"I Hope SOPA Passes"

[nando]

but really we should protest to kick off this assholes off their jobs instead of just stopping their bills. the cancer is still there

 

[MelodieOctavia]

but really we should protest to kick off this assholes off their jobs instead of just stopping their bills. the cancer is still there

Any politician with a brain has realized supporting these bills are political suicide at this point.

 

[FluffyLunamoth]

I saw the link, saw "maddox", and immediately thought I'd regret clicking that link. For the first time with something involving Maddox of all people, I can say that it's at least worth the read.

He brings up plenty of good points, many of which I agree on. But he's narrow-sighted in this. The internet, a non-physical but still very real existence, is what protested SOPA. Not the general public, not your neighbors(in most cases), not your family(in many cases). As they've shown time and time again, they don't care about things like this. To them, the internet is still a toy. Still a triviality. He thinks that SOPA passing would've done something. Maybe he's right. But I don't think so. Because that's exactly the problem...slacktivism is easier than activism.

"Would you take time off your job to go to Washington(DC) to protest?" This is fine and all, but think of how many of these protesters are underage minors. Or people who don't have a way to get the Washington DC to protest. Or cannot take time off, because they'll be fired if they do. Or perhaps even because they have a family to feed. Or don't have the money to go. Maybe these are all excuses, but they are very real excuses, and very common ones that people cannot get around.

"Boycott companies that supported it?" He says it himself, the list of companies supporting SOPA/PIPA is long. And sometimes nearly impossible to boycott(let's not be redundant and bring up the whole "The public doesn't give a flying hoot" argument, even though it applies here as well.) Some examples from his list:

Spoiler

Adobe - Used by people daily, in most cases there is no alternative, and thus they must use Adobe's products.​

Apple - iPhone, iPad, iPod, Mac. Enough said, once you have one, there's likely no alternative that is immediately a solution.​

Dell - How many people still own a Dell computer today? Or plan to buy one anytime soon?​

Mastercard and Visa - Hahahahahahaha, yeah good luck with this one. Boycotting this is not going to happen. It's just about completely impossible.​

Microsoft - Good luck getting the people off LIVE to help. Good. Luck. And then Windows. In almost every case, there is not a decent solution to substitute Windows. Linux can, but face it, Linux is not user-friendly. Nor is anything in it that well known. So no, Microsoft won't be boycotted.Nevermind, they don't support it anymore. But I'll leave it here as point anyway.​

Symantec - Can we just outright kill them, please? Norton isn't helping anything...​

CBS Corporation - Gooooood luck getting people from supporting them.​

Comcast - Hey Maddox, ever hear of something called a contract? This is not going to get boycotted, for a lot of reasons. One of which is that in some places, Comcast is the only available internet option. Now are you really going to be cut off from the internet like that, and have to rely on the already corrupted mainstream media?​

CVS Caremark - Is this the same CVS that has as many stores as Walgreens does? Why are they supporting this again?​

ESPN - Good luck. Seriously. Good luck getting the sports-freaks to boycott this. They'll likely never even know.​

Harley-Davidson - I mention this because a member of my family works there. Jobs.​

Marvel - Good luck, and may the Force be with you.​

MLB, NFL, NBA - See ESPN.​

Sony Music, Sony Pictures - Why are they supporting yet Sony Computer isn't...​

Disney - Am I getting redundant yet?​

Viacom - With the sheer amount of crap they have, I don't think they're boycottable...​

Time Warner, Inc. - Same thing with Comcast.​

UFC, WWE- ...It's wrestling. Don't matter enough.​

Xerox - This one is not going to get boycotted.​

Warner Music - Is this one possible?​

"Knock on this dickhead's door and ask him why he introduced such shitty legislation?" (Lamar Smith (R-TX) This one would be funny if we could actually pull it off...and not get everyone arrested for it. Besides, we already know why he did. He got paid to do it. This is the USA, after all. Land of Free Corporations to Control You.

"Make sure none of these losers get elected ever again?" -insert is list here- This one...might be possible, but I direct you back to the whole "General Public" thing.

