use the following search parameters to narrow your results:
e.g.reddit:pics site:imgur.com dog
reddit:pics site:imgur.com dog
see the search faq for details.
advanced search: by author, community...
The most important Items from blog.reddit.com will be posted here (mainly, functionality changes). See also /r/blog.
American Censorship Day - Stand up for ████ ███████ (self.announcements)
submitted 2 months ago by reddit[A]
reddit,
Today, the US House Judiciary Committee has a hearing on the Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA. The text of the bill is here. This bill would strengthen copyright holders' means to go after allegedly infringing sites at detrimental cost to the freedom and integrity of the Internet. As a result, we are joining forces with organizations such as the EFF, Mozilla, Wikimedia, and the FSF for American Censorship Day.
Part of this act would undermine the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act which would make sites like reddit and YouTube liable for hosting user content that may be infringing. This act would also force search engines, DNS providers, and payment processors to cease all activities with allegedly infringing sites, in effect, walling off users from them.
This bill sets a chilling precedent that endangers everyone's right to freely express themselves and the future of the Internet. If you would like to voice your opinion to those in Washington, please consider writing your representative and the sponsors of this bill:
Lamar Smith (R-TX)
John Conyers (D-MI)
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Howard L. Berman (D-CA)
Tim Griffin (R-AR)
Elton Gallegly (R-CA)
Theodore E. Deutch (D-FL)
Steve Chabot (R-OH)
Dennis Ross (R-FL)
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Mary Bono Mack (R-CA)
Lee Terry (R-NE)
Adam B. Schiff (D-CA)
Mel Watt (D-NC)
John Carter (R-TX)
Karen Bass (D-CA)
Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL)
Peter King (R-NY)
Mark E. Amodei (R-NV)
Tom Marino (R-PA)
Alan Nunnelee (R-MS)
John Barrow (D-GA)
Steve Scalise (R-LA)
Ben Ray Luján (D-NM)
William L. Owens (D-NY)
[–]dkesh 2026 points2027 points2028 points 2 months ago*
Found on Lamar Smith's website: streaming video of copyrighted materials. No mention that permission was given.
Edit:
I've sent an email to the television station whose content Smith is streaming inquiring whether he has permission to do so and tipping them off to the hypocrisy angle if not.
With some help from IronHymen, bestnottosay, groovitude, and darthcorvus, I've gone through the list. Many of the ones I've marked "y" have multiple other infringing videos. If you want to join in, look through the ones I've marked "n"; my searches have been fairly cursory. Some of them don't seem to have any videos up, though, and some of them only have C-SPAN videos (which they are allowed to use).
Now, I'll try to contact local media in their area to get them interested in the hypocrisy angle. If you are a reporter or work for an anti-SOPA organization and want to take over from me at some point, leave a comment or PM me. If you want to take your own congressperson, please leave a note saying who you've contacted about it. (I'm only including media contacts, not contacts of Representatives in the chart, as that's what I'm more interested in tracking. Both are awesome of course.)
EFF tweeted this list. I love you EFF!
And a reminder, to take action go to sendwrite, american censorship, or wired for change.
** IMPORTANT EDIT:** I've been in touch with a tech news site, who sent the story off to a couple lawyers. I want to give them a chance to hear back from the other lawyer, but I'm feeling guilty seeing karma rack up without warning y'all: the first lawyer was skeptical that these videos would be criminalized, arguing that the Congresspeople could claim a good faith belief that their uploads were fair use. I still think the law is awful and the contrast between the Congresspeople's rhetoric and actions striking, but I'm going to wait until I get more information to decide if there's a story here.
** IMPORTANT EDIT 2:** There will be a story on this soonish (today or tomorrow). I'm retiring from coordinate letters to local press today, but depending on what the story says when it runs, hopefully we can use it to crowdsource efforts to contact local media tomorrow.
** Edit 3:** As KB1RMA points out below, ars technica has an article out. There will probably be another soon. Based on this, I'm not planning on pursuing this further. If somebody else wants to, feel free. I still think the hypocrisy is there, but I'm a bit sad to have led a lot of people down a path when there are so many other obvious problems with the bill. I hope everybody is out there writing their reps.
[–]johnaman 365 points366 points367 points 2 months ago
This should be crowdsourced.
[–]dkesh 115 points116 points117 points 2 months ago
Added a note about crowdsourcing to my comment. I have to take care of breakfast and some errands over here, but I'll do it myself if nobody else gets on it. Finding the videos by the first two took all of one minute each.
[–]johnaman 40 points41 points42 points 2 months ago
Beautiful. I can't thank you enough for taking the time for this.
[–]CaptainCaaavemaaan 236 points237 points238 points 2 months ago
And like that you became a better investigative journalist than half the people employed by the stations you contacted.
[–]KerrickLong 109 points110 points111 points 2 months ago
Assuming that the video was uploaded to YouTube by its copyright holder (or with their permission), if the uploader doesn't disable embedding they have given explicit permission via YouTube's Terms of Service.
Although, I do like the point you're trying to make.
[–]dkesh 199 points200 points201 points 2 months ago
The videos were uploaded by the congressman's office.
[–]KerrickLong 184 points185 points186 points 2 months ago
That is bad. I'll bet the news stations didn't give them permission, then. It's a shame we can't get it taken down, the copyright holder has to do it under the DCMA.
Oh, wait. With SOPA we could!
[–]munki_unkel 111 points112 points113 points 2 months ago
Ahhh, well, you know that somehow the SOPA rules will not apply to the congressional lawmakers ... just like insider trading.
[–]kriskicksass 31 points32 points33 points 2 months ago
I just sent the following email to WPTZ, the channel whose video Rep. Owens posted:
To whom it may concern:
I'm writing to inform you that a video whose copyright is owned by your station has been posted to YouTube by Representative Bill Owens. I'm giving you notice because Rep. Owens is one of the sponsors of the Stop Online Piracy Act.
This bill would strengthen copyright holders' means to go after allegedly infringing sites at detrimental cost to the freedom and integrity of the Internet. Part of this act would undermine the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act which would make sites like reddit and YouTube liable for hosting user content that may be infringing. This act would also force search engines, DNS providers, and payment processors to cease all activities with allegedly infringing sites, in effect, walling off users from them.
Under the provisions of the bill he is currently sponsoring, Rep. Owens would be breaking the law by posting your video without your explicit consent. I hope that you can appreciate his hypocrisy as I do and will not let it go unreported.
EDIT: And I realize immediately that I forgot the youtube link. Anyone else who writes, please don't forget that!
[–]holdmystaffer 1222 points1223 points1224 points 2 months ago
I work in the office of a congressman. There are two ways to get our attention: (1) mass phone calls and (2) form issue mailings.
Protip: This may get you on a fundraising listserv but calling the campaign office with your policy concerns will ensure the topic is addressed.
[–]what-the-frack 110 points111 points112 points 2 months ago
This person knows what he/she's talking about!
[–]lalophobia 60 points61 points62 points 2 months ago
the person on the other line isn't a miracle worker. No, they can't tell you why the Congressman supports or doesn't support that bill unless the policy advisers have told them to do so. No, they don't care why you think the Congressman is a dumbass for doing this or that. And no, you cannot talk to the Congressman. Keep the call short, tell me which bill you support or don't support, and be polite.
From working in call center for technical service for two year I know exactly what you mean - but change a few words to match the context of those calls
anyway point being; good info , so upvoted
[–]Donitsu 623 points624 points625 points 2 months ago
15 Republicans to 10 Democrats shows that they CAN be bipartisan! Bipartisan about being fucking retarded.
[–]illepic 370 points371 points372 points 2 months ago
And insider trading. They're bipartisan about insider trading.
[–]Donitsu 142 points143 points144 points 2 months ago
Ethically retarded!
[–]misterthirsty 293 points294 points295 points 2 months ago
Here is the letter I just sent to my congressman:
Dear Congressman %$#*:
I am writing you today about a provision in the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) introduced on Oct. 26, 2011. It seems to me that this legislation had the effect of creating an American internet firewall, one that could severely restrict the ability of Americans Citizens to access the internet similar to the regressive policies of countries like China. In June of this year, the United Nations declared that access to the internet is a basic human right, and unfettered access to information was crucial in the recent Democratic uprisings in the Middle East. It is very disheartening to learn that the US Congress is considering the restriction of a resource so vast and important that it has completely changed communications, access to informational resources and the expression of all of our freedoms guaranteed by the Bill of Rights of the US Constitution.
Specifically, the SOPA does two things that promote the censorship of the internet in the USA. First, it would allow for suspension of service prior to being found guilty by holding any site with user generated content. Currently, websites such as Google, Twitter and YouTube operate under a "safe-harbor" provision in the Digital Millenium Copyright Act that, if invalidated, would force these sites to suspend user access before determining whether the users were actually guilty of copyright infringement. This is frankly a usurpation of due process established by the 5th & 14th Amendments to the US Constitution. Second, Section 102 of the SOPA allows for the Blacklisting, by the Attorney General's Office, of any website accused of harboring a copyright infringement, again without the prior establishment of guilt under due process. The ability of a government agency to ban user access to an online site or service without due process is simply a reprehensible act of censorship and nothing less.
Online piracy can indeed be a problem, although in some cases piracy can lead to an increase in visibility for software or an online service that ends up creating more revenue for the developer, artist or creator of the product. The issue of copyright infringement pales in comparison, however, to the idea that American access to the internet could be disrupted, censored or denied without first establishing guilt. Free and unrestricted access to information is the arbiter of a Democracy; restricting the access of American Citizens to the vast resources of the internet in any form goes against the very values enshrined in the Democratic spirit of our Country.
