Stop sopa/pipa

**Shapka** · 01-18-2012, 05:33 PM

Free the Tubes | American-Rattlesnake

Free the Tubes

January 18, 2012
By G. Perry

Most of you are probably aware of the attempt by members of Congress, buttressed by millions of dollars in Hollywood lobbying, to retard what has been the greatest source of economic and creative innovation in this country in the past two decades. The misleadingly named Stop Online Privacy Act (SOPA), and its cousin, the Protect IP Act, are ostensibly intended to protect intellectual property from infringement by foreign websites who pirate copyrighted material.

However, much like the domain seizures that ICE has preoccupied itself with now that it’s no longer enforcing American immigration laws, the actual rationale for these bills-and their potentially devastating impact on the Internet as we know it-has been obscured by a skein of misrepresentations by the likes of Chris Dodd and Lamar Smith.

For a brief overview of what’s actually at stake in this debate, I recommend you watch a brief but edifying video produced by Engine Advocacy, which explains why legislation like SOPA and PIPA would destroy the economic engine that is the World Wide Web. In order to find out what drives the man behind the effort to enchain the Internet, check out a post by Chris Quinn of the San Antonio Express-News, who’s helpfully provided us with some links that explain how ex-Senator Chris Dodd continues to screw American taxpayers even after leaving Capitol Hill.

Finally, and most importantly, here is a page provided by Wikipedia, which like many important websites has decided to black itself out in order to draw attention to this issue. You should use it to contact your member of Congress and urge him or her to reject this unconstitutional assault upon what has been one of the greatest breakthroughs in human communication and creativity since the invention of the printing press.

Notwithstanding recent defeats, the supporters of SOPA/PIPA have not given given up, which is why you need to fight back while you still have the chance. Having a few websites blacked out for one day is preferable to having the Internet blacked out in perpetuity. Take action now, before it’s too late.

SOURCE: http://american-rattlesnake.org/2012/01/free-the-tubes/

**AmericanEagle** · 01-18-2012, 07:58 PM

I took action.

**stevetheroofer** · 01-18-2012, 09:22 PM

Yeah! me too!
http://www.alipac.us/f9/congressiona...atives-248063/

**stevetheroofer** · 01-18-2012, 09:26 PM

United States Senate Twitter, Facebook, and Email

**airdale** · 01-18-2012, 09:33 PM

Once again!!! Thanks to You roofer!!!!

**stevetheroofer** · 01-18-2012, 09:37 PM

Originally Posted by airdale

Once again!!! Thanks to You roofer!!!!

My pleasure fellow American!

**Shapka** · 01-18-2012, 11:28 PM

Great work, Steve!

**stevetheroofer** · 01-18-2012, 11:35 PM

Originally Posted by Shapka

Great work, Steve!

Thanks Shapka, I have to update the Senate pg. to match the House pg. but this will work for what we need!

**Shapka** · 01-19-2012, 01:55 PM

TheOatmeal.com blacked out in protest of SOPA / PIPA - The Oatmeal

working4change · 01-19-2012, 04:34 PM

SOPA Foes Protest Outside Chuck Schumer's and Kirsten Gillibrand's Offices
January 18, 2012 5:13pm | By Tom Liddy, DNAinfo News Editor

By Trevor Kapp

DNAinfo Reporter/Producer

MIDTOWN — Hundreds of tech-savvy New Yorkers gathered outside the offices of Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand Wednesday afternoon to protest two controversial proposed online piracy laws, which they called "an unprecedented attack on the future" of the open web.

The SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), which were drafted by the House and Senate, respectively, have sparked a firestorm of controversy since they were introduced last year.

The bills, pushed by the entertainment industry, would crack down on websites that offer pirated material such as movies and music. They also could allow the government to bar advertisers from those sites, require Internet service providers to block the sites or order search engines to stop listed the sites, according to the Washington Post.

"We believe that these bills are overreaching," said Andrew Rasiej, the founder and publisher of PersonalDemocracy.com, a website designed to promote dialogue between politicians and the technology world.

"These bills will alter the basic structure of the internet and send a message to rogue totalitarian regimes around the world that it's okay to censor the internet without due process."

The proposed legislation has received widespread support from many in the film industry as well as from the Chamber of Commerce.

But protesters on Third Avenue and 51st Street — carrying signs that read "No SOPA for you," "Save the Internet" and "It's no longer OK to NOT know how the Internet works" — said that while they oppose piracy, these acts are an abridgment of First Amendment rights because of its restriction on information.

"It's free speech," said Ivona Huszcza, 38, of Kew Gardens, Queens. "We make fun of China for censoring free speech, but it's hypocritical."

Huszcza, who held up a sign reading: "First, the newspapers started disappearing. Now, they're going after the internet. Next, will they arrest me for making this sign," said she was particularly displeased with Schumer and Gillibrand's support of the acts.

"If we were a true democracy, they'd come downstairs," she said. "But they don't acknowledge this."

Alexis Ohanian, a co-founder of Reddit.com, said SOPA and PIPA could further the destruction of the economy.

"We are here because we are fighting against the wholesale destruction of one of the healthiest parts of America's economy," he said. "When there are more simple things like unemployment, like the deficit that Congress cannot agree on, why is it when a lobbyist comes into town with $94 million, Democrats and Republicans say, 'I'll co-sponsor that.'"

On Wednesday morning, Wikipedia shut down its site in protest of the acts.

Ohanian said politicians are caving to lobbyists' requests simply because they have money.

"This has become an issue that is a lot bigger than just saving the Internet now," he said. "This is a fight to show our elected officials are beholden to the electorate, not to lobbyists."

Read more: SOPA Foes Protest Outside Chuck Schumer's and Kirsten Gillibrand's Offices - DNAinfo.com

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