SOPA
I got a pair of emails yesterday about SOPA; a new internet “piracy” bill working its way through the House Judiciary Committee.
Just this week, gangs of dozing, white-haired men desperately tried to stay awake during testimony by the RIAA and the MPAA, who are really only interested in protecting you. And by you, I mean not you at all.
Obviously, these elder statesmen are the people we want making decisions about the way we use the internet and share information. After all, if anyone knows modern technology, it’s an 80 year old with a top loading Betamax.
Here’s the first email:
I wonder if you’d consider coming out against SOPA?
This act would give all the aggrieved, erm, “brilliant artists” a way to take action against your site and others that comment on work for sale, based solely on frivolous claims of copyright infringement, without any pesky need to prove actual harm, or indeed an actual copyright (I’m looking at you, Ms. Stallone). Just one unsubstantiated complaint will be enough to shut down a site, and there is no recourse, even if you’re falsely accused.
Anyway, your armies of fat jealous losers would probably have some impact if you mobilized them. I hope you’ll consider it.
It’s upsetting for a few reasons, one of which, obviously, is that it would impact this site. And maybe you like that idea, because you are one of my legion of anti-fans, who religiously reads every word I write because you want me to disappear. Which, by the way, is a great strategy.
But I’m not the only one out there who offers an opinion on creative work being sold to the public.
Think about all the sites and blogs you read that critique or discuss the media in any form. Filmdrunk, Gawker, Huffington Post, sports blogs, comic book blogs, it goes on and on. All those outlets will be endangered by SOPA.
And the commentary doesn’t even have to be negative to put you in jeopardy; it just has to be done without the express written permission of the copyright holder. Which means any opinion on anything created by someone else would have to be the officially sanctioned opinion. And if there’s one thing this site has taught us, it’s that people do not support your right to speak freely about their work unless you’re being nice.
And then I got this email:
I produce the Buzz Report for CNET and we did a story this week about SOPA – Which, if you don’t know, is a bill in congress that would radically restrict free speech on the internet, and make it very easy for sites to be taken down if they are merely ACCUSED of copyright infringement, without any due process or even proof of said infringement. Like any old nutjob who THINKS who have used a copyrighted image could shut you down. God only knows how this would affect Fair Use.
Anyway, I used a screen shot of the butt reading saga on Regretsy to illustrate the concept. Here’s this week’s show:
Well, at this point, our job is clear.
If Regretsy is CNET’s poster child for the right to tell gasbags like Jacqueline Stallone to pound sand, then I say we all get off our rumps so she can read them.
Call your congressman on his Jitterbug right now, or go to this website and make your voice heard. Seriously, do it right now.
I’ll wait.
Won’t your representative be surprised when he opens AOL on his land line and sees all of your electronic mail!
November 18, 2011 at 12:48 pm
I’m from the UK. But I’ll lend my voice if you’re telling me to.
November 18, 2011 at 1:05 pm
The voice of Sam Cornwell is an asset in any argument.
November 19, 2011 at 2:01 am
even i think so & i hate everything. just about anyway.
–
done & done. signed it, sent it on.
there must be some grand reward for not only being but appearing on television as the Grand Nemesis of Sylvester Stallone’s Mother & Her Psychic Psychometric Rumps. i just wish i could figure out what it is. perhaps it is a reward in itself. even still & just like everything else, it would go better w/ chocolate & laudanum.
tired, here.
November 19, 2011 at 2:03 am
ps. hello kitty cocaine:
http://www.kittyhell.com/2008/04/17/hello-kitty-cocaine/
November 19, 2011 at 6:46 am
“Psychometric Rumps” – coffee up nose, now. thanks! That was perfect.
November 18, 2011 at 1:28 pm
agreed… I’m in Canada, but clicked away to petition this.
It’s funny how it’s supposedly so important to pass a bill to close down sites of public opinion, and yet there’s no bill to punish the half-assery of poor, misguided pseudo-artists.
November 18, 2011 at 1:56 pm
There’s a button that says “I’m not in the US.” I don’t know what it does, but it implies that you can still send a letter even if you’re not here.
November 18, 2011 at 3:22 pm
Yes, I clicked it and was assigned 20000 as my ZIP code.
November 18, 2011 at 3:31 pm
I get all wobbly in the knees when someone uses ZIP code correctly. It’s an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan Code. I don’t care that you didn’t capitalize “code,” you capped ZIP and you’re Sam Cornwell and I have to go lie down for a moment. I feel faint. Thank you. (Yes, I am a grammar geek. Why do you ask?)
November 18, 2011 at 7:05 pm
Learned something new today thanks Mugsy!
November 19, 2011 at 1:26 am
I’m wondering how excited you’re going to get when I tell you I have memorized my full ZIP code™ + 4 and always, always use the +4!
November 22, 2011 at 2:26 pm
@Cygnet, glad to share the trivia!
@MsChilePepper, I’m feeling woozy! And you used TM as a superscript (which I can’t seem to achieve). I need my smelling salts!
November 20, 2011 at 8:58 pm
The only thing Aaron Spelling taught me was always use 90210
November 18, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Wait, how does that work with other countries? If a swedish, or Canadian, or whatever has a site like that, how does that effect them? I’m confused about how this would work. How do you police the internet?
November 18, 2011 at 12:51 pm
What are you talking about? Only the USA has the internet. And Canada is part of Minnesota, so that’s okay.
November 18, 2011 at 1:03 pm
I thought Canada was just the USA’s hat.
November 18, 2011 at 1:11 pm
Wrong again, the US is Canada’s pants.
November 18, 2011 at 1:24 pm
WOOHOO I’m in Canada’s pants!
November 18, 2011 at 1:27 pm
Then how do you explain Mexico?
November 18, 2011 at 1:27 pm
We’re the party in the pants.
And you’re invited.
November 18, 2011 at 1:32 pm
I can only hope we are fabulous, glittery gold lame disco pants too. Pants so ugly it hurts just to know they exist even when your not looking at them.
November 18, 2011 at 1:50 pm
I always knew Canada was a whore… with all of us in her pants!
November 18, 2011 at 5:14 pm
Actually the US is Canada’s Prison Bitch.
Think about it, we’re bigger and on top.
November 18, 2011 at 5:22 pm
The U.S. is in Canada’s pants? THAT explains it. When Obama was elected and pundits said it indicated “a significant shift to the left,” now I understand that they meant that America was now dressing to the left—and it was a pretty big thing to move over?
November 18, 2011 at 6:34 pm
If the U.S. is Canada’s pants…then Florida’s obviously the weenus. Texas would be the asshole, Louisiana is the taint…
So…Alabama and Mississippi are the balls.
.
Crap. I live in Biloxi. We’re nuts.
November 18, 2011 at 3:04 pm
I’m ok with being Canada’s pants, as long as they aren’t Hammer pants.
November 18, 2011 at 3:32 pm
Can’t touch that!
November 18, 2011 at 4:43 pm
Skants.
