# It's time we do something about SOPA



## The Catboy (Jan 3, 2012)

I think GBAtemp needs to become active against SOPA. It is not just limited to America, it will effect the whole world. GBAtemp will be subjected to it, not because we host anything illegal, but we do host files for flashcards, guides, and other bits of content that can be used for piracy. As well GBAtemp is a growing empire and will gain attention very quickly if SOPA is passed.
Countless members will be lost as well this site could run the risk of being taken down and I don't think anyone wants to see this happen.
So I think it's about time we do something before it's too late!

Just some links for information and some great links to help
WTF SOPA?
Be a HERO and Help STOP SOPA
That Guy With The Glasses
Cinemassacure
http://americancensorship.org/

As well I really suggest calling, writing, or even emailing your senator, do anything to take action against SOPA.
Please spread the word and add this to your signature
*Take Action Against SOPA!*

I will try to do as much as I can, even though right now I still lack internet, but that won't stop me from being active!


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## DinohScene (Jan 3, 2012)

You'll have my full support!


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## exangel (Jan 3, 2012)

A referral to http://www.americancensorship.org in signatures, could help.
The stop censorship black bar idea is probably the best thing that non-Americans can do (on a forum! to avatars or sigs or something..) to help out.

edit: I saw that you've already done that, but maybe a GBAtemp Anti-SOPA image button for people to put in their sigs voluntarily would put it a step further


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## The Catboy (Jan 3, 2012)

exangel said:


> A referral to http://www.americancensorship.org in signatures, could help.
> The stop censorship black bar idea is probably the best thing that non-Americans can do to help out.


I have a link to that in my signature
As well I am going to add this video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JhwuXNv8fJM
It has some great links and information.


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## emigre (Jan 3, 2012)

I think writing to your local Representatives and being a bullish bastard might work better, than getting some keyboard warriors to go out and troll. GBAtemp is small fish in the internetz where a dominat number of members who condone piracy.


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## prowler (Jan 3, 2012)

... why?
people mostly know about SOPA anyway, shoving it in your sigs will not do anything other than get completely ignored.

if gbatemp wanted to help out, they would've done the whole internet censorship day thing but that's passed.


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## exangel (Jan 3, 2012)

I'm a bit busy today to make a button myself (as I suggested in my previous post edit), but anyway I'm glad you have seen that vid too Catboy.

As far as petitioning my representatives, the website that Catboy linked to makes it easy for US residents to write a personalized message to the right people using your zipcode.

edit: @ prowler
just because most people don't care what people put in their sigs doesn't mean it's a useless or pointless gesture   i also think that though plenty of people have heard of it, doesn't mean trying to continue promoting information about it should be ended.  "give up/don't bother" seems to be the gist of what you are saying though..


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## The Catboy (Jan 3, 2012)

prowler_ said:


> ... why?
> people mostly know about SOPA anyway, shoving it in your sigs will not do anything other than get completely ignored.
> 
> if gbatemp wanted to help out, they would've done the whole internet censorship day thing but that's passed.


Why? Because we need to take action sitting back acting like it's just going to handle itself isn't going to complete anything.


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## prowler (Jan 3, 2012)

A Gay Little Catboy said:


> Why? Because we need to take action sitting back acting like it's just going to handle itself isn't going to complete anything.


so what 'action' have you taken.

It's ironic that you're against SOPA and protesting it on a site like GBAtemp because GBAtemp is one of the reasons SOPA is here.


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## exangel (Jan 3, 2012)

I think irony would actually be advocating for SOPA on a site that would be censored by it.


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## The Catboy (Jan 3, 2012)

prowler_ said:


> A Gay Little Catboy said:
> 
> 
> > Why? Because we need to take action sitting back acting like it's just going to handle itself isn't going to complete anything.
> ...


It's funny how you assume I have done nothing. Accually I have already written letters, called, emailed to my senator, and even started this up here on the temp. As well made countless facebook posts, called everyone I knew and made them take action, got all my friends to take action. Honestly I am still not finished.
It's also strange that an active member of a site that will greatly effected by this is just sitting back like a coward.


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## AlanJohn (Jan 3, 2012)

Internet army.
F*ck yeah!


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## prowler (Jan 3, 2012)

I'll post what I said on IRC





> I would think most people that are against SOPA are doing it for the right reasons like YouTube, etc not for GBAtemp...


Which is pretty funny if you ask me.


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## The Catboy (Jan 3, 2012)

You know I am just going to move past prowler_.
Still we need people to help take action against SOPA and I really hope people will take the time to help, even a single email or a quick letter will help.
Realize people, SOPA will be the death of countless sites.


