by mg_ » Wed Jan 18, 2012 4:39 pm
Well, the single greatest one is the fact any individual claiming (hint: doesn't necessarily have to have one) can make application to have the website taken offline simply petitioning the Attorney General of the United States, who is then authorized by PIPA/SOPA to conduct an
ex parte hearing on the matter (hint: just decide by himself), and it forbids the Courts from reviewing and interfering from the conduct.
First, it's a prior restraint on speech. You can't be denied the right to post content or state stuff without a court hearing (hint: in front of a judge) to vindicate your rights. Second, there is no grounds to prevent flimsy, spurious, or downright false claims against competitors or those you simply don't like. More over, it authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to shut down sites outside of the United States. Domain names such as .fr, .uk, etc. are all caught in this net. So long as the copyright or trademark holder petitions the government, then it can begin action. It is nonsensical to think foreign domains can be brought in under U.S. copyright law in such a ridiculous manner.
In layman's terms: you can't just issue a government order to shut down a website in a private ex parte hearing. You might as well deny a human being the right to speak in public without telling him the rationale or provision of the opportunity to vindicate his constitutionally protected speech rights.
It should say something when the Congressional Research Service looks at something and blushes and states the bill is pretty crappy in terms of constitutionality. Which it did.
I don't do the whole "download illegally" thing. Not my bag. I do respect someone's copyright, trademark, patent, etc. However, this is such a farce in the other direction it blows my mind. There is this thing about the hierarchy of rules and laws. My constitutional rights trump another person's intellectual property rights (a statutorily created property right). The freedom of speech is antecedent to the laws establishing copyright and trademark.
Basically, PIPA and SOPA should go eat a

Well, the single greatest one is the fact any individual claiming (hint: doesn't necessarily have to have one) can make application to have the website taken offline simply petitioning the Attorney General of the United States, who is then authorized by PIPA/SOPA to conduct an [i]ex parte[/i] hearing on the matter (hint: just decide by himself), and it forbids the Courts from reviewing and interfering from the conduct.
First, it's a prior restraint on speech. You can't be denied the right to post content or state stuff without a court hearing (hint: in front of a judge) to vindicate your rights. Second, there is no grounds to prevent flimsy, spurious, or downright false claims against competitors or those you simply don't like. More over, it authorizes the U.S. Attorney General to shut down sites outside of the United States. Domain names such as .fr, .uk, etc. are all caught in this net. So long as the copyright or trademark holder petitions the government, then it can begin action. It is nonsensical to think foreign domains can be brought in under U.S. copyright law in such a ridiculous manner.
In layman's terms: you can't just issue a government order to shut down a website in a private ex parte hearing. You might as well deny a human being the right to speak in public without telling him the rationale or provision of the opportunity to vindicate his constitutionally protected speech rights.
It should say something when the Congressional Research Service looks at something and blushes and states the bill is pretty crappy in terms of constitutionality. Which it did.
I don't do the whole "download illegally" thing. Not my bag. I do respect someone's copyright, trademark, patent, etc. However, this is such a farce in the other direction it blows my mind. There is this thing about the hierarchy of rules and laws. My constitutional rights trump another person's intellectual property rights (a statutorily created property right). The freedom of speech is antecedent to the laws establishing copyright and trademark.
Basically, PIPA and SOPA should go eat a
[img]http://www.eatabagofdicks.com/bag.gif[/img]