November 18, 2011 at 1:34 pm
Yes, Canada does use steam-driven cups on a string. But when we get them all fired up, it gets so darned smoky our politicians can’t see what the hell we’re looking at. So it’s all good…
November 18, 2011 at 12:53 pm
The bill requires US-based search engines and ISPs to block access to international sites as well. That’s why there’s a huge international push against SOPA.
November 18, 2011 at 9:26 pm
When China does this, it’s one of the many evils of Communism. (People are dying of it!) When the US government does it, it’s… uh… protecting capitalism from… uh… market forces? Yeah.
(What do you mean, “buy a dictionary”?)
November 18, 2011 at 9:31 pm
Oh HELL no. Who authored this nonsense, my scary aunt who thinks WOW is from Satan and forums are nonstop cybering orgies?
November 21, 2011 at 1:20 am
Oh shit, they aren’t? *pulls pants back up*
November 18, 2011 at 3:20 pm
If it doesn’t affect sites coming from other countries directly, it could very easily provide a blueprint for similar laws in other countries.
SOPA and Protect IP Act literally scare me.
November 18, 2011 at 4:18 pm
And I thought “pizza is a vegetable” was bad.
November 18, 2011 at 4:23 pm
Are you old enough to remember when ketchup was considered a vegetable? Seriously. I’m not making up this shit.
November 18, 2011 at 4:31 pm
Oh yes, I remember. That was the first thing my husband and I said. “Pizza sauce is the new ketchup.”
November 18, 2011 at 4:46 pm
When will chocolate be considered a protein?
November 18, 2011 at 6:30 pm
LeeLoo, chocolate is a complete balanced meal.
It comes from cocoa beans, sweetened with sugar that’s often from sugar beets. So it’s a vegetable. If it’s milk chocolate, that’s dairy. Add crisp rice or a cookie to the middle, and that’s grain. And if it’s a chocolate egg or rabbit, well, that makes it protein!
November 18, 2011 at 6:41 pm
I like the way you think, chefann.
November 18, 2011 at 7:06 pm
Last I knew ketchup was still counted as a vegetable for school lunch programs in the US.
November 19, 2011 at 11:02 am
At least mom will be pleased to know that after forty-mumble mumble years I’m now eating my vegetables.
November 20, 2011 at 3:34 am
I’m surprised none of you fat jealous losers have mentioned the “tomatoes are fruits” thing yet. Shame!
November 22, 2011 at 2:29 pm
Oh, no, Girlcrimson, we are SO not going there!
*slides head left and right, looks Girlcrimson up and down, turns away and snorts*
November 21, 2011 at 8:51 am
Washington dc “pizza is a vegetable”
Pizza “every elected official is a vegetable”
November 21, 2011 at 6:01 pm
No, it isn’t Pizza. Remember when Reagan said Ketchup was a vegetable? that’s what they believe. From a man who had Alzheimer’s while in office. It’s almost laughable.
November 18, 2011 at 6:19 pm
ACTUALLY. And I forget where I read it, so
but it affects Canada because the SOPA bill requires all DNSsomethingerother based someplace that counts as “USA” to comply with shutting down sites/address forwarding. GUESS WHERE THE NORTH AMERICAN DNS THINGY IS.
That’s right: the international organization that serves Canada and many Caribbean countries (INCLUDING THEIR GOVERNMENTAL SHIT) has their primary offices in the USA. Therefore, they would be legally required to comply with demands to block certain IPs, despite them resolving to sites that otherwise have nothing to do with the USA. (like, say, if someone got into a tizzy about a photo of a cat on the .ca website for the City Commission for Improving the Welfare of Cats by Giving More Pettings and Maybe 10 More Minutes with the Dangly Bell/Feather Thing in Tiny Town, Nunavit, or whatever)
November 18, 2011 at 12:51 pm
done.
November 18, 2011 at 12:51 pm
I want to have your babies for the Jitterbug joke alone!
November 18, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Lame.
Free speech 4 lyf.
November 18, 2011 at 12:56 pm
That needs to be in the signature of our letters FS4L!!
November 18, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Seriously. And these jokers are claiming to be protecting the Constitution? (At least when they’re campaigning.)
November 18, 2011 at 9:28 pm
I think you’ve hit on the problem right there. Not many corporations donate campaign funds to the Constitution, so it doesn’t get much media attention come election time.
November 18, 2011 at 12:55 pm
Obviously, these elder statesmen are the people we want making decisions about the way we use the internet and share information. After all, if anyone knows modern technology, it’s an 80 year old with a top loading Betamax.
Preach it, sister Helen!!! I’m off to write my old fart, conservative fuck of a congressman & I just hope his dial up is working & he has enough minutes left on his AOL account to check his mail. Bloody effing Kentucky, where u can’t buy wine in the grocery store but there is a meth lab-and a church-on every corner. Howdy y’all!
November 18, 2011 at 1:14 pm
I know Kentucky; my dad’s from Cumberland. Yup, meth labs and churches on every corner. Meth is the working man’s drug these days as it gives you the boost to work your three jobs with no health care! (I’m not kidding…)
November 18, 2011 at 2:46 pm
Ha! Yeah, I know you are not kidding…Meth Heads 4 Lyfe!!!
November 18, 2011 at 4:31 pm
He’s testifying on your behalf in front of congress right now!
November 20, 2011 at 3:39 am
Not funny and oh so true Vagrarian! We are due for a social up heaval soon.
November 18, 2011 at 4:24 pm
Yeah, I’m in SC. Last time I wrote my Congressman, he wrote me back, thanking me for writing him and pledging to do exactly the opposite of what I had asked. *SIGH!*
November 18, 2011 at 6:21 pm
As a fellow South Carolinian, I extend my deepest sympathies for anyone stuck here. On a related note, did you know that over 70 of the 100 worst schools in America are located in our great state?
November 19, 2011 at 3:21 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 18, 2011 at 5:17 pm
We should do lunch.
And at least Etown will have beer on the corner gas station by Dec 6.
November 19, 2011 at 7:08 am
Recently moved to Louisiana from Seattle, and I can tell you it’s the same here: meth labs & churches on every corner. And the average Joe I meet around here would agree that rump-reading is nuts, but still think SOPA’s a good idea. Really.
November 18, 2011 at 12:57 pm
I’ve been fighting against this for a while; it’s terrible! There have been lots of bad Internet bills lately – SOPA, PROTECT IP, E-PARASITE…they’re really pushing to restrict the freedom of speech and access to information available online.
November 18, 2011 at 1:06 pm
They’re trying to “fix” the Internet like you’d fix a randy tomcat…
Okay, I’m going to stop there, because I’m likely to rant on this for pages and pages, otherwise…
November 18, 2011 at 12:57 pm
ANy fat jealous losers who don’t already have their representative bookmarked, here’s a way to locate and directly email them, cuase you know they want to accurately represent you. You KNOW they do.
https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml
November 18, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Yes, writing your Congressidiot directly is far more effective than just sending canned language. Which is why you should take the trouble to look up your Congressidiot and send them an email. Or, better yet, write it on paper and send it in that way — congressional offices still seem to believe that one paper letter expressing an opinion is worth a few thousand emails, being such technological wizards.