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## p1ngpong (Jan 3, 2012)

A Gay Little Catboy said:


> You know I am just going to move past prowler_.



Prowler is a hipster troll, do not feed him and he will skulk away and listen to his Kyary records alone in his bedroom.


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## Sheimi (Jan 3, 2012)

SOPA will basically get rid of Free Speech on the Internet and shut down a ton of sites.


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## linuxGuru (Jan 4, 2012)

I just sent an email to my senator. We need to kill this bill.


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## sputnix (Jan 4, 2012)

just make sure that only AMERICAN CITIZEN gbatemp members do anything as the problem when gbatemp tried to get members to send emails to canadian mp's international members did aswell making almost everything in vain as the number of emails could be chalked up to internationals and not citizens of canada.
So just make sure that onlyl american's do anything as we could be ignored if we bring up numbers by having internationls help out [sad but true]


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## Deleted-236924 (Jan 4, 2012)

Your signature has a mispelling, it should say "GBATEMP MUST TAKE ACTION [...]" and not "MOST"
And BTW prowler, GBAtemp is not a piracy website.


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## chyyran (Jan 4, 2012)

I put a Stop censorship link in my sig


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## jarejare3 (Jan 4, 2012)

I live in Malaysia and im trying to get the word out but no one listens....

EDIT: hell even when i ask lawyers about SOPA they just reply go back home kid.


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## The Catboy (Jan 4, 2012)

Pingouin7 said:


> Your signature has a mispelling, it should say "GBATEMP MUST TAKE ACTION [...]" and not "MOST"
> And BTW prowler, GBAtemp is not a piracy website.


It looked fine to me, but I edited it anyways.



sputnix said:


> just make sure that only AMERICAN CITIZEN gbatemp members do anything as the problem when gbatemp tried to get members to send emails to canadian mp's international members did aswell making almost everything in vain as the number of emails could be chalked up to internationals and not citizens of canada.
> So just make sure that onlyl american's do anything as we could be ignored if we bring up numbers by having internationls help out [sad but true]


This is true indeed. It does still effect everyone, but this is mostly limited to American users


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## Sora de Eclaune (Jan 4, 2012)

I've done my part, but I don't really like thinking about something like this.

Off topic, I propose we eat the sopa.


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## Ace Overclocked (Jan 4, 2012)

i've taken lots of petitions and shared alot of this
we must save the internet!!!


- aminemaster, the official thread killer of gbatemp


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## Deleted-236924 (Jan 6, 2012)

http://www.pokecheck.org/?p=detail&uid=684824


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## jarejare3 (Jan 6, 2012)

Well i've done my part, rasing awareness in my country but can't do anything much though.


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## Nah3DS (Jan 6, 2012)

may I ask something? with this new "law"... USA gov can shut down sites from another countries?


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## Deleted-236924 (Jan 6, 2012)

NahuelDS said:


> may I ask something? with this new &quot;law&quot;... USA gov can shut down sites from another countries?


Nope.
The most they could do is block access to those websites if you're in the USA.

For comparison, shutting down a website from another country would be like sending someone to jail for something that is illegal in another country.


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## Nah3DS (Jan 6, 2012)

Pingouin7 said:


> NahuelDS said:
> 
> 
> > may I ask something? with this new &quot;law&quot;... USA gov can shut down sites from another countries?
> ...


So... technically, gbatemp is safe because it's hosted on a french sever I believe (?)


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## Deleted-236924 (Jan 6, 2012)

NahuelDS said:


> Pingouin7 said:
> 
> 
> > NahuelDS said:
> ...


But they could block the site from being viewed by anyone who lives in the USA.


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## Nah3DS (Jan 6, 2012)

Pingouin7 said:


> NahuelDS said:
> 
> 
> > Pingouin7 said:
> ...


yeah, that really sucks...
this "law" doenst affect us directly, but in the long run it will hurt all the world because (sadly) 80% of the internet comes from USA


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## spark1223 (Jan 12, 2012)

Maybe if an international incident breaks out due to SOPA it won't get passed. Now all we need to do is piss off another country and blame it on SOPA. Hmmm.


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## jarejare3 (Jan 12, 2012)

http://na.leagueoflegends.com/board/showthread.php?t=1696462

Riot games is saying no to sopa apparently


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## Zerosuit connor (Jan 12, 2012)

[yt]HrXyLrTRXso[/yt]


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## RedJiggly (Jan 12, 2012)

I have a question. Is there anything that people from outside of the USA can do about this?


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## metamaster (Jan 14, 2012)

RedJiggly said:


> I have a question. Is there anything that people from outside of the USA can do about this?


