Confusion with SOPA/PIPA banner

Question

I am worried, if the Americans do this will that make it so American users like DT, trachy, PB-10, J98, Mew, Swampert etc. will not be able to use the site?? And also wouldn't it be illegal for them to block a site from another country and that would even violate their own amendments? Would this effect users from other countries like Canada?

Comments

thats a good point - i heard about this on chat whats actually happening

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Also don't they have the "Monroe doctrine" which means they are not allowed to interfere with other countries without their consent?

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there is only like 10 people on the site i know not from america

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It wouldn´t affect just US users. Welcome to the internet - where everywhere is here

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Sure this bill is only being passed in America, but it will inevitably affect the entire world indirectly.

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The Monroe Doctrine doesn't say that Europe can't interfere with other countries, it only says that they can't colonize the Americas without the USA intervening.

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Yeah, we showed those colonial powers a thing or two with that.

Answer 1

will that make it so American users like DT, trachy, PB-10, J98, Swampert etc. will not be able to use the site?

Basically, yes. The chance of it affecting us isn't huge, but the point is anyone could make a copyright claim against us for a link or image posted on the site, and we would get blocked in America.

wouldn't it be illegal for them to block a site from another country that would even violate their own amendments

I believe SOPA is mainly targeted towards blocking sites in other countries. The site doesn't get shut down, but American ISPs would have to block access to our domain. Which is exactly why this legislation is a complete load of crap as it wouldn't stop piracy anyway.

Would this effect users from other countries like Canada?

I'm pretty sure it wouldn't affect Canada and it wouldn't affect other countries directly. But if the bill is passed it sets a precedent for other countries to make their own similar laws.

You may have noticed that some sites like Wikipedia have completely blacked out today. I thought it would be useful to add a banner to inform more people about it... although most people here are probably below voting age ;)

PS out of interest, had you heard about SOPA/PIPA before today?

Comments

It sounds like one of my favorite Mexican foods.

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Screw SOPA and PIPA + they sound like some sort of fertalizer

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Do not worry, the odds of them passing this when over 100 million people sent them disproving messages through Wikipedia alone is puny. They are not so stupid as to pass it now. Even if it did it would not last long, as all the fans, users, and employees from Wikipedia, Google, Youtube, and Facebook would form a mob and protest.

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If, unfortunately, they were stupid enough to pass it, would that mean that American users, such as myself, would be blocked from using the informational part of this website (like ev chart, pokedex, pokemon list, ect) as well as the Q&A part of the website?

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Yes, it would block the domain name as a whole.