Sopa/Pippa The Censorship of the internet

willddoMJwillddoMJ Posts: 699
edited January 1970 in General Discussion
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Comments

  • SouzaSouza Posts: 9,400
    Yes, and it starts in the US and all the rest of the world will follow the 'leader'. This is just the beginning, it will get worse. I hope the Americans will protest massively, but I doubt it will be of any use. The world is going down more rapidly then I had imagined...

    "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places."

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    <br />thanx willddo..<br />i want to say someone on our forum here posted a video and i went to look it said removed or no longer available from sopa..something like that..sorry cant remember where the video is or what one..lil by lil they take our rights away..<br />huggs n love n faith to you bearhug<br />suzz
  • willddoMJwillddoMJ Posts: 699
    on 1326932992:
    <br />Yes, and it starts in the US and all the rest of the world will follow the 'leader'. This is just the beginning, it will get worse. I hope the Americans will protest massively, but I doubt it will be of any use. The world is going down more rapidly then I had imagined...<br />
    <br /><br />Prob just the beginning of what is to come in 2012, not exactly seen as a good one in the past.
  • willddoMJwillddoMJ Posts: 699
    on 1326933014:
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    on 1326931460:
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    " frameborder="0" allowfullscreen>
    <br />thanx willddo..<br />i want to say someone on our forum here posted a video and i went to look it said removed or no longer available from sopa..something like that..sorry cant remember where the video is or what one..lil by lil they take our rights away..<br />huggs n love n faith to you bearhug<br />suzz<br />
    <br /><br />download the video via http://keepvid.com/ if you want keep it and share it, in case it get's removed.
  • MaryKMaryK Posts: 1,732
    Wikipedia is on strike for 24 hours, protesting against SOPA/PIPA<br /><br />
    <br />Imagine a World<br />Without Free Knowledge<br /><br />For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.
    <br /><br />
  • willddoMJwillddoMJ Posts: 699
    on 1326933715:
    <br />Wikipedia is on strike for 24 hours, protesting against SOPA/PIPA<br /><br />
    <br />Imagine a World<br />Without Free Knowledge<br /><br />For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.
    <br /><br /><br />
    <br /><br />http://sopastrike.com/
  • on 1326932992:
    <br />Yes, and it starts in the US and all the rest of the world will follow the 'leader'. This is just the beginning, it will get worse. I hope the Americans will protest massively, but I doubt it will be of any use. The world is going down more rapidly then I had imagined...<br />
    <br />i agree souza..<br />this is just the beginning..not looking very good for any of us few who care..the ones living large beyond there means getting what they want when they should get what they need big difference..anyways..remember the Internet kill switch too..this is all way out of control so tptb have all the control of what we see and when we see it and try to make us believe what they are telling us..i agree i was just out the last 2 days to Dr's appointments and everyone with there go, go, go and me, me first and the hate i seen yesterday in the Dr office really shocked afraid/ me and i don't shock easily..everyone in a damn hurry want this and now..where has there value gone? it went out the door with respect and help eachother and so much more..its sad but i'm almost to the post where i don't know if i am going to vote this year..i remember coming of age i watch all the elections and followed all very close now with being awake and all ive learned the last years or so they said our vote counts but i know better today..these presidents that get elected are groomed years in advance and tptb know who will be the next so called leader of USA..not so much of the land of the free..i have noticed the fast decline too..i hope we can all come together and fight all this shit..even if one person tries its a start..i try to do whatever i can sign pations voice my thoughts to our local senators while behind my computer in a letter or two.. since not able to get out much..but if we think oh they wont do this or that to US we are all mistaken as we have seen over the years..but there are so many out there that still live in there box and believe everything they see on TV and media..OK time to shut up lol..<br />huggs n love n faith to you bearhug<br />suzz
  • on 1326934392:
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    on 1326933715:
    <br />Wikipedia is on strike for 24 hours, protesting against SOPA/PIPA<br /><br />
    <br />Imagine a World<br />Without Free Knowledge<br /><br />For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.