Thank you for your time and service,
misterthirsty
[–]holyschmidt 226 points227 points228 points 2 months ago
In the spirit of the internet, im shamelessly plagiarizing this to send to my congressman.
[–]DarqWolff 165 points166 points167 points 2 months ago
[–]Goldberry 90 points91 points92 points 2 months ago
Here's mine. I am writing to a Republican in the South, so I made sure to put in nice little references to 'merika, freedom, and the nanny state:
Mr. ******,
I am one of your constituents from *******, *. I am writing to express my concerns about H.R.3261, the "Stop Online Piracy Act" or SOPA.
As you know, this act would give intellectual property owners the power to shut down any website's revenue flow with nothing more than a letter, requiring the website owner to file a petition if they wish to overturn this - of course, who knows how much income the website owner will have lost along the way? This strikes me as abjectly wrong. What happened to innocent until proven guilty?
The bill also give government lawyers, Internet service providers (ISPs), search engines, and payment processors the ability to block any site at their own volition. As an American who rejects the notion of a "nanny state," this is equal parts chilling and infuriating.
This hamfisted approach to a sweeping, mostly unregulated crackdown on any site that someone doesn't like puts the innovative industry of the Internet at risk. In an article posted October 20th, you said, "We just do not want the federal government to grow so big that it stifles growth and prosperity..." I challenge you, sir, to stand by your words.
Legislation is needed to protect copyright holders from intellectual property theft. But not like this. Not a big bulky piece of law that gives the government such power to censor sites. Not something that we'll have to spend the next decade trying to take apart. Copyright owners deserve protection, but not at the cost of the American people's freedom.
I implore you to reject this bill, reject big intrusive government, and continue to hold the trust of the people you represent.
[–]SurrounDEAD 28 points29 points30 points 2 months ago
Yours makes my letter look like shit. Mine just said Mrs. -----
I'll give you my vote to throw a shoe at the sponsor(s) of this outrageous act. Not only this, I'll throw in two chocolate bars after you've kept your end of this lovely bargain.
[–]Bob_Faget 109 points110 points111 points 2 months ago
i hope he replies "tl;dr"
[–]JackMasters 363 points364 points365 points 2 months ago
Isn't the porn industry the most heavily affected by online copyright infringement?
If this thing passes will a big chunk of copyright attorneys be spending the next few years trying to figure out just whose porn belongs to who and sue accordingly?
[–]lizard_king_rebirth 481 points482 points483 points 2 months ago
IT'S ALL MINE!
[–]Juggernutz 192 points193 points194 points 2 months ago
I owe you a small fortune in royalties.
[–]yul_brynner 76 points77 points78 points 2 months ago
He takes payment in semen. Your account is in credit.
[–]xazarus 197 points198 points199 points 2 months ago
You're missing the point, they don't have to figure out what belongs to who. They can shut down any domain they claim is hosting any of their content. So any sufficiently large porn site can shut down every single porn aggregator there is. Anything more than that is unnecessary work.
[–]icbat 215 points216 points217 points 2 months ago
Oh... oh god. I have to write my congressman. This issue affects me on a scale I could not fathom before I read your post.
[–]morrisimo 76 points77 points78 points 2 months ago
I can't begin to imagine how many people make money off those sites. Maybe they should rename this the Job Destroyer Act.
[–]Krazy4Karma 94 points95 points96 points 2 months ago
Honestly I think if you took porn away from Americans there would be some serious civil unrest.
[–]Random_Edit 91 points92 points93 points 2 months ago
When they took away my free speech I said nothing, When they took away my right to bear arms I did nothing, When they took away my right to vote I choose nothing, But now they've taken away my porn and I'm gonna fuck them up!!!
[–]mvduin 24 points25 points26 points 2 months ago
but you don't have a gun anymore :(
[–]gentlebot 1796 points1797 points1798 points 2 months ago
Reminder: hand written letters are much more likely to be taken seriously than emails.
Also, here's a comment on how best to reach your House rep., written by a former staffer and featured on both /r/bestof and /r/depthhub.
[–]Anosognosia 377 points378 points379 points 2 months ago
Branding. These politicians should be branded as "the people who wants to shut down youtube and google". No matter where and what they say there should be people stating this. While they have talking points and slogans to defend their stance they will never wash away they label of "the people who wants to stop everything you like". No more cat videos for granny. If you feel bad for thsi tactic then just do the "right" thing and write/phone you representatives. But remember, there people aren't dealing with truths, only perceptions.
[–]cpck 226 points227 points228 points 2 months ago
DO NOT SEND MAIL.
Having worked as an in a congressional office, they don't care. It's the intern and the assistants opening and answering letters. Sometimes when you mail DC, they will take the additional time to compile the letters and scan them back to the state/district regional offices for response and distribution.
If you want immediate results with ultimately the same impact, CALL the DC offices. Most of them will take a tally what you say which may or may not actually get shown to the Rep., which may or may not make any impact.
Also, call YOUR OWN REP. The phone's caller ID shows area codes, and if it's one the don't recognize, they can Google it. If you're not in the area they're representing, they don't care, because you have no impact on their jobs.
Sad but true.
[–]Gloria815 16 points17 points18 points 2 months ago
While it's true that you should call your own rep, area codes on phone numbers are no longer really an indication of that. I live and vote in SF but my area code is in the East Bay. Should I call the person who I will actually vote on in the next election, or the person who represents my area code?
Seriously, if they aren't going to take my call because of my area code that's bullshit, BUT, I want to know because I want to know who to call.
[–]judgej2 47 points48 points49 points 2 months ago
"But it won't apply to those sites." "Oh, that's all right then. Carry on."
"But it won't apply to those sites."
"Oh, that's all right then. Carry on."
[–]Anosognosia 72 points73 points74 points 2 months ago
"Lies, these sites are specifically mentioned in the text" "You are selling out US internets to the Chinese and their interests!" "You are hurting US homegrown internet businesses that now will go overseas and won't even be viewable from the US any more"
[–]chudd 37 points38 points39 points 2 months ago
Aim your cannons at their FB, Twitter, and other social media. Post on your local news sites profiles as well. We could easily brand them with Social Media. It could certainly be quick and effective.
[–]I_Contradict 69 points70 points71 points 2 months ago
You are right. I'm sick of playing nice guy. It's time to get down and dirty.
[–]what-the-frack 91 points92 points93 points 2 months ago
Since they're holding hearings right now phone calls are your best bet. There are direct numbers to each representative's office on their web page.
Hand written notes are very effective, but the most effective method is a visit. I realize this isn't as practical for most people, but with the screening processes at the capital after the anthrax scare your note would probably be too late (send it anyway), but if this really matters to you place a call NOW. When I coach people on interacting with members of congress they always act nervous about calling. I remind them that it is very very unlikely that they would honestly get to speak with their representative. Instead, you'll talk to an aid that will log your inquiry or request, and usually ask for your zip code and name to prove that you are a constituent. It's all very easy and fast!
Since this is time sensitive (to me it feels like they're going to try to rush this to a vote ASAP), I would recommend flooding representatives that are in this committee with phone calls. Don't just call once, and ask everyone you know to call. Actually flood all congress people, but if your congress person sits on this committee DO SOMETHING NOW!
[–]endeavour3d 1037 points1038 points1039 points 2 months ago
Yeah well I'm not holding my breath because..
15 Republicans and 10 Democrats
I find it completely unsurprising the only goddamn law that can pass with bipartisan support is one that advocates censorship and oppression. These people do not in any shape or form represent the needs of the people.
[–]Ruxini 579 points580 points581 points 2 months ago
whenever I become depressed about the state of democrazy in Denmark I always just look to USA. By comparison then, I live in Utopia.
[–]kawarazu 178 points179 points180 points 2 months ago
... Can I come?
[–]Ruxini 145 points146 points147 points 2 months ago
sadly we have very strict immigrationlaws here. A concern for sharing our wealth has mixed with a rising islamophobia and resulted in it being very hard to obtain danish citizenship. You can, but it will take some time and you will have to pass a tests wherein you prove that you know a lot about danish history, culture and that you can speak danish quite well. I'm really embarresed by this.
[–]Headcancer 499 points500 points501 points 2 months ago
I know all about danish history!
It's actually an Austrian pastry that sold well in Danish bakeries (though, I believe the recipe has since been modified for taste), when Austrian bakers were brought in to replace Danish bakers during a strike in 1890.
Lauritz Klitting, a Danish baker who baked danishes, then brought the danish to the States, serving it at the wedding of president Wilson in 1915, as well as cruising around the country teaching (and selling) the recipe to bakers and chefs. He then settled in New York to run a specialized culinary institute, the Danish Pastry Baking School.
It got a further boost when Herman Gertner hired Klitting, for his Gertner's restaurants in Manhattan. Popularity for the pastry soared at this point, with it becoming the go-to treat for anyone on Broadway. Sales were so good, Gertner hired more bakers and converted his restaurant chain to selling pastries wholesale.
While the boon between 1915-1920 was the most influential for danish influence in America, by 1940 it was a household name and household pastry. Proctor and Gamble even promoted some scientific experiments to provide the best danish recipe and baking methods.