November 18, 2011 at 4:05 pm
Thanks for that–it will be very useful, to counteract the biased reporting of a potential bill, illustrating only those points that support the reporting agency’s viewpoint.
November 19, 2011 at 11:03 am
Unfortunately my rep is Jesse Helms in drag. SIGH.
November 18, 2011 at 4:27 pm
Yes, in fact here’s a live streaming view of Congress gathering right at this moment:
November 18, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Government = Goatse? This explains so much.
November 19, 2011 at 11:04 am
Incredible!! Now if we could get all the people to dress in blue!
November 20, 2011 at 7:06 am
You and Mugs crack me up!!
November 18, 2011 at 5:00 pm
Throwing my hat in the Thanks For That ring. My rep is an asshat–he tried to rip my husband off last year when the hubs towed his car–so I don’t really want him repping me at all. But if he has to be the one, he can at least be accurate about it, dammit! I did the form letter thing yesterday, but wrote a personal one just now.
C’mon, you FJL. You know you wanna DO EEET.
November 18, 2011 at 12:58 pm
Yet another way to show us that money is free speech and corporations are people. If you are a corporation and you don’t like what someone (an actual person) is saying, make them stop it with your ‘free speech.’
November 18, 2011 at 12:58 pm
What the sweet ever loving fuck is this shit? Even the Conservatives up here in Canada aren’t this stupid, and they’re pretty fuckin’ stupid. If I had a congressperson to write, you bet your ass their AOL account would be getting a tonne of email.
November 18, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Aw, man, you’re making me want to move to Canada again…
November 18, 2011 at 1:54 pm
I’m thinking Finland myself.
November 18, 2011 at 4:22 pm
You should move here. We even have plastic, see-through money. http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-20072893-1/canada-launches-anti-fraud-plastic-banknotes/
November 18, 2011 at 1:55 pm
There’s an international activist site that has a petition against this, http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/?fp . It has almost 750,000 signatures. They will be delivering in to key members of the US Congress, for what that’s worth. Anyway, if you don’t have a Congressman…
November 18, 2011 at 3:48 pm
You don’t have to be international not to have a Congresscritter. I live in the District of “Taxation without Representation” Columbia, but I will sign a petition anyway.
November 18, 2011 at 8:03 pm
Yes, I wrote our wonderful non-voting representative Eleanor Holmes Norton. Not that it will do any good.
November 19, 2011 at 2:01 pm
It frustrates the bejeezus out of me. If we’re nothing but a colony, we should at least be tax exempt. But frankly, I’d rather have someone in Congress to scream at.
November 22, 2011 at 2:33 pm
Can anyone explain how Marion Barry was re-elected after his coke-fueled debacle? Was he the best candidate on the ballot? We in other states just shake our heads in amazement. And a little bit of jealousy as well. If nothing else, the guy is honest about being a criminal.
November 18, 2011 at 4:00 pm
OMG! I say “sweet ever loving fuck” ALL the time! You automatically win at life. I don’t know what the prize is, but you win it.
November 18, 2011 at 12:59 pm
I wonder how this is going to affect us Canadians? We have a pretty lax privacy policy when it comes to “online” information. Maybe you will just have to move to Canada if SOPA goes through…or Finland perhaps?!
November 18, 2011 at 1:01 pm
Apparently I was not the first one to think of this…But I do love all of the Canadians coming out to talk shit about American politics!
November 18, 2011 at 3:29 pm
It’s thanks to all the snow, we sure know shit when we see it.
November 18, 2011 at 1:01 pm
I’ll go just for the free health care!
November 18, 2011 at 1:49 pm
This one is for us:
http://openmedia.ca/StopSpying
“The government is trying to push through a set of electronic surveillance laws that will invade your privacy and cost you money. The plan is to force every phone and Internet provider to allow “authorities” to collect the private information of any Canadian, at any time, without a warrant.”
This is equally as fucked up. Canadian Conservatives are just stupid in a different way.
November 18, 2011 at 11:09 pm
I like to think that, deep down inside, we’re ALL stupid in a different way.
November 18, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Moving to Finland if this horseshit gets passed. Who’s with me?
November 18, 2011 at 1:29 pm
thinking about it, fer damn sure.
November 18, 2011 at 1:51 pm
My fiance is an Australian citizen. This shit goes through? I’ve got options, y’all.
November 18, 2011 at 2:09 pm
Don’t get too cocky, BBB, they’re trying to do it here too. Our parliament situation is complicated here atm, and the only reason it was dropped it (and it would have sailed through parliament otherwise, as both major parties support it) is because the current govt relies on the Greens to form a majority in the House. To get the Greens support, I’m pretty sure Gillard had to agree to drop the bill.
So if any of the major parties in this country get a majority in the Reps, or the Greens don’t hold the balance of power in it, it will rear its ugly head again.
Personally, I’m moving to Germany. They might have sticks up their arses and eat way too much cabbage, but they respect privacy. And people who rent.
BTW, our Greens rock, the leader has been out for years & lives with his partner. I would LOVE for them to move into the Lodge, take that CWA!
November 18, 2011 at 1:56 pm
…the country where I want to be. Your mountains so lofty, your tree tops so tall…everybody sing!!
November 18, 2011 at 5:03 pm
“Cunt, what the shit?”
(That’s “I’m in” in Finnish, right?)
November 18, 2011 at 5:24 pm
Yes! All of us fat jealous losers will move to Finland with April at the head. We can call it “The Great Regretsyan Migration”
November 18, 2011 at 1:02 pm
Yes put a stop to “cyber bullying” by calling me fat. Why is it that every insult against regretsy starts with a comment about our weight? Only Stallone knows how fat my ass is! Must go binge and purge now…
November 18, 2011 at 1:37 pm
If this passes, does it mean we can shut down the entire Etsy site if a seller calls us fat jealous losers? ANd do we have to copyright the phrase first? Or just claim we did?
November 18, 2011 at 2:59 pm
It can pass. There’s nothing that stops them from passing bad laws except a Presidential veto. And even that can be overridden. Then we’ll have to wait for someone to get a legal suit all the way to the Supreme Court (if it deigns to hear the case) before the law can be deemed unconstitutional. It’s best to get vocal now.
But I’d say that the Etsy forums that offer opinions about Regretsy would constitute a non-official review of Regretsy. So yes, if I understand this correctly, HKpril could file a claim against Etsy and have it shut down under SOPA.
November 18, 2011 at 6:20 pm
What’s more, I wouldn’t trust the court that gave us the Citizens United decision to not present like a mandrill for the corporations.
November 18, 2011 at 1:05 pm
They can have my whimsicle fuckery when they pry it out of my cold, dead hands.
The good news is that this abomination has gotten a flurry of negative press this week so maybe that will put a stop to it.
November 18, 2011 at 1:05 pm
Sweet grilled cheesus. Although I have to admire how legislators now just go balls out and don’t even pretend to care about that whole “Constitution” thing.
