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Reader Comments (65)

Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:22PM sonofman said

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Good work Penny Arcade....
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:43PM sonofman said

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@sonofman

but but but...

You did see http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/01/20 today right?

I mean... it just seemed convenient....
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:45PM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

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@sonofman

This is beyond Penny Arcade. This was a collective stand that Internet had against our rights being taken from us. This battle is not over yet however, it is clear that we have made them recognize that we have a voice. We will not be silenced.

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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:38PM SirUrza said

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@sonofman

Don't celebrate just yet. There's a Protect Children from Internet Pornography Act in the works and SOPA will likely get attached to it.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:54PM sonofman said

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@Stevetrop Man of Mystery
well obviously....

Was just pointing out the coincidence....
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 6:07PM sparkster said

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@Stevetrop Man of Mystery
Your comment gave me flashbacks to Braveheart, Conan and, in a weird way, Rocky. Awesome! Also, funny how that happens...
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 10:36PM Bewoulf said

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@SirUrza
I can't believe that. You know who should protect children from pornography? PARENTS!
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:23PM PatientJ said

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I knew e-mailing the ESA would do the trick! You're welcome, games industry!
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:33PM Bubbameister33 said

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PatientJ, a real American hero.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 7:17PM DevilSei said

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@PatientJ

Not quite, their statement is horribly vague and made to be so on purpose. They haven't withdrawn support of anything, they are just saying "hey, since this thing is dead in the water, yeah we don't support it exactly. But there's always next time, and that bill we will support again! Until it hits a dead end of course"
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:24PM (Unverified) said

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What a fair-weather fan, that ESA.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:24PM jsx92 said

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Nonsense. They still support anti-piracy measures and always will, but sometimes you have to admit defeat because you can't win every battle.

I love my free internet, but I'm also for law enforcement enforcing copyright laws. Copyright reform is one thing, but the argument that intellectual property is inherently worthless is just about the stupidest group-think on the internet (if you don't know what I'm talking about, go read torrent freak.com).

MegaUpload is dead and more will follow. The message is clear, copyright violation won't be tolerated and eventually they'll figure out how to combat it in a more effective manner. There's still plenty of people in the world who aren't internet radicals.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:24PM Ignatius said

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Abandon ship! Abandon ship!

But seriously, good work, Internet.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:46PM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

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@Ignatius

*Watches the rats scurry away from the sinking ship*

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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:00PM Ignatius said

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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:25PM ShadowOp814 said

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@Ignatius
Dude, you just likened Picard and his crew to the likes of the ESA and other former SOPA and PIPA supporters... For shame, my friend. For shame...
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:32PM Ignatius said

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@ShadowOp814

Dude, you read too much into things. :|
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 7:02PM singleandlovinit said

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I dont think it changes anything, the ESA's lobbyists suck.

The RIAA has such powerful lobbyists that they are practically a branch of government. Until the RIAA backs off SOPA is always a possibility, theyve gotten some bullshit laws made before with no support from anyone else.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:27PM CaptainProtonX said

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"... they had some powerful backing and could come back."

If you take Star Wars as precedent, yes. The Empire does strike back. But then the rebels find the weakness (again) and this time have the emporer destroyed in his own chamber of power.

Then the Ewoks danced.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:31PM AxelSteelBMX said

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@CaptainProtonX God dammit, I love you.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:43PM Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En said

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@CaptainProtonX

Coincidentally, I have all of my furry bits exposed and am dancing about as well.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:22PM ShadowOp814 said

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@CaptainProtonX
Ya'll up for an Ewok dance party when this is all done?
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:53PM Ebok007 said

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@CaptainProtonX
Yub nub, SOPA. Eee chop yub nub.
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Posted: Jan 21st 2012 12:54PM dboyxz said

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@CaptainProtonX The irony of your statement is that you are talking about Star wars while your profile pic is Captain Picard is giving the middle finger. Oh Such Irony...-_-
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:27PM Alexisonfire said

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But I hadn't even done anything against ESA yet!