    <br /><br /><br />
    <br /><br />http://sopastrike.com/<br />
    <br />thank you for the video and link..i will try to get on my twitter and post it too..<br />huggs n love n faith to you<br />suzz
  • fordtocarrfordtocarr Posts: 1,547
    When I try to get on Craigslist I'm greeted by this:<br /><br /><br />STOP PIPA (Senate 968) & SOPA (HR 3261)<br /><br />Imagine a world without craigslist, Wikipedia, Google, [your favorite sites here]...<br /><br />News Corp, RIAA, MPAA, Nike, Sony, Comcast, VISA & others want to make that world your reality.<br /><br />80 Members of Congress are in their sway, 30 against, the rest undecided or undeclared.<br /><br />★ ★ ★ Please take a minute to tell your Members of Congress you OPPOSE PIPA & SOPA ★ ★ ★<br /><br /><br />CLICK HERE for MORE INFO & EASY ACTION ITEMS<br /><br /><br />PS:  corporate paymasters, KEEP THOSE CLAMMY HANDS OFF THE INTERNET!<br /><br /><br />☮ go to flint craigslist ☮ <br /><br /><br /><br />Didn't Michael talk about stopping royalty infringements??  Notice Sony is on this list??  <br />I'm seeing this becoming like cable tv.  First we pay for the internet.  Which we do.<br />Then we pay per site.  I know our local newspaper had a free site, and now they charge<br />to view it online!!<br />They could charge us just to view sites!!  The gov would be making money from it or<br />taxing each site for us subscribing to the sites plus taxing us on the other end for the service!!!<br />Just like CABLE!!
  • anewfananewfan Posts: 1,125
    That's why I believe we need Ron Paul as President. I really think he's our only hope. He's the only one who is against the government meddling in everyone's business. He's pretty much been black balled by the media and they either ignore him or mock him. Which is very telling. Hopefully people are starting to see that the one the media ignores is the one that probably best for the common folk. <br /><br />First they ignore you.<br />Then they laugh at you.<br />Then they fight you.<br />Then you win.<br />--Ganhdi
  • on 1326937438:
    <br />That's why I believe we need Ron Paul as President. I really think he's our only hope. He's the only one who is against the government meddling in everyone's business. He's pretty much been black balled by the media and they either ignore him or mock him. Which is very telling. Hopefully people are starting to see that the one the media ignores is the one that probably best for the common folk. <br /><br />First they ignore you.<br />Then they laugh at you.<br />Then they fight you.<br />Then you win.<br />--Ganhdi<br />
    <br /><br />He seems like the best candidate doesn't he?  Yet I find on yahoo news that they are constantly saying Romney will be the GOP candidate when only less than 5 states have had GOP primaries  :twisted:<br /><br />The Internet kill switch worries me.  So many people have woken up to the dark realities of this world via the internet (including myself) and to censor it would be very bad for all of us.<br /><br />What can we do about this?<br />
  • anewfananewfan Posts: 1,125
    I guess Romney is "the Chosen One". It's funny how he (in my opinion) is not likable one bit. He's all for big government. He has buddies on Wall Street and he's had a history of buying out American companies, firing the US workers that work there, and running up debt and then filing for bankruptcy making millions in the process off the American taxpayers.<br /><br />He seems like a Grade A crook, but yet he has won 3 primaries. It's obvious that the whole system is rigged. There's a huge Ron Paul movement going, though. And hopefully the good guys win this time. At least the media knows they can't completely ignore him now, or even those that are really dense will realize that something not right is going on.<br /><br />Any time I see a Ron Paul video, I get the chills. I just find his message so inspiring, and you can tell that he is an honest man. His voting record has shown that he means what he says and he says what he means. He has been saying the same thing since the 80's and he's even predicted many things that have happened financially and globally because of our foreign policy. Here's an awesome video of his predictions from back in 2002.<br /><br />
  • TinkTink Posts: 1,175
    What really got to me, is this: The Motion Picture people, etc. claim they lost millions - initially, it was over bootlegged DVDs, overseas. Now, it's over stuff on the internet. Did it ever occur to them that if people can't afford to watch the movies, they won't make that money anyway!? I used to go to the movie theatres every weekend with my friends! Now, it's perhaps every 2 months, and I don't buy anything, whereas I used to buy drinks and popcorn for everyone!<br /><br />You can't squeeze blood out of a turnip, either.<br /><br />What many people are concerned about, is they simply want to sing their favorite songs, and post it on Youtube. Thus far, that's been removed.<br /><br />I think it just all needs to be ripped out. But, it isn't the end of the world.
