"Irish SOPA" Signed Into Law Despite Resistance 129
First time accepted submitter cupantae writes "Despite the protests of over 80,000 Irish people, Junior Minister Seán Sherlock has confirmed that the controversial statutory instrument that reinforces online copyright laws in Ireland has been signed into law. The statutory instrument will make it possible for copyright holders to seek court injunctions against companies such as internet service providers or social networks whose systems are hosting copyright-infringing material. This comes in the wake of the music industry bullying the Irish government."
Re:London remake? (Score:2, Interesting)
London has nothing on Domhnach na Fola... Google it yourselves, I don't want to go off on one...
80,000 is not enough (Score:4, Interesting)
Ireland has a population of about 5 million.
If only 80,000 protested then that means the majority is either OK are at least apathetic towards the legislation.
In that case, there is nothing wrong with it going ahead. The problem lies with the rest of the population who didn't do their part to protest, not the government passing a law.
Yet another strike against democracy.
Why? (Score:4, Interesting)
Modern Sinn Fein, on the other hand, is quite a different matter, and is trying to build up an electoral presence in Ireland. Quite honestly, given the levels of corruption in both Fianna (epic) Fail and Fine Gael, they would most likely be a major improvement.
One recent Irish Taoiseach was so bent he had no bank account. He kept everything in cash in his house. He got his bribes by going to the racetrack, where he was always very lucky. The Rothschilds are not to blame for Irish corruption, nor is the IMF. If the Rothschilds really ran Ireland, it would be prosperous. You can't make money easily in a country full of poor people.
Black March (Score:5, Interesting)
It's called Black March. I think a better awareness campaign would have made it more popular but essentially, it's about not buying or downloading any media content for the month of March in order to make a dent in the entertainment industries profits. Check it out!
Re:What a shame (Score:2, Interesting)
I'll be torrenting for everything I need. The music and movie industries are busy taking away my rights. I see no reason to respect theirs. Screw protesting, free stuff is better.
Re:80,000 is not enough (Score:4, Interesting)
The problem lies with the rest of the population who didn't do their part to protest, not the government passing a law.
No, no. The problem lies with politicians operating on an assumption that any legislation is ok as long as 50% of people aren't protesting on the street. Elected politicians are supposed to represent the population. It's their job.
What is sorely needed is an easy mechanism to initiate a vote of no confidence (and if 51% vote to recall, politician immediately gets removed from post and banned from running for 2 years). If a legislation that pissed off a lot of people had such potential consequence (and SOPA appears to qualify), politicians would be so much more careful in what they vote for. As it stands, by the time they are running for re-election 2+ years may have passed...
Economics 101 fail (Score:5, Interesting)
Rothschilds actually got going by realising this and placing the sons of the founder in the capitals of countries that were rapidly becoming rich. They had headquarters in places like Vienna, not Nebraska. They lent the British Government the money to buy the Suez Canal, which was a conduit for trade, thus (a) profiting from the loan and (b) profiting by lending to promote trade.
This is what is fundamentally wrong with Walmartonomics. Walmart pays as little as possible. But, to succeed, it must have plenty of people to spend money in its stores. In effect, it wants a shit economy so it can get a cheap workforce, but really it wants a high wage economy to maximise its income. This kind of works if for "Walmart" we substitute China, and for "High wage economy" we substitute "The West". But what happens when all countries have been dragged into the mire? No markets, that's what.
Ireland, Italy and Greece are in trouble because the Governments borrowed and the taxes weren't paid, either through evasion (Italy and Greece), through "avoidance" schemes (Ireland) or because also the Governments had lied about the actual GNP (Greece). This actually wasn't the fault of the bankers, but of greedy and corrupt politicians.
As I say, if Rothschilds really ran Ireland, they would do it on the principle that the best way to produce milk is to start off with well fed cows, not to start off with starving cows and demand more output for less grass. In national economics, the Old Testament is actually a much better guide than an MBA course.
Re:What a shame (Score:2, Interesting)
I call bullshit on your post. Why not simply buy the stuff people like me produce? Almost all of my entertainment these days is from independents (good thing I don't need movies for entertainment :-). Simply go to amazon and purchasing a kindle book by someone like myself (c'mon - it's 0.99 USD - not that much for 30 mins of entertainment!). I've been reading stuff by the independents. Very little of it is bad. I tried watching a major hollywood release with big names in the credits just last week and never even made it to the half-way mark before leaving the theatre, so it's not like I've lowered my standards for entertainment, but yet still, I get more than enough from indies (books, mostly)
I'm betting that you won't get anything for the month of March, and then purchase two months worth of content in April. Yeah, that's really sticking it to the man!!! *rolls eyes.
btw, Google: "amazon zombies! lelanthran" for my book. If you don't like it, email me and I'll wire you your 0.99 USD back. But at least taking a chance on a non-DRM, non-RIAA, non-MPAA, non-affiliated publisher you get to say "Hey, I actually talk the talk and walk the walk". Now, you're just talking the talk.