LAR: An Internet without uploading?Inbox x
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December 14th, 2011
An Internet without uploading? Even with changes proposed by the Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, the 'Stop Online Piracy Act' will essentially criminalize the Internet, making it impossible to upload and share content.
Video: 11 Big Gov't Busts of '11: #9-The Rule By Decree A number of our leaders have acted like they want to be emperors! The Obama Administration has been pushing for a rule by decree. See how this made our Top 11 Big Gov't Busts of 2011.
Momentum grows for systemic reform of National Labor Relations Board NLRB General Counsel promises more suits against companies that consider setting up shop in right-to-work states.
The new defense bill…R.I.P. due process Despite changes, legislation threatens U.S. citizens with indefinite detainment without due process. An Internet without uploading?
Faced with a barrage of criticism for new legislation that professes to deal with Internet piracy, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Rep. Lamar Smith has introduced a manager's amendment that has, according to Smith, "addressed I believe all of the legitimate concerns out there."
There's only a small problem. It doesn't come close to addressing all of the concerns with this legislation. In fact, it doesn't appear to have changed much about it at all.
This legislation will still give government the power to censor the Internet in the name of protecting copyright. It will still threaten any website that allows users to upload content with being shut down, including social networks and search engines.
It still takes the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and throws them in the garbage. Those safe harbor provisions have for years protected websites that provided easy takedown procedures for potential infringing materials, and already had a system in place for their removal under current law.
The bill will still allow copyright holders to pursue private actions against alleged infringing websites with the force of law behind them, including seeking the termination of advertising and payment services, whether the site is foreign or domestic.
Finally, even with its so-called "savings" clauses, the manager's amendment will still risk placing unfeasible, court-ordered technology mandates on Internet service providers requiring websites to somehow prevent their services from being used to post infringing material, even if doing so is technically impossible. To avoid litigation, Internet companies will simply stop allowing uploading and file sharing all together.
That is the greatest danger of all. That, in the name of protecting copyright, this bill bring about the end of the Internet as we know it.
Get full story here. 11 Big Gov't Busts of '11: #9-The Rule By Decree
Video by Frank McCaffrey
Get full story here. Momentum grows for systemic reform of National Labor Relations Board
By Rick Manning
Momentum is growing in the U.S. House of Representatives for legislation that would fundamentally reform the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), reining in power that has grown since it came into being in 1935.
The NLRB has spent the past three years under increasing fire for one-sided legal rulings and prosecutions that have dramatically expanded the scope of the agency's power. The NLRB's actions have been so extreme as to earn the ire of South Carolina Senator Lindsay Graham who has called for an investigation into NLRB and organized labor collaboration.
The case that received the most national publicity involved the Boeing Corporation's plan to open a manufacturing plant in South Carolina, and the NLRB's decision to challenge the corporation's ability to choose where it can manufacture goods in the United States. After more than a year of legal wrangling, Boeing finally declared that it was tired of spending money on lawyers and announced that it was entering into an agreement to open up another manufacturing facility in Washington State and would be using the federal government-favored International Association of Machinists Union members to build the planes.
While the South Carolina plant remains open and employing approximately 1,000 people, one cannot help but wonder if the NLRB suit resulted in the long-term commitment to the union and Washington State, which does not allow workers the freedom to opt out of joining a union.
But the NLRB's legislative troubles extend far beyond the Boeing case which garnered most of the public attention. In the past couple of years, the NLRB has also rewritten a number of labor laws to the delight of organized labor.
Get full story here. The new defense bill…R.I.P. due process
On Dec. 1 the Senate passed the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act; a $662 billion Defense bill.
That's typical. But what's not is that one portion of the bill may take tyranny and governmental control to a whole new level. Critics have said the legislation would give the military the power to lock up any and all suspected terrorists, whether captured here or abroad, citizen or not, and hold them indefinitely.
If your face is frozen in terror, don't worry. That's totally normal.
In an attempt to save the rights of United States citizens, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) insisted on an amendment that stated that the current laws on the detention of citizens would stand, and in extreme cases the Supreme Court can decide if a waiver (as allowed by the bill) would be granted. It passed easily 99 to 1.
Feinstein even attempted to introduce a provision into the bill that the military indefinite hold only be applied to those captured outside the U.S., but the vote was denied. The majority of the Senate, it seems, didn't really want to outright prohibit the military from being able to lock up citizens left and right.
The Obama Administration, for its part, has threatened to veto the legislation, saying the provisions don't go far enough and will hamper law enforcement. Despite Obama's veto threats, the bill passed 93-7 and is now being reviewed by the House.
Get full story here. |
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