Sherlock debates the Irish SOPA

01-02-2012 12:48AM

I just sent the following to Mr. Sherlock via the contact me page of his website. I would urge others to do the same.

Dear Mr. Sherlock,
I have been watching with much interest recent developments concerning the signing of a statutory instrument that would give the power to copyright holders to force ISPs to block certain sites that contain any material that breaches copyright. The trouble with this is that many large websites contain user generated content and will thus, inevitably contain some copyrighted material, at least temporarily, before the site owner gets a chance to remove it. This could potentially harm sites such as YouTube and facebook, and many, many more.

Blocking websites due to inevitable, small scale, copyright infringements is akin to treating headllice by decapitation.

I fear you have not fully understood the potential this has to damage the Irish economy. Internet based companies employ thousands of people, for example Google has around 1500 employees in Ireland. Do you think a company such as Google will be favourably impressed by a piece of legislation that will hinder the operation of their websites, and thus harm their revenue stream?

It appears that, rather similar to the previous Fianna Fáil government, your actions are being guided by certain vested interests, rather than what is best for the country. This disappoints me greatly.

I voted Labour in the previous general election. If you sign the statutory instrument as it currently stands I will not vote for your party again, and will advise my family and friends to do similar.

Yours sincerely,
James

gcgirl · 01-02-2012 12:51AM

JamesL85 wrote: »

Sigh. It's beginning to look like it's a new set of clowns, but the same circus.

Too right

marcsignal · 01-02-2012 01:08AM

Domo230 wrote: »

Not that I don't believe you but if I show up and there's nothing on I will loo quite the fool with my protest sign.

Still, if only 10 of us turn up, that's 6 more than were in the Dail for the 'Debate'

sunshiner · 01-02-2012 01:14AM

its a sad day for this country when this nonsense gets put into being. so we loose possible websites,jobs and any sense to the outside world that we are a country to invest in. well done sherlock pat yourself on the back you should be soooooooo proud of your self :rolleyes:

kirving · 01-02-2012 01:19AM

Not only should websites have a blackout, but so should the ISP's. A nice big homepage giving details on how to contact Sean Sherlock and the rest of the government would be fantastic.

The country would shut down.

smash · 01-02-2012 10:41AM

He's a joke. He has this statement on his website:

"I thank you for your comments and wish to state that the Government has no intention of introducing legislation that would restrict the freedom of Irish internet users.It is just not true that websites like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube could be blocked under a new statutory judgement currently being reviewed by the Cabinet.This is not SOPA-type legislation but a restatement of that which we [the Government] held existed in Irish law already."

Sykk · 01-02-2012 11:09AM

This guy is a fcuking clown.. Anyone listen to him on Pat Kenny?

Pat: Will the courts be able to block websites like Facebook, twitter and google?
Dickhead: Ehm well I'm under the impression that they won't
Pat: Yes or no, will they be able to block them?
Dickhead: It's my understanding that probably not

Yes they will you little rat. You know they will and can and you can fcuk off if you think anyone buys your bullshít.

Seachmall · 01-02-2012 11:23AM

Deleted User wrote: »

Blocking websites due to inevitable, small scale, copyright infringements is akin to treating headllice by decapitation.

Well said.

smash · 01-02-2012 11:24AM

Lets have a look at how many people Google, Twitter, Linkedin, boards, Facebook etc etc employ here Sherlock... now, do you really want those companies jumping ship?

Lone Stone · 01-02-2012 01:25PM

Im literally shocked & appalled by the turn out at the debate for this. So much so i think we should all get out there and demand a second debate and make them all show up this cant be good for the economy and i dont like some company dictating what we can cant do !! :mad:

StephenHendry · 01-02-2012 01:32PM

sunshiner wrote: »

its a sad day for this country when this nonsense gets put into being. so we loose possible websites,jobs and any sense to the outside world that we are a country to invest in. well done sherlock pat yourself on the back you should be soooooooo proud of your self :rolleyes:

exaclty, this is madness and potentially do a lot of damage to internet based firms like google. i think i heard google or facebook saying that they are looking to take on new people

MagicSean · 01-02-2012 01:35PM

StephenHendry wrote: »

exaclty, this is madness and potentially do a lot of damage to internet based firms like google. i think i heard google or facebook saying that they are looking to take on new people

I wonder will it effect Sky at all. They are looking to beign providing broadband shortly and have announced massive jobs as part of it.

smash · 01-02-2012 01:41PM

Forget google etc, take daft media. Boards could get shut down and daft could get shut down, just imagine the knock on effect to every advertiser and business user. The law is so bad that a photographer could claim copyright infringement because an auctioneer uploaded one of his images and bang, daft is gone. Same for carzone, Donedeal, myhome, I could go on and on. That's hundreds of thousands of users and businesses put out.

01-02-2012 06:10PM

Seachmall wrote: »

Well said.

I have to admit I stole that line from Frank Zappa.

So naturally, that means all of boards.ie will now be taken down.

davpigboy · 01-02-2012 07:58PM

if this is eu law which we have to implement because everyone else within the eu has implemented then wouldn't that mean that that everyone else has this form of sopa all ready have i missed something?

