Warning: the volume of the video is a bit too high!
Useful Resources on SOPA:
- Infographic for a quick, comprehensive overview
- Very detailed article with all the implications of SOPA
Let me know your thoughts and comments!
Please leave a comment below.
Note that I don’t reply to all comments, but I do read them all. If I don’t reply to your comment, it most likely means that I agree with what you say and don’t have anything meaningful to add, myself. I appreciate and read all comments and your comments play an important part in what I write about, so keep them coming.
Spammy comments are always filtered or removed. No surprise there.
Note that I don’t reply to all comments, but I do read them all. If I don’t reply to your comment, it most likely means that I agree with what you say and don’t have anything meaningful to add, myself. I appreciate and read all comments and your comments play an important part in what I write about, so keep them coming.
Spammy comments are always filtered or removed. No surprise there.
Thanks for the heads up Shane, hadn’t heard about SOPA.
Is there anything that those of us outside the States can do to put our point across?
Hope your move went well, I didn’t like moving a few miles last time, I hate to think of trying to move countries!
I think one of the best things non-US citizens can do is to contact news media and journalists (for example, find US journalists twitter names and tweet at them), letting them know that this is an issue that needs coverage and an issue the world cares about.
If enough people do this, there’s a chance that the very fact it’s happening becomes a news-story.
Very interesting discussion. I found avaaz.org, where you can sign a petition:
http://avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/?vc
Wow! First comment… I knew I should have slept later.
Thanks for the heads-up on SOPA, Shane. As a former news junkie, who has since be come news-phobic, that kind of thing never even appears on my radar. Interesting how the entertainment industry, the *supposed* bastion of creativity in our society (just ask them) are always the ones trying to put limits on society. Granted, too many people are more than willing to trample copyright – hell, entire countries are willing to trample copyright – but I agree that giving corporations the freedom to decide who survives or not on the Internet will certainly bring disaster. As usual, especially (it seems to me) in America, short term profit trumps any long term sanity.
Hope all is going well with your move…
I agree. The “powers that be” will always try to maintain their position by keeping a lid on everything else. The Internet and the fast pace with which it has developed, is easily the biggest economic disrupter we’ve seen in a long time, so many people will want to stop it from doing what it’s doing.
That is, unfortunately, a side-effect of capitalism. I feel about capitalism the same way Winston Churchill felt about democracy: it’s the worst economic system, with the exception of every other system we’ve tried…
Exciting news, Shane…I already missed your consistant wake- up call sunday-updates!
Moving to Romania? Awesome…do they have all the technical facilities an IMIMPACT guy needs?
Couldn’t agree no more on the comparison of what Churchill said on democracy with what he’d be saying on economic systems if he knew what we know today… assuming of course he’d still be alive :-)
All the best for your current endeavour,
looking forward to your upcoming updates
Bis bald
Mirko
Dude, the technical facilities here are top-notch.
I have a 100 Mbps fiber optic line here and it costs me a fraction of what the slower connection in Switzerland cost me. :D
The problem is they need to get rid of lobbyist (You know that isn’t happening). Big business and politicians are in bed with each other but that is protected as “free speech”, yet that take many of our other freedoms away daily.
The problem isn’t Capitalism or Democracy, these things are good. It is the Liberal (Communist) policies that have been implemented in the U.S. While the Conservatives (Capitalist) want to De-Regulate to open up free market. Don’t Get me wrong they are most all corrupt bastards… My country needs to wake up and vote these turds out of power. We need to elect proven upstanding citizens not these career politicians.
Sorry for the tirade Shane, but this censorship has got me fired up and it makes me sick!
Hi Shane:
Without going into the folderol of thoroughly understanding all the sub issues here two things spring to mind to positively influence the outcome in our direction:
a) an online petition signed by key influencers like Matt Cutts and the internet cognoscenti published on a prominent blog like Ariana Huffington
b) a hard hitting video interview featuring someone like Clay Shirky that goes viral.
I don’t think sending a letter to a local yokel U.S. Congressman would be worthwhile.
The only other thing I can think of is to get Al Gore involved.
U.S. Politics are so infuriating!
Best,
PV
Forgive my second post….just so curious about why your moving to Romania! I’m thinking that there are some software engineers involved somewhere?
Could you give us your “eyes on the prize” tour of the region mentioning, places like Latvia, Estonia and perhaps Slovakia?
Where are the best and most reliable internet connections in EE plus the best info science tech schools. And of course I’d like to know where there’s the least censorship & costs of business are reasonable. Berlin?