  • RKRK Posts: 3,019
    on 1326932992:
    <br />Yes, and it starts in the US and all the rest of the world will follow the 'leader'. This is just the beginning, it will get worse. I hope the Americans will protest massively, but I doubt it will be of any use. The world is going down more rapidly then I had imagined...<br />
    <br />Much faster than I had imagined. Was driving home from work listening to a news broadcast when headlines of American and Israelie war looming on Iran were broadcast. Bible prophecy happening before our eyes. This is no time to be wasting the freedoms we still have on pettiness. Wake up everybody. We are in for the fight of our lives.
  • jonojono Posts: 279
    SOPA on life support after web protests, White House and GOP rebellion.<br /><br />Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0112/71562.html
  • MJonmindMJonmind Posts: 7,290
    on 1326931460:
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    <br /><br /><br />Wow, this would take us back to the stone-age.  It feels like[size=small] a hidden agenda to control the masses, and not just about the entertainment industry.  Since the internet I've watched actually more movies in theaters than before.  T[/size][size=small]his strikes me as similar to oil companies killing the electric car, and pharmaceutical companies paying off those finding cures for diseases.[/size]
  • paula-cpaula-c Posts: 7,221
    on 1326932992:
    <br />Yes, and it starts in the US and all the rest of the world will follow the 'leader'. This is just the beginning, it will get worse. I hope the Americans will protest massively, but I doubt it will be of any use. The world is going down more rapidly then I had imagined...<br />
    <br /><br /><br /><br />Why sopa laws not only affect EEUU <br /><br /><br />Sign the petition against soup to the U.S. Department of State.<br />Michael Geist has written the reasons by which citizens from other countries than USA also we should protest against SOPA. Geist refers to Canada, but most of what he says can be applied to any other country. What follows is a slightly modified from his written text:<br /><br />Some of the major Internet web site, a list which includes Wikipedia, Reddit, Mozilla, WordPress, and BoingBoing today do a blackout to protest against U.S. law referred to by its acronym sopa () and the law on protection of intellectual property or pipe (Protect IP Act). The Bills of the United States.UU. they have generated a massive public outcry over the proposed provisions, which could cause enormous damage to the Internet and freedom of expression. Slashdot joins this blackout. Although there is little that Spanish speakers from around the world we can do to influence legislation in the United States.UU., there are many reasons to believe that it is important to participate<br /><br />Firstly, the provisions of soup are designed to have an extra-territorial effect on a global scale, which is manifiestará of especially strong form in countries in the environment of the United States.UU. SOPA treats all web sites dot com, net, and dot org as national domain names in the United States.UU. for the purposes of this Act. In addition, soup defines national Internet Protocol addresses - numeric strings that constitute the real address of a Web site or connection of the Internet - as a Protocol Internet address to which the Organization of allocation lies within us jurisdiction. However, IP addresses are allocated by regional and non-national organizations. The Organization for the allocation of IPs in the United States.UU. He is called ARIN, the American Registry for Internet numbers (American Registry for Internet Numbers). Its territory includes the United States.UU., Canada, and 20 Nations from the Caribbean. ...<br /><br />Secondly enterprises and non-U.S. web sites can be easily under the target of a lawsuit according to sopa. The draft law grants the United States.UU. jurisdiction in rem on any web site that does not have a connection with the jurisdiction of the United States. For these sites, the United States.UU. give jurisdiction over the property of the web sites, and this legislation opens the door to judicial orders that would require Internet providers to block sites and search engines to stop linking to them. If an owner of the web site from outside the United States wishes to challenge the order for blockade, the law of the United States.UU. imposed in another way, so that an owner may file a complaint (which is described as a contra-notificación), the owner must first accept the jurisdiction of the courts of the United States.UU<br /><br />Thirdly, millions of people around the world use daily legitimate web sites that would be affected by the legislation. SOPA points directly to the soul of the Internet and the activities conducted therein, or create an entry in Wikipedia, write a comment on Reddit, host a WordPress blog, participate in a free software project, read a story on BoingBoing. If we remain silent, in the long run we can find our favorite sites have been licensed by this legislation.<br /><br />Fourthly, the strategy of intellectual property in the United States.UU. It has always been premised on the export of its rules to other countries, including Canada. The law Sinde in Spain, legislation which bears similarities to sopa, is a direct result of the threats of retaliation in the United States.UU. If not adopted laws backed up by United States. Or the pressure for the adoption of Act.<br /><br />SOPA virtually guarantees the continuation of this state of affairs. Not only it is likely that the United States.UU. they began to incorporate similar to sopa requirements to other Governments, but sopa codified in the laws of the United States.UU. the protection of intellectual property is an important component of U.S. foreign policy.UU. and it provides more resources to lsas embassies of the United States.UU. around the world to increase their participation in the foreign legal reforms.<br /><br />http://ciberderechos.barrapunto.com/article.pl?sid=12/01/18/0654250<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />move domains and lodgings out of U.S....
