The Current Events Thread

[Valbrandur]

Wouldn't be surprised, US government seems hellbent on establishing itself as the international rulers.

[Komodoensis]

I think I'll be doing Black March. Sounds like a really good idea. A peaceful boycott. No one's shit get's fucked up, no one loses any internets, possibly, and it might solve something.

[Liraxus]

Eh, what the hell, i'm game.

[Topaz Luckdragon]

You guys might want to check this out.

[Stranaton]

>tumblr with music
LOL NOPE
reminds me of the war ("the war" is MySpace)

[Kamak]

I'm kinda game for Black March, but I'm hesitant for one reason. Likely the only thing to come from this boycott would be that the companies end up passing on the losses to the workers. Movie companies would fire/end deals with writers and directors that were a part of "bombed" movies, specialty retailers (gamestop) would fire people because of the lack of sales (therefore no need for a position), etc.

So while it may hurt their sales figures, and by extension their stocks, I'm sure this will just mean that "restructuring" will be done to find a way to make back the losses.

Plus, the smarter ones would be able to predict the right time between when stocks are high and when stocks are low to make a big profit off of the drop when quarterly sales figures are made public.

[Madican]

You guys might want to check this out.

There is going to be some collateral damage but honestly I think Black March needs to be done. Refocusing funds to the independents won't have nearly as much impact as stopping the flow entirely. The first method gets the attention of the big companies while the second gets the attention of every country in the world as they wonder what the fuck just happened.

[KitsunePilot80]

Kamak - My cousin said roughly the same thing.

I have been trying to avoid commenting on the SOPA thing for a while, but I just saw something called "Black March", an idea so horrible I decided I needed to rant.

First off, Piracy is bad. I say this hesitantly, knowing full well that several of you on here don't think it really is and may well lynch me. But trust me, if you enjoy your video games or your tv shows or your anime or your whatever, you really shouldn't be killing off the industry that makes it. When it's no longer profitable to do so, those industries WILL disappear.

Now, that said, SOPA is flawed and really REALLY needs to not take hold. It simply provides too many openings for abuse. Megaupload was -legally shutdown- and the creator is pretty much going to lose his life if the system stands the way it is now. Can you imagine if something, like, oh, say, GOOGLE were to fold? The American economy is already horrible, the loss of so many jobs from web-based businesses that either fall victim to greedy companies who just want to take them to court to grab as much as they can, or companies who close themselves out of fear of that happening, would pretty much be the final nail in our coffins.

Which brings me back to 'Black March', a campaign that encourages you not to buy anything from entertainment industries in March. Er-hem...

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

Seriously? This has to have been started by pirates. "Yeah, don't go BUY anything this month, just pirate it all. It's all good. Show those fat-cats in Hollywood who has the real power"

Please, please for the love of all that is holy and/or based in common sense, do not start making Black March into an actual thing. Just stop it now before it even gets started.

You will not convince the movie industry or the music industry to stop supporting SOPA bills by not buying anything for a month. You will simply convince them that piracy is even easier to pull off then they thought, re-doubling their efforts. And in the process, you will inflict crippling damage to the economy.

Now, I have only seen one person talking about it so far, so I hope it's just a really really bad troll. But if not, please, don't get all caught up in your need to 'stick it to the man' and end up supporting this, or anything else stupid like this.

You really want to affect laws in the US? Call your Congressman. They may take bribes from the media industries, but if they know they'll lose their job over it, they'll stop supporting bills that the people who vote them in to office don't like. Petitions are good, but a phone call is better. Screwing over the artists and actors and musicians and designers and producers and gaffers and janitors and editors and everyone else who makes the things you love is not the way.

That's what he said on the matter. I've already contacted the California congressman and a friend got Illinois, but it's been made fairly clear by lack of any response or nod on the matter they don't give a fuck. I don't know their full stance on it, but they have been told what will happen if SPOA/PIPA passes.

[Lambeth]

The creator of SOPA managed to infringe on copyright on his own website.

[Shad]

Kamak - My cousin said roughly the same thing.

Your cousin ignored one thing - nowhere does it say "go pirate it instead". It DOES say "hold out and wait a month before buying". Mabe reading comprehension and an open mind would help.

