New Bill Would Require U.S. ISPs to Block Pirate Sites

[pparks1]

And who's going to watchdog everything to make sure only true piracy sites are being blocked?

The type of sites that would be blocked by something like this would be the big, obvious, no doubt about it web sites that specialize in nothing but doing illegal downloads.

You guys crack me up with your fears that it will target small websites or accidentally stop something that shouldn't be blocked....therefore it's an awful or a terrible idea.

Can anybody here really say that they have used the Pirate Bay for anything other than illegal downloading or content? Would outright blocking of this website seem inappropriate to anybody?

 

[BCXtreme]

Blocking known sites that deal in illegal products doesn't bother me. It's about time. Many people use torrents to get something they don't want to pay for but they should pay for. Now some worry about the poor old server, Bull Droppings. I read it all and I didn't notice anything about blocking sites with opinions given. We protects banks not because everybody is a bank robber but rather because there are bank robbers. Putting locks on banks don't stop all bank robbers, just most of them. The same with blocking known illegal sites. It will stop most from using them but not all.

Putting locks on banks stops most bank robbers?? Huh? They're only called "bank robbers" because they succeeded, not because they tried and failed! The most the locks do is slow them down a little and make it harder. Anyway, the locks on a bank are more akin to DRM.

Again, the problem is that you're putting absolute confidence in an entity that they're not going to misuse power.

The biggest problem here is that the act of visiting a torrent site is not illegal. It's like making a law that says you're not allowed to walk within 100 feet of someone else's car, so that we can be sure you won't steal the car.

And who's going to watchdog everything to make sure only true piracy sites are being blocked?

The type of sites that would be blocked by something like this would be the big, obvious, no doubt about it web sites that specialize in nothing but doing illegal downloads.

You guys crack me up with your fears that it will target small websites or accidentally stop something that shouldn't be blocked....therefore it's an awful or a terrible idea.

Can anybody here really say that they have used the Pirate Bay for anything other than illegal downloading or content? Would outright blocking of this website seem inappropriate to anybody?

pparks1, we're not afraid that something will be accidentally blocked that shouldn't be. We're afraid that something will be PURPOSEFULLY blocked that shouldn't be, a la the Great Firewall.

 

[pparks1]

Pirating is sharing files. So essentially, one would have to disable copy and paste, click and drag, uploading and downloading.

pirating is not "sharing" files. It's sharing files that are not legal to share...there is a really big difference here.

Sidenote, torrenting is much more efficient than traditional downloading since it puts a small load on several clients rather than a large load on a single server.

Yes, torrenting is more efficient. Nobody said, "they are going to block torrents". I torrent Linux distributions all of the time because it's the fastest way for me to do it. And going forward, this torrenting would be allowed without question. However, if you are torrenting something like PhotoShop, Microsoft Office of Illustrator....then this is something altogether different.

 

[pparks1]

Again, the problem is that you're putting absolute confidence in an entity that they're not going to misuse power.

The problem I see is that you are saying because "you" could imagine this spiraling out of control means that it cannot be done at any level.

The biggest problem here is that the act of visiting a torrent site is not illegal. It's like making a law that says you're not allowed to walk within 100 feet of someone else's car, so that we can be sure you won't steal the car.

Again, nobody said "we will block all torrents". But they might say, we will block access to The Pirate Bay where people go to get those torrent downloads in the first place. This seems perfectly reasonable to me. If we pull our heads out of the sand for a second, we know why these types of sites are operated offshore? So, it doesn't seem all that odd to me to just outright ban them. If you don't like it..feel free to move out of the United States and go elsewhere where it is allowed.

 

[BCXtreme]

Again, the problem is that you're putting absolute confidence in an entity that they're not going to misuse power.

The problem I see is that you are saying because "you" could imagine this spiraling out of control means that it cannot be done at any level.

And I suppose you'd be fully willing to trust something like this to the government? You honestly can't picture them taking advantage of it?

The biggest problem here is that the act of visiting a torrent site is not illegal. It's like making a law that says you're not allowed to walk within 100 feet of someone else's car, so that we can be sure you won't steal the car.

