Yet Another SOPA Post

Right off the bat: I think piracy is terrible, and I am one of those old farts who still goes out and buys albums and movies to support the artists and performers I like. However. When someone (a lot of someones, in this case) is proud of his technological illiteracy, refuses to acknowledge someone who has the knowledge and is willing to explain it, and decides to levy legislative power, I am appalled.

This is what I see - a salt-and-pepper haired, slightly overweight man in a suit, standing with a nailbat in his hand, while another, fatter and greasier man, ties a blindfold over his eyes. The man with the bat is spun around in circles and let loose, to bludgeon whatever he comes across, with the greasy man guiding his dizzy feet in cries of "warmer/colder." Oh, and the blindfolded man is surrounded by paper bags and boxes suspended on strings, and they're all full of kittens.

SOPA is a sick, sick round of piñata.

I encourage you to contact your representative if you value your internet and first amendment rights.  This stretches beyond the US borders, and would have international repercussions for decades to come, if passed.

Find your representative, and how to contact him/her here.

A very useful infographic explaining SOPA and its effects.

Surviving The World - Besides being an ingenious and thought-provoking "photocomic" that I enjoy immensely, it is where I found the above infographic, so my hat's off to Dante for that one.



I'll get off my soapbox now - I hate getting up there at all, but as someone who has an interest in both the Internet and intellectual property rights, I felt I must say something.

From a non-political standpoint, the fact that this bill has come up at all, fills in a hole in the sci-fi book I'm working on, Three Point Oh. It will be set about fifty to seventy-five years in the future, and the events leading up to the plot could hinge on the passing of SOPA. To clarify, I sincerely hope it does not pass, but I cannot help but feel a little giddy about it. The happiness, I assure you, is only in that "puzzle pieces falling together" sense.

Cheers,
Em