I’ve been thinking of moving to Bangalore but the rupee is too weak.
I’m charged up about your next Sunday video!
Best,
PV
More details on my move to Romania will follow in my next update. Promise! :)
Thanks, Shane. I am aware of the SOPA legislation, but had no idea they could ban a site for having just a link to copyrighted material.
And thanks for moving to Romania. It is too expensive to visit you for long in Swissland. Romania will be much cheaper. :)
And don’t worry about the video quality.
It makes it more “real”.
If you want any chance of getting SOPA overtuned, you need to vote for Ron Paul….seriously.
You think SOPA is bad, go Google NDAA (national defense authorization act) and see what Congress and Senate have done to the American people.
American citizens are now considered the enemy and America is the battleground.
If you want any hope, Ron Paul is the only one who will invalidate sopa and ndaa.
Indeed, the NDAA thing is almost too bizarre to be true. I do hope that things will start looking up in America, soon.
I have no doubt the U.S. Congress would do something this stupid. They are all in the pockets of big business and have no clue what being a sole proprietor is all about. Fortunately the Senate still has a few intelligent people in it who have not completely sold out. So I’m hopeful SOPA still has zero chance of passing at least for the time being.
I have moved from one country to another ten different times and it is never easy. So good luck! I hope it all goes smoothly. I’m curious though as I’m sure everyone else is too as to why you chose Romania. So please let us in on the secret before we embarrass ourselves speculating what it’s all about. ;)
I do hope you’re right and this bill gets shot down.
And as for the move to Romania, I’ll let you know in my next video. :)
That’s an interesting and thought provoking little comment you’ve put up there Shane. Like Pepper I’m also curious about your move to Romania? It is sad to see that yet again the American corporates are trying to gain leverage against competitors in the name of anti-piracy. The problem with their perception of piracy is that they ignore the positive influence low key piracy can have on their sales. A couple of years back, their was a big acknowledgement of the way the copied tape / cassette / dvd / game etc. actually ended up bringing customers who eventually wanted the real thing. Stealing is out of order, but the industrial pirates and rip off merchants who profiteer from their activities are the ones who should be targeted. We shouldn’t be putting powers in the hands of corporations. It was after all a significant part of corporate America which has been responsible for screwing the western world’s finances and putting us all into such a tricky position. SOPA is not on the surface a good thing!
Piracy is definitely a complex issue and much more than just a matter of “they are stealing our stuff”. It’s one more reason why it cannot be approached with something as crass as corporate censorship. If anything, that would only make the piracy problem worse. Then again, we both know that this bill is not really about stopping piracy.
there was an online petition which I signed as well as a huge push to call your congressman. This bill got put on hold! It is due to be taken up again next year. A new effort will be put forth then.
Find the progressive blog and get on the e-mail list. You will then receive notices of such petitions and alerts when this bill comes up again for a vote.
Piracy is a complex issue and has totally killed the music industry. Giving any more power to corporations is certainly not the answer. You are right the Internet is a huge threat to their power.
I can’t wait to find out the reason you move to Romania, very intriguing.
It was loudly proclaimed that the bill would be put on hold until next year. Then, they tried to sneak the fact that the date of the hearing was changed to Dec 21 under the radar. If you google “SOPA hearing date”, you’ll find some info about this.
You’re updates are always valuable.
I would rather see you do updates like this every week and have to wait several weeks for a fancy production. Also, your Focus and Action course was great! Since I took that course a few weeks ago I’ve seen massive growth! Thank you so much for all that you do.
Thanks!
Very glad to hear you got a productivity boost out of F&A. Way to go! :)
Bine ai venit in Romania, Shane!
Mulţumesc!
Always great to hear from you on Sunday morning…even if your news is a little disturbing (SOPA, not your move).
However, now that I think of it, Romania is the land of Count Dracula. You haven’t been bitten or anything?
Thanks for the information. So tired of people trying to stifle the little guy!
Is there something non-us people can do about it?
Quoting my earlier comment:
“I think one of the best things non-US citizens can do is to contact news media and journalists (for example, find US journalists twitter names and tweet at them), letting them know that this is an issue that needs coverage and an issue the world cares about.
If enough people do this, there’s a chance that the very fact it’s happening becomes a news-story.”
Thanks for that important update, Shane.
It sounds scary but I have no doubt that – as usual – the free market will come to the rescue. I’d be willing to bet that if the bill passes within a matter of days there will probably be several software packages on the market to block spam comments from posting those kinds of links.
