[Crazy_Ivan80]

Hack the Matrix is what I say...

euhm, now they're after me!

*runs*

[Stryke 9]

Actually, you'd better believe they WILL be able to enforce it. It'll be yet another "political" crime, like marijuana laws, that exist largely so that cops can convieniently round up dissidents and other annoying characters and put them in prison for a long, long time without ever admitting to the real reason they're doing it. Something the Bush government really wants, in fact needs, now. Since it's virtually impossible not to violate it (file sharing? As in, what HLP was founded on? Abandonware? Perhaps you wouldn't be affected, but I know a good thousand HOTUers who would), if you have an opinion that differs from the government-approved one and say so, you're basically screwed. Someone had a petition out a while ago; I'll see if I can find it. But let me just say that, should this thing pass... you're ****ed, you're ****ed, and YOU'RE ****ed. I'm certainly ****ed, unless I can get out of the country somehow, which I plan to do as soon as possible...

[Unknown Target]

But democracy was founded on the people, so, if [enough] people say no to this, then they can't do it, without defying our constitutional rights.
Now, they can ignore this, but too many ppl. file share, up to and including the heavy players, like M$, Redhat, and the others.
I mean, that's what makes this country great! So, if this happens, there'll be so many demonstrations, your head'll spin!


Or, well, Americans will stay complacent, lazy, etc.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm just an optimist:(

[Stryke 9]

Er...

1. America is not a democracy
2. Like marijuana, any legal protest will be dismissed as the product of so many criminal ultra-leftist creeps, and ignored by the public. Any real protest will result in the arrests of leading demonstrators.

[wEvil]

well..to go all philosophical -

theres a sortof balance between what corporates/govornments and insitutions want and what individuals want.

Obviously you cant please everyone all the time but its my honest feeling the former are being "pleasured" far more than the latter.

Time to rip the system and get that pendulum swinging the other way, IMO.

[mikhael]

Originally posted by Unkown Target
But democracy was founded on the people, so, if [enough] people say no to this, then they can't do it, without defying our constitutional rights.
Now, they can ignore this, but too many ppl. file share, up to and including the heavy players, like M$, Redhat, and the others.
I mean, that's what makes this country great! So, if this happens, there'll be so many demonstrations, your head'll spin!


Or, well, Americans will stay complacent, lazy, etc.
I don't know.
Maybe I'm just an optimist:(

If you're implying the USA is a democracy, you're not an optimist, you're grossly misinformed. We are a republic, a representative democracy. We do not vote on our laws. We elect people to vote on those laws. Unfortunately, a republican system requires that the elected body be advised by its constituents. Guess which constituents are able to do the most advising by 'virtue' of the fact that they have more money? Corporations and organisations of corporations.

People like the RIAA and MPAA have ridiculous amounts of money to throw around and pressure legislation like this onto the floor of Congress. Not content to milk you and me and everyone else for 2600% profit on CD or DVD we buy, now they wish to ensure that profit by removing our ability to do legitimate things on the grounds that we MAY do illegitimate things.

[delta_7890]

...Don't get me started on the government...I'll only end up using bad words that hurt children's ears.  

[an0n]

And you peeps wonder why I like anarchy so much.

I hope that the bill goes through. It'll bring to light just how readily computer users will fight for free information and how far they're willing to go. Anything like Linux would immediately become based in another country. And 3 months before the first copy protection system is available to the public it will have been ripped to pieces and patches will be available for all afflicted machines. Things like this can only help to illustrate just how easy it is to get people who know nothing about each other to stand side by side and fight American oppression.

To Summarise: Anything like this acts copy protection thingy would be ass raped before release and would only show how superior the internet people are to the government peeps.

[Mr. Vega]

I get the feeling Democracy is dying (very slowly) in America.

Dictatorship->Revolution->Democracy->Dictatorship->Revolution->Democracy

In a place like America the deterioration is inevitable. People take freedom for granted and do not oppose moves by the government toward a dictatorship. I don't think in Britan there are many people who want power like the corporations in America do, or have the influence over officials the way Mega-Cs do.

If they pass this, it will be like prohibition all over again. Everybody will violate it, even the people who made it. And I bet you internet crime will rise.

In other words, HLP the modding speakeasy!

[CP5670]

And 3 months before the first copy protection system is available to the public it will have been ripped to pieces and patches will be available for all afflicted machines.