[KitsunePilot80]

What he later fully stated was that just boycotting them will somehow prove to them that pirating is easier than they thought. That the big industries will think everyone is pirating now instead of buying when the sudden lack of funds hits.

[Brekkjern]

Kamak - My cousin said roughly the same thing.

I have been trying to avoid commenting on the SOPA thing for a while, but I just saw something called "Black March", an idea so horrible I decided I needed to rant.

First off, Piracy is bad. I say this hesitantly, knowing full well that several of you on here don't think it really is and may well lynch me. But trust me, if you enjoy your video games or your tv shows or your ANIMUKAWAIIDESUNEEE~ or your whatever, you really shouldn't be killing off the industry that makes it. When it's no longer profitable to do so, those industries WILL disappear.

Now, that said, SOPA is flawed and really REALLY needs to not take hold. It simply provides too many openings for abuse. Megaupload was -legally shutdown- and the creator is pretty much going to lose his life if the system stands the way it is now. Can you imagine if something, like, oh, say, GOOGLE were to fold? The American economy is already horrible, the loss of so many jobs from web-based businesses that either fall victim to greedy companies who just want to take them to court to grab as much as they can, or companies who close themselves out of fear of that happening, would pretty much be the final nail in our coffins.

Which brings me back to 'Black March', a campaign that encourages you not to buy anything from entertainment industries in March. Er-hem...

WHAT THE FUCK?!?!

Seriously? This has to have been started by pirates. "Yeah, don't go BUY anything this month, just pirate it all. It's all good. Show those fat-cats in Hollywood who has the real power"

Please, please for the love of all that is holy and/or based in common sense, do not start making Black March into an actual thing. Just stop it now before it even gets started.

You will not convince the movie industry or the music industry to stop supporting SOPA bills by not buying anything for a month. You will simply convince them that piracy is even easier to pull off then they thought, re-doubling their efforts. And in the process, you will inflict crippling damage to the economy.

Now, I have only seen one person talking about it so far, so I hope it's just a really really bad troll. But if not, please, don't get all caught up in your need to 'stick it to the man' and end up supporting this, or anything else stupid like this.

You really want to affect laws in the US? Call your Congressman. They may take bribes from the media industries, but if they know they'll lose their job over it, they'll stop supporting bills that the people who vote them in to office don't like. Petitions are good, but a phone call is better. Screwing over the artists and actors and musicians and designers and producers and gaffers and janitors and editors and everyone else who makes the things you love is not the way.

That's what he said on the matter. I've already contacted the California congressman and a friend got Illinois, but it's been made fairly clear by lack of any response or nod on the matter they don't give a fuck. I don't know their full stance on it, but they have been told what will happen if SPOA/PIPA passes.

I don't think your cousin actually read what the Black March states. I will sum it up in one word. Boycott. That means you do not get anything from the ones you boycott, legally or otherwise. Thus, no piracy. The point is to drive home that they are acting unacceptable and we don't want them to keep on what they are doing. Essentially voting with your wallets. And really. Who gives a flying fuck that a few people may loose their jobs when we are talking about the liberty of a country. The rest of the world is feeling the effects of both SOPA/PIPA, the MegaUpload raid and the TVShack incident.

We need to make them understand that they MUST change revenue models AND update the laws for the year we live in. WHICH IS 2012! We are not in the nineties anymore. We don't use cassettes. We use internet. Adapt!

[Madican]

Whatever they think, it'll get their attention. If they then insist on doubling their efforts they'll be met with appropriate response.

It's put up or shut up time now with the corporations and I'm not inclined to do the latter.

[Shad]

But it's exactly the point. The industry doesn't make it easy for customers to buy. They have to go through too many hurdles. DRMs, "YOU WOULDN'T STEAL A CAR......" spots, all that shit. Not to mention the way they price their stuff - INSANELY too high.

Piracy IS easier than buying stuff. You can't kill piracy. Hence, what the industry has to do is find better ways to sell what they sell.

[BurntToShreds]

How about instead of not buying anything, you buy things from sites that have the right idea on how to get products out there, such as Steam?