EFnet IRC Network Forum

Although this new proposal hasn't been voted through yet and there still is a chance of not having it going through I have started to wonder... Will the US government be able to shut down parts of EFnet? They probably won't be able to get any non-US servers down, but is it possible for them to block their IP addresses? Because there is some piracy going on and I don't think it'll cease just because SOPA comes.

How much power does SOPA give the US government? Will they only be able to censor websites or could this affect IRC too?

And imagine if EFnet was blocked. How would that be?

I think this law raises not only frustration and irritation, but also a lot of other questions related to exactly what services they can shut down/censor.

I agree in general. I can't think of anything that would stop U.S. gummint from blocking anything they wanted, including furrin' IP's. They already think IRC is nothing but a buncha terrists.

While they're s'posed to go after really illegal stuff, such as human trafficking, big-business wire fraud, and even irritating spam, U.S. law enforcement sends most of what is supposed to be computer-related criminal activity on pr0n. Several times, I've asked law enforcement officers, with all the pr0n you guys look at, just how much harm has it done to you? From the court testimony of many so-called prosecution witnesses, they say, under oath, (qualifying themselves as experts) that they view what is essentially more pr0n than the most avid of pr0n advocates, but they're special, so it doesn't harm them. While they claim to be protecting children, with which few (including yours truly) would disagree, what they want to shut down is anything to do with sex, sexuality, or a violation of their religious beliefs.

First: IMHO, I belive IRC is too small to actually be affected by the government and their attepmts to kill the natural digital progress. Like HndlWCare said, in their eyes we are just a bundle of hackers and cyber terrorists (I love that media word) and not really a threat to them. Tho, if this continues and they manage to take down the major sites IRC might be in danger in a future..you never know!

Second: There are a few other networks with alot more warez going on then EFNet, so I don't think we have to worry untill they start going down. (Yes, I admin a server on one of them and I promise I'll give you a head up)