SOPA se detiene… por el momento… NOT!

Geraldine Juárez

17 de diciembre, 2011, 00:45

SOPA no fue aprobada el día de hoy, no por que los congresistas estadounidenses hayan recapacitado o siquiera entendido la magnitud de lo que pretende hacer, simplemente se les acabó el tiempo o tal vez, se cansaron.
Para que se den una idea, ayer ví el debate 9 horas y media….Parece que duró once horas, la verdad es que la depresión de ver a viejitos pre-internet haciendo todo lo que podían para destruír, me ganó. Afortunadamente no fui la única masoquista, se reporta que más de 150,000 “nerds” — como los legisladores nos llamaban durante su sesión — vieron todo el debate o al menos, una porción del mismo.
El día de hoy por supuesto que no ví la sesión, la cual por cierto terminó de golpe sin mayor explicación de acuerdo a Techdirt.
El republicano y promotor de SOPA, Lamar Smith, simplemente pidió que se continuará en la próxima ocasión, lo cual será en enero del 2012. Al parecer este señor, capturado abiertamente por la industria, pidió se haga un estudio acerca de las implicaciones del bloqueo a nivel DNS, que SOPA esquizofrénicamente propone.
En fin, el día de ayer la verdad es que fue un doloroso espectáculo de ignorancia en donde gente con demasiadas canas, rechazaban todas las enmiendas a la ley que los congresistas Darrel Issa y Zoe Logfren proponían con evidencia en la mano y facts de los expertos que los dinosaúricos legisladores en pro de SOPA, simplemente rechazaban con no-argumentos, dejándo claro que no saben lo que estan haciendo ya que no entienden mínimamente como funciona el internet.
Los videos de la maratónica sesión los pueden ver en la cuenta de YouTube de Keep the Web Open. Solo les puedo decir que una persona bastante vieja, dijo en en un momento para justificar SOPA que ”internet es el oeste salvaje, una utopía de libertad sin fronteras para la decencia o el respeto”. LOL.
Casualmente al hablar de las violaciones a la Primera Enmenda (y en general derecho humano de la libertad de expresión) que el ICE comete al confiscar dominios, como sucedió con Roja Directa, Logfren mencionó el opaco proceso de ACTA. Curiosidades.
El tiempo es preciado. El tema del copyright cada vez resulta de más interés para gente que nunca se ha preocupado por su implicaciones , las cuales a diferencia de lo que piensa la industria, no tienen que ver únicamente con contenido de Hollywood, artistillas pop de moda o los sitios rogue. Los derechos y libertades civiles que el internet permite realizar de una forma única, estan amenazados por la industria del entretenimiento. No lo vale.
La legisladora Zoe Logfren emitió un sensato comunicado acerca de las sesiones de dictámen:

Este dictámen está lejos de ser finalizado, y es el más largo que el Comité Judicial de la Cámara ha tenido en bastante tiempo. El proceso ha sido agotador, pero algunas de las muchas preocupaciones que existen y la oposición que rodea a este proyecto de ley, ya han surgido en el Comité.
He visto comentarios en línea … en Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, sitios web de noticias, blogs, y keepthewebopen.com … estos mensajes indican que la mayoría de los que han oído hablar de SOPA, se oponen a ella.
Sin embargo, los mensajes también me dicen que muchas personas no entienden el poder que tienen. De camino a la sesión de hoy, hablé con un colega que había recibido una llamada telefónica de una persona con un pequeño negocio que se opone a SOPA y le hizo saber la forma en que le afectaría negativamente. Esto hizo que mi colega preguntará información sobre el proyecto de ley para encontrar alternativas. Si el pueblo estadounidense quiere decir algo para decidir el futuro de Internet, estas conversaciones tienen que ocurrir frecuentemente. Si te opones a SOPA, alza la voz.