November 18, 2011 at 1:13 pm
Yeah that pesky document gets in the way of their “law making” sometimes!! Congress should not wonder why people hate them…
November 18, 2011 at 2:53 pm
I’m about 99.9999% positive that this bill would die a hasty death in any courtroom in the land thanks to the multiple ways it violates the Constitution.
It’s just too bad the Constitution doesn’t also contain a provision for overturning bills based on tilting and windmills and trying to stop the tide, because trying to legislate the internet is about as effective. And far too many Congressidiots simply fail to grasp the concept that the internet is worldwide and doesn’t stop at the borders of the US.
The depth of stupidity that resides on Capitol Hill is truly frightening. Thus speaketh the person who has transcribed enough congressional hearings (that’s how I make my living, transcribing government cuntflappery — fortunately not much from Congress, I don’t have that strong a stomach! — so I speak from far too much experience, alas.)
November 19, 2011 at 12:00 am
Yet, when what they want isn’t popular or when what they don’t want *is* popular, ( or rather, when they perceive it that way) then the Constitution is their best friend.
“That’s against the Constitution! You can’t pass that law!”
“Hey! The Constitution gives me the right to do that!”
I really doubt that most of Congress has even read the Constitution. Or if they have, they don’t understand it.
It’s clear that a great many of them don’t know the first one or anything about due process.
November 18, 2011 at 1:12 pm
My congresspeople are used to me ranting at them about one thing or another; I’ve met them occasionally. (I’m on a first-name basis with my state-level reps and have been known to pounce on them at the grocery store when something’s on my mind.) DUE FUCKING PROCESS, people! It’s the LAW!
November 18, 2011 at 1:14 pm
As a general rule I avoid discussions like this, but seriously, is the US the new China? Blocking and shutting down websites because of politics? What fucking bullshit.
November 18, 2011 at 1:22 pm
It’ll never pass. Too much work/money to enforce. Plus most congress members still think the internet is a series of tubes.
November 18, 2011 at 1:34 pm
That must be why old radio tubes are so valuable at the swap meets lately.
November 18, 2011 at 2:47 pm
They probably still think Al Gore invented it too
November 18, 2011 at 9:36 pm
He never claimed to.
November 18, 2011 at 10:24 pm
I know, I was kidding…
November 18, 2011 at 10:34 pm
Sorry. Rebooting my sense of humor.
November 18, 2011 at 2:55 pm
Which is why I pointed out that passing this bill will DESTROY JOBS and HURT THE ECONOMY. The only way to get through to these idiots is to point out those two magic phrases, I swear. The last thing Congressidiots want is to be known as job-killers, especially in the House where they only get elected for two-year terms so another election is always right around the corner!
November 18, 2011 at 8:04 pm
Don’t forget the children! Some how we have to work that in too. There won’t be a dry eye in the house. How else will little boys get to see naked women and learn what goatsy is??? The horror!
November 18, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Who honestly expected Prohibition to pass? The 5th largest industry in the U.S. at the time became illegal overnight. And for the next 13 years.
Don’t assume our congresspeople have a clue about anything.
November 18, 2011 at 4:33 pm
Now THERE’S a motto we could put on our money!
November 18, 2011 at 10:25 pm
And the income tax started as a result of Prohibition b/c the government was losing money by not collecting taxes on liquor. Ugh…
November 19, 2011 at 8:39 am
It wasn’t just Congress. Three-fourths of the state legislatures have to approve a Constitutional amendment.
Our Congressman is John Lewis, a civil rights era icon and one of the few Democrats left from Georgia. He’ll never get voted out, but when he retires it might be a close fight in the general election.
November 18, 2011 at 1:28 pm
I contacted my 3 Congresspersons yesterday. One of them, WHOSE OFFICE IS 1/2 BLOCK AWAY but who is so doddering he doesn’t know where to find it…will most likely vote for it because he voted for the health bill WITHOUT READING IT and then openly admitted to the NATIONAL PRESS CLUB on CSPAN of all places that he didn’t read it.
Christ on a cracker I vote these dumbfucks out of office every time and some nitwits keep voting them back in.
November 21, 2011 at 11:58 am
Honestly, who reads things before they sign off on them anyway? Don’t you remember Pelosi’s brilliant statement about how we have to pass the bill to find out what’s in it? Apparently it was written in invisible ink and only a Presidential signature could reveal the writing. Who knew?
November 18, 2011 at 1:33 pm
First ammendment anyone? Isn’t this an obvious violation of the right to free speech?
November 18, 2011 at 2:27 pm
Yeah, I don’t see it passing mostly for this reason, but it makes me wonder how it even got this far. I truly do not understand how this has ANY support. Fucking politicians.
November 18, 2011 at 5:18 pm
It’s like politicians don’t consider the Internet to be covered by the Constitution. That’s what it seems like to me, anyway. If they tried to pull this same thing with, say, TV, there would be massive protests and backlash.
But the internet? Psh. Just a fad.
November 21, 2011 at 9:01 am
our politicians don’t consider that the constitution applies to anything that so much as takes a battery or uses electricity. They prove it nearly everyday.
November 18, 2011 at 1:38 pm
done and done. If it does pass I’m sure there will be people lining up at the supreme court to have it overturned.
November 18, 2011 at 1:50 pm
Totally loving that our Senator Ron Wyden is involved in fighting this.
November 18, 2011 at 2:06 pm
Oh crap. I think they used a crying eagle on the website.
November 18, 2011 at 8:06 pm
Not the crying eagle!?! How low will they go???
November 20, 2011 at 3:48 am
Copyright! Copyright! SOPA the shit out of them!
November 18, 2011 at 2:08 pm
Blogged it, signed it.
How can this not break the first amendment rights?
November 18, 2011 at 2:13 pm
I’m with you on this. Signed up, shared on FB and Twatter (yes, Twatter is how I say it) I think the Gubment needs to stay out of our communications. This has the potential to go wrong all sorts of ways.
Joke ‘em if they can’t take a fuck. I’d really like to see them enforce this. There’s something like a trillion web sites, blogs, forums, etc? Good luck with that.
November 18, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Enforcement would be interesting. Most people wouldn’t notice anything at all, unless they purposefully tried to find a site that used to exist, and now “doesn’t.” You could do some tricks to find blocked sites, and I’m sure hackers everywhere would be willing to help out. Still, the truth is that most sites would just quietly “disappear.” New sites that didn’t fit the parameters would be much harder to find. Censorship at its finest – not taking away information you already have, but hiding the fact that new information exists.
November 18, 2011 at 2:34 pm
With sites that archive the internet, you could find existing content, I’m sure. But my concern is what would this mean to ALL news sites? If they can prevent, say Regretsy, from linking to awful crafts, what’s to stop them from preventing the sharing of a scandal that might implicate our politicians in something seedy? I know, that’s a stretch, our politicians are all moral, upstanding, god fearing pillars of the community.
November 18, 2011 at 4:37 pm
I think it would be a huge clusterfuck and all get overturned, but not before wasting a HUGE amount of money that we already don’t have!
