SOPA or the "Stop Online Piracy Act" is working its way through the United States Congress with far-reaching implications around the world. In our latest Free Zone column, we take a look at whether or not SOPA -should- be stopped. Read on and then enter into the discussion in the comments.

I’ll state clearly right up front that I believe curbing online piracy is a worthy aim. That said, the more I learn about this act and its sister in the Senate, the Protect IP Act, the more uneasy I feel about the proposed mechanism. For me, it brings up the classic quandary of whether the ends justify the means and how much collateral damage is acceptable. What’s more, it’s not a simple black and white situation since there’s no way of knowing if the implementation will be precise and surgical, heavy-handed in the extreme or somewhere in between.

Read more of Richard Aihoshi's The Free Zone: Should SOPA Be Stopped?

As usual, America trying to control everything in the world.

Down with Sopa!

I'm actually quite excited about SOPA & PIPA, I want to see how much of an impact they have on the rest of the world if they go through.

I'd be very sad if US law changed the global face of the internet.

Remember remember the 5th of November...

the war on terroism continues :P

Just another example of how the US government works, find something u can get dudes with big wallets behind, tack on your 'real' agenda, push it though.

I sure hope it don't come to pass, I like having the freedom to say what I want online, look at what I want, and have others show what they want. IMO the internet is the ultimate form of 'freedom of expression' that is worldwide, but if you choose to allow the US gov (A huge member in the world) decide whats ok and what is not online, we ALL suffer.

I guess no one noticed this

It is funny how the US goverment complain that China, North Korea and Cuba restrict the internet but then don't mind doing the same themselves.

Stuff like this wont stop pirates, it will just create problems for regular users and if someone high up would decide that MMOs are bad they will use laws like this against us.

Piracy is badbut fighting piracy often leads to a lot worse things then the pirates themselves. Free speach is the most important human right there is and restricting it can lead to really bad things.

Franklin and Jefferson knew this already at their time.

Originally posted by Cacaphony

I guess no one noticed this

Actually, no. None of my regular newspapers or sites reported it it...

Originally posted by Zekiah

Remember remember the 5th of November...

...Gunpowder, treason and plot. :)

Originally posted by Cacaphony

I guess no one noticed this

They do this all the time only to come in through the back door down the road. Make no mistake about it, they'll work to get this passed at any cost. It's not the piracy they care about, it's the control they lust after.

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Originally posted by Zekiah

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Originally posted by Cacaphony
I guess no one noticed this

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They do this all the time only to come in through the back door down the road. Make no mistake about it, they'll work to get this passed at any cost. It's not the piracy they care about, it's the control they lust after.

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True, they may very well bring it back.

This guy brings up that issue.

The real meat of the message come in at about 5:09 in the vid.

Wait so SOPA gets a bad name across the internet communities and they just up and change the acronym and try to pass it under a different name? Oh government why is it no one likes you.

I desperately wish people would understand how their government functioned so they could understand how the process works.  Even if they just sit down to watch schoolhouse rocks just one more time.

I'm pretty sure Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google will have a problem with this. Being search engines they will get affected the most. They spend millions + millions on monitoring there web links people search on.

Originally posted by Ikeda

I desperately wish people would understand how their government functioned so they could understand how the process works.  Even if they just sit down to watch schoolhouse rocks just one more time.

Do you mean how it's supposed to work like the ol' Bill sitting on Capitol Hill? Or how it works in reality? 

I would point out that MMOs are a successful technical solution to the problem of piracy by changing the business model from selling a copy (the game client) to selling a service (the server) without any need for draconian laws.

Originally posted by Meltdown

Originally posted by Ikeda

I desperately wish people would understand how their government functioned so they could understand how the process works.  Even if they just sit down to watch schoolhouse rocks just one more time.

Do you mean how it's supposed to work like the ol' Bill sitting on Capitol Hill? Or how it works in reality? 

A little of both.  But honestly, people have the right to VOTE for people.  These people say "I choose this person to be MY representative in the nations capital".  To be uneducated and be allowed to vote seems like the greatest travesty.

It would be TOO much to expect people to understand the entire system but I do expect people to understand the difference between Veto'ing and Shelving a bill.

Another big problem is people don't understand how line-item veto's work.

It makes me shake my head in disappointment.

Originally posted by Cacaphony

True, they may very well bring it back.

This guy brings up that issue.

The real meat of the message come in at about 5:09 in the vid.

Crap, he is right...

Please keep in mind that alot of us Americans are sick to our stomach that our government would even come up with some batshitinsane idea like this. To make matters worse people actually believe this act would actually solve any real issues. I'm not going to go into details here but there are ALOT of ways to show your representatives what you think of this. If enough of us "Peons" speak out against SOPA and PIPA it WILL do some good. You may not think so but it wouldnt hurt you to take 10min of your time to at least attempt to do something about it right? We Americans need to remember SOPA and PIPA wont just effect us and its our responsibility to try and do something about it.