...So, I'm good there, right? Now I just need to learn to speak Danish; I'll admit, that is going to be pretty hard. I've always felt it's rude to speak while eating.
[–]CptHair 177 points178 points179 points 2 months ago
ok, you are in.
[–]saucepanicus 56 points57 points58 points 2 months ago
NOW SAY IT IN DANISH!
[–]portablemustard 17 points18 points19 points 2 months ago
be careful, i think he might jump in a giant man-sized danish and recite it again.
[–]jim-_- 23 points24 points25 points 2 months ago
OmlMomle
[–]yosaphbridge 76 points77 points78 points 2 months ago*
I find it amazing that Denmark has an official state religion, and yet manages to pull off separation of church and state better than the United States.
[–]TheIcelander 45 points46 points47 points 2 months ago
As an American: That's like comparing yourself to the special ed kid eating paste.
[–]Hatglicer 103 points104 points105 points 2 months ago
Your username has rendered me skeptical.
[–]quv 28 points29 points30 points 2 months ago
This is exactly what's wrong with America. Our "representatives" are all bought, and they operate purely as "democrat" or "republican." Screw the people, they've got their list of "cans" and "can'ts" and they're going to go by it so that next election, they can say, "I've always voted for what my party told me to." There should be no political parties. If a democrat is elected to represent the people, they need to represent THE ACTUAL PEOPLE, which includes some republicans. If a republican is elected to represent, he/she needs to realize that they're obligated to represent some democrats, too. We vote on policy-makers, not policy, and with the corruption in the system and money being passed out by the rich corporations, we aren't being represented at all. If our elected officials would just listen to us like they're supposed to, a large majority of our country's problems would disappear. This whole censorship bullshit is a prime example. This shit wouldn't even be going down if our elected officials asked us what we wanted and acted according to that. But hey, I guess that doesn't put as much money in their pockets so fuck American citizens. tl;dr: We're fucked.
[–]AndButSoLike 156 points157 points158 points 2 months ago
And here's a way to send a letter without moving very much https://sendwrite.com/sopa/
Admittedly, I do not think these are handwritten..
[–]triad203 73 points74 points75 points 2 months ago*
Done and done.
I'm an information technology consultant. H.R.3261, the 'Stop Online Piracy Act', will dramatically harm and stifle free speech on the Internet. It would put the United States further behind in both freedom and technology, which is something we can ill afford at this point in our history. As a strong supporter of civil liberties and small government, this proposed law stands out to me as written for and by corporate interests. It will serve to stifle what should be protected forms of expression including some of the most popular and lucrative websites on the Internet; sites like Google, YouTube, and Facebook. Please don't let this bill become law. This country needs more innovation, not more stagnation. Very Respectfully, triad203
I'm an information technology consultant.
H.R.3261, the 'Stop Online Piracy Act', will dramatically harm and stifle free speech on the Internet. It would put the United States further behind in both freedom and technology, which is something we can ill afford at this point in our history. As a strong supporter of civil liberties and small government, this proposed law stands out to me as written for and by corporate interests. It will serve to stifle what should be protected forms of expression including some of the most popular and lucrative websites on the Internet; sites like Google, YouTube, and Facebook.
Please don't let this bill become law. This country needs more innovation, not more stagnation.
Very Respectfully,
triad203
Edit: grammar/syntax
[–]necessary_jack 252 points253 points254 points 2 months ago
Having been part of a political movement before this is the best advice so far IMHO in these comments. Hand written is always better then internet (but only perhaps on this one thing).
[–]Jorgeragula05 151 points152 points153 points 2 months ago
what if your handwriting is atrocious?
[–]inspectHERgadget 405 points406 points407 points 2 months ago
Cut out letters from a magazine and paste them on a sheet of paper.
[–]microcassette 483 points484 points485 points 2 months ago
iF yOU eVeR WAnt t0 sEe YOuR FaMILy AgaIN. . . YoU BeTTEr n0t PAss ThAt InTErNEt BiLL ! ! ! -zodiac
[–]rawbdor 30 points31 points32 points 2 months ago
Are you suggesting skype will be liable for ample infringement, causing a shutdown of skype and other video-chat software and the inability of the congressman to "see" his family?
[–]rel1sh 645 points646 points647 points 2 months ago
What if your handwriting is comic sans???
[–]bbq_sauces 217 points218 points219 points 2 months ago
FINALLY, all these years practicing my calligraphy will pay off!! Good luck with your sloppy handwriting, losers.
[–]Boojamon 241 points242 points243 points 2 months ago
:)
[–]esrubio 54 points55 points56 points 2 months ago
i've never seen it written so beautifully
[–]Boojamon 131 points132 points133 points 2 months ago
I have an A+ in passive aggression.
[–]sojazu 11 points12 points13 points 2 months ago
How can one learn to write like that?
[–]TentacleCancer 121 points122 points123 points 2 months ago
print it out, sign it, and mail it.
[–]excommunicated 513 points514 points515 points 2 months ago
Buy it, use it, break it, fix it,
Trash it, change it, mail - upgrade it,
Charge it, point it, zoom it, press it,
Snap it, work it, quick - erase it,
Write it, cut it, paste it, save it,
Load it, check it, quick - rewrite it,
Plug it, play it, burn it, rip it,
Drag and drop it, zip - unzip it,
Lock it, fill it, call it, find it,
View it, code it, jam - unlock it,
Surf it, scroll it, pause it, click it,
Cross it, crack it, switch - update it,
Name it, rate it, tune it, print it,
Scan it, send it, fax - rename it,
Touch it, bring it, Pay it, watch it,
Turn it, leave it, start - format it.
[–]frankThePlank 205 points206 points207 points 2 months ago
bop it
[–]5larm 108 points109 points110 points 2 months ago
twist it
[–]MOTM 97 points98 points99 points 2 months ago
turn it
[–]conrick 101 points102 points103 points 2 months ago
pull it
[–]remitable 324 points325 points326 points 2 months ago
T E C H N O L O G I C ?
[–]bluehands 142 points143 points144 points 2 months ago
Off to jail with you my good fellow.
[–]JasterMareel 67 points68 points69 points 2 months ago
Like printers actually work when you want them to...
[–]Iggyhopper 52 points53 points54 points 2 months ago
Time to bring out the ol' typewriter.
[–]chrisc098 68 points69 points70 points 2 months ago
Looks like we got a unabomber.
[–]lukemcr 28 points29 points30 points 2 months ago
They've seen worse.
[–]LeiaShadow 13 points14 points15 points 2 months ago
Get a friend to handwrite it for you? Or type it up. Or write it anyway, because maybe the obvious effort that the writing took will mean something to them?
[–]lookatmyrangsmyrangs 23 points24 points25 points 2 months ago
Try REALLY hard. Get that elementary school paper that kids practice writing letters on. Should help.
[–]gentlemanderp 169 points170 points171 points 2 months ago
also, upvoting is alright, but you should actually do this^ or one day you wont be able to upvote. 'lul haha' actually do it ಠ_ಠ REALLY. you'll be able to feel like you weren't wasting your time on reddit for the day and it isn't difficult. it doesn't have to be mindblowingly persuasive, just write in and bring it to their attention that you don't want this.
[–]AyeGee 67 points68 points69 points 2 months ago
European here. I will upvote for you guys.
[–]e_prometheus 44 points45 points46 points 2 months ago
Here's a link to send your representative a letter with the convenience of an email for free! https://sendwrite.com/sopa/
[–]louderthanwords 42 points43 points44 points 2 months ago
I was thinking about starting a website that let you mail a typed letter to Reps for like $0.98 or a handwritten one for a little more. If anyone would be interested drop me a PM, I guess I'll hack it together if there is a want.
[–]quickpost 21 points22 points23 points 2 months ago
You can do it for free here (specifically for SOPA):
https://sendwrite.com/sopa/
[–]SrsSteel 39 points40 points41 points 2 months ago
Senator bloodninja69
[–]pigferret 37 points38 points39 points 2 months ago
... puts on his wizard hat and (official) robe.
[–]Tadpradel 13 points14 points15 points 2 months ago
I'm stomping the ground, ready to charge.
[–]Freshens 412 points413 points414 points 2 months ago
...but when other countries censor their social media during important political rallies or revolutions, these politicians will be right up there on their soap boxes condemning the act. Makes me sad.
[–]DemanRisu 52 points53 points54 points 2 months ago
Quite recently, commenters on Adelaide Now (an Australian website) were required to provide personal identification to post (by the government, no less) during a state election.
That site complains about censorship all the time... and our leaders have many strong opinions about that same subject.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/south-australian-state-government-gags-internet-debate/story-e6frfro0-1225825750956
[–]Jkun 192 points193 points194 points 2 months ago
Posting from Japan, after a lengthy discussion with the missus.
If this bill passes, it is going to affect everyone here, geek or regular office worker, big time. Many big conventions such as Comiket will cease, and giant sites such as NicoNicoDouga and Pixiv will close entirely.
We've helped by signing petitions for this weeks in advance, I just hope people come to their senses and notice how much this will cripple the world, not only America.
[–]Anosognosia 53 points54 points55 points 2 months ago
Few politicians would hardly ever prioritize the world over "their own" agenda. (their own in brackets since it's mostly Lobby powers that decide what bills looks like these days)
[–]zaper002 123 points124 points125 points 2 months ago
Fun Fact: Sopa actually means piece of garbage in sweden.