Anyone want to take me up on that?
The blog comment thing was just one possible example.
The issue runs far deeper than that and in part it is that this law is one that makes the market a lot less free. That’s the problem with this kind of legislation. Although theoretically, it applies the same way to everyone, in practice it doesn’t. We all know that sites like facebook or amazon will not be affected by this. And neither will any sites run by Wal-Mart, General Electric or any other fortune 500 company. These sites will never be censored, no matter what they do. They are “too big to fail”.
Legislation like this will be wielded by those with deep pockets and good connections and will affect small businesses and individuals, almost exclusively. It would probably also cause many headaches for journalists, but even there: the large news-site will not be shut down. They will receive threats.
The little guys site will be banned in a heartbeat, with no warning and nothing you can do against it.
In practice, this is how these things work. The application of laws to you are inversely proportionate to the size and power of your lobby.
Thanks Shane for bringing this to everyone’s attention and spending the time to do this video.
I’m located in the US and have called my Congressman to voice my opposition to SOPA. I urge all citizens to call or email their representative on this issue. It’s not only important for online marketers, it’s what democracy is all about.
Let’s stop this before it’s too late.
Welcomeback Shane, So true what you impress apon Don,t be dumbed down by the powers that be . Vote for freedom.
Heres another wise guy here… `
“The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.”
-Albert Einstein.
heres an easy link to vote for freedom of speech..
https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173
Shane, it’s good to have you back. I can see why you haven’t sent out an update in a while.
BTW, just a couple of days ago I was thinking of sending you an email asking if for some reason I had fallen off your list since I was wondering why I haven’t seen an update for some time. And then I thought that it must be pretty cool for someone to actually be concerned that they fell off your list and are actually asking to get added back. Usually it’s the other way around!
This just goes to show how different you are from other people out there in the IM space. Keep up the great work!
I hadn’t heard of SOPA, thanks for bringing that to my attention. I live in the US and it’s just getting crazier here as time goes by so I’m not surprised.
Take care and would love to hear more about why you moved countries. Romania doesn’t seem like an obvious choice to move.
Thanks!
If I have understood correctly SOPA, as it is written now, essentially could also be the end of shared web hosting as we know it. Raise your hand if that would affect a few of your sites…
Because if another site on the same server as you (and thus the same IP-address) is found guilty of copyright infringement, and blocked on the DNS level – your site(s) gets blocked as well. At the very least those who sell shared hosting will be forced to police their clients even more efficiently than they do now.
I would think some of the biggest websites would be lobbying against this.
If passed, wouldn’t YouTube, Facebook, MySpace etc all be blocked rather quickly? They try to keep their sites clean and handle copyright infringement claims quickly on a case by case basis, but with so many people publishing to these sites, there will always be some infringing material posted at any given time.
Heck, doing a search on Google can lead you to infringing content – – are they going to block Google (and other search engines) altogether too?
You’d basically have to cripple the internet to enforce this fairly, and pirates will still find a way to copy and disseminate protected digital content anyway.
SOPA is a dangerous exercise in futility.
Shane, I absolutely agree that such legislation will be applied exclusively against small business and entrepreneurs. It is yet another example of “crony capitalism” that has poisoned the free market in every avenue of endeavor.
My earlier email was only intended to make the statement that software packages and/or free WordPress plugins will protect us from abusive or vengeful comments on our blogs. I have no doubt that if this legislation passes, the impact on review sites and free expression in general will be horrific.
It is truly up to us to put pressure on congress to stop it. As Edmund Burke stated more than 200 years ago: “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing”.
Thanks for letting us now shane.
Yea the prices for internet access in swiss are very high, don’t wanna feel too intrusive(but anyway you answer only if you like to..) did you move there for financial freedom or mostly because you have family there and stuff ?
I bet the optic fiber line cost peanuts compare to swiss optic offers..
Hi Shane – on a similar vane; a very real threat to all IM, SEO and MMO-ers?…
https://www.facebook.com/SiteSell/posts/314460885266054
That’s a lot of hyperbole.
Yes, Google are being dicks, but all is not lost. I’ll be talking about business models that don’t center around Google in this coming year a lot and while Google is trying to get their hands on everything, let’s not forget that they often fail in those attempts. Google Buzz, anyone? How about Google Wave? For that matter, Google+ isn’t exactly a stellar success either.
Finally, although it has definitely gotten trickier, a lot of the same old niche-site-building and affiliate marketing efforts still work pretty well.