This is a bill that is going through the US Congress, yet affects all of us from around the world.  There are actually two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act known as SOPA, - and a joint piece of legislation, known as the Protect IP [Intellectual Property] Act - PIPA. In a country and world obsessed with IP and Patents, as it’s not the ordinary man or women in the street who are being protected and cared for, - as the percentage of inventors and entrepreneurs are so miniscule, in comparison to the 1000’s of patent and IP applications that are submitted annually to the government’s patent offices.  This is why we are all having to pay such extortionate prices for such life saving medicines like Asprin, no doubt one of the best medicines to ever be discovered, but because no one got around to patenting it, - it became freely available, it costs a pittance to produce, yet due to these greedy bunch of conglomerates not be able to earn any royalties from this drug, they have dismissed it’s life saving qualities and prefer to “invent” and then “patent” their magic potions and still using the ‘same’ Asprin,  and before they deposit their dodgy load on the rest of us.  So we can see the kind of people who are really behind these kinds of proposals and bills, - people hell bent on greed and control, as this kind of bill, like so many others, - has nothing to do with ‘fair-laws’, - as it’s in complete detriment to the masses, as opposed to helping any of them.    

It’s said SOPA was designed to tackle the websites outside the USA that sell pirated movies, music and other material.  Currently the US law, permits authorities to shut down US based websites that deal in pirated material, - though what’s pissing off those proposing SOPA, is that they can’t currently do this to websites outside the US, and rightly so and all, piss off with your corrupt legislations.  And don’t believe all the hype about it hurting struggling artists, as they are well use of hitting the road in a battered old transit van and playing for a pittance, sure it’s true some are losing out, I heard one band moaning they lost 100,000 sales out of the 2,000,000 they sold!  But there’s a difference in being able to afford three houses and opposed to only two, they won’t starve and after all, they’re “artists lovey”, and their main reason for taking to such a vocation, is for their love of music, writing or film, - that you’d wish to do it for free - just to see the joy on other folks faces.  Of course we all “need” money, and that such artists should be greatly rewarded as many of them most certainly are.  Whereas many other artists give away free DVD’s and CD’s, hoping that one day they will get recognised, - and this kind of thing goes on right across the board, even in the world of literature and where they give away millions of books in hope people will take to their wares.  As it’s not until they get recognised by the major labels and publishers etc. – that they will then, be furnished with watertight contracts and generous advances, - so don’t you worry about those little lot.  Many people prefer the genuine article anyway, whether it be a DVD, CD or book, - you might browse and listen or watch a few examples on a pirate website, - yet would like the genuine product at the end of the day, and go ahead and purchase the real thing from perhaps another website.  Those who are mainly doing pirating, are not the kind of person who would probably pay for that material anyway, they download it, think; “Oh well, more shit”, and move on, no one’s getting hurt here, - and not even the artists, as just imagine they never knew someone downloaded anything of theirs, so it wouldn’t actually affect them.  They should and some do, look at it as a ‘marketing cost’, as many people who can’t afford the actual real item, - yet have seen a pirated version,  - they indirectly become a sales tool, as they write about it and talk to their friends, thus help promote it for free.  Who hasn’t purchased or seen some kind of pirated material, though when many have, they are often let down and disappointed, as the quality is normally nowhere as good as the genuine item.  And why the vast majority do not wish to purchase the inferior material to begin with.  And out of those the genuine products these companies and artists do make and sell, - then they earn more than enough to stop their bloody well whinging. 

The Motion Picture Association of America are the main backers behind this piece of unjust legislation, they estimate that 13% of adult Americans have watched illegal copies of movies or TV shows online, - and proclaim it’s costing media companies billions in dollars. 

They say the objective of the introduction of this bill, will stop piracy, and how they propose this should be done, is to stop these websites their main sources of income, which is presently provided by advertisers and links, or other assistance to overseas websites.   The bill is to give much more power to the governments Justice Department, which are disturbingly boarding on a ‘total-blackout’ ban, that will affect millions of people, as these powers will directly allow the US government, to be able to directly stop US citizens from be able even see certain websites, that those outside the US will be able to do so, - why this is what is presently happening in China, and where access to the internet is heavily censored, as is the case in other countries. 