[–]thomascsmartins 40 points41 points42 points 2 months ago
heh, Sopa means soup in portuguese
[–]Light-of-Aiur 57 points58 points59 points 2 months ago
I'll probably get lost in the deluge, but I'd like to share my email to both reperesentives from Florida who sponsored this bill.
Dear Congressman/Congresswoman _____________ : I understand you have significant experience in law. As such, you probably thought that the Stop Online Piracy Act you sponsored in Congress was a good idea. It's intended to finally crack down on intellectual property theft, and help to encourage intellectual property holders to continue to create. However, as someone who is more than proficient in Internet technologies, culture, law, and practices, I fear the bill you're supporting would be a significant threat to everyone's freedoms. After reading the text of the bill, my understanding of it is that it would not only hold site owners responsible for the content users post, it would also require various internet services (DNS, advertisement companies, and ISPs) to cease all business with and revoke access to sites that are only accused of hosting infringing material. This, I feel, would violate due process, restrict free speech, and cause a significant chilling effect in new ideas/designs. Please, consider the following: suppose that you and I both own web services. If we are in competition, anything that I can do to get more traffic than you would be a bonus to my profits. Under this bill, the easiest way for me to get an advantage would be to upload my intellectual property to your site (using proper obfuscation technologies, like a VPN or TOR), and then accuse you of hosting illegally obtained material. You, without the benefit of a court to defend yourself, would find your site's name removed from American DNS servers, would lose significant ad revenue, and would be locked out of your site until you could find and delete my material. It would be so easy to repeat that, once you were operating again, I could use the same trick. There would be no defense against this attack, and it would be completely legal. In fact, the terms of this bill are so broad that I wouldn't even need to actually upload my material to your site! I could just accuse you of hosting my material. You would have no opportunity to dispute my claim, and you would have the onus of proof of your own innocence, instead of me having the onus to prove your guilt. If these two scenarios seem farfetched, I ask you to refer to the recent actions of Warner Bros. They sent false take-down requests to Hotfile, and even used Hotfile's anti-piracy programs to remove protected materials they didn't own. I assure you, this is common practice on the internet. If all I need to do is accuse you of doing something, and you are assumed guilty until you can prove your innocence, our entire system of justice and due process is undermined. This bill would also causes a chilling effect on the production of new ideas. If all it takes is one jealous competitor, or one sloppy rights-holder, to permanently remove my ability to produce, I would refrain from doing so. If you now consider the current system, you'll see that the DMCA has sufficient power to protect ideas. It may have flaws, and its jurisdiction may not apply to foreign sites, but that is the nature of international law. America, though we are a great nation, can neither enforce our standards upon other countries, nor can it undermine its citizens' ability to freely access all material online. However, the DMCA is sufficient to discourage piracy as well as compassionate enough to allow new ideas to come to light. In conclusion, this bill you have sponsored would not solve any problems, and would only further tarnish America's reputation abroad. We would engage in the same louche practices we condemn China for practicing. For this reason, I do not support your decision to sponsor this bill. Further, I think that your sponsorship of this bill shames the Democratic party, as well as the great state of Florida. You should be ashamed. Sincerely, Light-of-Aiur
Dear Congressman/Congresswoman _____________ :
I understand you have significant experience in law. As such, you probably thought that the Stop Online Piracy Act you sponsored in Congress was a good idea. It's intended to finally crack down on intellectual property theft, and help to encourage intellectual property holders to continue to create.
However, as someone who is more than proficient in Internet technologies, culture, law, and practices, I fear the bill you're supporting would be a significant threat to everyone's freedoms.
After reading the text of the bill, my understanding of it is that it would not only hold site owners responsible for the content users post, it would also require various internet services (DNS, advertisement companies, and ISPs) to cease all business with and revoke access to sites that are only accused of hosting infringing material. This, I feel, would violate due process, restrict free speech, and cause a significant chilling effect in new ideas/designs.
Please, consider the following: suppose that you and I both own web services. If we are in competition, anything that I can do to get more traffic than you would be a bonus to my profits. Under this bill, the easiest way for me to get an advantage would be to upload my intellectual property to your site (using proper obfuscation technologies, like a VPN or TOR), and then accuse you of hosting illegally obtained material. You, without the benefit of a court to defend yourself, would find your site's name removed from American DNS servers, would lose significant ad revenue, and would be locked out of your site until you could find and delete my material. It would be so easy to repeat that, once you were operating again, I could use the same trick. There would be no defense against this attack, and it would be completely legal. In fact, the terms of this bill are so broad that I wouldn't even need to actually upload my material to your site! I could just accuse you of hosting my material. You would have no opportunity to dispute my claim, and you would have the onus of proof of your own innocence, instead of me having the onus to prove your guilt.
If these two scenarios seem farfetched, I ask you to refer to the recent actions of Warner Bros. They sent false take-down requests to Hotfile, and even used Hotfile's anti-piracy programs to remove protected materials they didn't own.
I assure you, this is common practice on the internet. If all I need to do is accuse you of doing something, and you are assumed guilty until you can prove your innocence, our entire system of justice and due process is undermined.
This bill would also causes a chilling effect on the production of new ideas. If all it takes is one jealous competitor, or one sloppy rights-holder, to permanently remove my ability to produce, I would refrain from doing so.
If you now consider the current system, you'll see that the DMCA has sufficient power to protect ideas. It may have flaws, and its jurisdiction may not apply to foreign sites, but that is the nature of international law. America, though we are a great nation, can neither enforce our standards upon other countries, nor can it undermine its citizens' ability to freely access all material online. However, the DMCA is sufficient to discourage piracy as well as compassionate enough to allow new ideas to come to light.
In conclusion, this bill you have sponsored would not solve any problems, and would only further tarnish America's reputation abroad. We would engage in the same louche practices we condemn China for practicing.
For this reason, I do not support your decision to sponsor this bill. Further, I think that your sponsorship of this bill shames the Democratic party, as well as the great state of Florida. You should be ashamed.
Sincerely,
Light-of-Aiur
I doubt it'll ever be seen by my representatives, but I think I did alright.
[–]suikoarke 89 points90 points91 points 2 months ago
It's funny how they explicitly name it "Stop Piracy Online".
[–]ohdoylerulez90 69 points70 points71 points 2 months ago
Guess its back to getting my movies from the guy who repeatedly tries to sell random shit at the barber shops...
[–]lizard_king_rebirth 34 points35 points36 points 2 months ago
Hey, that guy has got some good stuff sometimes!
[–]jb2386 171 points172 points173 points 2 months ago
I first read it as "Stop Privacy Online". Close enough.
[–]Agent00funk 15 points16 points17 points 2 months ago
No. You are right, that is how it should b read.
[–]OriginalEnough 46 points47 points48 points 2 months ago
The names of American political acts have always amused me. They're so incredibly opinionated/biased/loaded.
Their recent military operations are also amusingly named.
[–]Potrebno 33 points34 points35 points 2 months ago
All marketing, how the hell can a politician oppose the "patriot act" without losing his job.
[–]nhnifong 91 points92 points93 points 2 months ago
Should be called "Force everyone online to become an expert at piracy just to look up the name of a song"
[–]_sinned_ 271 points272 points273 points 2 months ago
As a Californian, I'd like to apologize for the fact that we have 5 of the sponsors from here.
[–]DonnieJepp 112 points113 points114 points 2 months ago
I'm annoyed to see my worthless rep. Adam Schiff up to more nonsense again.
[–]clickx 106 points107 points108 points 2 months ago
Schiff here too. Scrolling down the list of co-sponsors I was telling myself, "Please don't let Schiff be on here".
Well of fucking course he is.
[–]joeblessyou 92 points93 points94 points 2 months ago
Ugh, wtf, we have silicon valley here. we should be one of the most progressive states when it comes to technology. Fuck those idiots.
[–]TellMeYMrBlueSky 169 points170 points171 points 2 months ago
you also have hollywood there.
[–]RangerSix 29 points30 points31 points 2 months ago
And Hollywood is generally louder than Silicon Valley.
Not to mention Silicon Valley sometimes bends over and takes it up the ass from Hollywood (cough, cough, AACS, HDCP, cough).
[–]solen-skiner 11 points12 points13 points 2 months ago
Silicon Valley should just buy Hollywood. Not even kidding
[–]Co-finder 24 points25 points26 points 2 months ago
Mary Bono Mack, All I know about her is that Sonny Bono hit a tree while skiing, and I grew up in her district. There is also no way she is going to get unseated unless the whole geriatric community of the Coachella Valley croaks in their sleep tonight. Ahh, the good old 45th congressional district of California, where the stench of the Salton sea can be mistaken for the rotten clam of Mary Bono Mack.
[–]zoidberg1339 21 points22 points23 points 2 months ago
As an Oregonian, I'd like to rub in your face the fact that we didn't elect a single one of the sponsors listed above. In fact, one of the leading voices against this bill (Ron Wyden) is an Oregonian.
You may not be able to buy whiskey in grocery stores here, but we'll be goddamned if you sons-of-bitches are gonna take our internets away.
[–]combuchan 100 points101 points102 points 2 months ago*
Reddit should turn its background black, rather, more sites should on the special day.
Back in the 1990s there was similar retarded legislation and a whole bunch of websites all went black for a while. It got them on the news when the consumer Internet was still in its fledgling infancy and the legislation was defeated. Can't remember what the bill was, but it was certainly bizarre seeing Webcrawler et al. all black.
