Arrrr, mateys. Piracy is bad, but censorship is worse.SOPA and PIPA are proposed bills that are meant to help fight online piracy. That sounds good, right? It is. Except, this is the US government we're talking about. Our government is the master of taking something good and fracking it all up.
If either is passed, the US government will have the power to--without trial or legal recourse--block any website it feels infringes in any way on a copyright. And we're not just talking about one individual site--we're talking the host as well.
For example, the title of my last post was "Crow: The other white meat." Anyone who has seen TV in the past 20 years knows that that was a play on the slogan for pork ("Pork: The other white meat"). If the people on the Pork Council [I dare you to say Pork Council out loud without giggling] decided that my title was somehow harmful to them or taking away their income, they could file a complaint.
The government would then have the power to not only block this blog, but ALL OF BLOGSPOT. All because my title is sorta kinda like the pork slogan.
And legally there is little that could be done if that happened.
Here's a video by some of your favorite internet people about what the bills mean and how they could--and WILL-- affect you.
And HERE'S a post from my internet boyfriend, Wil Wheaton, about it. I like his take on it because he is one of the people this bill is meant to protect.
Oh, and check out The Oatmeal, too. Just for the giggles.
This isn't some internet panic over something not likely to happen. These are real bills with millions of dollars in backing from the movie and music industries. They will be voted on in six days.
The internet is where I live. It's where my friends live. I will pretty much cease to exist if blogs and Facebook go away.
Contact your congressmen. Tell them to vote NO on SOPA/PIPA.
Do it for the internet. Do it for me. Do it for the kittens.
6 comments:
I told Rob that Wikipedia and Reddit among others went dark today in opposition to the bill. Mozilla literally made the page dark, but you can still use it. He's not into a lot of protest and whatnot, but even he said good and then launched into a speech that I ignored. It's ridiculous. You can't say you want small government and then look to control the entire internet. I mean, all of politics is a bit hypocritical, but I can't stand how states should have more power and the federal government should only be in place for the military and then bills like this and others come out.
OK, off my soapbox. Going back to my job working with the conservatives. I like to think I'm a spy within their ranks. :)
That said, I also believe contacting your congressman does nothing. I know the people who answer those phone calls. You actually have better luck getting heard if there's mass mailings. Phone calls don't get logged and often are just handled by the receptionists (which was Rob and his brother for 6 years - they'd take turns who got to be a "supervisor").
The link I have for contacting is for sending e-mails. Is that any better than a call?
Thanks for explaining it better. (I did think of the Mexican dish yesterday when I first heard about this.) Blogging and the internet is my "life" too. Seriously! I hope these bills don't pass. I applaud your right to borrow bits and pieces. That's how everything is created I've heard. No new matter is produced or destroyed--ya know.
so i wrote to my congressman and he responded that he is a co sponsor of the bill and how good it will be for US industry.
of course that just made me feel like puking, because we all know government control is good for US industry (sarcasm)
so, what should I write back to him?
There are so many issues out there that are truly important. Yet, this is something they want to pass so the millionaires in Hollywood can rake in even more dough... as usual, it's about money, money, money... as a newly minted US citizen, this is my first protest!!!
I don't know about all the sponsors, but I was very happy to learn that Marco Rubio, one of the co-sponsors, has now withdrawn his support. Yesterday, when everyone was protesting, wasn't the only day to let people know. Keep talking.
Sylwia - I think you should tell him his kids/grandkids would hate him for shutting down facebook. haha
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