Matt

What are SOPA and PIPA

Known amongst their critics as “the internet blacklist” bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA – H.R. 3261) and the PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (PIPA – S.968) are two pieces of legislation currently up for debate in the House and Senate with the potential to fundamentally alter the internet. And not for the better.

SOPA and PIPA are allegedly intended to fight online copyright infringement and counterfeit trafficking by granting the Department of Justice and copyright holders the ability to take legal action and seek court orders against websites accused of having limited purpose or use other than enabling or facilitating copyright infringement.

In reality, the broad and overreaching enforcement mechanisms these bills provide will do little to stop online piracy while effectively censoring and shutting down much of the internet as we know it today. Actions available to the DOJ and copyright holders include:

• Demanding search engines and social networking sites block access to targeted websites
• Requiring payment services and advertisers to cease doing business with targeted websites
• Requiring internet service providers to block access to targeted websites through the domain name system

Perhaps most troublingly, SOPA and PIPA provides for civil and criminal liability for owners of targeted websites.

Although AllBuffs has absolutely no objection to legislation that stops piracy of movies, broadcasts, and music, these bills go way too far and make it so that a simple accusation on a broad range of things outside a website's control can shut down the site and open up its owners to liability.

For more basic information on SOPA and PIPA, look here:

Reddit.com

Wikipedia page on SOPA

Wikipedia page on PIPA

OpenCongress link on SOPA

OpenCongress link on PIPA

Video explaining SOPA in simple terms.



Video explaining the impact of PROTECT IP



How does this impact Allbuffs?

Along with internet giants such as Wikipedia, Facebook, Google, and Reddit, Allbuffs.com is categorically opposed to SOPA and PIPA. While pulling Allbuffs offline for a day may seem a bit extreme. We felt it is necessary to inform our users about what SOPA/PIPA are and what passage of this legislation could mean for Allbuffs. If SOPA and/or PIPA pass, the impact on Allbuffs will be devastating.

Allbuffs is a social site that brings in all kinds of content, both original and third party. Due to the third-party content posted on our site, we could find ourselves in violation of SOPA and PIPA. If we are found in violation, Allbuffs could be DNS blacklisted – which means you couldn't access Allbuffs anymore. Another possibility is we could lose the right to host advertisements on Allbuffs, which would lead to us not being able to afford to run the site. Worst of all, Dio, who now owns Allbuffs, could be held solely responsible – both criminally and financially – for the content hosted on Allbuffs.

So what happens if SOPA/Protect-IP passes?

We will completely erase the Allbuffs archives. Allbuffs has close to 800,000 posts. We do not have the resources to go through each post and remove any copyrighted material. We would be forced wipe it all and start from scratch..

Avatars and signatures will be disabled.

Users will be unable to post any images or videos on the site – we will remove the option to upload images, use the IMG tag, and embed videos. We will also delete any links to images or videos.

We will need more moderation to make sure no post contains any third party stories/links, and this could require moderator approval of every post.

The Newsroom and RSSBot will be removed and links to other websites will be deleted. Only original, user-generated content will be allowed on Allbuffs.

The recruiting forum will either be removed or have to be overhauled to conform with SOPA and PIPA. While we have an original take on recruitment, a good portion of our information is from other recruitment sites. If they don't like it they could file a complaint.

No more hookers and blow.

What can I do?

Today is a call to action. Use the time you normally would have spent on Allbuffs to learn more about SOPA and PIPA. After learning about it, spread the word to others. These bills are set up to be passed quickly and quietly, we do not have much time.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) has a list of things you can do.

MOST IMPORTANTLY, call your Senators and Representative and tell them to oppose PIPA and SOPA, respectively. If you cannot call them, at least send them an email or a letter. Whether you support or oppose these bills, contact them and let them know WHY.

Since we are a website based out of Colorado, we want to emphasis that Senator Michael Bennet is a co-sponsor of PIPA and supports SOPA. You can find Senator Bennet's response to SOPA At this link.

If you are in Colorado we urge you to go to Senator Bennet's website and call him today. If you don't have time to call him, email him instead. Senator Bennet's contact form. Let him know you are from Colorado and how you feel about these two bills being passed.

EFF’s action center has a widget that you can use to quickly find your Representative. They also have some talking points to help get you started.

Here are direct links to Senators of the 112th Congress and Directory of Representatives

If you’re in college, speak out through like-minded organizations working for digital freedom, such as Students for Free Culture or Electronic Frontier on Campus. If there isn’t a chapter at your school, start one. Then use that platform to coordinate with other students to speak out against this bill.

Contact local news in your area. Since the majority of Allbuffs users are in Colorado here are some links to local news stations.

9News

7News

CBSDenver

Fox31 Denver

If just half of the people that visit Allbuffs contact our local news outlets, it may be enough to bring more media attention to this issue.

Get the word out on social-media sites. These bills are mostly only being talked about on technology based sites, but they affect everyone. We need more awareness. One way you can do that is by talking about these bills on Facebook, Twitter, or any other social media you are a part of – emphasis the potential impacts.

For Facebook members, there is a Facebook page you can join: Against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA)

If you are on Twitter, use any of the links in this thread. Use the hashtags #stopSOPA and #stopPIPA

Stop American Censorship is another great site with a lot of information on what you can do.

Conclusion and additional reading.

In this day and age we live in a divided country. However, this is not a Conservative vs. Liberal or Democrat vs. Republican issue. SOPA and PIPA are bipartisan bills with the potential to drastically change the internet, indeed, the potential to affect even small websites like Allbuffs as well as many other blogs, forums, and social sites. These sites may never be the same if these bills pass. That is why everyone behind the scenes at Allbuffs is shutting down the site for a day. We want to get this information out there for as many people as possible.

We would also like to state that Allbuffs does not condone piracy. We all know it is an issue and one that does need to be addressed. However, neither SOPA nor PIPA is the answer to this problem. These bills are simply too broad and too vague and they will most certainly be abused.

If you agree with us at Allbuffs, please take a few minutes of your time today to either call or email your representatives, to contact your local news station, or to write your local newspaper. We do not have the money to voice our opposition against this bill but we do hope that if enough of us yell loud enough, those in Washington may listen.

Setting the Record Straight on SOPA: Some Evidence-Based Analysis

List of Those Expressing Concern With #SOPA and #PIPA

How SOPA Affects Students, Educators, and Libraries

What's On the Blacklist? Three Sites That SOPA Could Put at Risk

Reddit community against SOPA