The political cartoonist David Rees got pissed off about SOPA enough that he came out of retirement to create new anti-SOPA comics above and here (there’s a lot more censorship yuck-it-ups there than the one that I posted above). Today’s the day–tell your congressional representatives that this kind of big-business-wants-to-rule-the-internet crap is unacceptable!
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Computers, Rights, Technology | Tagged: censorship, postaday2011, rights, sopa, yro | 
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Posted by Jason W Ellis
The Stop Online Piracy Act is a bad law that will screw up the Internet for Americans in terribly devastating ways. I’m with these guys against SOPA. You should join the fight, too by going here to find out how to call your Congressional representative.
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Posted by Jason W Ellis
As I mentioned yesterday, please let your representatives know that you do not want the Internet censored using a system similar to that used in China, Iran, and Syria. This is what the Internet Blacklisting legislation known as SOPA and Protect-IP would do. We should respect support copyright, but we should not support copyright to the detriment of all other speech, including fair use, online. The Internet is still in its infancy and it is developing in new and unexpected ways. SOPA and similarly restrictive laws will stifle that development and the empowering possibilities that might have been. Read the coverage below to learn more about what SOPA and Protect-IP mean for American citizens and the Internet. Then, go here to send a message to your representatives.
Stop the Great Firewall of America [New York Times op-ed]
SOPA Won’t Stop Online Piracy, Would Censor Everyone Else [Time]
Thoughts On The House Judiciary Committee’s Hearings On SOPA [TechDirt]
At Web censorship hearing, Congress guns for “pro-pirate” Google [ArsTechnica]
A Look At Three Popular Sites That May Be In Trouble Under SOPA [TechDirt]
More And More People Speak Up Against SOPA [TechDirt]
New Study From Booz & Co. Shows That SOPA/PROTECT IP Will Chill Investment In Innovation [TechDirt]
Sweet sanity: 75% of Americans say infringement fines should be under $100 [ArsTechnica]
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Posted by Jason W Ellis
Today is the ad hoc American Censorship Day. Why? A committee in the House of Representatives has stacked their deck of experts 5 to 1 in favor of the SOPA, Stop Online Piracy Act. Even though this law could radically change the way the Internet works in the US (so that it can be restricted in the same way that it is restricted in China, Iran, and Syria), many congressional members support this law and they do not want public dissenting voices to be heard during committee. Techdirt has coverage of the hearing today here.
SOPA and Protect-IP are intended to put the thumbscrews on online discussion, fair use, and entrepreneurship. This infographic explains the potential effects of the bill if made law.
This is another example of our elected officials catering to outmoded big business. Big media wants to consolidate its control over the Internet, because those companies are unwilling to adjust their business models to the here-and-now. Instead, they want to flex their money-muscle and reconfigure the Internet so that they remain on top. I suppose this is the logic of capital. Increased regulation helps diversify the market, which leads to benefits for consumers. Conglomerates and virtual monopolies do not want this. Instead, they want to solidify their own position by hijacking the democratic process and putting laws in place that not only gives them added control over the primary medium of discourse but also further criminalizes previously non-criminal acts.
Go to the American Censorship Day website here, and send an email (or even better–call them!) letting your representatives know that you are against SOPA/Protect-IP.
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Posted by Jason W Ellis
The Electronic Frontier Foundation leads the fight against the draconian and backwards thinking Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA:
This is the third in our series Part 1, Part 2 breaking down the potential effects of the Stop Online Piracy Act SOPA, an outrageous and grievously misguided bill now working its way through the House of Representatives. This post discusses dangerous software censorship provisions that are new in this bill, as well as the DNS censorship provisions it inherited from the Senates COICA and PIPA bills. Please help us fight this misguided legislation by contacting Congress today.
via Hollywoods New War on Software Freedom and Internet Innovation | Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Our honorable members of Congress seems to have so much time on their hands after fixing our economy and lack of jobs that they can think up clever names with equally smart acronyms for their proposed legislation–PROTECT-IP in the Senate and SOPA in the House.
SOPA goes beyond breaking the domain name system (DNS) like in PROTECT-IP by putting software developers in the crosshairs of big media conglomerates and their proposed muscle: the US Attorney General.
Techdirt has a great analysis of SOPA from the perspective of software developers here. Essentially, they argue that big media is pushing legislation to further address their BUSINESS problem through LEGISLATION.
Digital culture today would likely be much more open and consumer oriented if we didn’t have laws like the DMCA. SOPA will stifle things even more than the DMCA. Additionally, I don’t believe that laws should be made to support an industry unwilling to transform itself to accommodate the reality of digital culture today. The next step could be subsidies for an industry that can afford to give its CEOs pay raises in the MILLIONS. You shouldn’t let this happen–let your members of Congress know that you don’t agree with this law, and let President Obama know that should such a law pass both houses he should veto it.
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Posted by Jason W Ellis
