Kill SOPA, bill goes to house December 15.

[YoshiEgg25]

228 am and reddit is still up... I wonder if they will follow through with the Black Out or are just waiting for mid morning. Hm

Reddit's blacking out at 8:00 AM EST.

Most sites, including mine, are going dark from 8am-8pm. That is the official strike time, but some are striking longer.

I took mine down at 4:00 EST this morning. I'm planning on putting it back up tomorrow or late tonight.

[J T]

The Oatmeal is blocked in a rad way.

http://theoatmeal.com/

[YoshiEgg25]

The Oatmeal is blocked in a rad way.

http://theoatmeal.com/

Saw that earlier, but still prefer Dinosaur Comics, A Softer World, and especially Nedroid. Oh my gosh Anthony Clark is winner.


Also, now the woman running against Bob Goodlatte (co-sponsor and writer of SOPA) is using this against him.

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201112 ... atte.shtml

[J T]

If you are not from this country, but don't like the idea of global websites being blocked, then go to this petition:

http://americancensorship.org/modal/sta ... index.html


pass it on to others too.

[YoshiEgg25]

Nice to see some artists getting in on being against SOPA. Peter Gabriel has blacked out his website in protest, and the Lonely Island, OK Go, and Trent Reznor (from Nine Inch Nails), among others, have come out against the bill.

http://petergabriel.com/

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/201201 ... ames.shtml

[Hatta]

So, how many of you have called your representatives today? I did.

[fastbilly1]

Here is a good quota that came from a retro game that describes this well:

As the Americans learned so painfully in Earth's final century, free flow of information is the only safeguard against tyranny. The once-chained people whose leaders at last lose their grip on information flow will soon burst with freedom and vitality, but the free nation gradually constricting its grip on public discourse has begun its rapid slide into despotism. Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart he dreams himself your master.

- Commissioner Pravin Lal, "U.N. Declaration of Rights"
- Accompanies the Secret Project "The Planetary Datalinks"

Alpha Centuari

[YoshiEgg25]

So, how many of you have called your representatives today? I did.

Called both of mine, as I'm a resident of two districts. As for my senators, one is a co-sponsor of PIPA and I'll be calling him soon, and the other is currently in a public meeting about it in Chicago.

[Pulsar_t]

Association fascists

[YoshiEgg25]

And of course, I read my e-mail AFTER calling him. Got one down.

Dear Mitchell,

Thank you for contacting me about the Stop Online Piracy Act, also known as SOPA (H.R. 3261). I am strongly opposed to SOPA.

On October 26, 2011, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-TX), Ranking Member John Conyers (D-MI), Intellectual Property Subcommittee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), and Representative Howard Berman (D-CA) introduced SOPA. This legislation would allow the Attorney General to seek court orders against foreign websites that steal and sell American innovations and products or that facilitate such intellectual property theft. It would require Internet service providers, search engines, payment network providers, and online advertising services to carry out certain measures to prevent users from accessing rogue sites if a court issues an injunction. It would also increase criminal penalties for individuals who sell counterfeit medications and military items, and would streamline coordination among intellectual property enforcement agencies in the U.S.

Last year, a similar bill was introduced in the U.S. Senate. On May 12, 2011, Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Orrin Hatch (R-UT) introduced the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011, or the PROTECT IP Act (S. 968). This bill was referred to the Senate Judiciary Committee, and on May 26, 2011, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved the legislation by voice vote. However, Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR) has vowed to filibuster the bill, which could prevent the bill from coming to a final vote by the Senate.

There have been concerns that this legislation could lead to the shutting down of legitimate websites without justification, resulting in government censorship of the Internet. Some also worry that, rather than lessen the threat of intellectual property theft online, these bills would have the unintended consequence of stifling innovation on the Internet—for these reasons, I am opposed to SOPA. On December 15 and 16, 2011, the House Judiciary Committee held mark-up sessions on the bill but did not complete consideration or vote on whether to report the legislation to the full House.

Again, thank you for contacting me about this vital issue. Your input is important to my work here in Washington.

Sincerely,
/M/
Donald A. Manzullo
Member of Congress