ESA stands behind proposed SOPA legislation, issues statement

Tek7

Tek7

CGA President, Tribe of Judah Founder & President
Staff member
For more information on SOPA, the Stop Online Piracy Act, visit http://americancensorship.org/
Last week, it appeared as though various game developers and publishers had pulled support for the proposed "Stop Online Piracy Act" - a piece of legislation that would empower content owners to effectively shut down internet sites over copyright infringement claims. The Entertainment Software Association, however, was still listed as a supporter, meaning that the long list of game companies belonging to the ESA supported it by proxy. That's pretty much every major game company you can think of, with the exception of Activision.

The ESA is still a SOPA supporter, and today the game industry's lobbying group issued a statement to Joystiq regarding its support of the controversial bill. It reads as follows:

"As an industry of innovators and creators, we understand the importance of both technological innovation and content protection, and do not believe the two are mutually exclusive. Rogue websites – those singularly devoted to profiting from their blatant illegal piracy – restrict demand for legitimate video game products and services, thereby costing jobs. Our industry needs effective remedies to address this specific problem, and we support the House and Senate proposals to achieve this objective. We are mindful of concerns raised about a negative impact on innovation. We look forward to working with the House and Senate, and all interested parties, to find the right balance and define useful remedies to combat willful wrongdoers that do not impede lawful product and business model innovation."
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Source: ESA stands behind proposed SOPA legislation, issues statement

You've been informed. Now you can decide whether to boycott these companies for their continued membership in the ESA and, by proxy, support for the Stop Online Piracy Act, or not. The choice is yours.
 
This is such a 2 sided dagger. Can hurt us and help us in both ways. I hate when the government does this garbage.
 
This is very much a one-sided dagger. This bill will punish consumers, will not solve any piracy problems for companies, and only creates a threatening environment for websites such as CGA/ToJ. If this bill gets passed, CGA/ToJ might very well get closed down because one of its members (or a hateful new member, really) purposefully or accidentally posts copyrighted material in the forums.

Really, this bill punishes everyone for the acts of a few; additionally this garbage is from a Texas rancher who barely knows what a computer is. /smh

Infuriating.
 
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In addition, it pretty much directly conflicts with incoming new freedoms for Canadian users... so if I, a Canadian, post a link to, say, a remix or a fangame, you Americans could get in trouble even though it's legal for me.
 
Now, at the same time, if this were truly directed only at these so-called "Rogue Websites," I really don't see the harm.
 
Neirai the Forgiven said:
Now, at the same time, if this were truly directed only at these so-called "Rogue Websites," I really don't see the harm.
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The harm, if I understood the bill correctly, is that there is no clear definition of "rogue website" or what accountability measures would be put in place to ensure this isn't used as a "blank check" to silence political opposition or, more realistically (since large corporations are backing this), commercial competition.

EDIT: Just to clarify: I am not dogmatically "anti-big business." I recognize the jobs and innovation that large corporations deliver. I understand that merchants take risks and should gain rewards when they succeed (and also suffer the consequences when they fail, but that's an issue for another thread entirely). What does bother me is when large corporations sponsor legislation that threatens citizen rights. Companies will promote legislation that benefits them and their bottom line--we should not be surprised when they do--but elected officials and the citizens that elect them should be ever vigilant in keeping those companies accountable to their customers and the citizens of the nation where they do business.
 
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Just to be clear, there is no problem with anti-piracy measures other than excessive DRM which installs rootkits on users' machines (i.e. Sony Music).

I have a friend who is a small software game developer, so I know that for him every sale counts, and even though he would've given me his games for free, I still paid for them for precisely that reason. Piracy really is bad, and hurts the developers.

That being said, the only real problem I see with this is the wording: shutting down a website for "copyright infringemet claims" is quite wrong.

What it actually should say is they can shutdown a website for "copyright infringemet evidence"

Anyone can "claim" copyright infringement even if it is clearly false. My youtube channel was shut down back in 2008 because of a false copyright claim that Youtube wouldn't even let me dispute.

If the actions and powers are based on mere claims, than this will be a clusterbomb of a mess. If it's based on actual "evidence" of infringement, than I have no problem with it.
 
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I agree that piracy is a legitimate issue, but SOPA is not the solution.
 