Edit: My google-fu turned this up. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_World_Wide_Web_protest
The CDA was in fact ruled unconstitutional, and the bill wasn't defeated, an injunction was filed before it could take effect.
[–][deleted] 2 months ago
[deleted]
[–]igatsios 31 points32 points33 points 2 months ago
What can us non-US Redditors do?
[–]AnonymousChicken 130 points131 points132 points 2 months ago
Petition your government to allow Americans in under political asylum if this passes.
[–]Briscotti 24 points25 points26 points 2 months ago*
The bill has international implications as well. Due to the wording of the bill, Canadian websites fall under the category of "domestic domain name". ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers) who handle the blocking of IP addresses, would have to treat ALL web IP addresses as domestic for U.S. law purposes: http://www.michaelgeist.ca/content/view/6134/135/
[–]itsicenine 81 points82 points83 points 2 months ago
C'mon American Redditors. We're rooting for you.
Save the whales internet!
[–]MediumPace 971 points972 points973 points 2 months ago
Dear Mr. Congressman,
It has come to my attention that you will soon be voting on the SOPA. I must tell you that I'm hard pressed to find a reason why such a bill should be passed. I would really appreciate you beating off the pressures from media giants to pass this bill because of its consequences. If you could all come up with a solution that would stem piracy without restricting freedoms then I'm all ears. I'd swallow my pride and go against my lobbyist friends if I were you, because it's the right thing to do.
Best Regards, MediumPace
[–]frankdozier 98 points99 points100 points 2 months ago
As always, MediumPace, you have said it well :)
[–]flyinthesoup 81 points82 points83 points 2 months ago*
It has come to my attention that you will soon be voting on the SOPA.
I'm a spanish speaker, and this line makes me laugh. Sopa = soup.
EDIT: Just in case, I did also laugh at his particular, ehm, "message".
[–]positron242 100 points101 points102 points 2 months ago
Sopa=garbage in swedish, even more fun!
[–]darthcorvus 1590 points1591 points1592 points 2 months ago
You think that's strange? Back in college my linguistics professor had a long-running, optional assignment in which any student attending the school could participate. We were allowed to work on it for the entire four-year span in which we attended, and could turn it in for a mysterious and unexplained "extraordinary credit bonus" at any point in time before the last four weeks of our senior year. We were to make our best attempt at creating our own language, and learn to speak it well enough to carry on a detailed conversation with him on stage at a free assembly to be attended by any current or former student or faculty members who wished to come.
Well, I was never one to back down from a challenge, so I started working on my language that same night. I finished the assignment six weeks before graduation, turned in the requested language bible I had created, and spent the next few weeks preparing for the coming conversational exam extravaganza. The day came, and there were hundreds of people in attendance. The professor took the stage and explained the premise of the exercise to everyone, then introduced me to a round of applause. Nervous, but determined, I made my way to the stage.
I had expected this exercise to simply consist of him asking me various questions in English and me replying in my language; I was leveled, however, when he began the conversation by speaking fluently in my created tongue. The conversation went as follows:
Him: "Ror grubburg, mossom non lil tomot dud. Ses nin?" (Good morning, my favorite student of all. Are you ready to begin?) Me: "Oho ror grubburg, klinenilk. Ses." (Good morning to you as well. I am.) Him: "Ses ror asasa hoh ririr ana gooloog momom sis dered ini sopa?" (Are you aware that I found this language of yours on the 'sopa'?) Me: "Istsi sunus sopa? Roor goonoog non ses isi dodod lel boddob reder gooloog." (What is a 'sopa'? That word does not exist in my language."
From here on I will just type what we said translated into English.*
Him: "The sopa is a worldwide system of computers and servers connected by data transmission cables. The sopa enables its users to communicate and share files and information with each other over long distances." Me: "Oh... That." Him: "The sopa is also where last year I, under a pseudonym, published a manual--much like this one of yours--designed to teach readers how to speak a language invented by me which features only words that are palindromes."
Yeah, I thought I was slick copying from the internet back in the early days when you almost always got away with it. And not only did I get caught, it turns out I had accidentally stolen the work of the same professor who gave me the assignment. I had found the manuscript on the net and spent the last four years becoming fluent in this language, the existence of which I had believed no one else could have possibly discovered. The audience had no idea what we were saying; though, they had to have known I was feeling very nervous and embarrassed about something. Sweaty, nervous, and knowing the jig was up, I decided to continue the conversation in hopes that he at least would not let everyone in attendance know what I had done.
Me: "So, if 'sopa' means 'the internet', why is not a palindrome?" Him: "Because it's an acronym for 'ses oo pep arapepooses', which means 'You win the prize."
It turned out the whole assignment had been a trap he set years ago in an attempt to trick some clever-yet-lazy student into not only learning to speak his made-up palindrome language fluently, but also to serve as a school-wide example of how the coming internet boom would soon make the act of plagiarizing material for college assignments all but impossible. I marveled at his genius and or insanity. The man invented an entire language based on an arbitrary and bizarre rule for the sole purpose of an endgame that not only might never occur, but, if seen to fruition, would end up costing him tons of money. The professor, still speaking our secret language, then informed me the SOPA prize was a full-honors recommendation to any university of my choosing, with my whole first year's tuition, housing and supplies paid in full by the professor himself.
As I stood there trying to pick up my jaw from the floor, he explained everything to the audience--the genesis of his plan, the trials of creating the language, how I fell for the trap, our conversation on stage, and my prize for being the now multilingual butt of his joke. They loved it. Everyone was cheering and a bunch of my friends started chanting my name, which spread over the whole audience. It was one of the greatest moments I had ever experienced.
After the show ended, the professor took me out to lunch. As we sat there eating a king's feast at a restaurant much fancier than any I had ever seen before, a thought occurred to me. I asked him, "Did you really plan this whole thing in advance? I mean, is that why you created that language in the first place; or did you create the language, then later on hatch this idea to use it for this assignment?" He stared at me blankly for a few moments, then replied, "You can't stop the internet, Steve." I said, "Huh? My name's not Steve, it's..." Before I could finish, his eyes started rolling in the back of his head, and he went into convulsions.
Panicked, I went over to him to try and help him, not knowing what I should be doing. He stopped convulsing and told me everything was okay--that every once in a long while he would have some kind of fit like that. Right before one happened he would become confused and briefly lose touch with reality; but everything would return to normal after a minute or so. Relieved, I sat down and asked him the question again. He never answered. He just stared out of the window and sipped his wine.
I thought maybe he was about to have another fit. He just sat there staring off in complete silence, as if I had not been there. After about ten straight minutes of this awkwardness, I started to realize I had been had. This old son of a bitch had been playing games with me. There was no paid tuition. There was no prize at all. This was just some old weirdo with a brain condition that made him fuck with people. I had just been bamboozled by a sociopath who was now sitting across from me pretending I was a ghost.
I had gotten myself so worked up that I was just seconds away from flipping over the table and screaming obscenities at the crazy asshole. At the last moment, I stopped myself, thinking it better to just walk away than to make things worse by falling into whatever sick endgame he might have planned that involved him using mind-games to make me so angry that I would assault him in public, go to jail, be raped by people in there he paid with cartons of cigarettes, and so on and on.
I found out later that night that all of that was just in my head. Trying to make sense of his bizarre behavior, I had let myself slip into having thoughts even more bizarre than anything I had experienced that day. He came to my dorm at about 9 PM and proved to me that he wasn't just some crazy, old man. He was, in fact, a rapist. And he raped me. Over and over, he raped me. He raped me until I completely blocked out the last four years of my life to ensure I would never remember anything about this hours-long raping. He raped me so hard my brain actually invented a full four year's worth of fake memories to hide this incident behind. And to this day I still can't recall anything that happened to me during those four years; though, I do remember being raped repeatedly on that cold, dark September night.
Every year on that night I sit outside looking at the moon--wondering if maybe somewhere out there, someone is being raped on the moon, or raped by a moon, or just a good old-fashioned guy named Steve, who had the good sense to take his raping operation to the moon, where cops can't go yet because flying cop cars is a silly thought, and they would use too much fuel to justify their existence. Good for you, Steve. Rape 'em good, boy. Rape 'em for me.
--The Professor
[–]zlavan 606 points607 points608 points 2 months ago
I have literally no idea what just happened.
[–]bayleo 229 points230 points231 points 2 months ago
I'm imagining darthcorvus taking another Ambien after he completes each paragraph. It seems to make more sense that way.
[–]kanibel 227 points228 points229 points 2 months ago
Seriously, I'm still sitting here scratching my head. ...the fuck did I just read.
[–]AmIKawaiiUguuu 61 points62 points63 points 2 months ago
A bedtime rapestory.
[–]pedropants 31 points32 points33 points 2 months ago
On the moon! With Steve!
[–]Exavion 101 points102 points103 points 2 months ago
Just said "what the actual fuck" out loud in response to this
[–]h1t0k1r1 44 points45 points46 points 2 months ago
I think I just got raped.
[–][deleted] 17 points18 points19 points 2 months ago
I am not sure that I want to. Understanding it might be what created the story in the first place.
[–]FTFYcent 164 points165 points166 points 2 months ago
What the fuck? Did you just write that entire story in response to positron242's comment?
[–]chaoticflanagan 145 points146 points147 points 2 months ago
I think this whole post is an analogy for all things to come. We've all gotten used to utilizing the internet whether it's for sharing, posting videos, pirating, whatever. Then when we've just about figured everything out and expect things to continue, we're suddenly raped by the government for doing something we've been doing forever.