  • i couldnt do it last night but today on my twitt i rt the info..lets hope more ppl will repost all around and we can at least try to fight a good fight<br />huggs n love n faith to all<br />suzz
  • on 1326934392:
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    on 1326933715:
    <br />Wikipedia is on strike for 24 hours, protesting against SOPA/PIPA<br /><br />
    <br />Imagine a World<br />Without Free Knowledge<br /><br />For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.
    <br /><br /><br />
    <br /><br />http://sopastrike.com/<br />
    on 1326934392:
    <br />thank you for the video and link..i will try to get on twitter and post it too..again tyty<br />huggs n love n faith to you<br />suzz<br />
    on 1326933715:
    <br />Wikipedia is on strike for 24 hours, protesting against SOPA/PIPA<br /><br />
    <br />Imagine a World<br />Without Free Knowledge<br /><br />For over a decade, we have spent millions of hours building the largest encyclopedia in human history. Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could fatally damage the free and open Internet. For 24 hours, to raise awareness, we are blacking out Wikipedia.
    <br /><br /><br />
    <br /><br />http://sopastrike.com/<br />
    <br /><br />http://www.wimnonline.org/WIMNsVoicesBlog/2012/01/18/best-thing-on-the-internet-today-sopa-author-is-an-online-pirate/<br />WIMN’s Voices: A Group Blog on Women, Media, AND…<br /><br />Best Thing on the Internet Today: #SOPA author is an online pirate!<br /><br /><br /><br /> <br /><br />Posted by Jennifer L Pozner<br />January 18th, 2012<br /> <br /><br /><br />Now that it is well past midnight EST and I’m no longer keeping new content off of WIMN’s Voices as part of the SOPA Strike against online censorship, I can finally post my favorite thing on the Internet on Jan. 18. <br /><br />Hipster puppies? A perennial favorite, but no. A video of the Muppets edited to look like Miss Piggy is singing “F*ck the Pain Away” by Peaches? LOVE, but… no. And despite how many laughs I get from the oh-so-wrong Annals of Online Dating, that didn’t win the ‘net today, either.<br /><br />So, what was the best thing on the Internet on the day that Wikipedia went dark and Google redacted its name in protest against potentially devastating SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act)? Why, it’s the way-too-good revelation that Lamar Smith, SOPA’s author, stole a photograph without permission and used it on his official campaign website. That’s right, folks, the man responsible for this censorious bill is an online “pirate” himself — which could result in his campaign website being tossed offline lickety-split should SOPA pass:<br /><br /><br /><br /> (Graphic via http://jeromiewilliams.com)<br /><br />This national day of action against SOPA (and PIPA) is just the latest in a long line of battles media justice activists have been fighting to ensure that access to information and innovation online doesn’t get sacrificed to corporate interests on the alter of Big Media lobbying cash. Since it’s now 1:00 am (and since my guess is that most WIMN’s Voices readers are already familiar with these bills) I’m not going to write a long description of why SOPA and PIPA are such threats to creativity, prosperity and security online. Instead, I’m going to thank all of you who blogged, wrote, signed petitions, tweeted, changed your Facebook avatars to “Stop SOPA” icons, or showed up in person to anti-SOPA protests… because your activism is working. Members of Congress are already dropping the bills like the campaign-endangering sinkholes they should be. <br /><br />For more information on how and why SOPA and PIPA are a threat to your ability to the Internet as you know it, check out the extensive resources at:<br /><br /><br />MAG-Net, the Media Action Grassroots Network’s SOPA page <br /><br />Fight for the Future’s Stop American Censorship page<br /><br />Free Press’s SOPA page<br /><br /> This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2012 at 11:10 pm and is filed under The Blogosphere, Commercialism, Political Dissent, International Media Activism, Media Justice Now, Media Policy Reform, Technology & Communication, WIMN’s Executive Director’s Blog, Issues in the News, Outrages & Responsibilities. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.<br /><br />if someone could tell me or post the pix that go along with it i would be thankful..dont know how to copy the pix from a web page sorry<br />suzz
  • AndreaAndrea Posts: 3,787
    It's all over twitter right now, I guess the group Anonymous have taken down a bunch of sites, including the FBI's.<br /><br />http://www.fbi.gov/<br />http://www.universalmusic.com/<br />http://www.justice.gov/<br /><br /><br />Just went to those sites and they're not loading (for me anyways), there were some others ones as well, like RIAA, MPAA but those sites seem to be running.  I wonder how long the sites will be down for.<br /><br />They are doing it in protest of internet censorship apparently.
