Gates The Comic by Hal Hefner, Presented by Heavy Metal

 

THIS WEEK’S REGULARLY SCHEDULED PAGE OF GATES

WILL BE DISRUPTED DUE TO A BOYCOTT OF TWO BILLS

THAT ARE ANTI-FREEDOM AND ANTI-INTELLIGENT!!!!!

 

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, H.R. 3261):

 

The Protect IP Act (PIPA, S. 968)

 

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA, H.R. 3261) is on the surface a “HAPPY” bill that claims to attempt to curb the online piracy of copyrighted media content. As a creator of an IP myself in Gates the comic book, I myself believe that it would be nice to have something in place that could protect my hard work more. However as sadly as this may be, the proposed way SOPA goes about attempting to do this would devastate the online economy and the overall freedom of the internet that all of us enjoy today. In particular this bill will affect sites with heavy user generated content, for example like Youtube, Reddit, Facebook, Twitter, and many other sites may cease to exist in their current form if this bill is passed and enforced with a heavy hand of censorship, ignorance and laziness.

Basically we will all pay for the laziness and stupidity of companies such as Marvel comics, who support the bill yet were not intelligent enough to embrace and capitalize on the growing internet opportunities before the were pirated to the point of online in effectiveness. The music industry and companies like BMG, were also ravaged by the laziness of their executives who moved too little too late to embrace the internet and how it could benefit their artists. Instead of work on new technologies to protect their IP’s or new business models to promote and distribute their content, these multi-billion dollar babies, have cowardly banded together to create an asinine “Patriot Act”-like abuse of power that will ravage the internet if employed.

The Protect IP Act (PIPA, S. 968) is SOPA’s twin in the Senate. Under current DMCA law, if a user uploads a copyrighted movie to sites like Youtube, the site isn’t held accountable so long as they provide a way to report user infringement. The user who uploaded the movie is held accountable for their actions, not the site. PIPA would change that – it would place the blame on the site itself, and would also provide a way for copyright holders to seize the site’s domain in extreme circumstances.

The Protect IP Act (PIPA, S. 968) is SOPA’s twin in the Senate and just as harmful and ridiculous. Under the current DMCA law, if a user uploads a copyrighted movie to a sites like Vimeo or Youtube, that particular site isn’t held accountable, as long as they provide a way to report user infringement and the company being infringed upon can block the content. Youtube is very good about this and is policed very well. It is the user who uploaded the video, that is held accountable for their actions, not the site that is hosting the content. PIPA would change that and it would place the blame on the site itself, which is bad enough, but to make matters worse, it would also provide a way for these copyright holders to seize the site’s domain in extreme circumstances and shut it down in true communistic, Big Brother like fashion.

Here are some links to learn more about SOPA & PIPA and for you to take a stand against it, like I have.

America was built on a cry of freedom to stop the evil’s of empires form ruling society, holding it back and crushing the ability for the common man to survive and make a living. This heavy handed act of cowardly ignorance is ant0-freedom, anti-American and is another way for governments, lobbyists and multi-billion dollar corporations of greed to control our lives and keep the economy in their control.

This is the 1% that the Occupy movement discusses.

This is the 1% being backed into a corner and being afraid.

WE MUST FIGHT THEM! OR BIG BROTHER WILL SURELY WIN!

war is peace

freedom is slavery

ignorance is strength..BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU!

On Jan 24th, Congress will vote to pass internet censorship in the Senate…Even though the a gigantic population of intelligent, tax paying Americans are opposed to this act of cowardliness. We need to kill the bills, specifically PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House. We must protect our rights to free speech, privacy, and economic and intellectual prosperity.