Oh never mind. Well played Sheogorath.
[–]deskclerk 39 points40 points41 points 2 months ago*
I think you're onto something here. There is definitely some kind of analogy to this whole post - but I still can't quite put my finger on it. Your interpretation though, has me a bit closer than before!
From what I can see, it seems on a shallower level, the point at which the student finds out hes bamboozilized by the professor, we find out just as suddenly as the student did, that the whole story itself is fake. It's an interesting parallel between you and the student. So, you must identify yourself as the student. But how do the student's relationships to his project, his experience with the professor, etc, translate to our own lives?
"You cannot escape the internet." This phrase has stuck with me ever since reading the whole convoluted thing. I feel like this is a big statement, especially on this whole SOPA thing.
[–]Exavion 34 points35 points36 points 2 months ago
Reading this made me feel better, that there might be some kind of moral to the story.
[–]Calber4 12 points13 points14 points 2 months ago
Reading this made me feel better about spending 6 hours playing Skyrim yesterday.
[–]mersonix 255 points256 points257 points 2 months ago
Well, 10:44am. That's enough internet for me for the day.
[–]musical_hog 93 points94 points95 points 2 months ago
Wrap it up here, boys. We're done.
Time to go home.
[–]badandrew 82 points83 points84 points 2 months ago
Googles "grubburg" "mossom"
Upvote.
[–]Drizzt396 32 points33 points34 points 2 months ago
I did this googling you describe and I don't understand your post.
[–]OxN 112 points113 points114 points 2 months ago
It's not copied-pasted.
[–]nothis 78 points79 points80 points 2 months ago
We just witnessed the birth of one of the most epic examples of future copypasta ever created.
[–]gigitrix 25 points26 points27 points 2 months ago
I was there man. We all were that day.
[–]BearFromPhilly 75 points76 points77 points 2 months ago
300 Cuils.
[–]ebcube 44 points45 points46 points 2 months ago
Let's measure the Cuils the old-fashioned way:
We ask for a comment on a censorship law. We get a story about a plagiarist of invented languages (‽) made of palindromes who gets raped by his professor, (‽) which only happens on the head of the student as he gets raped by the professor (‽) which only happens on the head of the professor, (‽) as he imagines an student of him moon-raping things (‽)
So, it seems to be around 5 Cuils.
[–]gigitrix 18 points19 points20 points 2 months ago
I've never been able to train my brain to extract cuil ratings accurately. It must be a gift or something...
[–]kaybe1221 31 points32 points33 points 2 months ago
It's been a while since the Cuil scale has come up. This story most definitely belongs on it.
[–]alwayz 16 points17 points18 points 2 months ago
Bullshit that's 300. Your estimate is too inconsistent by half. It's probably an honest 1.7
[–]Freiling 15 points16 points17 points 2 months ago
I'd say as far as a 2.5. But 300? That would be bananas. Literally.
[–]OneTripleZero 46 points47 points48 points 2 months ago
No, it would be bananas figuratively. Literally it would be an old '78 Cadillac Eldorado with two flat tires, wedged in the top of willow tree, silently rusting in the hot August afternoon sun. If you open the driver's side door with your right hand, you can climb in. If you open it with your left, the universe knots around the locking mechanism and rips when pulled, spilling Africa out onto your lap like a bowl of overripe peaches. It is a beautiful pain, honest in its dishonesty, yet just obscure enough to give you pause. If you look into the tear, taking care not to breathe, you may be able to just glimpse a Hamburger on the passenger seat.
[–]Freiling 17 points18 points19 points 2 months ago
That's what I meant.
[–]DoctorOctagonapus 58 points59 points60 points 2 months ago
wat
[–]aymcky 56 points57 points58 points 2 months ago
My question is this: Why did you live in a dorm as a college senior? Something about this story seems fishy to me. And by something, I mean that dorm room.
[–]lazermole 26 points27 points28 points 2 months ago
Some colleges give preference to upper classmen for better dorm accommodations (that's how my school did it).
We were weird and had a house system similar to Harry Potter, and the preference for each class was different for each "house". At my house (we called them colleges), next-year sophomores had lowest priority for housing, and people who had lived off-campus that year got an extra half-point added to their "score". Room assignment order and picking was based on the average score of the people choosing to live together, and it was done in the Spring semester in preparation for the next Fall. So if you were an up and coming sophomore, you wanted to try to get in good with a couple of up and coming juniors or seniors to bump up your average score and get a higher chance of getting a room on campus.
Incoming Freshmen were guaranteed a room.
Some people would say "Why would you want to live on campus?" and I would say: Because living on campus at my school was a hell of a lot of fun. Parties (it was not a dry campus, and in fact, had 2 pubs: undergraduate and graduate), social events, the delicious college cafeterias, rather nice rooms, being able to roll out of bed 20 minutes before class (small-ish campus), quick and easy access to the Lightrail if you needed to go get groceries or something.
So, I guess it didn't strike me as weird.
[–]amoliski 41 points42 points43 points 2 months ago
Of that entire story, that is what stood out as strange to me as well.
[–]yellephant 566 points567 points568 points 2 months ago
For the uninitiated: enjoy the genius of MediumPace by reading only the portion of each line that follows a period or comma...
I must tell you that I'm hard I would really appreciate you beating off If you could all come I'd swallow because it's the right thing to do.
I must tell you that I'm hard
I would really appreciate you beating off
If you could all come
I'd swallow
because it's the right thing to do.
Quite the gentleman, I have to say...
[–]derelictprophet 93 points94 points95 points 2 months ago
Dohhh my goddd...
[–]Saan 119 points120 points121 points 2 months ago
If you haven't seen MediumPace's work before, read his/her history, it is a work of art in subtlety.
[–]nixonrichard 48 points49 points50 points 2 months ago*
If you are a member of a major union, please write your union and ask them to end their support of this bill.
This bill has the support of nearly every major union, and that's a HUGE advantage of supporters of the bill, because it gives the appearance of this bill being to the benefit of the people when really it's just unions looking out for the employment interests of their members and not the civil liberties interest of their members.
[–]Kuvakei 206 points207 points208 points 2 months ago
This comment has been removed due to a Copyright claim by Sony Music Entertainment.
[–]dextop 85 points86 points87 points 2 months ago
Sad part is that this will not be possible under the new law. You will probably see something like:
"This site has been closed until further notice due to copyright infringement claims."
At least that's what i understand from the text.
[–]sfoodie 147 points148 points149 points 2 months ago
Hey MPAA / RIAA. I am a paying customer. However, since you are behind this outrageously idiotic bill, if this passes I pledge to no longer pay to go to the movies, rent/buy a dvd or to purchase music. Netflix - I will cancel my account. Redbox - No more. iTunes - Nope. Cable TV - canceled. I will find something else to do with my time, like researching what country I would rather live in. Between this, congressional insider trading and tort law, I'm just about fed up.
This bill will shut down Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, and any other site that you can post anything to where it is impossible to censor every posted video clip, photo, etc. We need to stop this.
[–]souperduper 16 points17 points18 points 2 months ago
Great post. Do you think that a nationwide boycott of literally all paid media would work? If it did, I'm almost positive that the MPAA/RIAA and others would backtrack as quickly as possible.
[–]sfoodie 11 points12 points13 points 2 months ago
yes. Take away the revenue, and things go back to how they were before. Paying customers of media need to make their voices heard. Money talks.
[–]sipos0 50 points51 points52 points 2 months ago
I will find something else to do with my time
Just download illegally instead. This bill will almost certainly fail to make that any more difficult, as all attempts before it have. As with all attempts at censorship and DRM, this will only make life harder for people not doing anything wrong.
Example: I own a blueray disc of a movie but, the easiest way for me to watch the movie in blueray resolution on my computer is to download a rip of it from bittorrent. There really doesn't seem to be much point in me having bought the disc at all since it doesn't make it easier to play it (it only plays with a shitty application I have to pay for that only runs in windows and at much lower resolution because I don't have an HDMI compatible monitor), it doesn't make it legal for me to download or play the rip, doesn't protect me from having my net access suspended for downloading it. None of this would be an issue if they weren't so scared of people pirating them but, it's taken all of the incentives to actually pay for it away to the point where I am still pirating it even if I've paid for the disc already.
[–]Divayth_Fyr 323 points324 points325 points 2 months ago
This act is such a load of necessary for safety. These unbelievably patriotic and upstanding representatives are completely screwing over the terrorists and pedophiles who use the internet. I will definitely let them know just exactly what I think of their patriotism.
[–]SevenDeadlyNinjas 203 points204 points205 points 2 months ago
IF SOMEONE DOESN'T THINK OF THE FUCKING CHILDREN RIGHT NOW, I WILL NUKE A MAJOR CITY.
[–]TheOnlyNeb 172 points173 points174 points 2 months ago
Oh, I think about children all the time. ಠ◡ಠ
[–]digg_is_teh_sux 41 points42 points43 points 2 months ago
...at least he said "THE"
[–]LOLtex 18 points19 points20 points 2 months ago
Awesome, thanks for the link on how to find your congressmen if you didn't know already. Mine is Ron Paul, so I'll probably write him a letter thanking him for his opposition for this bill.
[–]ESJ 457 points458 points459 points 2 months ago
Bravo to Reddit for standing up for internet freedom. I sometimes have my squabbles with the community here, but little things like this are why I keep coming back.
