When I started reading this, I was all for it. Now I'm not so sure anymore. I see where both sides are coming from with this, but I usually don't buy that many of these types of products anyway, so my support wouldn't really make a difference.

As for the difference in profits, they are rich, why would they care with such a small change. Its just going to go back to the normal levels after this is over anyway. People should stop downloading products illegally all the time. I figure that if you would buy more than you would illegally download, then these big companies would leave us alone again.

If we think about it, its clearly our fault that this bill was created in the first place. We are simply too stingy with our money when it comes to these types of things.

@Ninja_Zero: No, they will not support it and no, it will not disappear. Because it's not about whether you buy their shit or not, it's about you consentually being their slave.

@AlphaHikari_1A14: There are bands who sell their music over the internet for less than a buck or even give it away for free(http://machinaesupremacy.com/downloads/). Do they complain about not having anything to eat, or not being $$appreciated$$ enough? No, because they can live off their music. Concerts'n stuff, you know? You don't need billions of dollars to live, in fact, having so much just because you can is a crime towards the rest of the, mostly hungry, world. When you pay 15 bucks for an album, you're not supporting the artist, you're supporting the guy who steals off of that artist. The only difference is, they made laws so that he can legally exploit artists while you can end up in jail for checking out their works before you paid for them.

Also, the internet law shithole is way deeper than I even feel like discussing so Imma stop here.

@Ninja_Zero I'm sorry to say but that's just not how the world works, you're being an idealist for a flawed idea that's got no realistic thought put into it.. The market is changing every week, people getting paid, people spending money, people saving, new things gettign sold. 100 people isn't noticeable, it's not even the smallest blip on a radar. I know there's more people in this than 100, but that's besides the point, it's still not going to do anything.

Especially considering every damn place I've seen this posted the people agreeing with it usually say "well I don't have money to buy things anyway" etc etc. Basically meaning that if we keep using the example 100 people, there is less than 100 people actually making any difference in your perfect little scenario.

when will people learn that anonymous is not our lord protector of the internet? it's an anarchistic group that would just as quickly ddos the colorless as they would a government site. sure, some members have stood for some good things, but that's just the thing. it isn't an organized group. people within it can do whatever the fuck and there's no real order to it. you all may think they're protecting the internet by attacking the government, but in the end they're just shooting themselves and every other damn one of us in the foot.

@canon: That is something you may or may not be able to tell in maybe a few dozen years. Yes, they're not orderly and organized. And thank God for that, because order didn't really work out for us humans now did it?

@canon I guess we'll have to wait a few years for the drooling worshipers to regain their common sense.

@TokoyamiSenshi

because order didn't really work out for us humans now did it?

Prove it. Also, prove that a complete lack of rules or order is actually good for humanity.

@InsaneBoredGame: War, corruption, genocide, racism, xenophobia, the absurd difference between the rich and the poor, all brought to you by this failure of an attempt to organize.

Of course, there were good things as well, but unfortunately, all of the benefits would work just fine without the system.

Indeed, humans are far away from the level of consciousness needed for such a society to work because it seems we really do need laws not to kill our neighbours for whatever the idiotic reason, but hey, it happens even now.

That said, even I have the right to dream so let me have it. But really, I think it's too early to judge Anon just yet. Also, what's with the overall negative attitude towards anarchy?

People need to realize that what the companies have been doing is wrong. Also, SOPA, PIPA, and ACTA are not the answer. Things have been going fine for the past 10 years that we've had many of our file-sharing sites. However, now, businesses want to shut it down or pass laws to stop piracy? Give me a break. It's not for some noble cause to just stop piracy. They just want to have more control over you, the consumer. That means giving up your rights and freedoms.

The internet is unpredictable to the businesses, and as such, they would like to control it. The wealthy do not like to see an unpredictable factor such as the internet, and would rather be happy knowing it's under their control.

However, do I support this approach? No, not really. As others have said. It does greatly hurt small businesses. The wealthy businesses can outlast the 4 week wait without suffering at all.

@tokoyamisenshi it's not that i have a problem with anarchy (though, like you said, we are not mature enough as human beings for anarchy to actually work), my problem is that people somehow think anonymous is a big organization that's working together for one goal. that just isn't true. some people within it may get together and work toward a goal, but as a whole it's an unorganized group that just reaps destruction wherever it goes. i am all for taking a stand against injustices, but when people begin to rely on a bunch of people from the internet, and would be so naive as to believe we all want the same thing, we really have a problem on our hands.

but Mass Effect 3 Release Date is March 6, 2012

@canon: People are sheep. Whenever someone rushes in a new direction, he's guaranteed to be followed by a bunch of idiots, and there you have it. Judging anon as a group, though, is pointless, seeing how they're not even a group.

What needs to be considered are their actions.And their actions have impact, unlike the protests until now. Consider occupy wall street. Someone jumped out with a great idea and with precisely aimed accusations, but was soon followed by a horde of idiots which was in turn used to hunt them all down like animals and imprison them.

You can't do that to anon, but anon can make you lose a lot of your oh so precious money, and that's why they're a bit scared. Of course, even that is just trimming the branches rather than chopping down the entire tree of social bullshit.

I'd better buy that copy of Gears of War 3 before shit gets real...

Prepare yourselves for thi month we wage war... THIS MONTH WE DINE IN HELL!!

^This, plain and simple call me when I finish saving the galaxy from the Reapers, conquer Raccoon City, fuck shit up with Asbel Lhant and company, and pilot a giant robot against the most fearsome of foes.

@Settsuo-kun wat game is the 1st u mentined?

ok bro

@animeftw Mass Effect 3, just 5 more days to go~

remember the oldfag "red march" movement last year? oh man those were the days we tried to take back the site because so many of us had stopped logging on it was so bad it failed so bad