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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsAn Android app that terrifies the politicans and corporations: Boycott SOPA
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/112579-boycott-sopa-an-android-app-that-terrifies-publishers-and-politicians[strong]Boycott SOPA: An Android app that terrifies publishers and politicians[/strong]
Armchair activists now have a tool that can transport their SOPA protestations into the real world: Boycott SOPA, an Android app that scans barcodes and tells you whether an objects manufacturer/publisher is a supporter of the much maligned Stop Online Piracy Act.
If youve ever scanned a barcode on your Android phone to look up a book or CD on Amazon, Boycott SOPA works in exactly the same way: First you have to install the ZXing Barcode Scanner app, but then you simply go around pointing your phones camera at product barcodes. Boycott SOPA gives you a big red cross if the product is distributed by a SOPA supporter, or a green tick if its clean. Much to my chagrin, Coca-Cola supports SOPA but Smirnoff, on the other hand, does not. If you ever needed a sign from Above that you ought to drink more, there it is.
Scanning food isnt really where Boycott SOPA is at, though: Really, its all about scanning books, CDs, movies, and games products that are protected by massively militant groups like the MPAA, RIAA, and BSA who are spending millions on buying off Representatives to shoehorn SOPA through Congress. If you scan a random selection of media in your DVD rack or bookcase, youll be unsurprised to see that almost every object is produced by a company that supports SOPA. Its worth noting that the app isnt perfect, though: It relies on a user-curated list of SOPA supporters a list that isnt complete nor publicly visible. The app developer claims that the list will be regularly updated.
Technicalities aside, though, the ultimate goal of Boycott SOPA is to change your shopping habits. The idea is that you should scan everything that you buy at the supermarket, and refuse to put any SOPA-backed products into your basket. Its a very grandiose idea, and in a day and age where shoppers regularly eschew a selection of products on principle (damn baby-killing multinationals!), or buy entirely local produce, Boycott SOPA fits right in.
The app itself can be found here: https://market.android.com/details?id=com.boycottsopa.android
Note that you also need the app Barcode Scanner, by ZXing to make this work. What you do is you fire up Boycott SOPA, which in turn fires up Barcode Scanner, you scan the UPC barcodes of any products you're thinking of buying, and Boycott SOPA tells you whether their manufacturer supports SOPA or not.
matt819
(10,749 posts)What we need is a Chrome or Firefox extension that does this checking for online book and music purchases.
Matariki
(18,775 posts)You should post that as a suggestion/comment at their site: http://nomoresopa.com/wp/
sellitman
(11,606 posts)Someone ports this over to Apple.
Vehl
(1,915 posts)Apple, Microsoft and some other major companies are part of the Business Software Alliance that is a major supporter/proponent of SOPA.
The App also lists Apple products supporters of SOPA. The only reason they have not implemented this is that as of now the app gets confused with the word "Apple" (as it can be applied to many products which have the apple fruit in them) The developer has stated that they will be soon releasing a new update to the app which will correctly identify Apple company products.
http://www.bsa.org/country/BSA%20and%20Members/Our%20Members.aspx
members of the BSA
Adobe
Apple
Autodesk
AVEVA
AVG
Bentley Systems
CA
CNC Software - Mastercam
Compuware
Corel
SolidWorks
Dassault Systèmes SolidWorks Corporation
Intel
Intuit
McAfee
Microsoft
Minitab
Progress Software
PTC
Quest Software
Rosetta Stone
Siemens PLM Software, Inc.
Sybase
Symantec
TechSmith
The MathWorks
Kaspersky is the only BSA member company that openly opposed the SOPA, and it left the BSA as a sign of protest.
LibertyorDeath
(9,295 posts)Just downloaded it..
Rec!
Starry Messenger
(32,342 posts)TY!
tkmorris
(11,138 posts)Thanks backscatter!
MilesColtrane
(18,678 posts)Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA)
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU)
American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE)
American Federation of Musicians of the United States and Canada (AFM)
American Federation of School Administrators (AFSA)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
American Federation of Teachers (AFT)
American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA)
American Postal Workers Union (APWU)
American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA)
Associated Actors and Artistes of America (4As)
Actors' Equity Association (AEA)
American Guild of Musical Artists (AGMA)
American Guild of Variety Artists (AGVA)
The Guild of Italian American Actors (GIAA)
Screen Actors Guild (SAG)
Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers' International Union (BCTGM)
Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS)
California School Employees Association (CSEA)
Communications Workers of America (CWA)
Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA)
Farm Labor Organizing Committee (FLOC)
Federation of Professional Athletes (Professional Athletes)
Glass, Molders, Pottery, Plastics and Allied Workers International Union (GMP)
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employes, Moving Picture Technicians, Artists and Allied Crafts of the United States, Its Territories and Canada (IATSE)
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers (Ironworkers)
International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF)
International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM)
International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers (IBB)
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW)
International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers (IFPTE)
International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU)
International Longshoremen's Association (ILA)
International Plate Printers, Die Stampers and Engravers Union of North America
International Union of Allied Novelty and Production Workers (Novelty and Production Workers)
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC)
International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC)
International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE)
International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT)
International Union of Police Associations (IUPA)
Marine Engineers Beneficial Association (MEBA)
National Air Traffic Controllers Association (NATCA)
National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC)
National Nurses United (NNU)
National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU)[43]
Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU)
Operative Plasterers' and Cement Masons' International Association of the United States and Canada (OPCMIA)
Seafarers International Union of North America (SIU)
Sheet Metal Workers International Association (SMWIA)
Transport Workers Union of America (TWU)
Transportation Communications International Union/International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (TCU/IAM; will merge by 2012)
UNITE HERE
United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipe Fitting Industry of the United States and Canada (UA)
United Automobile, Aerospace and Agricultural Implement Workers of America International Union (UAW)
United Mine Workers of America (UMWA)
United Steel, Paper and Forestry, Rubber, Manufacturing, Energy, Allied Industrial and Service Workers International Union (USW)
United Transportation Union (UTU)
United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers (Roofers and Waterproofers)
Utility Workers Union of America (UWUA)
Writers Guild of America, East Inc. (WGAE)
Heywood J
(2,515 posts)but that doesn't mean I'll let one write my laws outright without consultation or do my thinking for me on what's best for my interests, thank you. The list doesn't mean much to me, considering the actual content of the proposed law.
MilesColtrane
(18,678 posts)backscatter712
(26,355 posts)Vehl
(1,915 posts)I'll post a new thread that explains why people oppose SOPA and no..its not over downloading illegal stuff.
hootinholler
(26,449 posts)SOPA is a bad law from a technological point of view written very broadly with many of the issues of the DMCA expanded.
If all of those unions are pro-SOPA I suggest they are misinformed.
Sgent
(5,857 posts)the creative guilds (actors, movie, etc.) support it, so the others doing it in sympathy.
That being said, its a terrible bill that breaks the internet while doing nothing to stop pirating.
Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)JNelson6563
(28,151 posts)Fantastic Anarchist
(7,309 posts)slay
(7,670 posts)protect the internet - FUCK SOPA!
Canuckistanian
(42,290 posts)Anything for the cause.