Imagine a world where something does not even have to be a copy to be covered by “copyright” – it could just be similar. Check the 2 photos in the link to see what could breach “copyright” in the England
Overlay the powers of SOPA on to that…………..
Very scary.

SOPA and PIPA have been shelved but the government’s plan to censor the public is an ongoing threat. Enter the "Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement" aka ACTA, an international trade agreement whose supposed sole purpose is to forge ahead with tackling counterfeited goods and -- suprise, surprise -- copyright infringement.

The Department of Justice announced Thursday that it has conducted a major action to shut down MegaUpload, a popular file-sharing site widely used for free downloads of movies and television shows.

Huffington Post reports a small victory against SOPA (H.R. 3261 “Stop Online Piracy Act”) and it's counterpart in the Senate, PIPA (“Protect IP Act”), claiming that President Obama will not support the current legislation. A statement released on behalf of the Obama Administration states, “... we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.

Senate Bill 978 is working through the Senate making a possible felony of embedding copyrighted work, intentionally or unknowingly.

Through domain seizures, ISP blockades, search engine censorship, and cutting funding of allegedly copyright infringing websites, the bill takes Internet censorship to the next level. The U.S. Government is determined to put an end to online piracy. In an attempt to give copyright holders and the authorities all the tools required to disable access to so-called rogue sites, lawmakers will soon introduce the PROTECT IP Act.

A detailed view as to why IP laws are preventing innovation rather than protecting it.

This particular story hosted on OSNews, a popular site for emerging OS information troubled me so much, I had to create an account here to share this. Evidently, The US Copyright groups suing torrent users for allegedly downloading movies from bit-torrent sites, is now suing a lawyer for providing effective legal defense for Innocent victims of US Corporate hit squads. Evidently, the Legal firm representing Big Media threatened to double the fine of anyone who tries to defend themselves. Is this not the definition of Extortion?

ammie Thomas-Rasset, the first file sharer to take a Recording Industry Association of America lawsuit to a jury trial, was dinged late Wednesday $62,500 for each of 24 songs she pilfered on Kazaa — $1.5 million in all.

A federal appeals court said Friday that software makers can use shrink-wrap and click-wrap licenses to forbid the transfer or resale of their wares, an apparent gutting of the so-called first-sale doctrine.