PIPA, SOPA, now ACTA?!

[mjolnir]

When I worked in freight sales, one our customers had a habit of sharing one competetor's proposals and bids with competitors. Ths upshot was, if he wanted to do business with company X, but at the prices of company Y, he'd show, or give a copy of, company Y's bid to company X, with a request as to whether they could match the prices. And this was in the old fashioned days, when the proposals and bids were on hard copy. I do know some entities in the US which will not use internet submissions for exactly the reason of what happened to your customer, and I know other entities which address the issue by delivering their proposals or bids close enough to the deadline so that there is not time for a competitor to make use of the information, even if somehow they did manage to gain access to it.

Indeed, I know a courier company which provides exactly such a service: a bid can be prepared and tendered to the courier firm, with the explicit instructions that it is to be delivered at a specific time, or within a specific window. So, if a bid is due at noon on a particular day, the courier may be instructed to deliver the package at 1030 AM, or even at 1145.

As to ACTA, PIPA, and SOPA, the situation here is that big entertainment (and others with big bucks at risk) have long had a hard time dealing with those who pirate intellectual property, and it has been hard for them to enforce. These actions are an attempt to try to crack down on those illegally making profit from the theft of intellectual property, and are targeted at particular types of operations which have been difficult to control. I don't for an instant, think that these efforts by industry will be successful.

 

[wholbr]

Hi mjoiner and Everybody.
I have to agree very much with what you say regarding buying companies showing tenders of supplying companies to alternative “preferred” suppliers for various reasons often best known to themselves or some employees within those companies, it very often makes you wonder in quieter moments. However, to get back to the topic if the legislation going through the US Congress is not the answer to the theft of intellectual rights then what is the answer.

Some months ago a young author who had written a book in his spare time while working full-time in another occupation wrote a letter to the local press here in Somerset. He advised that he has sent his work to a large publisher but had received back a letter refusing publication on the grounds that his work was not good enough. Within weeks of receiving that letter it was brought to his attention that his book had been published under a different title by a different publisher but almost word for word exactly as he had written it.

The above case could no doubt be told for thousands of similar cases all over the world. The Internet has made the theft of intellectual rights much easier to carry out and individual people or small businesses caught up in this theft often do not have the time or monetary means to seek redress from the offenders.

So again, What is the answer. It is easy for anyone to sit back and state that the proposed US legislation is not the answer or this action or that action is also not the answer. For if a solution is not found the Next Generation of authors, game writers, or any entrepreneur considering any intellectual design may well feel it is just not worth the effort and that would be a loss to us and future generations.

Above all it threatens many thousands of jobs in large and small businesses throughout the Western world and that I feel is what we should all be thinking of especially in these times of job shortages and recession.
Bill

 

[RRSignal]

I fail to see the relevance of this, however. Again, SOPA/PIPA are more narrowly-targeted. Every one of the examples of IP theft that have been proposed in this thread have little or nothing to do with SOPA and PIPA. If the young author had posted his manuscript to a website for the publisher to see and the other publisher copied it, then we *MIGHT* be talking about a situation actionable under SOPA or PIPA. Since he didn't (unless he's a total, epic moron), I don't see how these bills would have helped or prevented said piracy.

 

[PJAMA]

this is terrible, west government making bad decisions, this censor will lead to nothing good. and i would suggest people to stop buying things from corporations since they are doing all this to stop our daily lives.

i remember i read some woman in USA had to pay millions in penalty, for just downloading some songs. this is hillarious

if ACTA goes to law, i will never buy anything from corporations, no music, no movies, nothing! they have no right to censor what i do on my daily life

Well this march, there is a thing going on called "Black March"; It was started by the hacker group "Anonymous" and is gaining intensive attention on reddit:

http://black-march.com/

You basically go a whole month without buying ANYTHING from the Media Corporations. Call me crazy, but I think this might work.

 

[TheWaluigiKing]

well that sucks
the leader of SOPA can go fall in a ditch:n: