STOP SOPA DEAD IN IT’S TRACKS

John January 16, 2012 0

Corporate supporters of HR3261 (SOPA) and S968 (PIPA) want the ability to take down any web site that affects their profits — without due process or judicial oversight — in the name of combating “online piracy.” Hoping you won’t notice or care, your Public Servants are preparing to give them that right.

For example, Monster Cable (remember “Monster Park“?) considers craigslist a “rogue site” for future takedown under PIPA - apparently 2nd hand sales of cables by CL users are hurting Monster’s sales of new cables. (reddit).

SOPA/PIPA authors and supporters of course insist they’re only after foreign piracy sites, but Internet Engineers understand this is an attempt to impose China-style controls on the Internet, complete with DNS hijacking and censoring search results. Except in the US, instead of to the Communist Party, that control will go to the highest bidder.

Tell Congress you OPPOSE H.R. 3261 “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) and S. 968 “Protect IP Act” (PIPA):

Reverse Robocall ALL pro-SOPA MOC + Key Lobbyists (Genius! More info on Ars Technica)
Phone your Member of Congress the old fashioned way (House) (Senate)
Contact Senators who are refusing to meet with constituents about SOPA/PIPA.
EFF Congressional Emailer – Oppose Internet Blacklisting (SOPA & PIPA)
ECA Congressional Emailer - Don’t Censor Our Internet!
OpenCongress Congressional Emailer – Oppose SOPA
Generic Congressional Emailer (You’ll need your Zip+4)
Outside the US? Sign Petition Opposing US Censorship of Global Sites (EFF)

Supporters of SOPA: RIAA, MPAA, News Corp, TimeWarner, Walmart, Nike, Tiffany, Chanel, Rolex, Sony, Juicy Couture, Ralph Lauren, VISA, Mastercard, Comcast, ABC, Dow Chemical, Monster Cable, Teamsters, Rupert Murdoch, Lamar Smith (R-TX), John Conyers (D-MI)

Opponents of SOPA: Google, Yahoo, Wikipedia, craigslist, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, eBay, AOL, Mozilla, Reddit, Tumblr, Etsy, Zynga, EFF, ACLU, Human Rights Watch, Darrell Issa (R-CA), Ron Wyden (D-OR), Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), Ron Paul (R-TX)

Where does your Member of Congress stand on SOPA? (Project SOPA Opera)

SOPA and PIPA Are Too Dangerous To Revise, They Must Be Killed Entirely

Congress needs to hear from you, or these dangerous bills will pass - they have tremendous lobbying dollars behind them, from corporations experts say are attempting to prop up outdated, anti-consumer business models at the expense of the very fabric of the Internet — recklessly unleashing a tsunami of take-down notices and litigation, and a Pandora’s jar of “chilling effects” and other unintended (or perhaps intended?) consequences.

There is still time to be heard. Congress is starting to backpedal on this job-killing, anti-American nonsense, and the Obama administration has weighed in against these bills as drafted, but SOPA/PIPA cannot be fixed or revised — they must be killed altogether.

Sen Darrell Issa (R-CA) and Rep Ron Wyden (D-OR) are championing an alternative to SOPA/PIPA called Online Protection and Enforcement of Digital Trade Act (OPEN)that focuses on cutting off payments to foreign sites dedicated to piracy, and refrains from disrupting basic Internet protocols, or threatening mainstream US sites like craigslist.

Tim O’Reilly, a publisher who is himself subject to piracy, asks whether piracy is even a problem, and whether there is even a legitimate need for any of these bills.

Learn more about SOPA, Protect IP (PIPA), and Internet Blacklisting: