SOPA/PIPA ctd...

[not_fun]

aaaaaand the sites are back.

really, SOPA disgusts me. it's like using a hammer to remove a brain tumor. yes, piracy is a problem, but allowing such a blunt and powerful instrument to 'solve' it won't help. piracy will soldier on. my prediction is that if torrenting websites are destroyed, filesharing programs will make a resurgance. piracy will persist no matter what you do, and destroying half of the internet on whim isn't a solution.

look, horrible fanfics and mash-up videos are horrible. no question. so are horrible fancomics and fanart. but that's part of the internet. that's what the internet IS. that's like new york city without the filth of the subway, tokyo without the rush-hour train cram, louisiana without bayous, the wild west without injuns. half of what makes a place is the things you learn to sidestep, survive, accept and joke about.

i wouldn't WANT terrible fanfiction about harry potter to be a thing of the past. i wouldn't WANT loud profane 'reviews' of games and tv to vanish. where am i going to get my belly laughs then? certainly not the movies with the crap they've been spilling out. i LIKE my internet as a wretched hive of scum and villiany. it's a place where in spite of the pulp and piracy, everyone is free to say what they truly think about stuff. if they truly think spock and kirk are totally boning, that's okay. nobody can stop them. if they truly think twilight is the best thing in the whole wide world, they're utterly out of their minds, but that's okay. they're allowed to be. and i want it to stay that way.

if you're an american you can ask the president to Veto SOPA/PIPA - and i urge you to do so.

if that's not your speed - or you're not an american - you can sign Google's anti-SOPA/PIPA petition

the day of protest didn't destroy SOPA/PIPA, it only raised awareness. now people need to actually get up off their butts and take some action.

for some reason this is hard for a few people to grok, but look. we live in a democracy in this country. that means our government is SUPPOSED to be for the people, of the people, and by the people. if our lawmakers aren't making decisions that are in THE INTERESTS OF THE PEOPLE then they can be REMOVED from power. and they tend to not want to be removed from power. if you call and tell them 'i'm not voting for you next time unless you oppose SOPA' they actually notice. they do. none of this 'one person never makes a difference' bullshit, because you're NOT one person. you're one of (according to google) 4.5 MILLION americans who oppose SOPA/PIPA.

your representitives do not, contrary to popular belief, have a list of names of who voted for them last election sitting on their desk to cross-reference against calls. they don't know if you didn't vote for them last time, and they don't care. they care if you'll vote for them NEXT time. and if your vote hinges on their response to PIPA/SOPA (or so they believe) then they'll change their stance.

this is how democracy works, by the way. if you don't PARTICIPATE, it's not a DEMOCRACY.

so do something about it.

Comments

[sideburnpower]

I SENT THEM LETTERS PRINTED ON RESUME-QUALITY PAPER VOICING MY EXTREME DISPLEASURE (AND MY INCLINATION TO BE AN AVID VOTER) AND THEN EMAILED THEM THE SELFSAME LETTERS SO THEY GET THEM TWICE.

I SIGNED GOOGLE'S PETITION.

I SENT OBAMA AN EMAIL DIRECTLY (You can do so here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact/submit-questions-and-comments)

I MADE A POST ABOUT HOW TO WRITE A LETTER TO YOUR CONGRESSCRITTERS.

WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT OF ME.

[not_fun]

IM NOT TALKING TO YOU SPECIFICALLY JEEZ YOURE LIKE A POSTER BOY FOR POLITCAL INVOLVEMENT

I am stealing the word congresscritter from someone. I just wish I knew who.

[sideburnpower]

I'M A GRAD STUDENT IN ENGLISH.

MY ENTIRE LIFE REVOLVES AROUND WRITING THINGS TO CONVINCE PEOPLE I AM RIGHT.

WRITING LETTERS TO CONGRESSCRITTERS FALLS INTO MY JURISDICTION.

GOOD NEWS??

[sideburnpower]

I received a reply email from one of my senators, Mark Kirk, telling me of his agreement with my position.

RELEVANT QUOTES:

I stand with those who stand for freedom in opposing PIPA in its current form. Freedom of speech is an inalienable right granted to each and every American, and the Internet has become the primary tool with which we utilize this right. The Internet empowers Americans to learn, create, innovate, and express their views. While we should protect American intellectual property, consumer safety and human rights, we should do so in a manner that specifically targets criminal activity. The extreme measures taken in PIPA not only stifle First Amendment rights but also hamper innovation on the Internet.

S. 968, as currently written, allows for abuse of our Constitutional rights, giving the Attorney General sweeping powers to block domain names of websites they deem "dedicated to infringing activities". Under current law, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act requires service providers to block access to only infringing material, but S. 968 would block access to entire websites that may carry a page containing infringing material generated by a third-party user. In my view, this is an unacceptable violation of our First Amendment rights. I also worry this type of censorship will be used as a model for foreign repressive regimes to censor the web within their own countries.

S. 968 also places too great a burden on small Internet startups, as the bill would provide a private right of action to copyright owners. Since the bill would force the takedown of an entire site, not just the specific infringing page, it would hold user-generated websites liable for any content posted. This fear of liability and resulting uncertainty will cripple innovation on the Internet, one of our greatest economic engines.

I am also concerned about the bill's provisions that would undermine the security of the entire Internet. Network engineers and cybersecurity experts warn the technical implementation of the Domain Name System blocking requirement cannot function with the new security protocols, also known as DNSSEC, currently being implemented across the worldwide web.

While I support the underlying goals of the bill to crack down on online intellectual property theft, I believe PIPA in its current form is unacceptable. It will have widespread unintended consequences that will stifle freedom of speech and Internet innovation across the globe. This bill places far too much regulation on the Internet and will impact more than just those foreign "rogue" websites for which it is intended. I cannot support a bill that recklessly tampers with the Internet and our inalienable rights as citizens of a free nation.

Look at that. A Senator who knows how the internet works.

Re: GOOD NEWS??

[not_fun]

ooo you have a good senator.
i fully expect not to recieve any reply to mine for the next two months, upon which i'll finally just get a form letter. that seems to be how it always goes.

Re: GOOD NEWS??

[sideburnpower]

Mine was a form letter, but it was at least tailored to the correct issue.

And it helped that, evidently, he'd done his homework ahead of time, unlike other senators.

I'M LOOKING AT YOU, DURBIN.