November 18, 2011 at 5:30 pm
Oh, I’m sure our friends from 4chan will probably retaliate for every website that is suddenly blocked.
November 18, 2011 at 6:22 pm
If I read the text of SOPA right, it sounds like a site perceived as hosting copyright-violating information (be it copyrighted media or links to pirate sites etc.) will get dinged EVEN IF, SAY, SAID INFORMATION WAS SPAMMED TO ITS COMMENT PAGES BY MALEVOLENT TYPES.
Think Anonymous wouldn’t have a fucking field day with that?
November 19, 2011 at 7:34 am
yep: spam prohibited violations to government sites, and shut them down!
November 19, 2011 at 3:37 pm
If this does pass then I suggest we all complain about each and every Congressman’s personal website and the websites of their biggest campaign contributors. That would shut down SOPA right quick.
November 22, 2011 at 2:35 pm
That’s the only reason I can think of to want SOPA to pass!
November 18, 2011 at 2:15 pm
Ya know, if we all pooled our resources, we could buy a pretty decently sized tropical island AND outfit it nicely. Just sayin…
November 18, 2011 at 8:08 pm
I’m ready. Forget Finland–too cold!
November 18, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Sir Obama has already threatened a veto if it makes it to his desk, though! I’m honestly not very worried about this.
November 18, 2011 at 2:19 pm
I’m only worried because they keep trying the same thing under different names.
November 18, 2011 at 2:35 pm
I’m with you St. Jude. Eventually they’ll find a way to make something stick.
November 18, 2011 at 3:04 pm
Urgh, yeah. My home state just recently passed some stupid-ass law that we voted down two times proir. I literally voted no on the exactly same law 6 months earlier! It was probably yes-voted just because people were sick of seeing it.
November 18, 2011 at 4:20 pm
I’m in NYC. The mayor is permitted two terms, thanks to term limits. I voted for term limits twice. Bloomberg is in his third term because he got around the term limits law. How? Money and influence. He asked the city council to vote to bypass the term limits “this one time.” Can’t imagine all the favors promised for that one. Politicians are slimy.
November 18, 2011 at 7:14 pm
The phase “Politicians are slimy,”always makes me visualize a man in a nice suit dripping an unknown fluid. Just thought I’d sare that lovely vision with everyone else.
November 22, 2011 at 2:36 pm
That’s not too far afield. We ARE the city that used to have Anthony Weiner on the payroll. (Zing!)
November 18, 2011 at 9:42 pm
they keep trying the same thing under different names
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Decency_Act""Fifteen years and counting.
November 18, 2011 at 9:43 pm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communications_Decency_Act, dammit.
November 18, 2011 at 2:26 pm
I wrote such a plea, it’s ridiculous. I mentioned the founding fathers, the first amendment, American history, American greatness, communism, dictatorship… I wrote Freedom like a hundred times and capitalizes it each time. And, damn it, I meant every word. This nonsense bill cannot possibly pass. I’m rooting for you, America!
November 18, 2011 at 2:28 pm
I just love how our constitutional rights keep getting eroded in the name of “protecting” people.
“Those Who Sacrifice Liberty For Security Deserve Neither.”
I happen to like my free speech rights and the concept of “innocent until proven guilty.”
November 18, 2011 at 8:11 pm
The same thing with the right to bear arms…
November 21, 2011 at 1:30 am
Free speech? You’re not even allowed to sit down peacefully if a cop with a bad attitude (redundant, I know) decides you deserve to get pepper-sprayed.
November 18, 2011 at 2:31 pm
@whimsiclefucker: No, the U.S. is Canada’s underwear, and this proposed legislation is a massive skidmark.
November 18, 2011 at 2:32 pm
I assume it’ll only affect American websites. I didn’t know what that… 20000 thing was when I clicked “not in america”, so just my name and email are in it…
November 18, 2011 at 4:43 pm
Catsy, it will affect access of Americans to restricted foreign websites, which could greatly affect sites’ profitability.
November 19, 2011 at 8:42 am
The logic (what there is of it) is that sites that distribute pirated materials are based outside the US, so they need a bill that will shut down these sites’ access to US users.
November 18, 2011 at 10:03 pm
Ah, you’re laboring under the mistaken assumption that the U.S. government understands that it does not own the Internet.
Since the Internet is based in part on ARPANET, created with US Department of Defense funding, and evolved from there across physical infrastructure owned by the government and educational institutions (which the government also likes to think it owns), obviously the Internet is the U.S. government’s property, to police, censor, or milk for all the cash it’s worth, concurrently or consecutively, as the fads of the day demand. All those other furrin bandwagon-jumpers with their huge fiber networks and uncountable routers and servers are just hitching a ride.
If this passes, it will affect outbound requests to talk to foreign servers from the US, as well as inbound requests to talk to US sites that will no longer be there.
November 18, 2011 at 2:32 pm
Hey Lamar Smith (and the other asshats who sponsored this steaming pile), thanks for wasting everyone’s fucking time instead of doing something productive!
November 18, 2011 at 2:48 pm
Does anyone actually have a link to the text of the bills? When I went looking I found what claimed to be the bills in question, but as far as I could tell they only come into play if profit is being made. Like that chick that stole that other chicks tee design, whose etsy shop we bombed… the chick who was making the profit on the original designs of the other would have had her ass handed to her in a court of law.
I’m not saying I don’t support free speech, I’m just saying a lot of people are fuming over this bill, and I want to make sure what I am fighting for here… and the “con” sites I’ve seen haven’t refered to or live linked to the actual text of the bill and the only link I’ve found for it, it doesn’t sound like it’s gonna do any of the stuff everyone is saying it will.
So can someone link the actual bills? Maybe the link I found was the wrong thing…
November 18, 2011 at 3:00 pm
You can find the text of ANY bill, as well as all current information on its status (including people who are cosponsoring it), on http://thomas.loc.gov. (The “loc” stands for Library of Congress.) Note that there is NO “www” in that website. You can search for bills by number, name, keyword, etc. It’s an incredibly useful place to find out what’s actually going on on the Hill; for example, if you really hate a bill, you can get the entire list of cosponsors and send them a message as well as your own Congressidiot and the bill’s idiot authors.
November 18, 2011 at 2:58 pm
Done, and done. I’d hate to have you be forced to blog from Exile in Finland. Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
November 18, 2011 at 3:03 pm
So I wrote my congressman… and his reply was priceless:
Dear Friend:
Thank you for contacting me regarding the “Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act,” or PROTECT IP Act (S. 968). I appreciate knowing of your interest in this legislation.
Blah blah blah… (here’s the good part):
The PROTECT IP Act does not have a companion bill in the House. Should one be introduced and come to the House floor, I will be sure to keep your thoughts in mind.
Thank you again for contacting me.
~~~~~~~
Apparently SOPA doesn’t exist… which is great because I totally mentioned it in my letter. So, end result– my congressman has absolutely no idea what he’ll be voting on. But if that companion bill ever comes along (big hint, it already has), he’ll keep my views in mind. Fan-freakin-tastic.