[–]Pukkelpop 222 points223 points224 points 2 months ago*
Well, Reddit has to cover its ass. There are a myriad of subreddits that post "illegal" material. Reddit would be liable for the content its users post (e.g. download links for Doctor Who episodes, subreddit where people share invites to private torrent sites, etc.)
[–]wtfReddit 46 points47 points48 points 2 months ago
subreddit where people share invites to private torrent sites
If you're curious, he's referring to r/trackers.
[–]obsa 30 points31 points32 points 2 months ago
I daresay this is hardly little.
[–]AC3FACE 19 points20 points21 points 2 months ago
[–]w1ll1amz 14 points15 points16 points 2 months ago
This British Redditor hopes everyone of you American buddies are writing letters if not emailing those scum bags.
[–]802bikeguy_com 140 points141 points142 points 2 months ago
Phew! For once Arizona isn't behind some nonsensical bullshit bill.
[–]popnlochnessmonster 109 points110 points111 points 2 months ago
We have medical marijuana AND recalled Russell Pearce. Wake me, please.
[–]trustmeimadr 62 points63 points64 points 2 months ago
Arizona! the state where everything's made up and the points don't matter.
[–]jedberg 68 points69 points70 points 2 months ago
I hope this works, but I worry that it will at best delay congress until they can try again later under new pretenses.
[–]nhnifong 28 points29 points30 points 2 months ago
Im worried about this too. Isn't there anything we can do to secure Internet freedom in the long run? Something technical, maybe to build anonymity right into the core protocols?
[–]Kakoose 52 points53 points54 points 2 months ago
My family of 25 has written a letter each. Just doing our part.
[–]pentium4borg 11 points12 points13 points 2 months ago
Is your last name Duggar?
[–]legoadan 14 points15 points16 points 2 months ago
Censorship is never a good idea, I support reddit 100%. Make sure you actually do write or E-mail them. Also, spread the word so others can help too!
[–]Karantor 15 points16 points17 points 2 months ago
Best of luck from across the giant pond.
[–]FlimFlamStan 14 points15 points16 points 2 months ago
But this bill “modernizes our criminal and civil statutes to meet new IP enforcement challenges and protect American jobs.” Which must be this year's official replacement for the long popular "stops the terrorist" and the preceding year's"protects the children."
[–]frogking 68 points69 points70 points 2 months ago
ICE enforcers AIEWS North Korea 64 Vauxhall Cross Fedayeen spies Maple SRI bemd Indigo White House CIDA kibo assassination
BLU-114/B Becker AFSPC advisors Arnett AIEWS CBNRC class struggle Saddam Hussein SAPO Ron Brown assassination cypherpunk satellite imagery chameleon man
Ansar al-Islam interception Noriega UFO INS Europol Mole wire transfer gamma Bruxelles NSA LABLINK Marxist Legion of Doom Mena
beanpole Leitrim Elvis enforcers STARLAN national information infrastructure Saddam Hussein Serbian Axis of Evil kilo class unclassified plutonium enemy of the state RSA cryptanalysis
CDMA diwn PLO KGB Security Council explosion kilderkin target e-cash Medco AVN Perl-RSA United Nations SAPO bluebird
rail gun Venezuela 9/11 Cocaine NATO 2600 Magazine Blowpipe Defcon MD5 EuroFed Saudi Arabia Adriatic pipeline Europol Bletchley Park
Capricorn interception ANDVT Area 51 Ruby Ridge Tony Blair Serbian ANZUS Becker quarter Mole Bletchley Park INSCOM Skipjack SAPO
UNSCOM United Nations Skipjack Ron Brown world domination propaganda ammunition SRI LABLINK AIMSX explosion illuminati counter intelligence industrial espionage Syria
Uzbekistan Blowfish clones Afghanistan Fortezza George W. Bush SAPO Putin Merlin kilderkin high security CNCIS monarchist LLNL Sears Tower
AUTODIN emc AMW ammunition Lexis-Nexis rs9512c Vickie Weaver Bosnia insurgency BLU-97 A/B bullion Taiwan Area 51 Perl-RSA NORAD
analyzer Vince Foster JFK ANC bomb terrorism smuggle Defcon PLO InfoSec Comirex BATF Montenegro 2600 Magazine David John Oates
Maple event security Ft. Knox SWAT Afghanistan S Key LLNL Indigo high security SAFE threat Dick Cheney eternity server Mahmoud Ahmadinejad PGP
fraud SRI Fedayeen Saddam Hussein embassy Rand Corporation Bruxelles White Water asset War on Terrorism wire transfer data haven mindwar Mahmoud Ahmadinejad credit card
Glock Juiliett Class Submarine Ron Brown SHA Vince Foster class struggle pink noise Ruby Ridge Bosnia oil enigma weapons of mass destruction MILSATCOM monarchist top secret
Dick Cheney Indigo doctrine eavesdropping pipeline Iran military secure FIPS140 Project Monarch Echelon Rand Corporation Plame John Kerry NATO
counter intelligence insurgency afsatcom White Water terrorism FBI Bellcore Steve Case Axis of Evil LABLINK Osama IRA UMTS Bosnia LLNL
SRI Iran BATF Kosovo JUWTF airframe Abbas CIDA ASPIC MD4 Blowfish George W. Bush S Key Rand Corporation NASA
smuggle csim Afghanistan SRI Mole Echelon investigation blackjack bomb InfoSec Uzbekistan CipherTAC-2000 S Box Panama S Key
KGB Mole number key Indigo Afghanistan Uzbekistan Rubin NORAD freedom pink noise Janet Reno pipeline SSL bce BATF
genetic INSCOM anthrax Echelon AVN kibo Sears Tower North Korea airframe Venezuela benelux SSL Bruxelles warfare InfoSec
SAFE interception BCCI assassinate embassy espionage oil high security Leuken-Baden ANZUS Bin Laden PLO mania analyzer [Hello to all my friends and fans in domestic surveillance]
anthrax explosion EuroFed Jyllandsposten Kosovo Roswell CBNRC ammunition Soviet Arnett AMW domestic disruption Compsec IRA Uzbekistan
blackjack Medco underground keyhole argus quiche cybercash diwn AIMSX Bush Wired Freeh FSF cryptanalysis Khaddafi Geraldton
[–]tyrghast 29 points30 points31 points 2 months ago
We should make a mother lode of keywords that set off the watch list and just circulate it.
They can't possibly investigate everyone, right?
Right...?
OH GOD PLEASE SOMEONE PROVIDE SOME REASSURANCE
[–]frogking 18 points19 points20 points 2 months ago
[Hello to all my friends and fans in domestic surveillance]
[–]NoveltyAccountFraud 99 points100 points101 points 2 months ago*
I've gone through a ███ █████ of the comments that have been posted on this thread so far, and summarized/grouped the comments into the following table, for your ████████ and ███ ███████.
Updated: 11/17/2011 ██████ AM EST (GMT -5:00)
[–]illepic 59 points60 points61 points 2 months ago
Oh, look, a list of people that have been bought and paid for.
[–][deleted] 23 points24 points25 points 2 months ago
"And the only thing dumber than a Democrat or a Republican is when those pricks work together. You see, in our two-party system, the Democrats are the party of no ideas and the Republicans are the party of bad ideas. It usually goes something like this. A Republican will stand up in Congress and say, 'Hey! I've got a really bad idea!' And a Democrat will immediately jump to his feet and declare, 'And I can make it shittier!'"
-Lewis Black
[–]Spazit 218 points219 points220 points 2 months ago
████ ████, ███ █ █████ ████ █████?
█, ███ ███, ███████ ███ ███ █████████.
[–][deleted] 2 months ago*
[–]incident_report 37 points38 points39 points 2 months ago
Do i need gold account or something? its all censored for me :(
[–]shillbert 57 points58 points59 points 2 months ago
Sorry, even gold is below clearance for this information. You need a rubidium account.
[–]Misc1 273 points274 points275 points 2 months ago
This is my favorite rap song.
[–]Kuvakei 91 points92 points93 points 2 months ago
I hope you plan on paying for the use of those boxes. The owner ain't happy.
all it takes is a username and password
create account
is it really that easy? only one way to find out...
already have an account and just want to login?
