Although the women of the United States are confined within the narrow circle of domestic life, and their situation is, in some respects, one of extreme dependence, I have nowhere seen woman occupying a loftier position; and if I were asked... in which I have spoken of so many important things done by Americans, to what the singular prosperity and growing strength of that people ought mainly to be attributed, I should reply, To the superiority of their women.

--Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

SOPA Vote- Internet Censorship Vote Today



PROTECT IP Act Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.

Call and/or email your congressman and tell them to vote against SOPA. This is a case of Hollywood and the Music industry (who have bought off enough lawmakers to have their copyrights protected in perpetuity) are mad their not making money like they used to. Instead of actually putting out a quality product, they think it would be fun to sue us into oblivion. The statists who run our government are totally cool with censorship, and this copyright infringement angle is the perfect cover for laying down a pretext to shut down unpopular speech.

They're voting on this today, ya'll. Here's more info via TechDirt:

It appears that more and more members of the House are realizing just how bad SOPA is. Joining Reps. Issa and Bachmann, who had previously spoken out about SOPA, a group of ten House members have signed a letter opposing SOPA. The letter was organized by Rep. Anna Eshoo, the leading Democrat on telco & tech -- but whose committee was not involved in the crafting of this bill for reasons that only make sense if the purpose of the bill was to regulate the internet without input from the industry being regulated. 
The letter makes the same points many of us have been raising about SOPA. It's way too broad, does not accurately attack the problem it's trying to address, and will create massive liability for the internet & technology -- one of the few sectors growing today, and which has contributed a tremendous amount to economic growth over the past decade. Basically it makes the simple point: stifling the growing tech industry, to appease a Hollywood that refuses to adapt, is no way to go about managing an economy. 
Among those who signed onto the letter are Ron Paul, showing that he continues to be internet savvy and recognizes that regulating the internet is a bad, bad idea. Others who signed on include Reps. Jared Polis, Mike Doyle (the man who introduced Girl Talk to Congress), Doris Matsui, Mike Thompson, Lloyd Doggett, Mike Honda, George Miller and Zoe Lofgren (who's been a vocal opponent to these attempts to stifle innovation from day one). We too often speak about politicians who aren't representing the best interests of the public, but it's great to see more and more elected officials recognize that SOPA is a gross overreach by a few big companies who don't want to adapt to a changing marketplace. Kudos to the Congressional Reps here for taking a stand and protecting jobs and innovation.

Gotta say, I've been impressed with Rep Issa's work lately. From this to Fast and Furious grilling, he seems to be a righteous dude.

3 comments:

  1. Thanks for the info on SOPA, rM. I agree with you on Issa. He looks to be a keeper.

    ReplyDelete
  2. It is very important that congress does not pass this law. It is the sarbanes oxley of internet technologies.

    If this passes, internet service provider costs will vastly increase due to compliance and enforcement measures.

    Besides, this legislation is ripe for abuse.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This legislation was written FOR abuse, imo.

    ReplyDelete

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