Again, nobody said "we will block all torrents". But they might say, we will block access to The Pirate Bay where people go to get those torrent downloads in the first place. This seems perfectly reasonable to me.[/QUOTE]

Actually, torrents never contain illegal content. They contain links to illegal content. And websites contain links to those torrents, and hey, Google contains links to those websites, and other websites contain links to Google ... BAM, Great Firewall.

 

[kodi]

Ho. Hum. Here we go again.
To an Australian this has been done to death, we have been talking about this for a very long time when the Government tried to implement a filter to stop these sights.
Bottom line, it won't work because any ten year old will know how to circumvent it.
Just Google Australian filter and you will find everything that is going to be posted here.

 

[BCXtreme]

Ho. Hum. Here we go again.
To an Australian this has been done to death, we have been talking about this for a very long time when the Government tried to implement a filter to stop these sights.
Bottom line, it won't work because any ten year old will know how to circumvent it.
Just Google Australian filter and you will find everything that is going to be posted here.

Exactly. Which is why the only real effect of this bill, would be to give government more power.

 

[geekfreak]

big deal that is why we have ip changers, and proxy sites. they can try to block us all they want. we will just laugh in their face like we always do.

the bigger picture is trying to keep us from seeing what is going on outside the country, protecting copyright holds is what they claim they they are doing. it is not what the law is really for.

 

[Layback Bear]

Most of us know what torrents are used for and why. What a law like this will do if used properly is stop know illegal web sits. What legal program would one get on line that a torrent would be needed. Why would one need a torrent site to down load legal copies of movies or music. You can buy such things and down load them from one legal web site with no problems. Stopping these kinds of sites just might slow down all the bad things that come from these sites like virus, Trojans, ect. You can fill a 1 Tig hard drive with music and movies all you have to do is pay for the ones that are not free. Why would that be a problem?

 

[pparks1]

Exactly. Which is why the only real effect of this bill, would be to give government more power.

Our government already has deemed that download of this type of content is illegal and you can be prosecuted if caught and are responsible to pay fines, fees and royalties. This is simply taking an action to enforce those rules. I don't really see where we are giving up our civil liberties by taking a bit of action.

And I'll be honest, I'm not the type that is terrified of the government, policies and such. I rarely see major things like these really having an impact on my day-to-day life.

Now, the day they try to say that pornography should not be allowed on the internet and block access to something like that is the day that I cry foul. While porn is not for everybody, it's not illegal and much of it is not being traded illegally. This is one area where that Australian filter was over the top because they really were trying to deem which should and shoudn't be allowed based on this type of content. It wasn't as if they only tried to control content previously deemed as illegal.

 

[pparks1]

big deal that is why we have ip changers, and proxy sites. they can try to block us all they want. we will just laugh in their face like we always do.

However, if this is enforced at the ISP level....they own the entire block of IP's and if they simply won't route the traffic to those sites you are going to be a little bit stuck. Sure, you could go to a proxy site...as long as you can get there But if those sites are operated in a way that they cannot route traffic there either...maybe it won't be the child's play that you imagine.

As a said, I'm not naive and I don't think you would stop everything. but it would certainly put a dent in the issue if the average joe didn't have unrestricted unfettered access to whatever is being shared on these types of sites.

 

[Al Fairclough]

I wish people would spend a fraction of the time spent to police child pornography networks, rather than making millionaires more money. Somewhere along the line our values have been skewed, when we are more concerned with intellectual property rights than child porno and the trafficing of children.

 

[pparks1]

Why would one need a torrent site to down load legal copies of movies or music. You can buy such things and down load them from one legal web site with no problems.

I download most of my Linux distros from torrent downloads. These downloads are posted right on the official vendors website. The reason I use them is that with something like Ubuntu or Fedora...on the day (or week) of release, the official HTTP site is so overwhelmed with traffic that you might download at most 20KB/sec from these sites. But if you go with the torrent link, you might get 800-1500KB/sec and get the download finished far more quickly.