I don't think a non-US citizen calling up a US senator would really do any good. I guess only thing we can do is pressure Americans that we can contact 
Something makes me think the bill will pass. Some pretty powerful companies (which don't just deal with computers) are backing it, and don't think what the Internet's word will be heard before theirs.
In any case, this will probably not stop piracy; this concept was brought up and developed by the creators of the Internet (or at least the people who make it advance).


			
				NahuelDS said:
			
		

> this "law" doenst affect us directly, but in the long run it will hurt all the world because (sadly) 80% of the internet comes from USA


Even worse is that we can't affect this law...


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## Nah3DS (Jan 14, 2012)

fucking american senators.... they think they rule the world


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## the_randomizer (Jan 14, 2012)

VPNs are the solution for unconstitutional DNS blocking.  The sodding wankers responsible for this alleged "anti-piracy" bill need to be shot in their kneecaps with an SC20K.


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## coolness (Jan 18, 2012)

Zerosuit connor said:


> [yt]HrXyLrTRXso[/yt]


looks like a movie


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## lokomelo (Jan 18, 2012)

RedJiggly said:


> I have a question. Is there anything that people from outside of the USA can do about this?


I dont know how we can help from outside US, but I know that a Law in USA become a "example" to laws in all latin america, maybe all the world... so I realy care about this...


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## tajio (Jan 18, 2012)

I signed the petition cause I'm in the UK.


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## NES SNES V.B. N64 G.C. Wii WiiU (Jan 18, 2012)

Wikipedia has just been blacked out, and GBAtemp's frontpage banners are protesting SOPA.

Being in Australia I can't do much, but how can America pass this?! Get the message America!!!!


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## SamAsh07 (Jan 18, 2012)

Weird, how did my petition get accepted? Living here in Bahrain? Well whatever, if SOPA passes, someone should counter attack with their own ROPA - Resume Online Piracy Act. Or just SOPA itself (Start Online Piracy Act).


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## Coto (Jan 18, 2012)

lokomelo said:


> RedJiggly said:
> 
> 
> > I have a question. Is there anything that people from outside of the USA can do about this?
> ...



Example is little, we could call them a "role model" u_u


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## jrk190 (Jan 18, 2012)

If this occurs in America, many of the domains and websites affected in America will be also affected in other countries. It could corrupt many open source projects too, if it progresses to that point.


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## the_randomizer (Jan 18, 2012)

SOPA should be called "SODA" the "Stop Online Douchebags Act". Or maybe just "SOD", "Stop Online Douchebags".  VPNs are the only way to bypass them, either that or the De-SOPA plugin for Firefox.


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## jrk190 (Jan 18, 2012)

Edit: Anything you are uncertain about, here it is: https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/


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## ZenZero (Jan 18, 2012)

Sopa needs to be stopped.
No way Am I gonna start PAYING for stuff ...


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## Centrix (Jan 18, 2012)

GOD ENOUGH WITH THE SOPA SHIT IT  WAS DROPPED AND ENDED YESTERDAY FREAK'EN MOVE ON ALREADY


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## Lostbhoy (Jan 18, 2012)

This bill will have international implications. Anyone and everyone outside the USA can sign the petition HERE
It's aimed at the US State Dept and voices our opposition at both the SOPA and PIPA bills.

@centrix - The bill was not dropped. That was a rumour in the wake of criticisms released by the Obama administration on Saturday, many observers predict the Stop Online Piracy Act and its sister act, the Protect IP Act (or PIPA), are dead on arrival.
The Obama administration's critique did, however, indicate that the president still supports the passage of some sort of online piracy legislation, though with better protections against the issues opponents despise.

The next few months will be an interesting time for Internet privacy and freedom on the Web.


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## Centrix (Jan 18, 2012)

Here's some links showing that congress dropped the SOPA bill!!!

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/white_house_opposes_sopa_congress_drops_bill/
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/927750-playstation-3/61671946  (Yeah I know gamefaqs so what lol)


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## Centrix (Jan 18, 2012)

Lostbhoy said:


> This bill will have international implications. Anyone and everyone outside the USA can sign the petition HERE
> It's aimed at the US State Dept and voices our opposition at both the SOPA and PIPA bills.
> 
> @centrix - The bill was not dropped. That was a rumour in the wake of criticisms released by the Obama administration on Saturday, many observers predict the Stop Online Piracy Act and its sister act, the Protect IP Act (or PIPA), are dead on arrival.
> ...




It was dropped check the news and no it wasn't a rumor!


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## Lostbhoy (Jan 18, 2012)

I beg your pardon Centrix...I was just reading the thread when you replied!!