Por lo pronto, el internet como lo conocemos, tienen un poco más de tiempo, muy poco tal vez. Quizás sería buena idea usarlo para organizarse y defenderlo, SOPA nos afecta a todos.
De cualquier modo, una buena noticia para este fin de semana.

ÚLTIMA HORA

Mike Masnick de Techdirt acaba de informar que contrariamente a lo que se anunció hace unas horas, el próximo miércoles 21 de diciembre a las 9 am continuará la sesión de dictámen de SOPA. ¡Por piedad intelectual!

 

chromebooks

By Mat Honan

Nov 21, 2011 4:12 PM

The Perfect Computer for People Who Fear Computers

 

The holidays are breathing down our necks like a creepy subway pervert, lumbering by with a yuletide erection. iPads will be massive hits. But for the tech-challenged person in your life? Save some dough and buy a Chromebook.

Google announced a price drop and feature bump on Chromebooks today. They start at $300 now, which is in total Christmas gift territory. If you want to do a beloved computerphobe a solid this holiday season, you'd do well to introduce them to Chrome OS.

Granted, Chromebooks don't have the same cool factor as iPads, Kindle Fires, and even Galaxy Tabs. Those have more wow. But they don't have keyboards. They don't have familiar well-worn interfaces. Document printing is a bitch. So is photo-management. All those old-school, boring things that aren't necessarily glamorous but are often necessary. Despite over the air syncing, iPads still basically demand a computer. And although tablets may be instantly usable to infants and pets, for people who have gotten used to one way of doing things, at great effort, they can be a little scary.

Think about "simplified" computing experiences. Most of them aren't actually any good for anyone who wants a simple computer.

Tablets don't have keyboards. There are very many people out there ready to ditch their fully featured computers, but aren't quite ready to make the leap to iPad or Android only because they want to type on physical buttons. It's what they know, it's what they like. Sure, people can buy a third-party Bluetooth keyboard for their tablets. But those people aren't Google's audience. It should be selling Chromebooks to the people that can't be bothered to ever learn what Bluetooth is.

Meanwhile, netbooks are horrible. Horrible! They are an atrocity. They are like making love to a honey badger (assuming the badger is the top in the relationship). This is especially true for anyone who isn't eager to tuck into some serious driver and device debugging. They are the worst goddamn things computer manufacturers have ever loosed on an unsuspecting public. They are ugly and cramped ultimately useless for anyone who isn't a robot. If you disagree you are deeply wrong and I have lost all respect for your opinion.
Ultrabooks? Sure, if you've got a grand to drop on a stocking stuffer.

The Chromebook, on the other hand, is the ultimate machine for the tech-challenged set that just wants something easy, cheap, and bulletproof that always works. If you have ever used a web browser, there is nothing new to learn. Feeling confident? You can even play games and install some basic apps.

They are ready to go right out of the box, and as familiar as a Caesar salad. Flip it open and it just comes on. You've got email, documents, and social networking right from the get go. There's no setup, no software to update, no drivers to wrangle, no accessories to buy in order to import photos or be able to print. They'll play nice with other gadgets. They're pretty.

So why aren't more people buying them, recommending them, or talking about them as the ultimate democratic computers?

Much of this is on Google (and Samsung and Acer) who are pitching them to the wrong audience. To put this in Conde Nast magazine terms: Chromebooks are being advertised to a WIRED reader, when it's the Lucky crowd that actually needs them. The only place most people have ever seen a Chromebook is on a Virgin America flight—you can check one out for free at one gate and return it at the other. And sure, the disproportionately tech-savvy SFO-JFK Virgin flier might spend a few minutes perusing a Chromebook during a key party breather. They may even love it. But they're not the ones who need—much less want—a dead easy computer.

Google should be checking out free 3G Chromebooks at Greyhound terminals and Cracker Barrels. You should be able to pick one up off of exit 146 in Warner Robbins, Georgia, and drop it off again at exit 274 just outside of Denver. You should be able to try out a Chromebook at the Waffle House. They should sell them at Sears.