The US government will be able to seek a court order requiring US internet providers to block access to overseas websites, they will be able to block and make it impossible for users to type a simple Web address into their browser, as they will require companies like Google to disable the links to these websites.

They will also be able to seek a court order requiring credit card and processing companies to stop payments to the sites and will stop advertising networks from be able to place ads on these sites, or taking ads from the pirated websites for display somewhere else.

Hollywood and music companies, or in fact any company that would wish to take action against websites that are alleged to be supporting or hosting pirated material.    The bill will allow these companies to get a court order that will require credit card companies and processing companies such as PayPal, to stop payments to these alleged pirate sites. 

Wikipedia has said this bill could allow for; “Censorship without due process”. -  And here’s the real problem with this kind of legislation, and so many others, - as it will quite obviously be open to abuse, as the language of the bill is so broad, it would allow content owners to target any US websites that aren’t even knowingly hosting such pirated material.  - Many a computer buff can attach a link or even banner advert on any kind of website.   And let’s not forget there are many sites that rely on uploaded content, such as Facebook, Twitter and Wikipedia, and the saviour of the world Wikileaks etc.  - And more like the reason for this bill, as the US government can’t be seen waving a flag endorsing this kind of bill, so will pretend they are against it in some way or another, when it goes without saying; “they” are also behind it].  As what else will arise from this kind of bill, is that the ‘complainant’, could get a court order blocking payments to a completely innocent site, such as mine, where it’s known to talk about banning members of secret societies from also being able to serve within our governments and their related bodies, and urge people to share this info, and join our cause, and understand this is the real danger of such a bill.  They will in effect be able to close your website or business down overnight.   What this kind of legislation is in fact doing, is endorsing what those already authoritarian counties are doing to their own citizen’s rights, and restricting the website content in which they can presently see.

It’s also been argued this could undermine cyber-security efforts, as among the biggest issues for companies such as Google, eBay and other internet companies, - that if this bill is passed, - and for them to then be enable to comply with the ‘blocking’ of various websites or individuals,  this would require; ‘DNS Blocking’,  - the DNS = Domain Name Status, it’s an integral part of the internet, which ensures traffic goes to where it should when users type in the Web address of a company or website.  These addresses are converted into series of numbers that make up the sites IPA = Internet Providers Addresses.   In earlier and the original legislation, it required internet providers to redirect traffic away from the ‘blocked’ website address, by blocking the numerical conversion of the DNS.  Cyber-security experts say that redirecting is also used by hackers to deceive internet users and commit cybercrimes.  - On the 14^th January 2012, the Whitehouse issued a warning that it couldn’t support the legislation if it included DNS blocking, because these security threats could have an impact on the current and past cyber-security efforts.  Though this doesn’t mean the main backers will not hope to find a way around this spanner in the works, - as after all, it’s in the governments own interests to make sure that they do see this bill is passed, - or a very similar bill, that will likely try a raise its Masonic ugle head in the not so distant future.  [There’s a hidden meaning in the spelling of ugly, and an English connection].

If SOPA becomes law, it means the House of Representatives, who are awaiting the consideration of the House of Judiciary Committee, - that in turn if they give it the go ahead, or throw it out,  - the Motion Picture Association of America, have confirmed they plan to schedule another hearing of the bill in February 2012.  So this elephant in the room is not going to easily go away, - and how many of these bills and pieces of legislation ever reach the Senate to begin with, is via lobbyists, - and whom virtually all are members of secret societies, - and the same secret societies, that the members of our governments and their related bodies are also members of. 

2012 © D. McCann – In which I grant permission to whomsoever wishes to use or redistribute it as and when they so please.   

To help stop SOPA from coming into law and to join our cause, that is to ban members of secret societies from also being able to serve in our governments and their related bodies, then checkout the link:     http://www.causes.com/causes/643665-ban-members-of-secret-societies...