SOPA PIPA AND YOU

2012-01-19T11:30:00.000-08:00

Most of my readers know me as J. Francis, and in the gaming world I'm known as Gourgon, in any event I'm a professional writer and the owner of many copyrights. (See; that’s my Branding Shield over there on the left.) I strongly believe that I have the moral and legal right to control how my work is displayed and distributed, weather online or offline. I also believe that when my copyrights have been violated I should have a powerful set of tools to deal with the issue; if I so choose to do so, online or offline. I believe every owner of copyrights and everyone who creates art has these same moral and legal rights and should have the same ability to address any and all violations on their own terms, and that

creators should be able to present their creations on their terms, not anyone else's. The decision on how we handle our copyrights should be just that; our right, and as I said above; no one else's. Well now the Government wants to get into act, and like most things they get involved in one way or another they mess it up. Although their intentions with SOPA and PIPA may have merit, in the end if these two bills are passed they will ultimately violate our right to free speech and damage the internet as we know it. As writers, artists, and Americans everywhere we can not let this happen.

So here’s what congress wants to do.

SOPA and PIPA – What the hell are they you ask?

From Wikipedia;

SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the "Stop Online Piracy Act," and PIPA is an acronym for the "Protect IP Act." ("IP" stands for "intellectual property.") In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet. Detailed information about these bills can be found in the Piracy Act and PROTECT IP Act articles on Wikipedia, which are available during the blackout. GovTrack lets you follow both bills through the legislative process: SOPA on this page, and PIPA on this one. The Electronic Frontier Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to advocating for the public interest in the digital realm, has summarized why these bills are simply unacceptable in a world that values an open, secure, and free Internet.

I was going to shut down the Out Of Mana Website for one day in protest, however; I decided it would serve no real purpose. The way I see this issue is ongoing, and should be treated as an ongoing issue until it has been resolved. Perhaps a one day blackout of Wikipedia and others might bring attention to the matter which is what we want. However we need everyone’s help, we need your voice as well as our own. Click here to be heard.

I don’t want to make this an endless article, so if you would like to read more about SOPA and PIPA, follow the links in the above article. Please; help protect our rights.

You guys for the most part know what I write about, and for those of you that don't let me fill you in. I write about gaming, you get to see some of it that I put on the Out Of Mana Website. However; most of what I write you never get to see because of copyright agreements with various publishers. (See there we go, there's that term - copyright.) I also write wherever and about whatever the written word calls for, and for whoever might need those words. So I hope you can see that the words I write are mine, they come from my mind. That byline, that shield is mine; and I have the right to protect them anyway I see fit. Without Congress screwing it all up for all of us.

You can read more about SOPA and PIPA on Wikipedia by clicking here.

You can also take part in one of the largest online protests in US history by clicking here to be redirected to Mozilla’s (Firefox) protest site where you can sign up to send a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and tell him to vote no on the bills.

Thanks for lending me an ear, and please help all you can;

Gourgon/J. Francis

You can contact me with any comments at. outofmanaonline@hotmail.com

The Hay River Project

2011-04-14T13:25:00.001-07:00

An Action Packed Adventure

In the scientific community a theory existed that Neanderthal man didn’t just die out and was simply replaced my modern man. Some, a few; theorized that the two species, were able to, and did in fact interbreed producing what we now refer to as modern man. In 2010 DNA testing completed on over 2000 individuals from Europe, and Asia proved conclusively that at least four percent of the Earth’s population is in fact directly descended from Neanderthal.

However; in September of 2002 a handful of scientists who for lack of concrete evidence opposed this theory, while on an archeological dig in Canada’s Northwest Territories, stumbled into a secret world buried deep below the surface where it had remained hidden for over ten thousand years. A discovery that was about to remove all doubt in their minds about where modern man came from.

Dr. Matthew Prichard and friends would soon embark on the quest of a lifetime, delving into a world they know nothing about, a world whose knowledge could never be disclosed; a world whose knowledge could mean disaster to all.

J. FRANCIS ONLINE

SOPA PIPA AND YOU

The Hay River Project