posted by
Woods
on Saturday May 10 2014, @02:00AM
from the my-favorite-acronym-that-sounds-like-Mario-asking-for-cleaning-supplies dept.
from the my-favorite-acronym-that-sounds-like-Mario-asking-for-cleaning-supplies dept.
Cory Doctrow at bOing bOing brings us Congressmen ask ad companies to pretend SOPA is law, break anti-trust:
A murder of Congresscritters and Senators have told Internet ad-brokers that they expect them to behave as though SOPA passed into law (instead of suffering hideous, total defeat); they want the companies to establish a secret, unaccountable blacklist of "pirate" sites. The group comprises Congressmen Bob Goodlatte and Adam Schiff, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Orrin Hatch. This isn't just a terrible idea, it's also an obviously illegal antitrust violation.
He also links Mitch Stoltz from the Electronic Frontier Foundation Who points out this is a violation of the Sherman Anti-Trust law.
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(Score: 3, Insightful) by SpockLogic on Saturday May 10 2014, @03:23AM
Congressmen Bob Goodlatte and Adam Schiff, and Senators Sheldon Whitehouse and Orrin Hatch should be in jail.
Overreacting is one thing, sticking your head up your ass hoping the problem goes away is another - edIII
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday May 10 2014, @03:48AM
This is just another reason to dislike America. I'm sorry (well, not really) but your politicians and law makers set the benchmark for how far other western countries push their lucky in many regards.
Other western 'governments': "If they get away with it in America, why can't we?"
You have long served as an oracle of sorts to the rest of the world. What happens in your financial markets generally hits the rest of the world eventually. We can predict many things worldwide based on what happens in your country.
I for one look forward to eventually seeing wide-spread civil disobedient (Arab spring anyone?) over the pond. It will either make the rest of the western world pull it's socks up or signal the forth-coming liberation many of us have been waiting for for a long time.
(Score: 4, Informative) by Reziac on Saturday May 10 2014, @03:56AM
Meanwhile in America, the usual excuse for lunacy is "This is how it's done in Europe."
Fact is we both copy the worst of each other. :(
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by davester666 on Saturday May 10 2014, @05:31AM
Implemented via "free trade" deals. "The other side insisted on it, and it's just a minor thing so we went along with it."
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Fluffeh on Saturday May 10 2014, @09:04AM
It makes it easier for the politicians to do what they (and by they, I mean the people that buy them) want that way. They copy (and often extend just a little) what was done on the other side of the pond.
(Score: 2) by Reziac on Saturday May 10 2014, @12:34PM
Yep, that's a good point.... Take advantage of the age-old fad of Exotic Foreigners. You can justify any sort of nonsense if only you can get your constituents to buy into "but they do it this way and it's so much better than how we do it".
And there is no Alkibiades to come back and save us from ourselves.
(Score: 2) by Nerdfest on Saturday May 10 2014, @04:17AM
I think it's a lot closer than people realize. Because of the speed of communication these days everything is 'amplified' to a degree.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by Rune of Doom on Saturday May 10 2014, @04:35AM
It's long past being a matter of politics or which side you prefer. At least, for sane human beings it is. America's institutions are broken and dysfunctional, and it's pretty clear that they will never be fixed in any real sense. The only questions left are how long things can keep going before the whole thing comes apart (around 15 years is my best guess), how bad the crash will be (hopefully no worse than Orlov's mid-State Three), and how much damage will be done by the shockwaves around the world (not devastating, I hope/guess).
(Score: 4, Insightful) by The Mighty Buzzard on Saturday May 10 2014, @11:38AM
My rights don't end where your fear begins.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Thesis on Saturday May 10 2014, @04:17AM
I'm not a violent individual, and despise violence overall. However, if someone were to string them up, as a lesson to others in such a position, I would not lift a finger to stop it. In fact, I would probably celebrate. The blatant corruption must be stopped somehow, and voting has thus far proven to not be the answer, as most Americans know.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by jelizondo on Saturday May 10 2014, @04:56AM
Many people think that disregard for laws amongst the elite is recent, but that is nothing new. They believe the U.S. of A. was different from other countries. Read your history, it was this way in the time of the Greeks and the Romans and it was this way in the U.S. of A. from the very founding of the country.
The big difference is that now the news travels around the world in minutes, and people tend to think things are getting worst. (Check the availability heuristic, Daniel Kahneman [wikipedia.org].)
The way I see it, is either people will get off their couches and use this new-found power of the Internet to bring elected representatives to behave and a true and wonderfull democratic period will ensue or they will continue to watch TV and not give a damn, making the elite impervious to limited criticism.
Now get off your couch and don't even think about hanging around my lawn!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by hash14 on Saturday May 10 2014, @08:52AM
There's no such thing as a law against legislative malpractice - but this is exactly what it would be: abusing your position as a legislator to push an agenda that has been overwhelmingly rejected is a criminal act and should be treated as such.
The problem is that there is no repercussion for this behavior, just as there is no repercussion for patent trolls (including the corporate ones like Microsoft, IBM, Apple, etc.). Suggestions on how to fix it?
Yes, yes, I know - the US Congress members actually are serving those they represent, it's just it's not the people who elect them, it's the ones who pay for them to get elected.