Skeptic Project

Someone posted this up on another forum I post on.

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A good video explanation of what is going on, although a bit long:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAtSfNh9 ... ture=feedu

A clear explanation of what congress is rushing to pass:
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/pipa_house/

Quote
A bit of an emergency: The rumor all over Capitol Hill is that the House version of the Internet Blacklist Bill will be introduced this week, probably on Wednesday.

Our allies on the Hill say the bill's so bad that it could effectively destroy Youtube, Twitter, and other sites that rely on user-generated content by making the sites' owners legally responsible for everything their users post.

Nobody will want to take that risk, so sites like Youtube and Twitter could be forced to shut down.

Facebook, Myspace, and Google+ would be at risk. The cyberlocker and streaming provisions could affect your iPhone, Android, AmazonCloud, Pandora, Grooveshark and even your email accounts.

It also includes provisions that would make it a felony to stream unlicensed content -- including cover band performances, karaoke videos, video game play-throughs, and more.

And all of this is being driven by a few major corporations who are trying to protect their private profits.

Will you use the form at right to ask your Congressmember not to cosponsor the legislation, at least until they've heard our concerns?

ALSO: We need to completely overwhelm the social networking sites with info about this legislation so we can bombard Congress with constituent contacts:

CONTACT YOUR LOCAL CONGRESS MEMBER USING THIS URL!!!
http://act.demandprogress.org/sign/pipa_house/

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I told the poster that no, this isn't going to happen, the House and Senate can't even agree on a single version of the bill (despite what this hysteria claims that it is being 'rushed'). I also pointed out to him that the internet goes berserk basically anytime any bill in Congress mentions the internet, and so far, no kill switches, no mass shutdowns of major sites, no censorship.

Hasn't replied yet, and if/when he does, I doubt it'll be wake up sheeple. The guy's unfortunately just a non-skeptic, and tends to spread around whatever the hysteria of the day is and says he's afraid. He's not an 'infowarrior', just prone to whatever the 'be afraid' flavor of the month is.

http://gigaom.com/2011/10/27/looks-like-congress-has-declared-war-on-the-internet/

An article on the whole issue and what the bills are actually about. I get a very distinct sense that no one knows...or cares...how the legislative process actually works. It seems people think that once a bill is introduced, it doesn't change AT ALL, and a bill needs to only pass one house of Congress (I think some people even think the president doesn't do anything...) to become law. Everyone's ignoring that the House and Senate currently have their own version of this bill, and they will have to reconcile to a single version of this if it is going to get anywhere. And also that the vast majority of bills that are introduced get killed in the process somewhere.

And for all the hysteria, even if this were to pass, I have a funny feeling this ranting and raving won't come true anyway, and it'll be like the PATRIOT Act all over again...everyone claiming it's the end of freedom of speech, yet hardly any difference in day to day life.

I love how everyone keeps saying 'it is/it will be rushed'. LOL, not with American Congress.

If Dems and Repubs can barely agree on important matters (or unimportant), they how the hell do they expect this to be rushed?

Fools.