  • on 1327021980:
    <br />It's all over twitter right now, I guess the group Anonymous have taken down a bunch of sites, including the FBI's.<br /><br />http://www.fbi.gov/<br />http://www.universalmusic.com/<br />http://www.justice.gov/<br /><br /><br />Just went to those sites and they're not loading (for me anyways), there were some others ones as well, like RIAA, MPAA but those sites seem to be running.  I wonder how long the sites will be down for.<br /><br />They are doing it in protest of internet censorship apparently.<br />
    <br />yup i seen that too on my twitt..thank u..<br />huggs n love n faith to you<br />suzz
  • willddoMJwillddoMJ Posts: 699
    this story may some some relevance on this subject but a well popular site megauploader has just been shutdown due to Piracy<br /><br />ap_megaupload_thg_120119_wg.jpg<br /><br />http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/justice-fbi-crack-megaupload/story?id=15396526<br /><br />That may explain anonymous hacking into government sites also.<br />
  • on 1326937438:
    <br />That's why I believe we need Ron Paul as President. I really think he's our only hope. He's the only one who is against the government meddling in everyone's business. He's pretty much been black balled by the media and they either ignore him or mock him. Which is very telling. Hopefully people are starting to see that the one the media ignores is the one that probably best for the common folk. <br /><br />First they ignore you.<br />Then they laugh at you.<br />Then they fight you.<br />Then you win.<br />--Ganhdi<br />
    <br /><br /><br />AMEN TO RON PAUL.......PEOPLE HAVE WOKE UP......BUT NOT FAST ENOUGH
  • At least 7,000 websites black out their homepages in protest of SOPA and PIPA internet censorship bills <br />Thursday, January 19, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer<br /><br />NaturalNews) On January 18, 2012, thousands of websites from around the world came out in protest of two pieces of legislation that threaten to censor the internet as we know it. Google, WordPress, Wired.com, Wikipedia, Tumblr, The Daily Paul, reddit, NaturalNews, and thousands of other websites censored portions or all of their homepages and content in protest of the Stop Online Piracy Act (HR 3261), and the Protect IP Act (S 968), which would essentially give large media conglomerates and the federal government unbridled power to censor the internet.<br /><br />The website SopaStrike.com says the protest is the "largest online protest in history," and its creators are urging everyone who encounters a censored page to contact their Congressmen and oppose both SOPA and PIPA. The page also contains a full list of confirmed participants in the blackout, as well as an "unfiltered list" of all additional sites that said they planned to participate:<br />http://sopastrike.com/<br /><br />Wired.com, for instance, participated in the protest by censoring most of the headlines from its landing page with black boxes, while Google did the same thing over its own logo -- both of the websites were still functional, however. The Daily Paul went even further by literally censoring all the content on its page, and redirecting all links to the SopaStrike.com page where defenders of freedom are encouraged to take action.<br /><br />Over at reddit, which normally contains all sorts of user-submitted content, visitors were greeted with a "REDDIT IS DOWN," message, as well as live updates about the status of both SOPA and PIPA. WordPress also took aggressive action against the two censorship bills by blocking all user content from its homepage.<br /><br /><br />Why SOPA and PIPA threaten legitimate web content with censorship<br />Last summer, NaturalNews warned that the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property bill was basically a Trojan Horse that would allow the US government to bypass normal legal procedures in targeting websites that may contain, or link to, pirated content (http://www.naturalnews.com/033130_Protect_IP_Act_websites.html). And its sister bill in the House of Representatives, the now infamous SOPA bill, threatens to do the very same thing (http://www.naturalnews.com/034682_SOPA_online_piracy_protest.html).<br /><br />Both bills have been crafted under the guise of protecting intellectual property rights against piracy, particularly overseas piracy by foreign websites, which is a valid purpose. But as we have said numerous times before, the broad scope of the language in the bills threatens many legitimate websites with arbitrary takeover or shutdown by the US Justice Department, with powerful groups like the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and others prompting and guiding this enforcement action behind the scenes.<br /><br /><br />Protest leads to temporary 'shelving' of SOPA, PIPA still to be voted on January 24<br />The outcry against SOPA and PIPA has been so loud and effective that, according to House majority leader Eric Cantor, SOPA will now be shelved, and no vote will take place "unless there is consensus on the bill." This decision represents a huge victory in the short term -- but a potential vote on the bill could still rear its ugly head at any time, and most likely at a time when nobody is looking (http://www.slashgear.com/sopa-shelved-after-obama-announcement-16209449/).<br /><br />PIPA is also still a threat as it is reportedly set to be vote on January 24. This is why it is important to continue bombarding Congress NOW with opposition to both bills. You can take action against SOPA and PIPA by visiting:<br />http://sopastrike.com/<br /><br />The full text of SOPA:<br />http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3261:<br /><br />The full text of PIPA:<br />http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:S.968: <br /><br />Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034694_SOPA_PIPA_internet_censorship.html#ixzz1jyGZ5ugZ<br /><br /><br />
