Today, Congress holds hearings on the first American Internet censorship system. This bill can pass. If it does, the Internet and free speech will never be the same. Join all of us to stop this bill.
- Website Blocking
- - The government can order service providers to block websites for infringing links posted by any users.
- Risk of Jail for Ordinary Users
- - It becomes a felony with a potential 5 year sentence to stream a copyrighted work that would cost more than $2,500 to license, even if you are a totally noncommercial user, e.g. singing a pop song on Facebook.
- Chaos for the Internet
- - Thousands of sites that are legal under the DMCA would face new legal threats. People trying to keep the internet more secure wouldn't be able to rely on the integrity of the DNS system.
As we all know, anything the Government gets their hands on, goes to complete shit. In the words of blogger Steve Suranovic:
"Private businesses are continually subjected to the vagaries of the market. While demand may grow steadily for long periods, unexpected shocks invariably hit from time to time. The 2008 recession is the latest episode of falling demand in a wide range of industries. The immediate effect for business is falling sales and reduced revenue. To remain in operation, businesses have no choice but to cut costs as quickly as possible. "
Just like the healthcare debate/bullshit, the government has it's own agenda, and it doesn't care about you, as an individual. This bill would do things to protect media that is stolen from motion picture companies and music labels, so it does have a good aim, although, I don't think the government should step in.