“THIS AGGRESSION WILL NOT STAND” – JEFFERY LABOWSKI

List of Supporters: H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act

 

60 Plus Association

 

ABC

 

Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP)

 

American Federation of Musicians (AFM)

 

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)

 

American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP)

 

Americans for Tax Reform

 

Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States

 

Association of American Publishers (AAP)

 

Association of State Criminal Investigative Agencies

 

Association of Talent Agents (ATA)

 

Baker & Hostetler LLP

 

Beachbody, LLC

 

BMI

 

BMG Chrysalis

 

Building and Construction Trades Department

 

Capitol Records Nashville

 

CBS

 

Cengage Learning

 

Christian Music Trade Association

 

Church Music Publishers’ Association

 

Coalition Against Online Video Piracy (CAOVP)

 

Comcast/NBCUniversal

 

Concerned Women for America (CWA)

 

Congressional Fire Services Institute

 

Copyhype

 

Copyright Alliance

 

Coty, Inc.

 

Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB)

 

Council of State Governments

 

Country Music Association

 

Country Music Television

 

Covington & Burling LLP

 

Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP

 

Cowan, Liebowitz & Latman, P.C.

 

Creative America

 

Davis Wright Tremaine LLP

 

Deluxe

 

Directors Guild of America (DGA)

 

Disney Publishing Worldwide, Inc.

 

Elsevier

 

EMI Christian Music Group

 

EMI Music Publishing

 

ESPN

 

Estée Lauder Companies

 

Fraternal Order of Police (FOP)

 

Gospel Music Association

 

Graphic Artists Guild

 

Hachette Book Group

 

HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, Inc.

 

Hyperion

 

Independent Film & Television Alliance (IFTA)

 

International Alliance of Theatrical and Stage Employees (IATSE)

 

International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition (IACC)

 

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)

 

International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT)

 

International Trademark Association (INTA)

 

International Union of Police Associations

 

Irell & Manella LLP

 

Jenner & Block LLP

 

Kelley Drye & Warren LLP

 

Kendall Brill & Klieger LLP

 

Kinsella Weitzman Iser Kump & Aldisert LLP

 

L’Oreal

 

Lathrop & Gage LLP

 

Loeb & Loeb LLP

 

Lost Highway Records

 

Macmillan

 

Major County Sheriffs

 

Major League Baseball

 

Majority City Chiefs

 

Marvel Entertainment, LLC

 

MasterCard Worldwide

 

MCA Records

 

McGraw-Hill Education

 

Mercury Nashville

 

Minor League Baseball (MiLB)

 

Minority Media & Telecom Council (MMTC)

 

Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp LLP

 

Morrison & Foerster LLP

 

Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA)

 

Moving Picture Technicians

 

MPA

 

The Association of Magazine Media

 

National Association of Manufacturers (NAM)

 

National Association of Prosecutor Coordinators

 

National Association of State Chief Information Officers

 

National Cable & Telecommunications Association (NCTA)

 

National Center for Victims of Crime

 

National Crime Justice Association

 

National District Attorneys Association

 

National Domestic Preparedness Coalition

 

National Football League

 

National Governors Association, Economic Development and Commerce Committee

 

National League of Cities

 

National Narcotics Offers’ Associations’ Coalition

 

National Sheriffs

 

Association (NSA)

 

National Songwriters Association

 

National Troopers Coalition

 

News Corporation

 

Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP

 

Pearson Education

 

Penguin Group (USA), Inc.

 

Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA)

 

Phillips Nizer, LLP

 

Pfizer, Inc.

 

Proskauer Rose LLP

 

Provident Music Group

 

Random House

 

Raulet Property Partners

 

Republic Nashville

 

Revlon

 

Robins, Kaplan, Miller & Ciresi LLP

 

Scholastic, Inc.

 

Screen Actors Guild (SAG)

 

Shearman & Sterling LLP

 

Showdog Universal Music

 

Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP

 

Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

 

Sony/ATV Music Publishing

 

Sony Music Entertainment

 

Sony Music Nashville

 

State International Development Organization (SIDO)

 

The National Association of Theatre Owners (NATO)

 

The Perseus Books Groups

 

The United States Conference of Mayors

 

Tiffany & Co.

 

Time Warner