Megaupload Shut Down For Piracy – Proof That We Don’t Need SOPA or PIPA?

Fox News has just reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation has shut down Megaupload.com and charged it’s “ringleaders” with racketeering, conspiracy to commit copyright infringement, money laundering and other charges related to violating piracy laws.  So this begs the question, “Why do we need SOPA again?” Read On »

CEA Urges Opposition To SOPA/PIPA

Today, the Consumer Electronics Association, creator of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) urged people to take a stand against the legislation known as SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) by contacting your Congressperson today.  In the press release, the CEA said:

“The Consumer Electronics Association (CEA) and CEA’s Innovation Movement are under a 24-hour web blackout in protest of proposed legislation – the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) in the U.S. Senate.  The bills ostensibly go after Internet pirates, but are so broadly worded as to implicate legitimate businesses. If passed, they will mean more litigation and damage to the innovation economy.  While SOPA is temporarily stalled in the House, the Senate plans to bring PIPA for a vote next week, even though most Americans are opposed.”

Read On »

The Internet Protests SOPA – And Gamers Should Too

We here at Wanderson75.net firmly believe the SOPA/PIPA bills that are currently being considered by our government will not only damage the security of our public internet, but will also hurt small groups and businesses in favor of large corporations.  Furthermore, bills already passed such as the Digital Millenium Copyright Act already protect the intellectual properties and interests of content creators.  While we agree that protection of intellectual property is necessary, SOPA/PIPA is simply not. 

 

Wikipedia.org, N4G.com (News for Gamers), Google and other popular sites are banding together and protesting these bills by going dark for 24 hours in order to raise awareness and get their readers engaged in the conversation regarding the controversial bills.  As a result, former U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, Democrat and CEO of the Motion Picture Association of America had this to say:

“Only days after the White House and chief sponsors of the legislation responded to the major concern expressed by opponents and then called for all parties to work cooperatively together, some technology business interests are resorting to stunts that punish their users or turn them into their corporate pawns, rather than coming to the table to find solutions to a problem that all now seem to agree is very real and damaging.”

We have seen in the past how the residents of the internet can band together to make real world changes.  Today, as millions of people use Google, they’ll be greeted by a black censorship bar covering their logo.  Wikipedia will not be accessible to those who are looking for information contained within its servers.  Gamers will not be able to get all of their news on a single dashboard from N4G.  All of these sites have a shared purpose, and urge people to do the same thing – contact your Congressperson, and tell them you want them to vote NO on SOPA/PIPA.

The steps are easy.  Simply go here, fill out the form, and hit submit.  Or you can call your congressperson’s office.  Enough calls and emails, and they will either listen to us now…or they can listen to us in the next election.