Tek7 said:
I agree that piracy is a legitimate issue, but SOPA is not the solution.
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Of course it's not. This bill is hardly about piracy. The government is using piracy as a vehicle for censorship. In the list of actions that the right holder is now 'authorized' to carry out against the accused (but not convicted) person is this:

"Authorizes the right holder to then commence an action for limited injunctive relief against the owner, operator, or domain name registrant, or against the site or domain name itself if such persons are unable to be found, if:
(1) specified trade secret offenses intended to benefit a foreign government, instrumentality, or agent; and
(2) various other intellectual property offenses as amended by this Act. Directs the U.S. Sentencing Commission to review, and if appropriate, amend related Federal Sentencing Guidelines. Requires the Secretary of State and Secretary of Commerce to appoint at least one intellectual property attache to be assigned to the U.S. embassy or diplomatic mission in a country in each geographic region covered by a Department of State regional bureau. "

Now, why would EA need to shut down a website for post secrets of the U.S. ? For that matter, why does the government care if EA loses a couple million copies of crisis 2?

End rant.
 
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SOPA is like so much other legislation being passed in the last few years. It started with The Patriot Act and is getting worse instead of better. The pay raise for the military this year was held up because of a rider that would have denied due process for anyone foreign or domestic accused and arrested for terrorism in this country, good 'ol USA. Will SOPA pass? When enough money and the word terrorism has been thrown at it enough. Despite half hearted attempts at lobbying reform and campaign finance reform, votes can still be bought in Congress. Not only that politicians have a tendency towards panic and herd mentality. "Oh noes if we don't pass a bail out bill for the major banks by Friday evening our economy will collapse." Remember that being tossed around? Care to follow the money trail, before, and after that one? Yes SOPA will be passed in some form sooner or later, count on it. If it isn't the terrorists will win.:rolleyes:
 
You can tell Google is making a stand against SOPA supporters.

Apparently Ford Motor Company supports SOPA... and I love Ford. I was going to get me a Mustang - not anymore :(.

Edit: I just wrote my representative...

Mr. Price,

I will not support a candidate who supports SOPA (H.R. 3261). SOPA will inadvertently censor the American public via shutting down websites that have copyrighted material on them. I understand that companies have a right to protect their intellectual property, but passing a law that can shut down a website like Facebook because someone posts a picture of their new Ford Mustang (a registered trademark of Ford - a company who supports SOPA) without Ford's consent will lead to the censorship of information and will leave American citizens in the dark. If you support this law, we may as well rename ourselves the United States of China.

If you support this bill I will do everything in my power to ensure you do not get reelected.

Do not pass this bill.
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I don't want to be labeled an activist. :(

I rarely go political on anyone, but screwing up my internet is going way too far.

Also, I don't expect much from politicians, especially since they can be bought. But this is worth fighting for.

Watch this video.
 
I have very good reasons for keeping my anonymity, but I gave it up to contact my representative using this service. SOPA is scary bad, but at least a token of resistance is necessary. No we can't stop it, or something like it, but we can make our voice heard.
 
I think that if this passes (we still don't know if it will or not) and people get to experience being silenced on their facebook's and twitters they will figure out their congress has pulled a fast one on them and people will be furious.
 
I'd love to see the attempt to rush SOPA through Congress as the spark that sets off a long-needed backlash from concerned citizens nationwide. Copyright law has already strayed so far from the original intent of copyright (you can thank Disney and Sonny Bono in part) that it's laughable that corporations are asking for even more power to abuse.

Unfortunately, many Americans are probably too busy watching "Keeping Up With the Kardashians" (or whatever trash the media companies are spewing to keep the masses distracted these days) to even know what SOPA is. -_-

Those in power will continue to abuse and expand their power so long as the majority of citizens remain distracted and apathetic. I'd like to believe SOPA will be the wake-up call to rally American voters, but America's track record over the last decade isn't looking so hot. :(

EDIT: I wonder if I could get the CGA listed here? (Probably not as we're not established a NPO.) :)
 
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I was encouraged when I read that our domain registrar, 1&1, opposes SOPA.

Just one more reason I'm glad we kicked Go Daddy to the curb a few years ago. (I'm also glad that I don't have to go through the hassle of transferring the domain to a new registrar; it's a hassle, but I would have done it had 1&1 supported SOPA.)
 
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