SOPA & PIPA

[Lin]

This can easily be deemed Off Topic.  If so, please move it quickly.  I have place it here though, to simply ask if these bills would effect sites like this one.  If so, then it can be seen as pertinent to the hobby.  Thanks 

[Sean]

Short answer: yes.

If SOPA/PIPA were to pass in their present form, then this site, along with any other "forum" type site, would absolutely be subject to an immediate shutdown at any time by government agents or ISPs without court order, based solely on the claim(s) of any IP holders who cared enough to make one, or possibly even just someone posing as such an IP holder.

I suspect that BCM/BNO and their ilk are small enough potatoes that the chances are remote of anyone initiating an action and even more remote that a government entity would get involved.  But an ISP such as GoDaddy (who, BTW, came under extreme fire for initially supporting SOPA) might get cold enough feet that they would shut a site down based merely on an unsubstantiated complaint.

It would be trivially easy for anyone holding a grudge against BCM to search this site for copyrighted text.  For example, I can tell you factually that I myself have, under the "fair use" doctrine, posted snippets of copyrighted text from NFPA codes here on the board on more than one occasion.  Under SOPA/PIPA, you could send an anonymous email to GoDaddy alleging that BCM is supporting piracy of NFPA documents, and the site would immediately be taken off the air.  This despite the fact that the usage is permitted by law, and under the current system, only the NFPA could file such a claim, and only a court, after reviewing all the evidence not just a single complaint, could find the site to be in violation.

-Sean
http://OurOdyssey.BlogSpot.com

[bevans6]

As I understand it, just having a link to a contested site can put the first site in jeopardy.  So any site anywhere that has a link to Youtube or Google or Wikipedia is at risk.

Brian