PseudoFamous · 01-02-2012 08:02PM

davpigboy wrote: »

have i missed something?

Yes, it isn't European law, at all. The European law is almost exactly the opposite to what Sherlock is trying to impose.

Seachmall · 01-02-2012 08:05PM

davpigboy wrote: »

if this is eu law which we have to implement because everyone else within the eu has implemented then wouldn't that mean that that everyone else has this form of sopa all ready have i missed something?

You're mixing ACTA and Sherlock's SI up.

The former is a cock in the arse, the latter is one in the gob.

Nailz · 01-02-2012 08:36PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Blocking websites due to inevitable, small scale, copyright infringements is akin to treating headllice by decapitation.

Nice wee Frank Zappa quote, there.

someuser905 · 01-02-2012 08:37PM

where is sherlock from? we need to send money to his rivals

Cianos · 01-02-2012 08:37PM

smash wrote: »

Forget google etc, take daft media. Boards could get shut down and daft could get shut down, just imagine the knock on effect to every advertiser and business user. The law is so bad that a photographer could claim copyright infringement because an auctioneer uploaded one of his images and bang, daft is gone. Same for carzone, Donedeal, myhome, I could go on and on. That's hundreds of thousands of users and businesses put out.

In reality this probably won't happen (at least I hope not!). But what will happen is websites becoming much harder to run, and user driven content having to be much more carefully scrutinised to avoid time consuming cases.

Ireland has been slow enough to catch up with the rest of the developed world as regards the industry, and just as it's picking up this spa is doing his best to hinder any progress at all.

suicide_circus · 01-02-2012 08:43PM

As I said to Sherlock in an email, persisting with this nonsense will turn the young voters of Ireland against him and he will fatally damage his public career in the long term.

01-02-2012 08:47PM

I think that we need the title of this thread to be changed, to say that Sherlock is any way capable of debating is an insult to debtors the world over. The man is a bumbling, incompetent fool who quite clearly doesn't have a clue what he's talking about or just what the legislation entails. His interviews on the radio have been embarrassing, he's repeatedly being shown up for not having a clue what he's talking about and his two "debates" in the dail should have came with a laugh track supplied.

mconigol · 01-02-2012 08:59PM

There's only one way to show this clown the error of it's ways. Consistently report Irish websites for copyright infringement until most of the well known ones are forced offline or unable to function.

Go for an actual blackout of the Irish internet.

PhlegmyMoses · 01-02-2012 09:04PM

Why is this Sherlock's soapbox? I have to admit to knowing nothing about him until this came about. What is his interest in having this pushed through?

ShadowHearth · 01-02-2012 09:22PM

Block Facebook for 12hours. You will have him killed!

I haven't used my Facebook account in ages. So when that petition about acts came up I droped it in to Facebook. After 3 days only one fella checked it.. And he was from north!!! I bet they will pay attention when they won't be able to poke somebody while scratching balls or fanny...

Seachmall · 01-02-2012 09:25PM

PhlegmyMoses wrote: »

Why is this Sherlock's soapbox? I have to admit to knowing nothing about him until this came about. What is his interest in having this pushed through?

Hmmm... *cough*

Note To Sherlock and Irish Magistrates: That's a joke, ya pricks.

Sparks43 · 01-02-2012 10:27PM

For anyone who wants to see the debate forward to 4.02 on the player to watch

http://dail.tv/

if it comes up with a plug in message then click the view in seperate player link

MagicSean · 01-02-2012 10:36PM

Cianos wrote: »

In reality this probably won't happen (at least I hope not!). But what will happen is websites becoming much harder to run, and user driven content having to be much more carefully scrutinised to avoid time consuming cases.

Ireland has been slow enough to catch up with the rest of the developed world as regards the industry, and just as it's picking up this spa is doing his best to hinder any progress at all.

That's like saying "We're going to give to Taoiseach the power to overule any decision made in the Dail but it's only for emergencies and he promises not to use it".

yoyo · 01-02-2012 11:16PM

Sparks43 wrote: »

For anyone who wants to see the debate forward to 4.02 on the player to watch

http://dail.tv/

if it comes up with a plug in message then click the view in seperate player link

Is this guy for real, "Information Service Provider"? I'm assuming he meant Internet Service Provider, just goes to show how clued in these idiots are. Not to mention his own personal website infringed on Microsofts copyrights due to images it displayed (this has been silently rectified but still the "offence" was commited and archive.org will prove this).
I had to turn this off I got so angry, he keeps going on about how great it is having the likes of Google etc here, well look how many jobs that will be lost if these companies leave Ireland, and even if they don't it certainly wont be attractive to Ireland for other similar companies entering a country where internet censorship is in full swing.
Incompetence of the highest order, and ironically won't solve the piracy issue one bit.

Nick

My name is URL · 01-02-2012 11:32PM

Anon have hacked the DFA website and released a load of passwords!

https://twitter.com/#!/AnonOpsSweden/status/164820945121456128

http://www.thejournal.ie/government-email-passwords-obtained-by-anonymous-hackers-343904-Feb2012/

Sherlock debates the Irish SOPA

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