The thing is, Google is obviously aware of this. From today's blog post:

We've heard from many of you that one of the things you enjoy most about the Chromebook is its hassle-free simplicity. If you're someone who's often called upon to provide tech support when you're home for the holidays like I am, you'll be happy to know that the Chromebook gets your loved ones up and going on the web quickly, without the usual pains of computing like seemingly endless boot times and setup manuals.

That passage is buried, four paragraphs down. This is not an aside, Google! This is everything. Why isn't Google making more of how easy the Chromebook is? Why aren't Samsung and Acer? The Chromebook has the potential to be a huge hit if shown to the right audience. (Hint: the right audience probably sees its ads on TV and not on YouTube.) And more importantly, it could be a huge hit when your parents unwrap it in a few weeks.

Marketing is the purveyance of bullshit. It is meant to convince you of something that often isn't true. And so here's something from a disinterested third party, that I hope you will take to heart if you are looking to buy an "easy" computer experience for a loved one this holiday. Yeah, the Kindle Fire and the iPad are really cool. But if you want to get something easy, functional, inexpensive, and useful, do yourself a favor and check out a Chromebook. Hopefully, you won't have to fly to San Francisco or New York to do that.

Original Image By Yuri Arcurs/Shutterstock

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You can keep up with Mat Honan, the author of this post, on Twitter, Facebook, or Google+.

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 UPDATE ON SOPA

By David Jackson in Featured

UPDATE ON SOPA
Matt Cutts Blog – Progress against SOPA
CNet – How SOPA would affect you: FAQ



Question: What does it take to get bitter rivals, Google and Facebook – the two most popular and powerful entities on the planet, to put aside their differences and join forces for a
common cause?
Answer: Internet censorship in America, or the threat thereof.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past month or so, you’ve no doubt been hearing on TV news, and reading in newspapers and on blogs about a controversial new bill called SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act).
The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), also known as H.R.3261, was introduced in the United States House of Representatives on October 26, 2011 by Representative Lamar Smith [R-TX] and a bipartisan group of 12 initial co-sponsors. The aim of the bill is to help U.S. law enforcement and copyright holders fight online transmission of restricted intellectual property. (Source: Wikipedia)

Serious First Amendment Ramifications
New bills that police the Internet get passed all the time, so why all the commotion over this bill? Because this particular bill has serious first amendment ramifications – a potential encroachment of free speech. Even famed attorney and constitutional law expert Floyd Abrams, a paid advocate for supporters of the bill, admits SOPA would censor protected speech. In a letter sent to House Judiciary Chairman Lamar Smith and Ranking Member John Conyers, Abrams writes:
“Regardless of the particular standard or definition of foreign infringing sites, court-approved remedies under the Stop Online Piracy Act may result in the blockage or disruption of some protected speech. As discussed above, the bill provides a range of injunctive relief…, with a court making the final determination as to whether and how to craft relief against a website operator or owner or third party intermediaries. When injunctive relief includes blocking domain names, the blockage of non-infringing or protected content may result.” (Source:Techdirt.com )

Goodbye Internet Freedom
Opponents of the bill (including yours truly) think the bill would fundamentally change the Internet as we know it – and not for the better. Let me explain.
The idea behind SOPA came about as a way to try to eliminate piracy on the Internet. According to a recent article on PCWorld.com, online piracy costs the U.S. economy $58 billion in losses every year, including 373,000 jobs. And while I agree online piracy is indeed a serious problem that needs to be addressed, the excessive and invasive measures contained in SOPA are simply the wrong approach. The bill would unduly and randomly grant content owners the power of censorship.
That’s right, if SOPA were passed, content owners would have the power to obtain court injunctions to block access to certain websites that were simply considered “copyright infringement friendly.”
For example, if my website, Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com happened to have content that could be interpreted as “piracy-friendly,” my domain name could be blocked so it would be inaccessible by visiting my URL address. What the bill can’t do, however, is block numeric IP addresses. So if I were indeed a pirate, you could still access my website, or any other censored website for that matter, if you had their IP address. And while SOPA might discourage casual pirates, more determined and sophisticated hardcore pirates would likely not be dissuaded – at least not to any significant degree.
Why? Because the business of piracy is much too lucrative to be deterred by such measures. It’s sort of like burglar-proofing your front door… burglars will just come in through the back door.