  • Sec 105 of SOPA threatens freedom of health speech, aligns with FDA Trilateral Cooperation Charter to potentially eliminate access to dietary supplements <br />Thursday, January 19, 2012 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer<br />NaturalNews) Identifying threats to health freedom and freedom of health speech often requires connecting the dots between seemingly unrelated verbiage in one piece of legislation and a trade agreement, for instance, or reading between the lines to identify the full intent or scope of a provision or phrase added to an unrelated bill. And this is the case with the Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA), which contains language that could one day target websites that sell, promote, or otherwise talk about the benefits of dietary supplements.<br /><br />Section 105 of SOPA, entitled Immunity for Taking Voluntary Action Against Sites that Endanger Public Health, provisions that service providers, network providers, advertising services, search engines, domain name registry services, and other parties that handle internet content will be immune from prosecution should they decide to arbitrarily pull sites that "endanger the public health."<br /><br />What is considered an endangerment of public health in SOPA? Websites that offer, sell, dispense, or distribute prescription medications without valid prescriptions, or sites that do the same with prescription medications that have been "adulterated or misbranded," according to the section. The definitions of "misbranded," "prescription medication," "drug," and "valid prescription," are also notated with references in the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, and the Controlled Substances Act.<br /><br />On the surface, these guidelines may seem appropriate as there are many websites out there selling fake prescription drugs to unsuspecting buyers. These drug products often contain harmful additives or other inappropriate ingredients that can make patients sick, or even kill them. So it makes sense to allow service providers to shut these sites down, right?<br /><br /><br />Regulatory convergences could one day reclassify dietary supplements as 'drugs'<br />This is the part where connecting the dots and reading between the lines comes in. Remember back in October when we announced the quiet development of a North American Trilateral Cooperation Charter (TCC) that seeks to integrate the individual dietary supplement regulation guidelines of the US, Mexico, and Canada into a single, "harmonious" regulatory protocol (http://www.naturalnews.com/033892_Trilateral_Cooperation_Charter_health_freedom.html)? Well, based on where this is all headed, dietary supplements could soon be reclassified as "drugs," or even declared to be "medication" that requires a prescription.<br /><br />If this sounds a bit crazy, consider the fact that Canada is currently in the ninth round of negotiations with the European Union (EU) to establish a Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA), according to Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada (FAITA). This agreement will basically standardize trade protocols between the EU and Canada (http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/agr-acc/eu-ue/can-eu.aspx).<br /><br />The EU, of course, has already adopted its own Food Safety Directives (EUFSA) that outlawed many dietary and herbal supplements last year, and made many others available by prescription only, as if they are drugs. These directives come from the same authorities that declared late last year that water does not prevent dehydration (http://www.naturalnews.com/034204_water_dehydration.html).<br /><br />To simplify the situation, if Canada adopts EUFSA through CETA, and the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) synthesizes US regulatory policy with that of Canada and Mexico, many dietary and herbal supplements now freely available in the US could one day be available by prescription only just as they are in the EU!<br /><br />This is why any language that targets unapproved or adulterated "prescription medications" is dangerous, especially when that language permits that such targeting can take place outside the rule of law as it does in SOPA. This is just one more reason, of course, why SOPA must be stopped.<br /><br />Sources for this article include:<br /><br />http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c112:H.R.3261: <br /><br />Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/034695_SOPA_free_speech_health_freedom.html#ixzz1jyINRG<br /><br />
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