Don't let the forums die! Speak out against SOPA and PIPA!

[RAMChYLD]

As you guys know, SOPA and PIPA will have substantial affects on fansites. Publishers of shows, games and movies can potentially abuse the act to silence critics, or if they also choose, fans alike. On this forum itself, it would mean that if American Greetings decide that we do not deserve to exist, they can get the site shut down without intervention from the owners. And as we all know, AG does not take criticisms lightheartedly. As of now, even misdirected criticism is enough to get a site DMCAed (i.e. the Penny Arcade incident). However, the difference is, DMCA cannot touch someone else's site. The owner of the site will receive a warning, and is still given a chance to fight back by means of a counter-lawsuit. SOPA makes DMCA redundant- they don't need a DMCA, all they need is to order the site shut down. And given that we have a US domain name, it is considered to be subjected to US laws as far as SOPA and PIPA are concerned (yeah, the laws of that act are that shallow, If you have a US domain name, you're automatically American. Doesn't matter if your server is actually in Holland or The Netherlands).

This site has a few criticisms targeted at the 2009 reincarnation of the show. It is sure to be shut down if SOPA and PIPA comes to be and AG sees the posts.

Aside from that, SOPA and PIPA will also have hard-hitting consequences on those living outside the US. Do you know that certain shows either do not air or are prematurely cancelled in countries outside the US? And with SOPA and PIPA, it would render the fans of said shows in those country completely zero access to them?

We blacked out our page for the last 48 hours as a gesture of protest against the upcoming SOPA and PIPA act. We are not alone- hundreds of sites including giants like Google and Flickr also protested- Google with their logo blacked out, and Flickr with allowing participating users to black out selected images. The war against SOPA have left a mark on the pages of history, as 10 US senators have backed down and the voting indefinitely postphoned.

However, the war is not yet over. There is still PIPA, which is due for hearing on the 24th of January. We are still in decision on what we shall be doing on that day. It might be nothing, it might be another full-scale blackout.

The biggest offending point about SOPA and PIPA itself is this- one of the proponents specifically targeted international audiences, saying that they do not deserve the show if their country's TV station refuses to carry a show or Pay TV operator refuses to carry a channel that airs the show. It implies that it's the problem between the citizens of the country and their Pay TV provider or local TV channels and is not their problem. When I saw that clause, it triggered a depression fit- it came across to me as crude, greedy and selfish.

Americans, do the right thing. Vote out SOPA and PIPA. While we are not for piracy, we are also not for tyranny and suppression of freedom of speech. Remember the first amendment.

And remember, telling someone how awesome a show is but not letting them have it is akin to bullying. Don't do that, share the show with them instead.

[huckleberrypie]

Ditto on that.

[Kiwifruit Jam]

Down with SOPA! Down with PIPA!

When I saw the blackout on Wikipedia and many other sites, I was really glad to see that this site has also joined the blackout protest. I even told Blake how awesome it is on chat.

And as we all know, AG does not take criticisms lightheartedly. Even misdirected criticism is enough to get a site DMCAed. SOPA makes DMCA redundant- they don't need a DMCA, all they need is to order the site shut down. And given that we have a US domain name, it is considered to be subjected to US laws.

This site has a few criticisms targeted at the 2009 reincarnation of the show. It is sure to be shut down if SOPA and PIPA comes to be and AG sees the posts.

Well, despite the Penny Arcade incident, I don't think AG would really have an interest in shutting down this site, I think they'd rather turn a blind eye on it. I think fan sites actually help the business it's connected to, unofficially. A fan site may provide much information on the particular subject, and this may help customers to find the related products. A fansite, due to its nature, advocates these products. Basically, we do free advertisement for AG.

As for criticism... come on, it's free speech, consumer protection and all... and anyway, everyone should learn to take criticism... Well if they would shut down the site because of our criticism, they are berry big morons.

(And anyhow, they should already know very well that the 2009 relaunch sucks. )

[Evalana]

(And anyhow, they should already know very well that the 2009 relaunch sucks. )

All memes aside, David has a point. AGP is very vigilant about the properties they consider important, at least on youtube, and they can be very aggressive in the way they handle it. For example, when Cherry Jam's music video was posted on youtube, not only did they have all uploads there removed, they removed the video from World Screen's website (the only place it was posted at the time) and they also removed the preview of the upcoming CGI Care Bears series from that site as well, just in case.

[RAMChYLD]

As for criticism... come on, it's free speech, consumer protection and all... and anyway, everyone should learn to take criticism... Well if they would shut down the site because of our criticism, they are berry big morons.

Exactly. Unfortunately, there are two types of people in the world- open-minded smarts and closed-minded morons. I can prove that the latter exists- just look at the Malaysian government and it's censorship in print media and TV. Heck, there is even a law that outlaws unorganized protests in Malaysia. Not to mention the boneheaded Internet censorship which only targeted filesharing sites.

AG most likely has close minded morons for it's upper management positions too- Penny Arcade wasn't even attacking SSC, they were mocking MacFarlane Toys and American McGee! They probably chose SSC because it was the sweetest thing in their childhood they could think of (though, if you think about it, there was pretty much no diabeetus-inducing shows back then -pretty much all shows in the era has villains in it. For the records: MLP regularly sent me scuttling into the kitchen and hiding under the table, and so did Care Bears).

On the other hand, AGP were actually nice enough to let Sandy and me upload various music videos and the one short which they did not upload officially and is very hard to get. So maybe there is some good people up there too.