Effective at Censorship
So essentially, the bill would be ineffective at what it was specifically designed to do – eliminate piracy. But would likely be very effective at censoring any suspected websites – even if the offense is unwitting and something as minor as you or one of your friends posting a copyrighted image to your Facebook page.
Heck, even a seemingly innocuous comment in a blog post could be considered piracy friendly. How preposterous is that?
There is also a concern the bill would stifle critically important technical innovation and job creation by overturning existing laws that were catalysts for the technological boom of the last decade; which could prove damaging to an already fragile and slow recovering economy.
Add to the equation the fact the bill has such vague standards and sweeping language, and you can begin to understand why so many people are up in arms over the bill.

Powerful Opposition
How strong is opposition to SOPA? According to an article on the blog PureVPN.com titled Protest Against SOPA Bill Reaches a Fever Pitch…
“An open letter against the SOPA bill was jointly written by the industry giants including Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay, Mozilla, Yahoo, Zynga and AOL. The letter addressed the congressional sponsors of the bill urging them to reconsider the measures and it appeared as a full-page ad in The New York Times on Wednesday.
Apart from this letter a lot of other websites are protesting against this bill in their own way. For example Reddit, Firefox and Tumblr drew broad black lines on their websites to protest against this proposed law. When a user logs in at Tumblr he gets to see that all user-generated content has been blacked out. When users click on the gray lines to investigate, a message appears which tells them about the bill and encourages them to oppose it. Reddit and Mozilla have censored their logos which click through to instructions for contacting representatives.”
Even the Vice President of the United States, Joe Biden has spoken out against the bill in a remarkably compelling speech on Internet Freedom.

So What’s Next?
At the time of writing this article, the bill currently sits in the House Subcommittee on Intellectual Property, Competition, and the Internet. It has yet to be introduced to the floor for a vote. A sham hearing on the bill took place on Wednesday, November 16, 10:00 a.m. in the House Judiciary Committee.
Why was the hearing a sham? Because present at the hearing were parties overwhelmingly supportive of the bill, including Pfizer, MasterCard and MPAA, while Google was the only party present allowed to voice opposition. Talk about a stacked deck.

Will the Bill Pass?
Despite the tendentious hearing, Reuters is reporting that Darrell Issa, the Republican congressional
representative for California, has said that there is no way that SOPA will pass.
“There is a very broad coalition from far left to far right who realise this will hurt innovation, something we can’t afford to do. And there are other ways to accomplish what they say is their goal.
“I don’t believe this bill has any chance on the House floor. I think it’s way too extreme, it infringes on too many areas that our leadership will know is simply too dangerous to do in its current form.”

Conclusion
While Darrell Issa’s statement might seem like good news on its face, my position is, I’ll believe it when I actually see the bill die in the House. Remember, we’re dealing with politicians on both sides who are bought and paid for by corporate interests. Don’t take Internet freedom for granted. If you are against the SOPA bill, I urge you to take action by contacting your members of congress and voicing your opposition to SOPA today!

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David Jackson is a marketing consultant, and the owner of Free-Marketing-Tips-Blog.com – Powerful, free marketing tips to help grow your business! http://free-marketing-tips-blog.com

Salvemos Internet !

Salvemos Internet

El Congreso norteamericano está debatiendo una ley para censurar Internet a nivel mundial, creando una lista negra con Youtube, WikiLeaks e incluso a Avaaz. Pero si apoyamos a miembros clave del Congreso de EE.UU, podremos derrotar esta censura global en Internet. ¡Firma la petición !

Es el momento de pasar a la acción !