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Reader Comments (25)

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:04AM vekien said

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I think the protests ar egreat and people should respect and join in, because think about it, its just a protest now, and not even half as bad as it would be if the bill passes and that protest is 3-4 times worse and every day, every day, every day...

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:04AM (Unverified) said

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Well, SOPA could get in the way of fixing/making their game.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 6:27PM Cyroselle said

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@(Unverified) It gets in the way of hosting forums too.
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Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:06AM CorwynnMaelstrom said

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Issues like these that go to the core of their business? They should be political.

Particularly because if they're pro-SOPA I know not to buy from them. :P

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:06AM smartstep said

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SOPA , PIPA and bills that are clearly in interests of biggest companies and organisations like MIAA or RIAA + restrict freedom of internet and / or hit middle class should be violently opposed.


On the other hand game companies should rather watch out to not became too political , things like War, democrats & republicans, and most things things that not influent gaming or internet should be rather avoided.

After all we're playing games to not think about same sh*t that is over news every day.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:09AM (Unverified) said

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This website should have been a part of the protest. Forget game companies. This site and all of the sites in the group this is a part of should have blacked out like RPS did. In my opinion it just shows you don't give a crap.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:11AM keepitlikeitwas said

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No one one is excluded from protecting themselves against government reducing liberty, game companies included. Fellers, if you are bugged that your patch is not quite what you wanted in the short term... log off, go read a SOPA article, and ensure that this horrible legislation dies in a fire.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:14AM JohnFordColey said

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I think that when you have a bill that is so irresponsible and anathema to what we stand for as a nation, it's the obligation of every American to oppose it. Doesn't matter who you are or what you do, if you value freedom of expression, you have a responsibility to fight SOPA/PIPA to the best of your ability. I'm glad that so many game companies felt obligated to educate their consumers about the two bills, it was the right thing to do.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:27AM MithranArkanere said

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Videogames are a form of art, and many artists step in politics when things are very, very wrong.

It's ok as long as they don't put the politics INSIDE the game, and as long it's for a good cause..


Being against breaking the Internet by placing artificial "borders" on it when it's not designed to work like that because a bunch of uninformed greedy bastards thing that will make them get more money (when it won't) is a good cause.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:29AM Dumac said

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SOPA would directly affect them so some involvement is expected. I would say lack of involvement would be weird, even, in this case.

As far as the rest of politics go, i don't think it should be a focus, but being influential means having to take on different subjects and explore them, politics included. Sometimes i feel games deliberately avoid this to avoid controversy or alienating those of a different opinion, but in doing so they lose the significant impact they can have on culture and go from a medium with a lot of potential to a frivolous past time.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:35AM DarkWalker said

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SOPA/PIPA are special cases. Anyone that depends on the Internet should oppose those, including game companies. Also, I believe you would be hard pressed to find many gamers that actually support SOPA/PIPA, so game companies voicing their concerns about SOPA/PIPA should be taking little to no risk in angering customers (and any such negative reaction would be offset by the amount of goodwill generated with their customers that dislike SOPA/PIPA).

When things are not that clear cut, though, development studios and publishers should refrain from messing with politics. It's a sure way to alienate a part of their customers.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:55AM Shadanwolf said

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This is about as big a deal as it gets. I contacted both my senators and my House member asking them to kill the bills.I even called Senator Rubio's office when he listened to his constituents and withdrew his co-sponsorship of the bill to thank him. You should do the same.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 8:57AM Fuzzz said

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SOPA/PIPA is like trying to make the internet into a thirdworld country under a dictatorship..

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 9:01AM Wispur said

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If anything, videogame companies are not saying enough against this horrid piece of legislation. They need to make a stronger stand.

Videogames are a very large part of the entertainment industry, and it needs to be made clear that the movie and music branches don't get to have all of the say to themselves on this issue.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 9:31AM (Unverified) said

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Video games are also some of the most stolen IPs on the internet. Sure, SOPA is bad, but whats missing from this conversation is what you do they day after it fails. When piracy is still rampant.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 9:35AM Heraclea said

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"Intellectual property" scams are one of the main engines of political corruption and rent-seeking behavior in the contemporary world. Remember the ridiculous lawsuit that Marvel brought against City of Heroes? SOPA/PIPA would have enabled Marvel to obtain an order taking down the game and making the servers unreachable.

All of these issues break the normal political process in an obvious way. A small minority benefits greatly from them, and is therefore highly motivated to purchase influence. The rest of us are left paying tolls to these trolls, but have a much smaller individual stake in stopping them; we are therefore relatively unorganized and unmotivated. Hopefully, this is starting to change now.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 10:01AM Joaquin Crowe said

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When it's broad issues that impact gamers: like a tiered internet, China-like 'net censorship, or the MPAA/RIAA being bigger *55holes than they already are -- yes, game companies should try to educate their playerbase.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 12:33PM Demeter said

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These bills would unfortunately affect the gaming lifestyle a ton, so definitely more than ok to get involved ^^.

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 12:50PM Space Cobra said

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I know I am just imagining things, but every time I pass that seagull picture, it looks like the SOPA-stop sign gets messier and messier! ;p

Posted: Jan 19th 2012 2:41PM Budukahn said

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Unfortunately, I think generally in the western world, we really do need entertainers, be they sports stars, musicians or even game developers to speak out in these cases.

Alas, the vast majority of voters in the western world seem, by and large, too apathetic, too lazy and too stupid to keep themselves informed as their rights and protections are time and again undermined and signed away by politicians on behalf of big corporate masters.

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