Do you understand the details of this bill? If there is one item on a webPAGE that breaks the S.968 act rules then the entire SITE can be shut down. Also the government can then block that site from search engines so no one can visit that entire site again without already knowing the direct address. This is the same thing Americans criticized China for. The government has already agreed to block people from donating to Wikileaks because they want to end the funding they receive. This act puts America on the fast track to a police state when it comes to sharing information.

Also if one person uploads pirated content to a site the site can be held liable. No more Youtube or twitchtv. It is not only about protecting intellectual property. It is also about controlling information.

How could anyone support this? Unless you are getting your pockets lined with money from the recording industry that is.

Not only a significant breach of human rights, but would put institutionalize government censorship of the internet. Totally ridiculous and I’m shocked this bill has even been thought of in our so called “free” democracy.

the strong arm of the government to redirect traffic is something I’d expect to see coming out of China, not the land of the free.

Well, let me try and play devil’s advocate for this bill…

…

Nope, can’t do it. It won’t pass, and everyone should email their congressman to make SURE it doesn’t pass. The writer’s and supporters of this bill either do not understand it’s full ramifications, or are trying to push some sort of agenda. I’m sure they MEAN well enough, but honestly, their own families would break this law every day, were it to pass. Every single person in America would become an accidental felon.

Unless that’s what they are going for, in which case, shame on them!

It is not a win win for everyone. It is a win for record companies, but a loss for everyone who wants to use the internet without hassle and obstruction. Using

This bill is a joke. It wont pass. Even with companies like walmart backing it. This is a clear violation of freedom of self expression. If you are doing something to express your self artistically or for sheer entertainment value and not making money off of it then there is absolutely no way the law can step in. If this were to pass, which again…it wont. You can say good by to karaoke night at the local pub or American idol. There is to much money to be made illegally for the government to let this pass and the government knows that. Its more than likely just a distraction from something bigger to come down the road. Its nothing more than a Joke. A poorly executed one at that.

It’s a foot in the door to censorship. Government regulating internet browsers and search engines? Are you kidding me? It’s the responsibility of the content providers to adequately protect their intellectual property, not the strong arm of the federal government, and they have the ability to create the technology to do so. The federal government isn’t even supposed to have general police powers, according to the Constitution. Not that I would expect anyone who supports this bill to know anything about that, though.

This goes far beyond intellectual property protection, this would be disastrous allowing any agency to decide to shut down a site based on vague reports. then TAXPAYER money would be spent on enforcing this and finding ways to implement control of the internet and deal with every “infringing” site

this bill seems like a case of overstepping boundaries and having tunnel vision that would ultimately hurt intellectual property and the internet. this is not a sound solution.

Do you even know what you’re talking about? Say you make a video and post it on youtube. In it, you quote your favorite movie, maybe do an impression, just for fun. Or you sing a few bars from a song your kids taught you this morning.

Bam. You are now a felon.

You support that kind of control?

If it’s already illegal, why create another law? This bill is totally unnecessary, and causes a lot of damage to the internet that we today take for granted.

“In some cases, action could be taken to block sites without first allowing the alleged infringer to defend themselves in court.”

No, bad bill, everyone should have the right to defend themselves in court. One shouldn’t take down random sites because they are “dedicated to infringing activities”. The previous statement is also unclear on what exactly “Infringing Activities” are.

You know… people will find a way to steal or download whatever they want regardless of this bill. And simply because these organizations spend all their money suing people instead of protecting their content.

This is a giant waste of time. And only exists because some bean counter at some point said “No, we don’t need to spend more money securing the content”.

All those organizations who support this bill, and are giving hundreds of thousands of dollars to congress-people…
Spend that money making your organization SMARTER than the downloaders.

If I leave my garage open, and keys in the car EVERY NIGHT. Whats smarter, spending millions suing all the joy-riders, or closing the garage and buying a $10 masterlock?

Who wants to bet that piracy increases, and this bill adversely affects sites like YouTube if it passes?

Actually, I would say the opposite; if you don’t want it stolen, make it easily, legally accessible on the Internet. When it is very easy for users to buy something legally online, they will do so. Most users will only pirate content when it is easier and more convenient for them to do so than it is for them to legally purchase that content.

I was reading an article about Javascript security and code obfuscation, and the guy said something similar:

“No amount of security is going to protect your content/code on the internet. If you’re really wanting to protect your content, unplug your servers.”

As I have said, please oppose this bill at all costs!

There is the possibility that this Bill could destroy YouTube, Twitter, and other sites that rely on user-generated content.

I oppose bill S.968 one trillion percent.

The bill is bipartisan. But it is absolutely fascism.

It is absolutely disgusting that this sort of thing is even taken seriously and being considered.

Ever notice how it’s the INTERNET BASED COMPANIES that oppose this? Interesting.

Ever notice how they don’t bother to get the opinion of the public at all? Also interesting.

what? Did read the details? lets say one person post a video on YouTube that has copyrighted music in it. no longer does just that video come down, but the company who owns the rights to the video can both take down all of YouTube and block it from search engines. One person! You might not have watched it, most of the community might have not watched it but every one gets affected. Companies would have to the right to take down entire sites (the bill specifically states this) just for a piece of content or link to content posted on it. people here aren’t worried about piracy sites getting taken down but sights that let anyone post what they want on it. In-fact if some one were to span links to pirate sites on this very site, companies would have the right to take Opencongress.org down. A single person who is not actually affiliated with the site can take it down, that’s what we are worried about. The sites most at risk are YouTube, twitter, and blog sites. Are you against these?

Free speech and the free flow of information that the internet provides are my most cherished rights. They must be protected.
This bill is an abomination and must be stopped. Our government is acting in a totalitarian manner by censoring the internet and the information that citizens can view – which we ironically criticize China for doing. There is massive potential for this bill to be grossly misused by the government and other agencies which no citizen should be comfortable with.

Don’t want it stolen, don’t put it on the net. Simplicity.

Another example of liberal fascism masquerading as “protection”.

Government hands ARE the wrong hands. The internet is safest when it’s free and open.

Listening to downloaded music is infringing on “intellectual property”??
You’ve GOT to be kidding. What’s next, making us pay to hear music on the radio? This is nuts. It’s another tactic by the current socialist regime to shut down any and all internet freedom.

That’s one reason why this bill must get destroyed ASAP!

This is not a win win this is a question of net nutrality and censorship the internet is a free medium, by all means deal with the problem through the courts but don’t shut down a website without a warrant!

Free speech my aSS! Would any member of congress please take the time to address why exactly I have 2 rods and 6 pins in my spine fighting for this country’s freedoms when our very government is the ones who need to be knocked off their high horse and given a bath; you are all pretty dirty for the bills you have passed previously. This bill proposal is something we’d expect from the original al-Jazeera, now it’s America, Inc. turn to impose those restrictions on us? For your information the people must give their consent to be governed, and that consent can be revoked at anytime.