SOPA/PIPA : What is it, and why is it bad?
Posted under: It’s not a Sopapilla.
Today and today only, Wikipedia is blacked out in protest of SOPA/PIPA, the laws that will enable the throttling of the internet in the name of “protecting” businesses from pirating.
Many other sites are adding their voice to the outcry, and I’d like to add my $.02 to the bucket.
Stopping internet pirating is not a stupid goal, but the laws as stated will NOT accomplish the intended goal. It will, however, stifle rather a lot of what makes the internet free.
What IS it?
The most succinct and easy to understand explanation is also NSFW. The Oatmeal created the following graphic, which sums things up nicely.
For a more technical explanation, I found this blog on reddit to be a great resource.
What Can I Do?
Today only, you can go here > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page > and get immediate information on how to contact your representatives. CONTACT them. Even if all you do is send in an email telling them you oppose SOPA/PIPA, you’re telling them, DIRECTLY, where you want your voting dollars to go. Your voice DOES matter.
If you want to write a LONGER letter, here’s an example posted by Cliff Hillard from G+, which I think sums things up elegantly:
Good Morning,
I am writing to you today to request that you oppose SOPA, PIPA and any other legislation like them that should come up in the future. I believe that the passage of such bills would be detrimental to the expression of freedom and creativity in both the United States and the World.
Last year we saw dramatic evidence in the Middle east of the power of freedom and ideas. Stifling communication and freedom of expression has never ended well for the government that supports it. The Middle East will be free, the Wall did come down, and Soviet Russia did fall (bloodlessly at that, who would have guessed that in 1973?)
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. “
Nowhere in there does it say “In order to protect the Entertainment industry from losing money we must restrict the liberties and freedom of all peoples, guilty or innocent”.
Please consider the voice of this one constituent when you place your support, and vote against these restrictive and harmful pieces of legislation.
Thank you,
[your name here]
Politics
I typically steer clear of religious and political hot topics on my blog because I try not to push my views on anyone.
In this case, however, I feel compelled to say something because it’s MY internet, too. I feel like there’s a lot of misinformation out there in the mainstream media, hailing SOPA as the government’s attempt to crack down on pirating and saying that those who disagree with it must clearly support pirates.
In my experience, that’s just not true.
Educate yourself and do as you please, but DO educate yourself.
If you feel compelled to do something on this, NOW is the time, when big sites like Google (notice the blackout over the logo?) and Wikipedia are making sure that our voices are heard.
The White House has responded to the SOPA petition, basically asking us to “come up with something better”. That’s fine, but don’t push SOPA through while a better solution is found.
Very well said, and I love the GIF from The Oatmeal: It perfectly illustrates the chilling effect SOPA/PIPA will have on exactly what it purports to protect: intellectual property and creative expression.
The Oatmeal has a gift for making complex ideas obvious. Granted, they paint it with a broad brush, but that’s why links like the reddit ones are good to follow-up with.
You’ve been doing such a great job evangelizing the SOPA protest on G+, I figure a little blog post is the least I can do to help the fight.
(I feel like singing the Firefly theme song, with “you can’t take the internet from me”)
ok, I sent my house rep a web-form e-mail. (yay me!)
but I think we’ve all broken the u.s. senators websites, it just keeps redircting me fromt he ‘contact me’ page (which is broken) to the bland senate home page. HAHA.
Woot! And I hope they’ve been FLOODED. <3 Don't rile up the internet, we're like sleeping bees.
Not bees, mosquitoes. Millions and millions of mosquitoes.
One of us can be a minor nuisance, but in sufficient numbers…
Also, I did write and/or call all my reps and a few sponsoring companies. I even got an email back from one of them (Paul Ryan) that indicated he was pulling support for the bill as it’s currently written. Our voices mattered.
Dechion´s last post ..Millions of Mosquitoes
*high five*