When the internet changes keep pushing forward
When Larry Smith a republican from Texas decided to introduce his bill, H R 3261, or as most call it S.O.P.A it may not have seemed like anything a the time. But hidden in the line and lines of text was a scary thing that may change the internet as we know it forever. The originally proposed bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice, as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who requests the court orders, the actions could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the allegedly infringing website, barring search engines from linking to such sites, and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyrighted content a crime, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison for 10 pieces of music or movies within six months. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement, while making liable for damages any copyright holder who knowingly misrepresents that a website is dedicated to infringement. Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market and corresponding industry, jobs and revenue, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws especially against foreign websites. Opponents say that it infringes on First Amendment rights, is Internet censorship, will cripple the Internet, and will threaten whistle-blowing and other free speech. It could even provide means to shut this blog down.
As many of you may have noticed this is not the former archive site. After a three week battle, with many emails to say the least, my 3 year host Smugmug pulled the plug on us. They stated and I quote "All the images I've seen on your site look to be owned by others and you've been selling them for a profit. We'll need you to send back the written releases that give you the authority to post and sell images that are owned by others"
If selling a digital copy of an image for $.03 or less to 1 out of 50000 people who were viewing the site. I really do not see how this is a "for profit allegation". I still do not see how we are in complete violation of copy right infringement and making money and not abiding from the laws regarding "Fair Use". Hobby sites ask for donation all the time by means of Paypal and other online paying sites. So offering this means of massive downloading and not using Paypal was an easy way for the viewer to get the many strips quickly they wanted.
Well, with the changing time means we must change. Currently we are Looking for alternative means to host our site. We are looking into the possibilities of going the way of the once used FTP server and build our own, or create a smaller site that is not hosting all of our hard years of collecting?.
With all the time, effort, and many man hours involved with this site we do not want it to disappear forever in the wind. We do not want to revert back to just emailing hundreds of images to each other. After all this is a wonderful and entertaining hobby and if you have read this posting please please leave suggestion, ideas, ways to move forward, or help us find a new solution to our ever changing problem.
Here is a link to Youtube that will help you understand what S.O.P.A really is.
-Steve Cottle / Mr. ilovecomix
