Showing posts tagged stop online piracy act
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Hopefully that was a one-time experience that came from a lot of different things coming together where a lot of different people came to the conclusion that this was a terrible piece of legislation.
RIAA head Cary Sherman • Discussing the experience of SOPA and his hopes that the mass online protests won’t repeat. Yeah, internet, we should prove him wrong — by, for example, spreading this quote! (via shortformblog)
(Reblogged from shortformblog)
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The Wikipedia blackout presents a horrifying picture of a world with no knowledge. So does the Fox News website, which is running normally.
Andy Daglas (via kateoplis)

Quote of the night.  (via shortformblog)
(Reblogged from shortformblog)
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While we believe that online piracy by foreign websites is a serious problem that requires a serious legislative response, we will not support legislation that reduces freedom of expression, increases cybersecurity risk, or undermines the dynamic, innovative global Internet.

The White House • In an official response to the Stop Online Piracy Act and PROTECT-IP, written by three officials with key views on the law: Intellectual property czar Victoria Espinel, US Chief Technology Officer Aneesh Chopra and Special Assistant to the President Howard Schmidt. Another key line: “We must avoid creating new cybersecurity risks or disrupting the underlying architecture of the Internet.” It sounds like Obama wouldn’t sign either law in its current form, though he’d be open to changes. The official response was written in reaction to an online petition in the White House’s “We the People” section. Read the whole thing over this-a-way. (via shortformblog)

This is nice to hear, but it’s easy to say you’re pro-freedom and then vote for a restrictive law. Lamar Smith, SOPA’s legislative architect and primary booster in Washington, would tell you that he doesn’t support legislation that does any of those things, either.

The full statement makes it explicit that the White House will not support any bill that tampers with DNS, but lays down no other actual specifics. It’s entirely possible for the administration to turn around and sign SOPA as it exists now (with the DNS filters stripped out) and say “It’s a great day for freedom.”

This is progress, but it’s measured progress.

(Reblogged from shortformblog)

Read Write Web: SOPA-Supporting News Outlets Aren't Covering SOPA

shortformblog:

chartier:

You don’t say.

Personal feeling: It’s probably not even for corporate reasons. It’s probably a matter of it being a difficult topic to describe properly in three minutes. And as the story’s never crept up to the top of the news cycle, they’ve likely had no reason to describe it at any major depth. Not that it’s an excuse, just a reason for it to get ignored. However, one thing to keep in mind is that it’s entirely possibile that the stories got played during the day — Media Matters used Lexis-Nexis reports, which don’t cover daytime cable.

EDIT: In case you want to see an example of a media outlet doing it right, see this Bloomberg interview with a Reddit co-founder.

“Never crept to the top of the news cycle” makes it sound like the media is just a passive witness to… the media.

(Source: chartier)

(Reblogged from shortformblog)
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The fact that there was any debate over whether to call in experts on such a matter should tell you something about the integrity of Congress. It’d be one thing if legitimate technical questions directed at the bill’s supporters weren’t met with either silence or veiled accusations that the other side was sympathetic to piracy. Yet here we are with a group of elected officials openly supporting a bill they can’t explain, and having the temerity to suggest there’s no need to “bring in the nerds” to suss out what’s actually on it… The chilling takeaway of this whole debacle was the irrefutable air of anti-intellectualism; that inescapable absurdity that we have members of Congress voting on a technical bill who do not posses any technical knowledge on the subject and do not find it imperative to recognize those who do.

This used to be funny, but now it’s really just terrifying. We’re dealing with legislation that will completely change the face of the internet and free speech for years to come. Yet here we are, still at the mercy of underachieving Congressional know-nothings that have more in common with the slacker students sitting in the back of math class than elected representatives. The fact that some of the people charged with representing us must be dragged kicking and screaming out of their complacency on such matters is no longer endearing — it’s just pathetic and sad.
Joshua Kopstein, Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works (via drinkyourjuice)

This friends, is the most important article you’ll read today.  (via shortformblog)
(Reblogged from shortformblog)