I’ll concede that it was of help, if they don’t try to pass one of them, or an equivalent bill, next year after the elections. As I put it in a different HN comment thread:
For now, any way. As soon as it’s out of the news, after the elections, they will almost certainly try to pass them, or another similar bill, again. It’s a never ending game of Whack-A-Mole. Eventually, one will get through.
ADDED: This is a combination focussed benefit for SOPA/PIPA/RWA supporters, versus a collective action problem for the opposition. While I hate the SOPA/PIPA/RWA trilogy, the reality is they will very probably (>80%) become law within the next three years.
It would be wonderful if defending freedom were a one-off job like proving Fermat’s Last Theorem. As it turns out, it’s an endlessly recurring job like fighting disease; unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. And yes, sometimes our efforts fail, and freedoms are lost or people get sick and die. But the answer to that is to work harder and smarter, not to give up.
Who’s giving up? You whiners are just playing the politicians’ game. Avoidance often works better and wastes less time. Some people have begun work on an alternate domain name type system, and others different style replacements that would be harder to control, for example.
If you want to trade quotes, what about
The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is its natural manure.
Hatch has a long history, it is true… No doubt his recanting is purely tactical, like the rescheduling of SOPA was. (‘not ready for prime time’ kind of implies that he would like it to come back when it is ready.)
Out of curiosity, how many Congress-critters would have to recant before you would concede ‘real benefit’?
I’ll concede that it was of help, if they don’t try to pass one of them, or an equivalent bill, next year after the elections. As I put it in a different HN comment thread:
For now, any way. As soon as it’s out of the news, after the elections, they will almost certainly try to pass them, or another similar bill, again. It’s a never ending game of Whack-A-Mole. Eventually, one will get through.
ADDED: This is a combination focussed benefit for SOPA/PIPA/RWA supporters, versus a collective action problem for the opposition. While I hate the SOPA/PIPA/RWA trilogy, the reality is they will very probably (>80%) become law within the next three years.
“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.”
It would be wonderful if defending freedom were a one-off job like proving Fermat’s Last Theorem. As it turns out, it’s an endlessly recurring job like fighting disease; unfortunate, but that’s the way it is. And yes, sometimes our efforts fail, and freedoms are lost or people get sick and die. But the answer to that is to work harder and smarter, not to give up.
Until you eradicate smallpox, or polio, or Congress.
Who’s giving up? You whiners are just playing the politicians’ game. Avoidance often works better and wastes less time. Some people have begun work on an alternate domain name type system, and others different style replacements that would be harder to control, for example.
If you want to trade quotes, what about
For those unfamiliar with the RWA, here’s Derek Lowe’s discussion, Down with the Research Works Act.
Orrin Hatch has apparently recanted (edit: “not ready for prime time”), though for some reason I find it hard to assume good faith.
Hatch has a long history, it is true… No doubt his recanting is purely tactical, like the rescheduling of SOPA was. (‘not ready for prime time’ kind of implies that he would like it to come back when it is ready.)