This unprecedented effort has turned the tide against a backroom lobbying effort by interests that aren’t used to being told ‘no.’ I know suspending and changing access to sites was not necessarily an easy decision, but this is a responsible and transparent exercise of freedom of speech. I applaud those participating in today’s protest for their sturdy defense of American innovation, openness and Internet freedom.
He said “responsible and transparent exercise of freedom of speech”, Sen. Dodd.
We fear that the broad new enforcement powers provided under SOPA and PIPA could be easily abused against legitimate services like those upon which we depend. These bills would allow entire websites to be blocked without due process, causing collateral damage to the legitimate users of the same services - artists and creators like us who would be censored as a result.
Here is a letter from actual producers of creative works. It’s the companies that benefit from those works that tend to be in favor of SOPA.
It will undermine free speech and due process, says one side. It will protect America’s creative class from thieves, says the other. But what’s really in the Stop Online Piracy Act?
Click through for a good explanation of each bill.
However, the protests has prompted at least one sponsor of the legislation, Republican Sen. John Cornyn of Texas, to weaken his support for the bills.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) withdrew as a co-sponsor of the Protect IP Act in the Senate, while Reps. Lee Terry (R-Neb.) and Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.) said they were pulling their names from the companion House bill, the Stop Online Piracy Act. Opponents of the legislation, led by large Internet companies, say its broad definitions could lead to censorship of online content and force some websites to shut down.
Rather than broadcast their entertainment over the new technology, finding exciting new ways to profit from it, they are wasting their time and money trying to stave-off the development of technology by lobbying you, so they can continue to profit from the way life was before the invention of the internet. I’m appalled that they are wasting time, and holding back the future, let alone not using the advancements in technology to further their business and bring more jobs to my industry.
Just like they did each time a new technology was introduced that actually made them more money.
Seriously, read the whole article and show Michael your support.
The history of media and technology is an endless series of failed rearguard actions as industry leaders attempt to solidify their positions on a bed of quicksand.
Great article. Click through and check out the whole piece.
The Internet is actually something that’s working in the world. The last thing we want to do is get the federal bureaucracy involved.
The internet works. Don’t break it.
The internet is one of the most magnificent expressions of freedom and free enterprise in history. It should stay that way. While H.R. 3261, the Stop Online Piracy Act, attempts to address a legitimate problem, I believe it creates the precedent and possibility for undue regulation, censorship and legal abuse. I do not support H.R. 3261 in its current form and will oppose the legislation should it come before the full House.
Yes. It should stay that way.
SOPA grants the federal government and Atty. Gen. Eric Holder vast new powers to blacklist entire foreign websites that are accused of containing even one instance of copyright-infringing materials. Search engines would be prohibited from linking to any portion of that domain. We must protect copyright, but this bill represents a major step toward Internet censorship. It has the potential for tremendous abuse, and the extraordinary requirements it imposes will stifle the free flow of knowledge and information. Together, we will fight it.
Rep. Justin Amash