I think we need a new way to do this. Because if the public isn't going to help(US public, I suppose I should say), then I think it's out of their hands. Someone needs to find a new way for this to work, or nothing ever will change.


That said, I agree that stopping SOPA right now means almost nothing at all.

 

[The Milkman]

no matter what anyone says the internet to me is still at its most basic a form of entertainment

I could not disagree more. The Internet is useful for many things, including entertainment. It is, from its very creation, a means of sharing information.

To me there's too many other ways to share info and communicate to say the internet is really required for these things, Im not saying its ONLY use is entertainment but what its turned into is more of a median for sharing entertaining content rather then information or better yet, practical information.

 

[Vulpes Abnocto]

There's an addendum to the page, today. (for those who haven't looked at it again)

 

[jing90]

so who exactly is Maddox?

 

[MelodieOctavia]

so who exactly is Maddox?

That's like asking who The Beatles are.

 

[jing90]

so who exactly is Maddox?

That's like asking who The Beatles are.

well sorry I don't know a person that isn't famous in my country...
anyway I've searched him on wikipedia and there isn't much about him...

 

[Blood Fetish]

Maddox is the original www troll. He's been doing articles like this for probably around 15 years.

 

[Shinigami357]

no matter what anyone says the internet to me is still at its most basic a form of entertainment

I could not disagree more. The Internet is useful for many things, including entertainment. It is, from its very creation, a means of sharing information.

To me there's too many other ways to share info and communicate to say the internet is really required for these things, Im not saying its ONLY use is entertainment but what its turned into is more of a median for sharing entertaining content rather then information or better yet, practical information.

What are you, 12?!?

So basically, the modern world can run off of phones, fax and remote control? There's many ways to store information, but the best way to share it is through the internet, bar none. That's like saying you'd ship the whole library of congress on a cargo ship rather than search the internet. Are you off your rocker?!?

Why do you think most workplaces use e-mails? Why people even flock to twitter? How do you think most information is synced up nowadays?

And to say it's more of a median for sharing entertainment is ridiculous. That's what television and radio is for, in case you don't know.

The internet requires input, so what it becomes is largely how the user uses it. Apparently, you only use it for entertainment, thus, your argument.

I won't even nitpick anymore; this is just downright ridiculous. Now I get why they say people don't realize they have more computing power than it took NASA to put a man on the moon - they don't friggin' know what it's there for.

FFS.



Good thing this SOPA BS got trashed. For now, anyway.

 

[Veho]

so who exactly is Maddox?

That's like asking who The Beatles are.

No, it really isn't. The Beatles are one of the best, most popular and most influential groups ever. Maddox is an inconsequential internet troll. It's perfectly normal to not know who he is.

To me there's too many other ways to share info and communicate to say the internet is really required for these things

Of course there are. There's letters. Newspapers. Billboards. Longwave radio. Wireless telegraph. Carrier pigeons. Semaphore. Yodelling. Word of mouth. Runners. Monted courriers. The Pony Express. Pneumatic tubes. Smoke signals. Clay tablets. There are so many ways to share information that aren't related to the internet.

 

[FireGrey]

The people who make movies and games make too much money that comes out of our pockets, piracy is just giving a tiny slice back to us.

 

[exangel]

To me there's too many other ways to share info and communicate to say the internet is really required for these things

Of course there are. There's letters. Newspapers. Billboards. Longwave radio. Wireless telegraph. Carrier pigeons. Semaphore. Yodelling. Word of mouth. Runners. Monted courriers. The Pony Express. Pneumatic tubes. Smoke signals. Clay tablets. There are so many ways to share information that aren't related to the internet.

You made me think of this blog I read a while back.
http://gaijinchronic...6/16/unplugged/

 

[The Milkman]

no matter what anyone says the internet to me is still at its most basic a form of entertainment

I could not disagree more. The Internet is useful for many things, including entertainment. It is, from its very creation, a means of sharing information.