Exactly. Not only that, but just about everyone will use these patches and cracks. The police can't round up the whole nation, even if they had some way of detecting who was using the patches and who was not. (remember what happened when they tried to ban certain drugs in the 1930s?)

I think you all are making too much of a big deal of this issue; the chances of this bill actually passing are next to nil. Every nation has its idiots and quacks; the US has this man Hollings. They usually make a lot of ruckus temporarily without actually getting anywhere, and after a while they lose whatever little support they had and pass out of history. Yeah, this law can be enforced if they put vast amounts of money into doing so, but with this anti-terrorism surge, the government has other things on its list of priorities. If corporations were actually supporting this, then I would be more worried, as they have the money to bribe politicians. It seems that many corporations are against this as well, though, since they would have to re-engineer all of their existing hardware and software, which would cost some money. As it stands now, there is not much to worry about in my opinion.

[Mr. Vega]

Microsoft vs. Blizzard

Intel vs. Sierra

Now thats something I'd pay money to see.

[Grey Wolf]

Nah, more like this:
Republic -> Revolution -> Dictatorship -> Multiple Revolutions -> Fragmented City-states and regional dictatorships/monarchies, all vying for control of natural resources

[Mr. Vega]

Originally posted by Grey Wolf 2009
Nah, more like this:
Republic -> Revolution -> Dictatorship -> Multiple Revolutions -> Fragmented City-states and regional dictatorships/monarchies, all vying for control of natural resources

->war->Democracy(Republic)->(war->)Dictatorship

Who needs Word Association when you've got this!

[CP5670]

Lets put it in there! You can link just about anything to any other thing in that thread anyway...

[Mr. Vega]

Lets hope you're sarcastic

[mikhael]

Originally posted by CP5670

I think you all are making too much of a big deal of this issue; the chances of this bill actually passing are next to nil. Every nation has its idiots and quacks; the US has this man Hollings. They usually make a lot of ruckus temporarily without actually getting anywhere, and after a while they lose whatever little support they had and pass out of history

If corporations were actually supporting this, then I would be more worried, as they have the money to bribe politicians.

Yeah, but see, Hollings is just one of several Senators behind this bill in this form. it used to be SSSCA before it became this lovely little piece of tripe.

As for the corporations, it DOES have corporate backing. Time-Warner backed it at one point (And may still), DISNEY is behind it, and the RIAA and MPAA are behind it. We're not talking about little people here. We're talking about the most of your large media companies with interest/holdings/money in the United States.

They do have the money. They got the DMCA through, didn't they? Besides anything else, in this era of paranoia and the government being rather pro-corporation right now AND the government being quite willing to pass half-considered draconian bull**** measures (PATRIOT act anyone), yeah, I am very much worried that **** like this will pass.

[HeX]

Ahhh yes...only in America.
*waves Canadian flag*

[Blue Lion]

www.standonguard.com

 People are not that nice without planning something....Be very wary of Canadia



 and yes I know

[Bobboau]

I'm not too worried, Mocrosoft is against this, and MS will kidnap Disney's CEO's family, hack the MPAA bank acound, buy the RIAA, and plant a nuke in the senit's floor, for once I'm happy that mosnter is still lose. I mean there is no way even all the media companys combind could stand in an all out war againsed MS, I mean that would be like the USA vs Iraq, and we all know how that will end.
if you're realy worried about it wright to you're congressman, organise a million nerd march, or better yet call Bill O'reily, he hates the government-corperation aliance, and he loves finding some major story the other news networks won't run becase there under there parent companies thumb,
anything to make himself and\or FoxNews look better.

[Stryke 9]

Mmm... no luck with the petitions today. I'll try later.

And can we stop using the word democracy until we have the slightest understanding of what it means? There have been semi-democratic governments- the US government is not one, nor does the government claim to be one, except through the mouths of fools and propogandists. See, I actually used to believe in the idea of installing a democratic movement, but gave it up because it's simply impossible to set up through revolution, and no government's gonna hand over power to the people of its own accord. Suffice it to say, you can safely rule out anything that's happened since a few hundred years BC outside of some experimental utopian colonies who got obliterated by the government and several other aggressors as being democratic. Including the Democratic party, anyone who uses the phrase "preserving democracy", etc.