Moxilla and Congress. What?

Just now my FireFox browser had a little message below the usual Google search box. It lead to this:

The internet we know and love is at risk. Help save it.
Right now, the U.S. Congress is considering legislation that could profoundly affect the future of the internet. It's called the Stop Online Piracy Act.
The fact is that this legislation as written won't stop piracy. But it would pose a serious threat to social media and user generated content sites (like YouTube) across the internet. It could also undermine some of the core technical systems underlying the internet, creating new cybersecurity risks. ...
https://donate.mozilla.org/page/s/SOPA?source=snippet

What is this? Should I worry?

[Moderator]

I'd start by reading up on it...that should keep you busy for approx. 3 days or so...

Just now my FireFox browser had a little message below the usual Google search box. It lead to this:What is this? Should I worry?

You're only hearing about this now?

[Malware Removal Specialist]

I'm surprised you have not ran across multiple web pages like this recently.

I'd start by reading up on it...that should keep you busy for approx. 3 days or so...

For Sure!
Huffington Post  says there are 768 related articles. I can't read that in three days.
And CNET says Microsoft is is NOT on board.
Surprise! Microsoft quietly opposes SOPA copyright bill

[Web moderator]

What is this? Should I worry?

No, you shouldn't. The internet isn't "based" in the US. Sites like Youtube and Facebook could just move their servers to other countries where these new laws wouldn't apply.

[Moderator]

Your info on Microsoft is innaccurate...

See Here...

No, you shouldn't. The internet isn't "based" in the US. Sites like Youtube and Facebook could just move their servers to other countries where these new laws wouldn't apply.

SOPA is about allowing a country-wide "banlist" on servers outside the US.

It has nothing to do with youtube or facebook, and I fail to see why they would have a problem in any case. That would be with regards to the IP protection act, which people made a huge fuss about "OMG I can't use gameplay footage on youtube". Needless to say the Bill has passed and nothing has happened with pretty much anybody's videos that I know of.

What is unsettling about it, is it's proposed implementation and it's implications with regard to net neutrality and sensorship. The bill targets "underground" websites that are primarily dedicated to piracy, copyroght infringement, counterfeiting, etc, which is reasonable. But many are based outside the United States, so they are immune, right? They are outside the U.S governments jurisdiction to shut them down. "CURSES! Foiled again!" the politicians would say.

It's the implementation that is a problem. Websites that don't meet with U.S government approval would be added to a DNS blacklist, which would block anybody in that country from accessing it (without changing their DNS in some fashion or using a proxy). This is notable in the basis that it is the same thing that Iran, China, and Syria use the censor the Internet from their citizens, and that is something the US government has decried multiple times. It would be terribly hypocritical to enact a similar system of censorship.

The problem isn't with what they want to censor, but the fact that it would establish a network for censoring in the first place. Sure, they might start by simply adding "bad" sites to a blacklist, and some people might agree with that. But at that point, they can add anything- the sites added aren't voted on. Sites that criticize the U.S government; sites that criticize SOPA. And, is there a way for a site to appeal it being censored by U.S DNS servers? What would the protocol be? Why don't the citizens of the U.S get to decide what they do and do not want to see? etc.

[Web moderator]

I wonder would Wikileaks be on the ban list?

I wonder would Wikileaks be on the ban list?

Seems likely.

[Web moderator]

Not sure why they'd want to ban it, but I would agree that it seems likely they would.

Not sure why they'd want to ban it, but I would agree that it seems likely they would.

That's pretty much the issue; There is no "decision" process that involves public input. If somebody in charge of the new "Great firewall of America" decides they don't like what a site professes- they can add it to the blacklist.

That's pretty much the issue; There is no "decision" process that involves public input. If somebody in charge of the new "Great firewall of America" decides they don't like what a site professes- they can add it to the blacklist.

Now I do worry.
There is no option for the user to enter an area that is off-limits.
To illustrate:
You are hiking along an old trail and you see a sign that says "Warning this area is dangerous and entry is prohibited to prevent harm." You can still ca climb over the fence and see. But a DNS ban would never let you see, or even know what was there.

So if hat happens, seekers of truth will go clandestine. We shall set up FAX machines that deliver content when you hit the right buttons,  from a list which you got from others people passed from hand to hand. We have a special handshake where you pass a small wad of paper to the bother person. Who needs Internet?

Start now to stockpile FAX machines. Just in case.

[Moderator]

To illustrate:
You are hiking along an old trail and you see a sign that says "Warning this area is dangerous and entry is prohibited to prevent harm." You can still ca climb over the fence and see. But a DNS ban would never let you see, or even know what was there.

So if hat happens, seekers of truth will go clandestine. We shall set up FAX machines that deliver content when you hit the right buttons,  from a list which you got from others people passed from hand to hand. We have a special handshake where you pass a small wad of paper to the bother person. Who needs Internet?

Start now to stockpile FAX machines. Just in case.

What a bizzare interpretation of what's to come...

Why does Geek spell FAX all in capitals? It's not an acronym or an initialism.