November 20, 2011 at 11:56 am
I wrote my Congresspersons mentioning only the bill name, H.R. 3261. Hopefully that’ll work?
November 18, 2011 at 3:05 pm
And Wikipedia does have an entry for it in layman’s terms, for fat, jealous losers like me who don’t talk good. (Stop Online Piracy Act, HB 3261).
November 18, 2011 at 3:17 pm
That’s the wrong identification. It’s HR 3261.
Here’s the Wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
November 18, 2011 at 3:05 pm
This is one of those times when being from pretentiously liberal Portland means that my senators and rep. are leading the fight against this beautiful example of How Government Goes Wrong. Yay!
November 18, 2011 at 3:24 pm
for what it is worth, I signed and sent it, but I had previously sent 3 letters to my elected officials about this issue, from which I received one reply stating that he appreciated my stating my thoughts, but that he “has grandchildren that he must protect.”
Seriously. If this is his way of thinking, how can you fight that?
November 18, 2011 at 3:46 pm
So his grandchildren are all Hollywood studio execs, or… ?
November 18, 2011 at 3:46 pm
Well, any spawn of his spawn needs to be protected–we can’t have THEM exercising free speech as well!
November 18, 2011 at 3:57 pm
You should reply: “Protect them from what? Ze Germans?”
November 18, 2011 at 4:21 pm
Nein! Das Kommunists! Das Kommunists!
November 18, 2011 at 4:43 pm
Hey Mugsy…watch it…don’t you know
November 18, 2011 at 5:48 pm
If that tattoo were done on someone with an outie belly button, it would be even more disturbing.
November 18, 2011 at 5:53 pm
Butt plugs ain’t your thang aye Mugsy?
November 18, 2011 at 5:59 pm
I’m neither confirming nor denying.
What I meant was that an outie would make it look as if the cat had a prolapse rectum. Or hemmorhoids. Or both. *shudder*
November 18, 2011 at 7:01 pm
I know what you meant silly
November 18, 2011 at 4:09 pm
My guess is that he thinks they can eliminate porn on the internet somehow.
November 19, 2011 at 7:40 am
but the internet is FOR porn!
November 18, 2011 at 7:05 pm
Isn’t it up to kids parents to monitor what they see, as opposed to the government?
November 18, 2011 at 10:06 pm
Now that’s just silly. Didn’t your state representative or local municipal courts teach you any better than to talk nonsense like that?
November 20, 2011 at 11:52 am
Yeah but how am I going to monitor what *I* can’t access? Sheesh.
November 19, 2011 at 11:10 am
Protected from piracy and copyright infringement?? I think he’s still reading the Child Online Protection Act or one of those anti-porn & pedophile laws. What a twatwaffle.
November 20, 2011 at 11:54 am
*reads Wren’s comment thoughtfully*
Wait, he’s saying that his grandchildren shouldn’t see any copyrighted material whatsoever?
He’ll get it when he goes to Flickr to post photos of the wonderful day with the grandkids, and can’t.
November 18, 2011 at 3:24 pm
OMG. I just realized this is never going to happen. The internet is really about one thing, and that thing violates copyright laws every day! The internet is about sharing porn, people! Trust me, even 80 yr old men understand that!
November 18, 2011 at 4:30 pm
They’ll have to go back to the bad old days of going through the curtain at the back of the video store.
November 18, 2011 at 3:26 pm
I think whoever invented the internet should step up and say something.
November 18, 2011 at 4:10 pm
I’m talking to you, Britney!
November 18, 2011 at 3:35 pm
Done.
November 18, 2011 at 3:39 pm
Thanks for posting this. I was way ahead of you on signing onto this, but it never occurred to me to suggest that you mobilize the Fat Jealous Loser Lobby.
As I read it, the law sounds unconstitutional, since the penalties are enacted without the need for any proof or verification.
November 19, 2011 at 11:13 am
Oh why worry about that little due process thingy. Not when we must defend the nation against pirates. Arrr.
November 18, 2011 at 3:42 pm
ok, totally tried to read the bill. BORING. i hate lawyer speak. and i wrote my congressman a lengthy email urging him to vote against it. hopefully that works!
November 18, 2011 at 3:43 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 18, 2011 at 3:49 pm
I wrote my congressman.
November 18, 2011 at 3:52 pm
The Electronic Frontier Foundation suggests that if SOPA goes through, Etsy will soon be deader than a squirrel on a fascinator.
November 18, 2011 at 4:09 pm
Think of the drownings, when all those cowls fill up with tears.
November 18, 2011 at 4:23 pm
November 19, 2011 at 7:43 am
first thing that popped into my mind when I saw that thumb: “up their (collective) ass.”
November 19, 2011 at 11:16 am
Sad hipster would be despondent and perhaps suicidal; certainly wouldn’t be dancing.
November 19, 2011 at 11:15 am
I love your way with words! Legislation and discussions of the same would be so much more interesting if they wrote like you.
November 18, 2011 at 3:59 pm
The Chinese reseller who posted this comment is a spammer, and wanted you to see pages and pages of shitty knockoffs made in sweat shops.
Instead, you’ll be seeing their email and IP addresses. If you have a blog, take the pre-emptive step of blacklisting them so they don’t shit all over your site.
zhang8084@hotmail.com
125.78.239.20
You may also wish to sign them up for Scientology auditing and Michelle Bachmann newsletters.
November 18, 2011 at 4:07 pm
Petition signed, congressman (jackass that he is) written, links shared on Facebook.
I literally feel nauseous just thinking about this absurd fuckery.
November 18, 2011 at 4:10 pm
I really dont think anything is going to come of this, because imagine if it does, where will it end?? the whole internet will be shut down
think about it for a minute, i mean really??
November 18, 2011 at 5:17 pm
I read a novel recently (in the fabulous Repairman Jack series by F. Paul Wilson) about a nefarious plan to shut down the Internet. A programmer friend of mine said it’s impossible, that every cable everywhere in the world would have to be destroyed. I hope he’s right (and he usually is).
November 18, 2011 at 10:11 pm
So far, I think even if it goes through, the censorship would be applied by altering DNS records, which would mean we in the States could still get to banned sites by IP address. How good are you at memorizing 12-digit numbers?
For a more apocalyptic view, look at what happened in Egypt a year ago. The government DID try to cut the entire country off from the Internet much more directly, by shutting down the ISPs — and citizen/volunteer groups had limited access back up in something like 12-24 hours.
November 20, 2011 at 11:49 am
The internet won’t be shut down, no, not at all. But YOUR access to it will be sliced and diced.
November 18, 2011 at 4:12 pm
Done and done.
November 18, 2011 at 4:53 pm
Done.
This law is even more retarded (if that’s possible) than the stupid “Don’t Say Gay” here in TN.
November 18, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Oh, that TN thing was so Takei it hurt.
November 19, 2011 at 7:44 am
Yay Takei!
November 18, 2011 at 4:59 pm
Go directly to house.gov if you want to write – that petition website while it says it won’t “sell your information”, it will contact you about other things (which means you’re still going to get added to a stupid number of mailing lists.)
