Saturday, May 14, 2011


COICA Rears It's Ugly Head Again Under a New Guise

You might remember hearing about COICA, a piece of legislation called the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeit Act that was authored by U.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) & Orrin Hatch (R-UT). Fortunately, the bill was defeated last fall; however, a new legislative session is upon us and these tenacious corporate sycophants have decided to re-introduce the bill under an ominously misleading (and ironic) new name: the Protect IP Act. This new piece of legislation would effectively institute a broad range of censorship capabilities that makes China's draconian measures look tame. I quote from Demand Progress:

"Senators Leahy and Hatch pretended to weigh free speech concerns as they revised the bill [COICA]. Instead, the new legislation would institute a China-like censorship regime in the United States, whereby the Department of Justice could force search engines, browsers and service providers [meaning IPs] to block users' access to websites, and scrub the American internet of any trace of their existence. Furthermore, it wouldn't just be the Attorney General who could add sites to the blacklist, but the new bill would allow any copyright holder to get sites blacklisted."

I know many of us cling to a belief that if such a bill were to be passed and signed into law, we'd simply find ways to work around or subvert it, but it's time to wake up and realize there is a battle on the horizon between public interests (meaning you & me) and the interests of the corporate elite and their elected lapdogs who do their bidding in Congress over control of what we call the internet. This particular bill relates to the U.S. only, but this is a growing concern worldwide; in fact, many of you might already be experiencing government-sanctioned internet censorship.

If you happen to be in the U.S., I implore you to educate yourself about this issue before it's too late!


Bash the Fash

 Music Sharers: This could possibly be our future (albeit in metaphorical form). Better keep a box of bear-claws handy (or jelly-filled)

11 comments:

  1. Its a serious issue. Hopefully it will be rejected as the prior bill.

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  2. I hope it does get rejected, but they will likely resurrect it again under an even more euphemistic title

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  3. I'm not in the US, but in Europe too, both governments and entertainment majors companies want such "legal" rules!
    Not an easy fight for us, but a so fundamental one...

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  4. dolen972, this is definitely a world-wide fight. Sometimes these restrictions seem almost inevitable but then I realize that this is only true if we don't fight against it. These days it seems profits are always given more weight than freedom (maybe it's always been that way)

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  5. freedom is only legitimate it seems when the US govt claims to have granted it. bastards. i like americans, just not the american way.

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  6. Hi bedlam, "freedom" is one of the most misused/misunderstood words in the U.S., where it often means "freedom from choice" or "freedom from having to think for oneself." Even though I'm a yank, my sentiments are exactly the same as yours on this.

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  7. no one rules if no one obeysMay 18, 2011 at 12:20 AM

    The best government corporate money can buy will soon go bankrupt. Look for alphabet soup agencies full of mouth breathing double digit IQ boot lickers to justify their worthless salaries in the meantime. The riaa and the whole industry deserves to go out of business for being so far behind the times.

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  8. no one rules..., I'm not even sure what purpose the industry serves given how easy it is to distribute music these days. I suppose the answer is making shitloads of profit for their shareholders on the backs of a few mainstream artists

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  9. We have always been at war with EastAsiaMay 18, 2011 at 7:48 PM

    State lawmakers weigh anti-piracy bill to allow warrantless searches of CD and DVD makers
    The Recording Industry Assn. of America is pushing the legislation, which wants to give law enforcement officials the power to enter manufacturing plants without notice or court orders. But U.S. constitutional law scholars say the proposal may violate the 4th Amendment.

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  10. that is so bizarre I LOL'dMay 18, 2011 at 7:49 PM

    http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-piracy-searches-20110518,0,961223.story

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  11. thanks for the link. What a joke: the "industry funded advocacy group" claims that CD sales have dropped radically due to piracy. Ummm, ever heard on digital sales? Most people purchase digital copies due to this little invention called an ipod. Don't believe the misinformation; the music industry is experiencing the highest levels of profit in its history.

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