I don't know exactly how SOPA would affect video game sites and message boards, but the law does state that you could be charged with a felony by the Department of Justice whether or not you were inside United States jurisdiction, so it would affect the internet as a whole.
(im canadian but it would affect me) glad to see someone is posting this on here as this needs as much widespread as possible i was going to post this too but i was afraid the topic would get locked as usual this is a quote and what you can do about it with a link after it
I’ve remained silent in this issue for a while, but each day it’s becoming more urgent at an alarming rate. Congress is trying to pass two bills that will change the face of the internet. One is called Protect IP, but the one that’s been a real hot topic lately is SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act.) It’s an attempt to stop online piracy. Of course, I do not support piracy, but the way the bill is written is very broad and open for interpretation.
According to what everyone’s saying, it will affect the whole internet. It allows the government to step in, on behalf of major corporations to take down any website or video that they want. It seems like under the broad language of these bills, it would mean doing movie reviews, video game reviews, or anything of that nature would become illegal. There already exist fair use laws that permit the partial use of copyrighted works for criticism or educational value. But somehow these new bills, if they pass, would trample all over that, and fair use would no longer exist. Yes apparently that would mean no more AVGN videos. No nothing. But don’t worry about me. Worry about the internet. The internet has been a source of innovation. These bills are anti-progressive, would cause mass job loss for all small companies online. They are written with a very out-dated business model.
I usually prefer to stay out of politics. I just want to provide entertainment. I want you to come to this site, laugh and enjoy my videos. The last thing I would ever want to do is send everyone into a panic. It’s especially hard for me to write this, since it comes during the holiday season. I thought I’d be able to wait until January to speak up, but the SOPA bill keeps gaining momentum. It’s supporters are trying to push it through as fast as possible. It was suddenly scheduled for a vote on December 21, THIS WEDNESDAY! I thought they’d at least wait until after Christmas. It’s not the ultimate last step the bill has to go through, but it’s crucial one and it’s important that we’re all aware of it and try to do something about it.
Guys, the law doesn't mean THIS IS WHAT IS RIGHT AND THIS IS WHAT WILL HAPPEN. They're just regulations in place to give the government and law enforcement power to act if they feel they have reason to.
Yeah, SOPA might be broad enough that video game sites fall within its culling powers, but nobody is going to act on that - there's absolutely no reason to. Nintendolife isn't a threat to national security well maybe Chicken Brutus will be if he gets any more 1/10 games to review. It isn't a hive of videogame piracy. It's a review site. That may be technically infringement (I don't know, having not read or had much interest in the law), as with the tens of thousands of other videogame-related sites, communities, projects and stores. They're not going to shut them all down, because that would cost money and they'd get absolutely nothing out of it. It'd be pointless.
Laws are rules and penalties that can be enforced, not rules and penalties that have to be enforced.
Put it this way, I work in a department of a hospital that deals with Data Protection Act. We have 40 days to legally comply with requests. If we fall outside 40 days, we don't all get carted off to jail. Or we'd all be behind bars for life by now.
i'll take this from the qoute that i quoted so heres the general idea
It allows the government to step in, on behalf of major corporations to take down any website or video that they want. It seems like under the broad language of these bills, it would mean doing movie reviews, video game reviews, or anything of that nature would become illegal. There already exist fair use laws that permit the partial use of copyrighted works for criticism or educational value. But somehow these new bills, if they pass, would trample all over that, and fair use would no longer exist
Even with the voice of reason above me, I can't help but feel a little panicky. I visit a lot of foriegn websites on a daily basis, so it would suck if I couldn't visit them anymore. I mean, I'd hate to have to resirt to going back to IGN just because the websites I visit are all blocked.
What will you do for one more chance to come back here and tell our enemies that they make take our lives but they will never take our FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM
It's like, I just love a cowboy
You know
I'm just like, I just, I know, it's bad
But I'm just like
Can I just like, hang off the back of your horse
And can you go a little faster?!
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Topic: How will SOPA affect video game review/forum sites?
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