[Quiet Man Cometh]

Oh this thread makes me depressed and anxious. The news is naturally all over up here as people are talking about a similar thing. I really *really* hope that doesn't pass, because if it does then there's a fair chance something similar will happen in Canada too. People are already griping about it. One person (professional in digital privacy or something similar I believe, can't recall her name) said that it wasn't necessarily that it was all bad, just that it needed to be a hell of a lot more specific.

I've heard it argued that in the USA some of the laws are too specific, such that they allow for technical loopholes that might not go over in Canadian courts due to the certain amount of discretion allowed to the judge, and it does sound to me from what Coda has been saying that it's intended to be a coverall for all situations of copywrite infringement that have and have yet to come up. I don't imagine it is intended to be as harsh as it sounds when it comes to actual practice, but it certainly leaves to door open for potential abuse or for companies to get at specific websites while ignoring others, and basically letting then go after who ever well they darn well feel like at any given time.

I can't help but wonder what it would do for the smaller sites, users, and markets that depend on word of mouth or user sharing for their advertising and business promotion rather than paid commercials or other media advertizing. Of course, I suppose a potential copyright holder could simply choose not to press infringement charges, but that could well be a risk that website and forum providers do not want to take.

It all makes my head hurt!

(my verbal dump. I hope I didn't repeat to many things, I didn't read every post here, and I've tried to ignore the mess but it's not working well. >.<. I feel better now though. :)