Plus, when you write your congressman from the website, you can put your actual location in, and they will know you are really one of their constituents.
November 18, 2011 at 5:13 pm
Neither of the cosponsors from NY (my state) are in my district, so I couldn’t send an e-mail. I had to Google them and find the site of one (which did allow an e-mail) and the mailing address of the other.
I did find the congressman in my district, though, and was able to contact him through the government site.
November 18, 2011 at 4:59 pm
They recently passed a copyright infringement law in New Zealand. Basically making illegal downloading, well, illegal. A downloader could be faced with a $15,000 fine.
The thing is, downloaders say they download stuff like movies and TV shows because NZ TV sucks. Either we don’t get shows, we get them 12 months later (after we’ve read all the plotlines on the internet), or they edit out important scenes for some reason…
Although, our politicians aren’t the smartest. One was caught downloading music the day before she voted for the copyright infringement bill, haha.
November 18, 2011 at 5:10 pm
Two of my state’s (NY) representatives are co-sponsors. I was able to send a letter to one through his Web site. The other’s site wouldn’t let me because I’m not in his district. (I’m not in the first one’s district, but maybe he subscribes to unlimited AOL and has the server capacity?)
I sent the exact same letter to both of them as well as my local congressman.
I stressed Free Speech that our Founding Fathers wanted to protect, our status as the greatest nation and one that does allow freedom from censorship. It’s also too expensive to enforce and defend and the loss of 1000s of jobs, etc.
I ended with a comparison to China:
“Today the argument is to protect copyright law. China doesn’t give a damn about copyright law, but that government restricts political and educational Web sites that do not support its political doctrine. How far a leap is it from “protecting copyright law” to limiting political expression and free speech? A frighteningly short one.”
November 18, 2011 at 6:21 pm
If people are abusing the fucking DMCA to try to censor each other, imagine what this shit would do.
Yes, it does happen. Most cases I’ve heard of happened on YouTube and Encyclopedia Dramatica.
I did send out some form emails to Senators/Representatives from my state because I have terrible email/phone anxiety. One sent me two form letters as a response.
November 18, 2011 at 10:22 pm
Encyclopedia Dramatica? THIS Encyclopedia Dramatica? The was that “was a satirical open wiki” (emphasis mine)? Or do you mean “Oh, Internet!” — the scrubbed-down, neutered, utterly safe-for-work, censored version that replaced it?
Or do you maybe mean encyclopediadramatica.ch, the mirror in Switzerland that I assure you US citizens won’t be able to get to from within the country any more under PROTECT IP or SOPA?…
(Although I sound bitter — and am — I’m not directing it at you. I’m just pointing out that in addition to “most cases (happening) on YouTube and Encyclopedia Dramatica”, one case is ED.)
November 18, 2011 at 6:25 pm
Done! Commence with the unfiltered fuckery!
November 18, 2011 at 6:36 pm
Shouldn’t they start with Somalian pirates first?
November 18, 2011 at 8:08 pm
I sent e-mails to both Georgia senators and my Congressman concerning a bill that would allow the FDA to put onerous restrictions on cigar manufacturers.
The Congressman (Democrat) sent a form response. One Senator (Republican) didn’t respond. The other (Republican) gave a very thoughtful and thorough response supporting my position.
This SOPA bill is too vague, too broad, and unconstitutional in that it bypasses due process.
November 18, 2011 at 10:41 pm
This SOPA bill is too vague, too broad, and unconstitutional in that it bypasses due process.
So does the Patriot Act.
So, for that matter, does the incarceration of Bradley Manning.
Both continue.
November 18, 2011 at 10:16 pm
I’m quoting someone else I read on the Internet when I say this, so I hope they don’t shut me down.
“Corporations are people, Pizza’s a vegetable, Internet will be censored & protest is illegal. Hello 21st Century America.”
November 19, 2011 at 2:28 am
Signed it.
I don’t think they’ll try this over here in Blighty, though. Our PM and his tea boy are having a rough old time of it as it is, with being in power because they weren’t voted for and also being dumb fucks.
But I like the internet the way it is.
November 19, 2011 at 4:40 am
My idiot cousin told me today, when I posted about this on Facebook, that my fighting this bill encourages piracy and that all reports will be investigates before sites are shut down.
I got so angry that I had to turn off the computer and go play with my kitty (my four-footed one, not the other one) until I calmed down. He’s delusional if he thinks they’re not going to shoot first and ask questions never.
November 19, 2011 at 5:31 am
Would Google, Yahoo, Youtube and them have a stake in this?
Makes sense to me the government trying to generate
some income by extorting money from them–
Pay us a bazillion dollars or the bill passes.
November 19, 2011 at 5:41 am
Completely unrelated, but I heard someone use the term “Namaste, bitches” on a recent episode of awful mawkish Friends clone sit-com ‘Happy Endings’.
November 20, 2011 at 4:06 am
Also on “Whitney”, which is truly 100x worse than Happy Endings.
But I believe it was “Namaste *my* bitches”.
November 19, 2011 at 5:54 am
This is a tip for all of you concerned about getting a form response from your representative.
My partner used to be a gatekeeper for a minister, and he tells me a way to increase the chances that your letter comes to the attention of whichever politician you are writing to (instead of being read by his/her staff) is to put more than one issue in your letter. That way they have to read your letter and write a proper response, they can’t chuck it on the slush pile and send you a form response.
I guess it can’t hurt to add your dissatisfaction with some completely unrelated issue, anyway!
November 19, 2011 at 6:25 am
Fat, jealous losers–DEPLOY! Email sent. Facebook shared.
November 20, 2011 at 11:44 am
Aye aye Cap’n! Deployed!
Will there be cake?
November 19, 2011 at 8:18 am
I rewrote their letter a bit – added to it how if someone takes offense to my take on history in an article I write, or to a piece of my artwork, they could shut down my abiility to earn an income. (I didn’t add that I currently make shit all from either – that’s not the point!) I asked him – knowing of his personality and the weather here recently – to not let people who take “offense at the wind” shut down freedom of expression and free commerce, rights we’ve fought for since the country began.
And yes, signed, sent, tweeted and about to be FBed.
Fucking thin skinned bastards trying to control my fucking internet life – I don’t think so.
November 19, 2011 at 1:06 pm
They can’t stop the signal.
November 19, 2011 at 4:24 pm
This fat jealous loser sent her email. You not taking my open interwebs away! Free Speech for EVERYONE.
November 19, 2011 at 7:40 pm
My congressman is a) a soulless xenophobic dickfilching bilgedouche and b) a co-sponsor of this fuckery, so an email wouldn’t do fuck-all. I suppose I could write and tell him that HIS OWN DAMN WEBSITE is currently is in violation of SOPA, since it has embedded YouTube-hosted videos taken from copyrighted broadcasts. Since the shitblister is evidently too damn dumb to figure that out his own damn self.
(my rep is Pete King. i’m entitled — nay, REQUIRED — to curse this much.)
