Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Let's Talk About - SOPA/PIPA Blackout

As you may have noticed at right, I am a member of the Entertainment Consumers Association (the ECA) which is dedicated to preserving the rights of gamers and advocating for the gaming community as a whole.  I am not a very political person, but some recent United States legislation has had me quite up in arms since it was first introduced - the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act.  While not directed at gamers, this legislation (if passed) could have negative effects internet wide - both inside and outside of the United States' borders due to bills' extremely vague wording - wording that would make abuse of the law far too easy.  The potential impact on the internet gaming community/industry alone could be detrimental.

As such, I have decided to join that January 18 online SOPA strike.  I have installed java code into this blog that should replace my blog with this, or forward you to a similar screen.  There is no guarantee that this forwarding will work, but I have at least made a full faith effort.  Either way, L'Épée Magique will not be updated in anyway for the whole of the 18th.  This is something I feel very strongly about, and hope that you will understand the reason for this inconvenience.

For those of you who live outside the United States, take a moment to read what GOG.com has to say about the legislation.  Good Old Games (GOG) is a much loved and much respected digital distributor that is best known for their classic computer games and strong anti-DRM stance.  They are also the sister company of CD Projekt RED, the developer behind The Witcher and The Witcher 2: The Assassins of Kings.

Everyone please also take a moment to watch the video below, and help keep yourselves informed.


I am sorry for the heavily political nature of this post as L'Épée Magique is not a political or advocacy blog in any form or fashion.  In fact, I make a habit of never discussing politics IRL either.  Let that alone tell you how important this is to me.

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