That bill is both ridiculous and sick. I am incredulous.

Signed the petition. Thanks for the heads-up.

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yeah it's been rejected quite a few times in the past. there's so many flaws in it!

I think we shouldn't be worried because if you actually read the proposed legislation which hasn't even surfaced since 2006, you'll realize that it's not what everyone on DA is panicking about. From reading the actual proposed bill, I highly, highly doubt it would have any real effect on DA.

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"~She said 'don't wanna work, I wanna play, and live my life like it was Sunday. The only problem is that Sunday only comes now once a week and I'm a freak and...~" -Prisoners of Today, Billy Talent.

I dunno, the bill itself seems silly enough to me, honestly. If the artist finds out his or her work is being used without his or her permission I feel like they have the absolute right to compensation.

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-Things always look up when you look out-

exactly.

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-Things always look up when you look out-

if you read the bill, it actually has a lot of protection in that case. Say your work was stolen, according to the bill, you can sue for damages or injunction, depending on the circumstances and there's not even a cap for damages. Basically, the bill is trying to eliminate some unnecessary copyright, where the owner is dead, or doesn't care anymore. If you find an old photo thats like 40 years old, of lets say a relative, and you want to post it somewhere, but you don't have the rights and you do an honest search for the owner, then you can apply to get the rights. This bill would make it MANDATORY that you do a reasonable search for the owner first, and if they didn't and you wanted your rights, then you would not be left to dry.

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"~She said 'don't wanna work, I wanna play, and live my life like it was Sunday. The only problem is that Sunday only comes now once a week and I'm a freak and...~" -Prisoners of Today, Billy Talent.

I was just as freaked out when I read the first journals about it, but reading up on the actual bill and the legal info on the US government website, I don't feel as worried. People just like to take these things the wrong way. Not to mention a lot of people don't understand the difference between a -proposition- and an actual passed legislation it seems...

I think there would be a much bigger uproar if the US was ACTUALLY about to void the Berne convention and the TRIPS agreement (requiring everything to be formally registered for copyright to be in place for example).

What amuses (and scares) me about the whole thing is that on one hand they're fighting against filesharing and piracy, and on the other hand they're trying to limit the right to damages for those subject to copyright infringement who can't afford to protect themselves...

Somehow it seems the US is continuing its covert ops to establish "World Inc.". Anyone who isn't big enough with enough money can just kiss their rights goodbye...

... or maybe I shouldn't have reread A Clockwork Orange. It always depresses me.

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Roleplay? - Imagine Chat!

But how would you prove that you've gone about doing this mandatory search and just how many people do you think would tell the truth about having gone through with the search? I mean honestly if people will lie on their taxes about how much money they made even when it's recorded by their employer then there's a problem about leaving people to being honest.

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-Things always look up when you look out-

In the bill, it sets out the parameters for searching, what a "reasonable search" entails, the registration, and if they do lie, then you can bring an action for damages or seek injunction from the courts. its all set out in the bill.

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"~She said 'don't wanna work, I wanna play, and live my life like it was Sunday. The only problem is that Sunday only comes now once a week and I'm a freak and...~" -Prisoners of Today, Billy Talent.