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Bill: In Support of Online Freedom
Details
Submitted by[?]: Imperial Cildanian Egoists
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: April 2455
Description[?]:
| RESOLVED: That the Internet is without borders, and should thus be outside the regulatory authority of any nation. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change Internet regulations.
Old value:: The government allows anyone to use the internet but the police can run investigations concerning illegal activities conducted by using internet (child abuse, illegal filesharing, ...)
Current: The government allows anyone to use the internet but the police can run investigations concerning illegal activities conducted by using internet (child abuse, illegal filesharing, ...)
Proposed: The government has no position on who may use or what is published on the internet.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
| Date | 09:35:36, September 13, 2007 CET | From |  War is Peace Party | To | Debating the In Support of Online Freedom |
| Message | You aren't against theft? |
| Date | 17:12:31, September 13, 2007 CET | From | Imperial Cildanian Egoists | To | Debating the In Support of Online Freedom |
| Message | Companies which prattle about "illegal file sharing" have stuck their heads in the sand, embracing the technological obsoleteness of their tactics, and hoping that if they try to use government as a bludgeon against progress then they will be able to fight the tide of the market and remain firmly rooted in the past. In regard to movies, the versions available for illegal download are invariably of pathetic quality, and thus will be obtained only by those who literally cannot afford to purchase copies--the result of this is that, as compared to a society without an internet, the movie companies are not economically harmed, as that customer's dollar was not going to reach them anyway. As to music, people download illegaly because the record companies have forgotten that capitalism is a system of mutual consent, in which the price of goods is the price agreed upon by both parties. The record companies seek to continue packaging many songs of little or no value to the consumer on CDs along with the one or two songs that are actually desired, and charge for the whole package. Before the internet, they were allowed to load down the customer with unwanted crap, because that was part of the price the customer paid for receiving the quality songs. Now, technology allows the customer to obtain only the songs they want. The hubbub about filesharing is simply the final cries of a dying industry, seeking to use the government to bail it out. Record companies continue to operate as they always have, while many of their activities have become completely obsolete. Once their capital was needed to promote musicians and to produce CDs of their music, leaving the bands to make money on concerts. Now, the bands still make their money on concerts (which, once they are known, they do not need record companies to set up) and have the Internet as an alternative means of distribution. The future of the music industry is consumers paying reasonable prices for only the songs they wish to have. Most of the illegal filesharing will stop once this is the inviolate standard, as official tracks will be of the highest quality, and the price per song will likely be very low. |
| Date | 17:52:35, September 13, 2007 CET | From | Justice League of Cildania | To | Debating the In Support of Online Freedom |
| Message | Pathetic rationalizations. The creator owns his property, and has the right not to have it distributed against his wishes. You don't like the way songs or movies are marketed or produced? Create a better way, but do not steal them. |
| Date | 18:04:15, September 13, 2007 CET | From | Imperial Cildanian Egoists | To | Debating the In Support of Online Freedom |
| Message | The creator is the musician. Many musicians have stated that illegal downloading does not bother them, and others have opposed it in a wink-and-a-nudge manner that makes it quite clear someone at the record company ordered them to do so. The better way has been created, and companies which know they no longer serve any purpose seek to use government as a weapon to fight their proper fate. |
| Date | 20:15:18, September 13, 2007 CET | From | Marxist-Leninist Happiness Front | To | Debating the In Support of Online Freedom |
| Message | Justice League of Cildania brings up some good points and tempts us to change our vote to ICE's side. Weakening copyright laws seems like a better step since there are laws BESIDES copyright laws that a wide surveillance program can stop citizens from abusing. Given our ideal law is stricter than the current one and focuses more on censorship than silly stuff such as illegal file sharing we'll change our vote to an abstention and let ICE's proposal pass. |
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Voting
| Vote | Seats | |||||
| yes | Total Seats: 142 | |||||
| no |
Total Seats: 194 | |||||
| abstain | Total Seats: 89 |
| Random fact: In your Message Centre there is a really useful feature which allows you to subscribe to all of the bill debates in your nation. If you use that, then the "Watched Discussions" section will show you every time a new message has been posted on a bill. You can also subscribe to other pages you want to follow, such as your nation message-board, party organisations or bills outside your nation which you are interested in. |
| Random quote: "It's not enough that we do our best; sometimes we have to do what's required." - Winston Churchill |