 

[geekfreak]

big deal that is why we have ip changers, and proxy sites. they can try to block us all they want. we will just laugh in their face like we always do.

However, if this is enforced at the ISP level....they own the entire block of IP's and if they simply won't route the traffic to those sites you are going to be a little bit stuck. Sure, you could go to a proxy site...as long as you can get there But if those sites are operated in a way that they cannot route traffic there either...maybe it won't be the child's play that you imagine.

As a said, I'm not naive and I don't think you would stop everything. but it would certainly put a dent in the issue if the average joe didn't have unrestricted unfettered access to whatever is being shared on these types of sites.

the isp has no idea when you do or don't use a ip chsanger, so the are s*** out of luck. and again the real reason for the law does not have to do with filesharing. only a fool believes that it is, and i don't think we have any fools in this thread.

 

[Wishmaster]

As far as blocking the Torrent sites, I have no issue nor will it effect me at all.
So long as thats all they really are going to do, and not attempting to filter everything they think is "bad".



Personally, Porn shouldnt be out there for just anyone to access IMO. But, thats why we have parental controls. Plus, as stated its not illegal.

It does depend on what type of porn though.
Certain types should not only be shut down, but go after & prosecute those responsible.
(Im not talking about typical porn stuff, I mean the sickos out there & the illegal type)

Things like that, no issues or complaints here.

Just don't block something because you disagree or dont like it.



And Im sorry ... but downloading Copyrighted materials against the law, is NOT by any means "File Sharing" nor can it be classified as such.
Its "stealing" plain and simple. Those who try to make a case otherwise are only fooling themselves.

"File Sharing" would be sharing non-copyrighted things such as photos etc, files between friends & family for example.

Making copies of a Game, or BluRay Disc to mass distribute to the world is stealing, NOT File Sharing.
2 totally differnt things.

 

[geekfreak]

I wish people would spend a fraction of the time spent to police child pornography networks, rather than making millionaires more money. Somewhere along the line our values have been skewed, when we are more concerned with intellectual property rights than child porno and the trafficing of children.

amen to that

 

[kodi]

What a law like this will do if used properly is stop know illegal web sits.

The problem is that it won't.
Some ISP's in Australia did a trial and within hours there was a workaround posted on the web, so the whole trial fell flat on it's backside.
The same thing will happen in the USA

 

[geekfreak]

It does depend on what type of porn though.
Certain types should not only be shut down, but go after & prosecute those responsible.
(Im not talking about typical porn stuff, I mean the sickos out there & the illegal type)

Things like that, no issues or complaints here.

Just don't block something because you disagree or dont like it.

you do know you contradict yourself right? rather we like or don't like a certain type of porn it still is a matter of personal expression, therefore protected by our right to free speech. i will agree there is a lot of porn out there that i would love to see banned, but i will not infringe on someones right to free speech.

 

[pparks1]

the isp has no idea when you do or don't use a ip chsanger, so the are s*** out of luck.

But how do you get to the site used to change your IP address?

At the end of the day, if the request for data leaves your computer and arrives back at your computer...your ISP knows about it. It's possible to put the pieces back together if need be. It would involve the cooperation of various parties, but it's entirely possible. It just really cracks me up when people go through these anonymizers, proxies and IP changers fully believing that they have positively hidden their identity.

 

[Dark Nova Gamer]

The way I see it is that the US has no right to block any website on the web (Though as stated there are plenty of websites out there that need action taken against the creators).

Pirating wouldn't be so bad if we were not being charged out our *** for everything. Adobe's Photoshop and Microsoft Windows is a good example. If I choose to take a not-so-legal course of doing things with software, that is my decision. I will face any consequences I am punished with. (I didn't admit to pirating, nor do I condone it. I am only saying it is my choice if I want to since it will be I who face the consequences).

I have no intent to join this little debate that has been pointlessly played out on this thread by multiple people defending their views as we all have our own views regarding this, and we cannot change the other persons view.

In the end, the debate about this being a good or bad thing is pointless since no matter what your views are, it is not your choice if this bill will pass or fail.