SOPA

Today, I my blog is sort of closed. I think protesting SOPA and PIPA is important. Today the Wikipedia is offline as are other sites.

Some sites are starting to close for 24 hours in protest of SOPA. SOPA = The US House of Representatives bill H.R. 3261 Stop Online Piracy Act. While it has a worthy sounding name, the bill is about censorship and loss of due process for those censored. Since the USA controls the Internet this loss of freedom will affect the entire planet. Until now the US has used a non-partisan agency to run the Internet domain services. These bills are a big step toward politicizing control of the Internet.

From Google Trends

Not only is H.R. 3261 a problem, which some naively think is solved by the Obama administration’s saying they will veto it, also the US Senate’s bill S-968 Protect Intellectual Property Act (PIPA) is a problem. It does similar things in a different way. It is the Senate’s version of SOPA. Either can result in a loss of freedom.

When contacting the US Congress refer to HR 3261 for members of the House of Representatives and SB-968 for members of the US Senate. Or just reference both and don’t worry about being that ‘bill’ specific.

You can reach these representatives by email, phone, and paper snail mail. Snail mail is still considered the most effective. Email is likely tabulated by computer and not read. So the subject is most important part of an email sent to Congress. Phone calls are also very effective.

For Congress’ contact information see: Contacting Congress

 Help Out

If you have a web site or blog, visit http://sopastrike.com/ to learn how you can help.

 

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