. The problem being that internet piracy is basically the digital drug trade. Just with less people being jackhammered with AKMs. --Revolverman (talk) 04:18, 28 April 2012 (UTC)
 * I thought the Digital Drug Trade was bitcoins. -- il' Dictator   Mikal  04:21, 28 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Thats the digital "I don't want my money anymore, please take it" Trade. --Revolverman (talk) 04:23, 28 April 2012 (UTC)
 * So just because something is difficult to stop means we shouldn't ban it? Surely laws should be based off of a principle opposition to something, rather than for the utilitarian outcome. Mr. Anon (talk) 04:30, 28 April 2012 (UTC)
 * But you also have to take into account the effort spent to Gain. If the former heavily exceeds the latter, you should probably find a new path.-- il' Dictator   Mikal  04:31, 28 April 2012 (UTC)
 * A good point. However, internet piracy as it is, which is vastly underchecked, can cost businesses billions. I personally have friends who have torrented $400 of music, along with the entirety of Skyrim. As the internet gets larger, the distribution of products like these will have to be more and more checked. If you were a music maker, and the entire internet has free access to your music, then you won't get any compensation for your hard work.
 * Bills like SOPA and PIPA go too far, of course. But that doesn't mean we should completely drop this issue. Mr. Anon (talk) 04:40, 28 April 2012 (UTC)
 * Oh really?--Revolverman (talk) 04:42, 28 April 2012 (UTC)
 * I knew beforehand that a much higher number often cited had been debunked, so I decided a more conservative "billions" number. Mr. Anon (talk) 04:54, 28 April 2012 (UTC)
 * That's still meaningless. Just saying "Billions are being lost" doesn't say a damn thing. How are they being lost? People not buying what they pirate? How do we know that everyone who pirated something would have bought it if net piracy never existed? Lost potental jobs? How do you quantify that? See what I mean? --Revolverman (talk) 05:03, 28 April 2012 (UTC)

Where does this goat belong?
So the creator of The Oatmeal created a gif about SOPA that was featured on CNN. A gif with a koala humping a goat. Does this belong anywhere here? CorruptUser (talk) 17:48, 23 May 2017 (UTC)

Politics question
Most politicians have 'advisers, aides and others', and look up things/play computer games while in the debating chamber etc: if such legislation were introduced and enforced how long before 'the whole caboodle' get paralytically entangled in the legislation (whether or not helped by 'ingenious people' trying to put spanners in their works)? Anna Livia (talk) 18:52, 10 December 2018 (UTC)

"Although non-commercial file sharing is a serious problem"
How is this a "serious problem"? I know the statement has a fact template after it, but I also find that general claim really hard to swallow especially since "non-commercial file sharing" isn't defined at all and can mean literally everything you upload on the Internet. 18:46, 17 August 2019 (UTC)