To me there's too many other ways to share info and communicate to say the internet is really required for these things, Im not saying its ONLY use is entertainment but what its turned into is more of a median for sharing entertaining content rather then information or better yet, practical information.

What are you, 12?!?

So basically, the modern world can run off of phones, fax and remote control? There's many ways to store information, but the best way to share it is through the internet, bar none. That's like saying you'd ship the whole library of congress on a cargo ship rather than search the internet. Are you off your rocker?!?

Why do you think most workplaces use e-mails? Why people even flock to twitter? How do you think most information is synced up nowadays?

And to say it's more of a median for sharing entertainment is ridiculous. That's what television and radio is for, in case you don't know.

The internet requires input, so what it becomes is largely how the user uses it. Apparently, you only use it for entertainment, thus, your argument.

I won't even nitpick anymore; this is just downright ridiculous. Now I get why they say people don't realize they have more computing power than it took NASA to put a man on the moon - they don't friggin' know what it's there for.

FFS.



Good thing this SOPA BS got trashed. For now, anyway.

Wouldn't a 12 year old be the one saying that the internet is the only form of communication?

Anyway, My point to all is not that I don't think the internet isnt the BEST way of doing it, I think its replaceable. I mean it only REALLY became publicly widespread in the 90s and it really sucked back then. The same can be said for automobiles. People got as far as they did with horses, wagons, bikes and boats. Same could be said for the internet.

 

[The Catboy]

I am not one to be in favor of piracy, but SOPA is true power abuse and is truly an assault on something we use everyday. Yes it would be nice to do something about massive piracy, but taking over the internet and threatening to shut down sites because they don't like it is truly uncalled for and should not happen. SOPA doesn't just effect piracy, they could shut down a whole site just because I posted a scene from a movie, that's uncalled for.

 

[Koumori_Knight]

Interesting point he raises...
Just not very forward thinking. The thing that I see is that he doesn't account for the general public and its ability to raise an unholy stink with only a little knowledge and intent.
He is right, stop the corruption by not electing corrupt people. That won't fix things once they are elected as they have been in this situation.
As @alunral mentioned earlier, it might be effective to boycott the offending companies, but he proved pretty clearly that it is quite difficult.
I dont think its impossible though, you just have to pick which ones to boycott.
In any event, the main problem with his rant is that he comes off far too angry and unwilling to recognize other peoples needs.
it makes me think of all of the extremist (insert any one here).

 

[Forstride]

The people who make movies and games make too much money that comes out of our pockets, piracy is just giving a tiny slice back to us.

This has got to be the dumbest thing I've read all week.

I can't even form some kind of argument...My brain has melted away from seeing such stupidity.

 

[Hells Malice]

The people who make movies and games make too much money that comes out of our pockets, piracy is just giving a tiny slice back to us.

Yeah, a bunch of guys sitting around while a game develops itself definitely don't deserve our money.

Now hell, if they actually, y'know, WORKED and designed the game then maybe it wo-
oh wait.


how could you possible type something so stupid and then actually hit post.

 

[coolness]

haters gonna hate

 

[Shinigami357]

**snippety-snip-snip**

Wouldn't a 12 year old be the one saying that the internet is the only form of communication?

Anyway, My point to all is not that I don't think the internet isnt the BEST way of doing it, I think its replaceable. I mean it only REALLY became publicly widespread in the 90s and it really sucked back then. The same can be said for automobiles. People got as far as they did with horses, wagons, bikes and boats. Same could be said for the internet.

LOL so because it's recent it can be replaced? Planes [modern planes, mind you, the jet-engine ones] and Communicaion Satellites aren't exactly old either, think we could live without them, too?

Don't fucking give me that BS explanation. Just because you're used to it now doesn't mean it's just another convenience you can ever-so-casually declare as replaceable.

And isn't the point of the internet is that it's growing? So basically, it's ok to just cut off the exponential growth of the internet because some people think they're entitled to it? What kind of fucked up thinking is that?

You're saying a technology less than a quarter of a century old is replaceable because... um... what was your reason again? Because it's new and it sucked before?

Wow. Quit the internet, please. FFS