Now GOG.com Joins Opposition to SOPA and PIPA

[qubit]

The highly controversial SOPA & PIPA bills currently being rushed through Congress by Big Media are encountering ever more opposition from minor and major players alike, such as Google. Now gog.com, owned by parent company CD Projekt RED, has come out against these bills too and are one of many games companies to do so. They address the questions of "will it work?" and "will it stop piracy?" with the answers being sort-of and no.

Yes, it might "work" in the sense that total control of the internet is placed into the hands of big media conglomerates and undermine its very structure:

Will SOPA/PIPA work? It might, depending on your definition of "work." It will put the power over what content is available on the Internet very firmly into the hands of people who are rights-holders--or who claim to be. It will restrict the scope of legitimate content allowed on websites in ways we probably don't even know yet. A few examples of what might change if SOPA is passed: it could kill streaming of game footage or even game-chat, radically alter how your favorite user-generated content websites--including the GOG.com forums--function, and finally, it may well undermine the basic structure of the Internet.

It won't stop piracy, but will kill many forms of free speech and interesting and helpful content that we find on the internet today:

Will SOPA/PIPA stop piracy? No. SOPA works in a fashion similar to DRM, if you ask us: it only will have an effect on people who are, by and large, honest consumers. Pirates who torrent via P2P methods will not be inconvenienced in the least by SOPA and PIPA; people who post "let's play" walkthroughs of video games on YouTube, though, may be.

CD Projekt RED is the company that sells DRM-free older games on its http://www.gog.com website and does not believe in DRM (a good thing). However, this is also the same company that is currently extorting money from alleged 'pirates' of their game, The Witcher 2, so they aren't above a bit of underhand tactics themselves, which is worth bearing in mind when seeing them speak out against bad bills like these.

Read CD Projekt RED's full statement here.

Finally, http://www.techdirt.com currently has article after article covering the abuses of SOPA & PIPA and is recommended reading.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site

 

[etayorius]

Oh G-d thanks! i hope more companies step up... even if they are kinda hypocrites... at least we all agree these Acts are EVIL BIG TIME.

 

[qubit]

Oh G-d thanks! i hope more companies step up... even if they are kinda hypocrites... at least we all agree these Acts are EVIL BIG TIME.

Agreed. The louder the voice, the better, it's less important if they're two-faced than to get the dissenting voices heard.

 

[erocker]

I figured gog would of been one of the first to oppose this judging by the way they already do business. Kind of a no-brainer for them.

 

[badsykes]

I am from EU and i want to vote too against SOPA

 

[FordGT90Concept]

I like the example they gave of how people would be affected. It really drives the point home that it is bad legislation.

 

[Damn_Smooth]

I am from EU and i want to vote too against SOPA

I'm from the U.S. and I want to vote against SOPA too.

 

[Tenxu24]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXhIktkK78s

 

[Horrux]

I like the example they gave of how people would be affected. It really drives the point home that it is bad legislation.

It is bad legislation. However, to believe that the legislators do not understand or expressly wish to achieve what those examples show these Acts would do, is to grossly underestimate their evil and cunning. I'm pretty sure they're trying to achieve those very things and simply try to disguise the Act as something that, on the surface, should easily be approved of. And then, they play dumb.

Works like a charm. Meantime, everything turns to shit.

 

[qubit]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NXhIktkK78s

Interesting. The YouTube title says it's about SOPA. However, it's actually Anonymous explaining the evils of ACTA. I'm wondering where they are with ACTA right now? It seems to have been lost in the controversy of SOPA & PIPA doesn't it?

If you notice, all three bills do basically the same thing and it looks to me as if they're simply re-hashing the same shit three times to divide the protests, so that while attention is on the others, at least one gets through. Who's with me on this?

It is bad legislation. However, to believe that the legislators do not understand or expressly wish to achieve what those examples show these Acts would do, is to grossly underestimate their evil and cunning. I'm pretty sure they're trying to achieve those very things and simply try to disguise the Act as something that, on the surface, should easily be approved of. And then, they play dumb.

Works like a charm. Meantime, everything turns to shit.

Absolutely man. :shadedshu Like they don't really know what they're trying to achieve with these internet censorship laws.

If I could thank you twice for this post, I would.

 

[ironwolf]

I'm from the U.S. and I want to vote against SOPA too.

Up anyone actually voting on it, it should never get to that level to start with! It needs to die on the vine and fade into the history of the internet.

 

[Fx]

qubit, good job on staying abreast with this "piracy" issue. please check out this article in GN that I posted:

http://www.generalnonsense.net/showthread.php?p=178295#post178295

 

[dRaiser]

"However, this is also the same company that is currently extorting money from alleged 'pirates' of their game, The Witcher 2, so they aren't above a bit of underhand tactics themselves, which is worth bearing in mind when seeing them speak out against bad bills like these."

Just small add: CDP end that campaign with no threats.

 

[qubit]

"However, this is also the same company that is currently extorting money from alleged 'pirates' of their game, The Witcher 2, so they aren't above a bit of underhand tactics themselves, which is worth bearing in mind when seeing them speak out against bad bills like these."

Just small add: CDP end that campaign with no threats.

You got a link for that? It would make for great follow-up article.

Welcome to TPU.

 

[dRaiser]

Here you go: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/01/12/splendid-cd-projekt-to-stop-legal-threats/

Hello.

 

[DonInKansas]

SOPA's on the shelf.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...sg=AFQjCNG43B7-RkKaCONOksSQ5OQOv-OXqA&cad=rja

 

[qubit]

SOPA's on the shelf.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...sg=AFQjCNG43B7-RkKaCONOksSQ5OQOv-OXqA&cad=rja

No shit! Great find.

I've really got my work cut out writing up all these news articles. I'm currently doing one right now and you lot are distracting me with all your must-read posts!

 

[TheMailMan78]

Now all the lemmings will run out and buy from GOG. Marketing is everything. Enjoy the bait.

 

[qubit]

That furious CD Projekt RED "settlement letter" backpedal:

An Open Letter to the Gaming Community from CD Projekt RED