Now I just like a jerk who was too lazy to help out...
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:40PM PatientJ said

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@Alexisonfire
I've always been that jerk. This is the first time I did anything. I think it comes in time, as you see more crap slide by unnoticed (for instance, the NDAA)
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:29PM Silvaan said

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F*** yeah
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:32PM Courtney said

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Well, I can't say I respect this decision much, as they waited until just about every one else in America had already decided that these bills were probably a bad idea.

It's also disappointing that the Video Game Voters Network never once issued a single statement about SOPA or PIPA. The VGVN is the "call-to-action" arm of the ESA that's supposed to represent gamers rights. Now that it's clear that the VGVN is just there as another proponent of corporates rights, it's going to be difficult or impossible for me to ever take it seriously.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:32PM xHotPotatox said

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Someone should tell the ESA to wipe the shit from their mouths before they start acting so saying such things
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:32PM sqlrob said

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I really wish companies / groups wouldn't put blatant lies in their spin.

"From the beginning, ESA has been committed to the passage of balanced legislation "

If that were true, you wouldn't have supported these bills from the first.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 6:18PM DaDiddles said

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@sqlrob

The whole point of spin is to lie. LoL.

People as a whole just need to start believing the polar opposite of what a company's PR says, and they'd be seeing the truth a good 90% of the time.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:33PM (Unverified) said

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"It looks like we're gonna lose, guys! LET'S JUMP SHIP!"
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:35PM AxelSteelBMX said

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Is there anyplace other than Joystiq that I can find this statement in its entirety? I didn't see it on the ESA website...
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:39PM ilduce620 said

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Yeah, that was about 3 days too late, ESA.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:41PM Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En said

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Wait. We won? Albeit momentarily, but the internet prevailed? Didn't see that one coming.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:01PM ShadowXIII said

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Should still keep an ear to the ground for awhile....I highly doubt this is over.

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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 8:56PM EliminatorZigma said

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@Zoot Suit Jedi Grammar Hammer En

Lesson learned?

If you're gonna go up against the entire internet, you'd better be more prepared than these guys were.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:42PM Once known as Shadsy said

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This is like watching someone slowly dying after they're pulled off life support.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 4:52PM libregkd said

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Of course they dropped support. Its easy to drop support of something that's dead.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:01PM DekuTree said

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@libregkd

delayed*
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:27PM libregkd said

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@DekuTree

No. SOPA, for all intents and purposes, is dead. Though that doesn't mean the battle is over, OPEN already seems to be rising out of SOPA/PIPA's ashes.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:13PM Brando Calrissian said

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Pfff, too little too late, esa. Way to jump on the banwagon.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:18PM Stevetrop Man of Mystery said

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I have one thing to say about this/

It took you long enough!
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:27PM CleanUndies said

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SOPA = Seriously Oppressing Poor Sdolescence

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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:39PM CleanUndies said

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@CleanUndies

wow, thanks for the edit button Joystiq!!!

-S +A ...
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:29PM commonperson said

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About freaking time but I find it hilarious that they chose now to retreat from their support of the bill. I think more the fact that a ton of people were saying they were going to boycott their money maker E3 which really drove the stake through that hart. So all that's left is the MPAA and the RIAA. So the toady sloths who've been dragging the internet backwards for the last ten years. Funny that.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:31PM Gibbeynator said

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@commonperson

They couldn't have been any more obvious about their REAL motivations, even if they snuck in a plug for E3 somewhere in there.
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 5:38PM BlazeKing said

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OH HELL YEEEEESSSSSS!!!!!
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Posted: Jan 20th 2012 6:36PM arucious said

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Any child that watches that does it on their own consent. It's not like teens get violent from watching. I don't see whats the big deal
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Posted: Jan 22nd 2012 7:02AM Teeree said

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If that's true they're coming back at us hard. The majority of the American public bases political opinion off of the mere attractiveness of something. A bill titled with children and porno is going to get a bunch of parents and organizational support, more than just corporations...
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