I stand corrected!!


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## Centrix (Jan 18, 2012)

sarcasm or not its true that they dropped it I'm sorry if every one including most sites aren't up to snuff on this matter but no worries


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## MelodieOctavia (Jan 18, 2012)

Most of my friends and family are Oregon Ducks fans, so I posted this on my Facebook. Feel free to edit this as you please to fit the situation.



> Anyone enjoy watching Oregon Ducks games online? Too bad. Puddles resembles Donald Duck too much and Disney has reported ESPN and every site mirroring that stream. So have the record labels that heard the band play their rendition of Lady Gaga's Poker Face. ESPN.com has now been permanently shut down along with every site that streamed the game. Or at least this is what would happen if SOPA/PIPA passed.


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## DJPlace (Jan 18, 2012)

i thought congress droped this but i guess not... and why the fuck are they doing this anyway?


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## MelodieOctavia (Jan 18, 2012)

It surprises me that this is getting less buzz around here than a new Pokemon release.


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## Blood Fetish (Jan 18, 2012)

SOPA is the house version of the bill, while PIPA is the senate version. Two different bills, though with extremely similar wording. We need to keep hammering on congress about this. Even if they are "dropped" they will just be reintroduced at a later time when support against them is low. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.


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## Tom (Jan 18, 2012)

just about to post about this already signed the petition also heres a link to googles petition https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/


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## Blood Fetish (Jan 18, 2012)

Petitions can be useful as a means of spreading awareness, but the most effective method is to call or write your congressman. If you are in America and are old enough to vote I strongly encourage you to do so.


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## Blood Fetish (Jan 18, 2012)

Centrix said:


> sarcasm or not its true that they dropped it I'm sorry if every one including most sites aren't up to snuff on this matter but no worries


http://judiciary.hou...s/01172012.html

Straight from the horse's mouth. Not dropped.

They only pretended to table it in a desperate attempt to get people to stop paying attention to the bill so they could pass it quietly.


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## 10_0ARMY (Jan 19, 2012)

It shit like this that makes me proud to live in this country....




....edit: please excuse the sarcasm. I hope neither of these bills pass. How can it be right at all to pass laws to censor a resource available for everyone in the world


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## kaputnik (Jan 19, 2012)

metamaster said:


> RedJiggly said:
> 
> 
> > I have a question. Is there anything that people from outside of the USA can do about this?
> ...




On the other hand, there's a bunch of very powerful companies condemning it too. Also, this is gonna affect a lot of people, enough to make a difference in the next election. I doubt they can get away with passing this in that respect.

Ah well, at least they got the name right. "SOPA" means "piece of garbage" in Swedish :>

By the way, it's funny how this gets more coverage in Swedish media than the EU's similar propositions, even though EU directives, unlike the SOPA, affects us directly. It says something about its assumed influence on the rest of the world if it gets passed.


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## CannonFoddr (Jan 19, 2012)

I'm in the UK - & even I think this is total b*lls**t
A country blocking sites just because it doesn't follow their guidelines on what they think is 'correct'

Whatever next ...bet there's someone saying '_I know !! let's ban all cars (even electric ones) ... It's better for the environment_' 

This is similar to a while back where in the UK it was considered illegal to even photograph/video your own kids if they were in a school play/show or something similar - without asking the OTHER parents if it was OK first

I'll support it, (although being in the UK I doubt it'll count)


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## funem (Jan 19, 2012)

A Gay Little Catboy said:


> exangel said:
> 
> 
> > A referral to http://www.americancensorship.org in signatures, could help.
> ...




Nice vid, posted it to my Facebook page.

As far as I understand it, it has not been dropped its delayed til sometime in Feb. So it is still a threat.


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## The Catboy (Jan 21, 2012)

I am glad to see that people are taking interest in taking action against this unjust law. We can take it down if we work together!


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## Gore (Jan 21, 2012)

TwinRetro said:


> It surprises me that this is getting less buzz around here than a new Pokemon release.


Why does that surprise you?
A new Pokemon game is a lot more important than a bill that was never going to pass anyway.


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## iSubaru (Jan 28, 2012)

Now they are trying to make ACTA stuff, it would work same way as SOPA (or mostly as that)
The fun part starts here, in Poland in MANY cities we did massive loud manifestations that we are voting for NO (democracy they say...)
They signed "yes" for ACTA at 26.01 A.D. 2012
Where is that freaking democracy?!

Oh well, like they think they will win the ride...
- T.O.R.
- FreeNet
- Certain Linux distro focussing on anonymous internet browsing

Bring it on...The World...


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