Fight Internet Censorship!
I realize that it may seem inappropriate to post this as an announcement, but I feel the situation warrants as much attention as can be gathered. Essentially, the time has come for us all to take a stand against legislature that will allow those with large amounts of money to shut down websites on the internet with impunity. I know what you're all thinking: I'm a political nut and this is boring. But please, hear me out...
In a nutshell, this bill will allow copyright holders to remove content from the internet that infringes on their copyrights. Search engines (Google, Bing, Yahoo, etc), social networks (Facebook, Twitter, etc), and internet service providers would be required to become what amounts to copyright enforcement police. Unfortunately, the act of detecting and suppressing this content will come as significant cost to these organizations and that money is going to have to come from somewhere.
The more significant problem, however, is that this completely bypasses due process. Copyright holders will be able to shut down an entire website with no proof other than that they said so. There is no determination of guilt necessary before the website is terminated. What's worse, all it takes is for a copyright holder to accuse a website of "enabling or facilitating" copyright infringement and it's gone. This could happen to any number of retail websites that sell random products, such as Amazon.com. In fact, something as simple as posting a video of yourself singing a copyrighted song may be enough to get a site taken down.
Anyway, I could never hope to explain it better than the rest of the internet, so I will leave you with a few resources to learn more. The first is a website with information on what you can do to help stop this. This website allows you to write to your congress person to urge him/her to oppose this bill. The website provides you with a simple form to fill out to contact your representatives and even provides you with all of the text already filled in. You can simply sign your name to the default letter and send it along at no cost to yourself or you can replace their letter with one of your own. I would urge you all to go the extra mile and write your own letter, but even sending the default letter would help. You can find all of the information here: http://americancensorship.org/
Additional resources for more information:
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/10/sopa-hollywood-finally-gets-chance-break-internet
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/10/house-takes-senates-bad-internet-censorship-bill-makes-it-worse.ars
http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-h3261/show
http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/hear_11162011.html
http://americancensorship.org/infographic.html (Accessible version available here: http://toastsoft.net/americancensorship.html)
I urge you all to do what you can to oppose this. Hand write letters to your congress person. Make phone calls. Share this information with your friends so that they can get involved. If we don't act to stop this now, the internet we wake up to might be a far different internet than the one we've come to know and love for its information, innovation, and freedom. Remember: The Praelor support internet censorship. Do you?
tldr; Please go here http://americancensorship.org/ and send a letter to your congressman urging them to oppose internet censorship.
Posted by Albori Isahost Sninvel on 11/17/11 at 1:20 a.m..
Welcome to Miriani!
Miriani is a multi-player online roleplaying game in which you take on the role of a starship pilot. Your goal is simply to make a life for yourself through whatever means possible. You may choose to do this by becoming a pirate and stealing from other players, protecting human space from known alien threats, performing mundane activities for credits, or any combination of the above. Your life in Miriani is what you make it.
Similarly, the open-ended nature of the game means that players are free to attack at will. You must be prepared to defend yourself and your alliance should a pirate come calling. It's recommended to make alliances with other players, read the defense handbook, practice in simulators, discuss tactics (there are many different weapons and technologies available to you), and become familiar with the technology that's available to you. It's all part of the life of a starship pilot!
Please remember that the game is incomplete. Modifications are being made all the time, which may mean that there is a bit of instability at times as things get balanced. We hope that you'll stick with it and help us make Miriani great.