login
[–]dkesh 2026 points2027 points2028 points ago*
[–]johnaman 365 points366 points367 points ago
[–]dkesh 115 points116 points117 points ago
[–]johnaman 40 points41 points42 points ago
[–]CaptainCaaavemaaan 236 points237 points238 points ago
[–]KerrickLong 109 points110 points111 points ago
[–]dkesh 199 points200 points201 points ago
[–]KerrickLong 184 points185 points186 points ago
[–]munki_unkel 111 points112 points113 points ago
[–]kriskicksass 31 points32 points33 points ago
[–]holdmystaffer 1222 points1223 points1224 points ago
[–]what-the-frack 110 points111 points112 points ago
[–]lalophobia 60 points61 points62 points ago
[–]Donitsu 623 points624 points625 points ago
[–]illepic 370 points371 points372 points ago
[–]Donitsu 142 points143 points144 points ago
[–]misterthirsty 293 points294 points295 points ago
[–]holyschmidt 226 points227 points228 points ago
[–]DarqWolff 165 points166 points167 points ago
[–]Goldberry 90 points91 points92 points ago
[–]SurrounDEAD 28 points29 points30 points ago
[–]Bob_Faget 109 points110 points111 points ago
[–]JackMasters 363 points364 points365 points ago
[–]lizard_king_rebirth 481 points482 points483 points ago
[–]Juggernutz 192 points193 points194 points ago
[–]yul_brynner 76 points77 points78 points ago
[–]xazarus 197 points198 points199 points ago
[–]icbat 215 points216 points217 points ago
[–]morrisimo 76 points77 points78 points ago
[–]Krazy4Karma 94 points95 points96 points ago
[–]Random_Edit 91 points92 points93 points ago
[–]mvduin 24 points25 points26 points ago
[–]gentlebot 1796 points1797 points1798 points ago
[–]Anosognosia 377 points378 points379 points ago
[–]cpck 226 points227 points228 points ago
[–]Gloria815 16 points17 points18 points ago
[–]judgej2 47 points48 points49 points ago
[–]Anosognosia 72 points73 points74 points ago
[–]chudd 37 points38 points39 points ago
[–]I_Contradict 69 points70 points71 points ago
[–]what-the-frack 91 points92 points93 points ago
[–]endeavour3d 1037 points1038 points1039 points ago
[–]Ruxini 579 points580 points581 points ago
[–]kawarazu 178 points179 points180 points ago
[–]Ruxini 145 points146 points147 points ago
[–]Headcancer 499 points500 points501 points ago
[–]CptHair 177 points178 points179 points ago
[–]saucepanicus 56 points57 points58 points ago
[–]portablemustard 17 points18 points19 points ago
[–]jim-_- 23 points24 points25 points ago
[–]yosaphbridge 76 points77 points78 points ago*
[–]TheIcelander 45 points46 points47 points ago
[–]Hatglicer 103 points104 points105 points ago
[–]quv 28 points29 points30 points ago
[–]AndButSoLike 156 points157 points158 points ago
[–]triad203 73 points74 points75 points ago*
[–]necessary_jack 252 points253 points254 points ago
[–]Jorgeragula05 151 points152 points153 points ago
[–]inspectHERgadget 405 points406 points407 points ago
[–]microcassette 483 points484 points485 points ago
[–]rawbdor 30 points31 points32 points ago
[–]rel1sh 645 points646 points647 points ago
[–]bbq_sauces 217 points218 points219 points ago
[–]Boojamon 241 points242 points243 points ago
[–]esrubio 54 points55 points56 points ago
[–]Boojamon 131 points132 points133 points ago
[–]sojazu 11 points12 points13 points ago
[–]TentacleCancer 121 points122 points123 points ago
[–]excommunicated 513 points514 points515 points ago
[–]frankThePlank 205 points206 points207 points ago
[–]5larm 108 points109 points110 points ago
[–]MOTM 97 points98 points99 points ago
[–]conrick 101 points102 points103 points ago
[–]remitable 324 points325 points326 points ago
[–]bluehands 142 points143 points144 points ago
[–]JasterMareel 67 points68 points69 points ago
[–]Iggyhopper 52 points53 points54 points ago
[–]chrisc098 68 points69 points70 points ago
[–]lukemcr 28 points29 points30 points ago
[–]LeiaShadow 13 points14 points15 points ago
[–]lookatmyrangsmyrangs 23 points24 points25 points ago
[–]gentlemanderp 169 points170 points171 points ago
[–]AyeGee 67 points68 points69 points ago
[–]e_prometheus 44 points45 points46 points ago
[–]louderthanwords 42 points43 points44 points ago
[–]quickpost 21 points22 points23 points ago
[–]SrsSteel 39 points40 points41 points ago
[–]pigferret 37 points38 points39 points ago
[–]Tadpradel 13 points14 points15 points ago
[–]Freshens 412 points413 points414 points ago
[–]DemanRisu 52 points53 points54 points ago
[–]Jkun 192 points193 points194 points ago
[–]Anosognosia 53 points54 points55 points ago
[–]zaper002 123 points124 points125 points ago
[–]thomascsmartins 40 points41 points42 points ago
[–]Light-of-Aiur 57 points58 points59 points ago
[–]suikoarke 89 points90 points91 points ago
[–]ohdoylerulez90 69 points70 points71 points ago
[–]lizard_king_rebirth 34 points35 points36 points ago
[–]jb2386 171 points172 points173 points ago
[–]Agent00funk 15 points16 points17 points ago
[–]OriginalEnough 46 points47 points48 points ago
[–]Potrebno 33 points34 points35 points ago
[–]nhnifong 91 points92 points93 points ago
[–]_sinned_ 271 points272 points273 points ago
[–]DonnieJepp 112 points113 points114 points ago
[–]clickx 106 points107 points108 points ago
[–]joeblessyou 92 points93 points94 points ago
[–]TellMeYMrBlueSky 169 points170 points171 points ago
[–]RangerSix 29 points30 points31 points ago
[–]solen-skiner 11 points12 points13 points ago
[–]Co-finder 24 points25 points26 points ago
[–]zoidberg1339 21 points22 points23 points ago
[–]combuchan 100 points101 points102 points ago*
[–][deleted] ago
[–]igatsios 31 points32 points33 points ago
[–]AnonymousChicken 130 points131 points132 points ago
[–]Briscotti 24 points25 points26 points ago*
[–]itsicenine 81 points82 points83 points ago
[–]MediumPace 971 points972 points973 points ago
[–]frankdozier 98 points99 points100 points ago
[–]flyinthesoup 81 points82 points83 points ago*
[–]positron242 100 points101 points102 points ago
[–]darthcorvus 1590 points1591 points1592 points ago
[–]zlavan 606 points607 points608 points ago
[–]bayleo 229 points230 points231 points ago
[–]kanibel 227 points228 points229 points ago
[–]AmIKawaiiUguuu 61 points62 points63 points ago
[–]pedropants 31 points32 points33 points ago
[–]Exavion 101 points102 points103 points ago
[–]h1t0k1r1 44 points45 points46 points ago
[–][deleted] 17 points18 points19 points ago
[–]FTFYcent 164 points165 points166 points ago
[–]chaoticflanagan 145 points146 points147 points ago
[–]deskclerk 39 points40 points41 points ago*
[–]Exavion 34 points35 points36 points ago
[–]Calber4 12 points13 points14 points ago
[–]mersonix 255 points256 points257 points ago
[–]musical_hog 93 points94 points95 points ago
[–]badandrew 82 points83 points84 points ago
[–]Drizzt396 32 points33 points34 points ago
[–]OxN 112 points113 points114 points ago
[–]nothis 78 points79 points80 points ago
[–]gigitrix 25 points26 points27 points ago
[–]BearFromPhilly 75 points76 points77 points ago
[–]ebcube 44 points45 points46 points ago
[–]gigitrix 18 points19 points20 points ago
[–]kaybe1221 31 points32 points33 points ago
[–]alwayz 16 points17 points18 points ago
[–]Freiling 15 points16 points17 points ago
[–]OneTripleZero 46 points47 points48 points ago
[–]Freiling 17 points18 points19 points ago
[–]DoctorOctagonapus 58 points59 points60 points ago
[–][deleted] ago
[–]aymcky 56 points57 points58 points ago
[–]lazermole 26 points27 points28 points ago
[–]amoliski 41 points42 points43 points ago
[–]yellephant 566 points567 points568 points ago
[–]derelictprophet 93 points94 points95 points ago
[–]Saan 119 points120 points121 points ago
[–]nixonrichard 48 points49 points50 points ago*
[–]Kuvakei 206 points207 points208 points ago
[–]dextop 85 points86 points87 points ago
[–]sfoodie 147 points148 points149 points ago
[–]souperduper 16 points17 points18 points ago
[–]sfoodie 11 points12 points13 points ago
[–]sipos0 50 points51 points52 points ago
[–]Divayth_Fyr 323 points324 points325 points ago
[–]SevenDeadlyNinjas 203 points204 points205 points ago
[–]TheOnlyNeb 172 points173 points174 points ago
[–]digg_is_teh_sux 41 points42 points43 points ago
[–]LOLtex 18 points19 points20 points ago
[–]ESJ 457 points458 points459 points ago
[–]Pukkelpop 222 points223 points224 points ago*
[–]wtfReddit 46 points47 points48 points ago
[–]obsa 30 points31 points32 points ago
[–]AC3FACE 19 points20 points21 points ago
[–]w1ll1amz 14 points15 points16 points ago
[–]802bikeguy_com 140 points141 points142 points ago
[–]popnlochnessmonster 109 points110 points111 points ago
[–]trustmeimadr 62 points63 points64 points ago
[–]jedberg 68 points69 points70 points ago
[–]nhnifong 28 points29 points30 points ago
[–]Kakoose 52 points53 points54 points ago
[–]pentium4borg 11 points12 points13 points ago
[–]legoadan 14 points15 points16 points ago
[–]Karantor 15 points16 points17 points ago
[–]FlimFlamStan 14 points15 points16 points ago
[–]frogking 68 points69 points70 points ago
[–]tyrghast 29 points30 points31 points ago
[–]frogking 18 points19 points20 points ago
[–]NoveltyAccountFraud 99 points100 points101 points ago*
[–]illepic 59 points60 points61 points ago
[–][deleted] 23 points24 points25 points ago
[–]Spazit 218 points219 points220 points ago
[–][deleted] ago*
[–]incident_report 37 points38 points39 points ago
[–]shillbert 57 points58 points59 points ago
[–]Misc1 273 points274 points275 points ago
[–]Kuvakei 91 points92 points93 points ago