November 20, 2011 at 11:41 am
I love your idea of mentioning his own website would get blocked to his constituents. Write to his secretary!! Secretaries run everything anyway.
btw LOVE YOUR WEARS you remind me of Deb Morgan
November 20, 2011 at 11:42 am
erm, SWEARS
November 22, 2011 at 2:44 pm
I’m in Queens, but I was able to send an e-mail to Pete King anyway. Got a thanks-so-busy-can’t-read-your-email-but-its-important form e-mail in return.
p.s. “Shitblister” is going in my personal Regretsy-inspired vocabulary. Thanks!
p.p.s. Yes, you ARE required to curse that much. At least!
November 19, 2011 at 8:00 pm
In a way, it seems surprising Hollywood is so supportive of this bill. Think of how much publicity they all get (*cough* Kardashians *cough*) that is almost all negative, yet still leads to fame and fortune? I thought they all ran by the code of “any publicity is good publicity”? How are we supposed to talk about them 24/7 if this bill passes? Hmm, on the other hand maybe this is a good idea… ha
November 20, 2011 at 2:54 am
well, I am drunk. But just wanted to say, as I listen to Hall & oates, that this website is a favorite, nd it makes me laugh hysterically. If this bill passes I wouldn’t know that to do! Also, I am 26…
November 20, 2011 at 2:56 am
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 20, 2011 at 6:06 am
Sent the letter.
November 20, 2011 at 9:31 am
I’ve been spreading this message for the past several days. The US is one of few countries that doesn’t allow Internet censorship, and hopefully our citizens will fight tooth and nail to keep things that way.
Besides, what would happen to all the My Little Pony websites? For the love of god, think of the ponies!!!
November 20, 2011 at 10:53 am
If this bill passes, Etsy is a goner, eh? We’d all be blocked from accessing it because of the plethora of copyrighted material being hawked.
November 20, 2011 at 10:59 am
I know NH will get their undies in an uproar over this, it’s the “Live Free or DIE” state – even says so on our license plates! So, does anyone have/found a “form letter” to make it easier to write about this issue to our reps?
November 20, 2011 at 11:39 am
NM, I just wrote my own. But still looking for a good form letter to pass to people who want to write their reps more quickly.
November 20, 2011 at 1:19 pm
LULZ!!! on of my sates co-sponsors of the bill, Ben Ray Lujan had a video from MSNBC up on his YouTube channel. Haha!!
http://youtu.be/3KBhzyxPXB8
November 20, 2011 at 1:53 pm
le sigh… the video has now been removed by the user…
November 20, 2011 at 3:29 pm
Dang. And I just looked at the news station that reported it and their article is gone.
I’ll keep looking.
November 20, 2011 at 3:46 pm
http://www.reddit.com/r/announcements/comments/me5e9/american_censorship_day_stand_up_for/
Towards the bottom is a list of the people sponsoring the bill and if there was anything that violated copyright found
November 20, 2011 at 4:11 pm
Aw fuck it. I see it is time for me to run for congress.
November 20, 2011 at 9:15 pm
I’ve signed multiple petitions, nagged my state representative (he’s my neighbor), and currently drafting a fuck you e-mail to Congress. The overall theme is “government has a complete and utter disregard for human welfare,” so I’ve included delightful tidbits such as pizza being a vegetable, the constant warring in the middle east, oil and and the supposedly “clean coal” energy, the downfall of community mental health centers – oh, and that pesty SOPA deal.
Fuckers have been pissing me off for a long time. I’m letting it all out. I’ll probably sound like a crazy person, but I am crazy, so no worries there.
November 20, 2011 at 9:18 pm
Quiet weekend. Miss my Regretsy. Wish I had some Cheetos.
November 21, 2011 at 9:37 am
It’s about time people started getting upset about this. I have been freaking out for over a week because it looked like this might actually pass. This would grind free speech and internet commerce to a halt. OK y’all, you need to keep an eye on this shit. Because even if this doesn’t pass they will try again in 6 months, again and again and again. Until you stop paying attention and then they will push this through (or something like it).
November 21, 2011 at 12:16 pm
Done Diddley Done
November 21, 2011 at 12:36 pm
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
November 21, 2011 at 1:34 pm
This is pretty breathtaking.
Even if it was passed, I can’t see how it would be possible to enforce it, but if it was… do the people supporting this bill seriously think the rest of the world would just say, “oh, the USA wants to censor the Internet. I guess we’ll just have to put up with that.” I don’t think so!
If this bill is passed and enforced, it will be the end of the USA’s dominance of the Internet. The Web will just move elsewhere. US sites will move to offshore ISPs, someone will invent a neat app to let US surfers circumvent DNS restrictions, and so will end the .com empire. The centre of the Web will probably end up in Europe or Japan – or maybe distributed across the world with no one government having nominal control of it.
The consequences for the US in terms of jobs and revenue can only be imagined.
It is mindblowing to me that people considering this bill won’t take the trouble to find this out before they vote.
November 21, 2011 at 2:08 pm
I signed a petition online a little while ago. I live in NY. I got a reply from Senator Kirsten Gillibrand on 11/18 that said this:
“Thank you for writing to me regarding S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act of 2011. I understand your concerns.
I am a cosponsor of this legislation because I believe that we must protect American intellectual property against foreign websites that infringe upon our rights. By empowering the Attorney General of the United States to go after foreign infringing websites, this legislation becomes a necessary tool to ensure that U.S. companies remain competitive in the world marketplace. I recognize that there are technical concerns with the enforcement of this bill that need to be addressed. I am committed to working with my colleagues in the United States Senate to ensure that this legislation protects the Constitutional rights of Americans and does not stifle lawful free speech or innovation on the internet.”
November 21, 2011 at 2:48 pm
signed it and passed the site on to a bunch of friends
November 21, 2011 at 2:52 pm
my NH rep sent his actual thoughts in response to my email, i’m wowed. next post cuz it’s too long to paste …
November 21, 2011 at 2:52 pm
“I agree that when considering issues relating to the regulation of the Internet, we must be mindful of protecting against over-regulation and maintaining the right to free speech. However, at the same time, we need to ensure the protection of intellectual property and provide recourse for those who have been the victim of piracy. H.R. 3261, introduced by Representative Lamar Smith (R-TX), aims to force online advertising networks, credit card companies and search engines to cut off support for any site found by the courts to be dedicated to copyright or trademark infringement.
“Currently, this bill has been referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary, of which I am not a member. As a member of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, which has jurisdiction over the Internet, I look forward to reviewing the Committee’s findings and learning more about this issue as the bill moves through the legislative process.”
November 21, 2011 at 5:59 pm
I’ve heard if you get the IP addresses of the sites you want to visit and enter them in, you’ll still be able to visit them.
I’ve also heard that many people on 4 chan are preparing all of their “malicious” links, and are going to spam government sites with them, and then sue them.
I doubt something like this will pass, but if it does at least we’ll have SOME entertainment watching the government scramble to deal with the aftermath.
This sounds worse than the internet restrictions in China.
November 21, 2011 at 6:00 pm
Signed it and passed it to a bunch of my friends.
November 21, 2011 at 6:44 pm