Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you: No adverts like this in the forums anymore. Times and dates in your local timezone. Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance. Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely. Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net. If you are already a member then feel free to login now.

Hello everyone,

Has anyone been looking at the internet IP protection legislation going around and wondered about what that could do to websites like Chapterhouse, Kromlech and such? Basically GW could just say they are infringing on their IP and that would be enough to make the site not accessible to Americans. I am sure if GW had this option they would do this rather than look like idiots in court.

Thoughts?

Most of the websites you list do not even mention Warhammer or GW and their products are not copies of GW products so have nothing to worry about.

CH came to GWs attention originally because they were using GW IP and names on their products without permission and had devolved into an issue of whether CH's products are copies/breaches of law.

Whether you this is valid or not is currently subject to litigation - look at the 55 page GW vs CH threan formore information/opinion on this.

Maybe I am just being paranoid then, but the PROTECT IP act just doesn't seem to require all that much evidence to get a site flagged to be blocked. It doesn't seem like you would need the amount of proof that you would need to go to court, so sites from other countries could be shut out from America fairly easily. Again, I am still reading up on all this, I just was wondering what others thought.

I have been following the Protect IP and SOPA bills and they're both garbage.

It's clear cut guilty until proven innocent, overreaching government control bs!

It will harm everyone worldwide.

People need to be aware of this, but to perfectly honest Dakka is not the place to have such a discussion for a plethora of reasons.

Fellow readers... If you're interested and I hope that you are, please read through these links to better inform yourself of what's happening:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/10/house-takes-senates-bad-internet-censorship-bill-makes-it-worse.ars

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/06/western-governments-mount-major-push-for-internet-rules-of-the-road.ars/

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/why-sopa-endangers-americas-internet-leadership.ars

So much for guaranteed rights of freedom of expression. All someone has to do to shut you up is provide a very flimsy accusation of violating intellectual property rights and your site is blocked.

Oh, hobby sites will be the least of your problems.

I've been unable to find news on whether this bill has been shot down or not. Also, didn't Obama say he'd veto it anyway?

While they may very well not pass the courts seem to be helping without any legislation as it is. Due process seems to have become inconvenient and can be bypassed.

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/11/us-judge-orders-hundreds-of-sites-de-indexed-from-google-twitter-bing-facebook.ars

It'll get veto'd.. or if not then the internet basically stops working because as stated above it requires *no* proof to get a website shut down

Kirasu wrote:It'll get veto'd.. or if not then the internet basically stops working because as stated above it requires *no* proof to get a website shut down

Bills such as this have been around for a while. There was an EU proposal that would have required bloggers/twitters/people commenting on forums to set themselves up as a registered publishing company in order to deal with libel, which after much hoo haa has seemingly died a death.

Even if the proposal is accepted, there is little point in guessing what the consquences will be beforehand. These things tend to fall foul of the law of unintended consequences and have a habit of unravelling. And when the dust clears it turns out the problem was that the new law was unneeded, and that the problem was the failure to enforce the existing law - the situation regarding the phone tapping and privacy in England being a classic example.

Dakka Dakka could actually be targeted if a bill like this passes.

In the News section, there are threads about products like Chapterhouse Studios that GW could submit a complaint for. Since the standard of proof is so low, Dakka Dakka could get blocked from US access without any due process just because GW doesn't like people making 3rd party accessories to their stuff and decides to claim they are counterfeit/copyright violations.

On the plus side it would be easier to use Dakka without all those misspelt words like colour, labour and aluminium.

I guess there's a good side to everything.

Don't worry, Anonymous will protect us!


Automatically Appended Next Post:
lol Derp