Say hello to http://blogs.computerworld.com/internet/23154/secret-tpp-agreement-sopa-steroids-may-be-end-internet-we-know-it, the new bill that makes SOPA look like a cute puppy. Back door deals and bypassing congress. Boy I love democracy! This bill pretty much sums up to: If you have a computer connected to the internet, you're a criminal, copyrite duration is extended to 95 years past death, surgery and medical treatments can be patented, and all everything health care related will go up in price.

When did the U.S. become North Korea?

No politics.

Well Australia almost became not much better under our previous government, who wanted to pass a series of information-resticting powers that would have let them censor any anti-government information if it was deemed to be "against the public good".

Essentially this looks like a law being pushed solely by corporations, and well, Obama didnt get elected through his own wallet did he?

Nice. A harsh retaliation for the Parabon leaks.

Edit: 1984 is becoming more of a reality.

Threads on this kind of subject have generally be allowed in the past, due to a mixture of having some relevance, being pretty damn important, and the vast majority of people being in agreement with each other (the reason for the ban was people getting too hot and bothered about political matters, and the resultant conflict causing conflagrations).

We will almost certainly sign up to this trade agreement (if we haven't already), though. We have a tendency to jump on board any bandwagon that comes by, and I expect Abbott and co will have no reservations about swallowing something driven by corporate interests.

EDIT:Becoming? Plenty of stuff has already come to light that actually goes beyond what Orwell imagined.

No politics. You could easily remake this thread in a way which wouldn't be political (SOPA was a huge discussion here back when it was relevant).

You are welcome to discuss the fictional politics of the various games published by Bethesda; however, real world political discussions are not permitted.