Fight Back Against Those Who Attack Free Speech
There's a black bar over my red Advice Goddess header today and I will not be posting blog items beyond this entry because the U.S. Congress and Senate are considering legislation that endangers the free and open Internet, this website's existence (and that of many others) and free speech in general.
The Protect IP Act (PIPA) is the bill in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) is the one in the House.
Use this super-easy link and take 30 seconds and call your Senator to voice your objection to PIPA.
Call your Congressperson by submitting your zip code here to get their number.
The latter link (to the Electronic Frontier Foundation) has detailed information about the bills and why they are so dangerous.
(If you don't see a black bar over my logo on top, clear your cache and you will.)
UPDATE: From the Harvard Business review James Allworth and Maxwell Wessel write that the real SOPA battle is innovators against Goliath:
SOPA is a legislative attempt by big companies with vested interests to protect their downside. And unfortunately, these companies have conscripted Congress to help them. What's worse is that even though limiting start-up innovation might help big content in the short run, it's not going to do them in favors in the long run. Nor is going to do America any favors. In the midst of one of the worst recessions in living memory, passage of legislation like this is just going to result in innovators moving to geographies where the regulatory environment is more favorable. Start-ups will be less competitive in the United States and we'll have effectively disabled one of the few remaining growth engines of the economy.
(I think they meant "backside," not "downside," or meant "reduce their downsides.")
E.D. Kain of Forbes interviews Rep. Jared Polis: "Why We Need To Stop SOPA":
Why do you oppose SOPA?I oppose piracy and want to see intellectual property protected because that is what fosters and rewards innovation. But SOPA won't accomplish a meaningful reduction in piracy and causes massive collateral damage to the Internet ecosystem. It offers a set of barriers that the tech-savvy can work around rather easily while not effectively stopping overseas piracy. If it were to become law it would be ripe for abuse as companies could use a private right of action to block a competitor out of existence. That will snuff out the spark of innovation and job creation our economy needs right now.
Supporters of SOPA says it targets only foreign "rogue" websites. If this is the case, what's so bad about the bill?
No one disagrees on the target; we just want a bill that hits what it's aiming at. It's not clear that this bill will only apply to foreign sites because of the bill's vague definitions and immunity clauses in section 105. There's also a high probability that it will lead to censorship. We should shut down rogue sites but SOPA's approach just won't work. Instead we need a follow-the-money approach like the OPEN Act offers. Many rogue sites exist to make a profit and others are enormously expensive to maintain. If they don't have the resources to continue stealing intellectual property they'll wither away.
He supports the OPEN Act, which I have not read. From Kain's interview with him:
You have stated that you are working on alternatives to SOPA. What are these? Can we balance free speech and the need to crack down on piracy?That alternative is the OPEN Act, which you can read more about at http://www.keepthewebopen.com/. Instead of exposing the Internet to cybersecurity risks as SOPA does, OPEN would use a targeted follow-the-money approach to take down rogue websites. We know this method works. When the money dries up, the sites die off. That's the way to go after piracy.
More on this here, by Mike Masnick at Techdirt:
While the MPAA has been pretending that there are no alternatives beyond the insanity that is PIPA and SOPA, some in Congress have actually been hard at work on trying to think through the specific issues. And one key point has become clear: this isn't a law and order issue, but an international trade issue. Nearly all of the complaints are about the problem of "foreign" sites sending goods across the border into the US. So it makes absolutely no sense that this issue isn't under the purview of the Finance Committee, whose job it is to oversee international trade. Thus, a bill is being worked on that tackles the issues as an international trade issue.
Download the two-page draft framework for discussion, authored by: U.S. Senators Cantwell, Moran, Warner and Wyden and U.S. Representatives Chaffetz, Campbell, Doggett, Eshoo, Issa and Lofgren: draft_discussion_draft.pdf. An excerpt:
While the Internet has been revolutionary when it comes to uniting communities, promoting ideas and creating boundless opportunities for innovation and commerce, the Internet has also created new avenues for foreign counterfeiters and others operating outside the United States to sell unauthorized goods on the American market. This is harmful to the legitimate rights holders operating and employing Americans here at home.Downloading a movie from a foreign-registered site, for example, is much like importing a good from a foreign company; however U.S. trade laws - put in place to oversee the flow of goods and services into the United States - have failed to keep up with the digital economy. A 21st Century trade policy will combat the import of infringing digital goods and counterfeit merchandise while ensuring the continued free flow of legitimate commerce and speech online.
We found that using trade laws to address the flow of infringing digital goods into the United States makes it possible to avoid many of the pitfalls that would arise from other legislative proposals currently being advanced to combat online infringement. Namely by putting the regulatory power in the hands of the International Trade Commission - versus a diversity of magistrate judges not versed in Internet and trade policy - will ensure a transparent process in which import policy is fairly and consistently applied and all interests are taken into account. When infringement is addressed only from a narrow judicial perspective, important issues pertaining to cybersecurity and the promotion of online innovation, commerce and speech get neglected. By approaching digital good infringement as a matter of regulating international commerce, we are able to take all of these factors into account.
UPDATE, 8:58 am PT: Great -- some PIPA/SOPA supporters are copyright violators themselves.
Done! Thanks for the link Amy!
sheepmommy at January 18, 2012 6:53 AM
I've sent to a few of my reps. Others pages are not loading. Hopefully they're being overtaken by protests.
Meloni at January 18, 2012 7:48 AM
Is there anything non-Americans can do to contribute?
Kendra at January 18, 2012 7:50 AM
>> Is there anything non-Americans can do to contribute?
Become President?
I kid, I kid...
Eric at January 18, 2012 7:54 AM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/01/503-service-una.html#comment-2922802">comment from EricThanks, everybody -- please send these phone call/email links to your friends.
Amy Alkon
at January 18, 2012 8:08 AM
My understanding of the proposed law is that the FCC may shut down any site carrying copywrited material in any form.
Firstly it means that if i paste fifty words from the NYTimes into this comment, the entirety of this blog may be shut down. Any site can be shut own at any time for such a thing when the regulator has a whim to try out his kill button.
Secondly it means that the FCC will choose which sites get shut down, much like the Justice Dept decides which cases do not need prosecution anymore. If you don't think the marxists appointed by our current president are so wicked as to cleanse the web of Right wing voices, then you should try to imagine President Gingrich or Romney and who they would appoint.
And i still wanna ride to work on a pirate.
Storm Saxon's Gall Bladder at January 18, 2012 8:29 AM
"If you don't think the marxists appointed by our current president are so wicked as to cleanse the web of Right wing voices, then you should try to imagine President Gingrich or Romney and who they would appoint."
Oh, come on now, the law will be administered even-handedly by incorruptible public servants!
"And i still wanna ride to work on a pirate."
Only if the water's wet.
Old RPM Daddy at January 18, 2012 10:27 AM
SOPA is essentially a life preserver for outdated business models. It's the last gasp of dying middlemen.
The movie and recording industries are trying to cling to using contained media (DVDs, CDs, theaters, and DRM-restricted downloads) for an industry that has already gone viral.
Too many people in the "old" industry are heavily invested in the distribution-based business model.
I'm currently reading Marc Levinson's The Great A&P and the Struggle for Small Business in America and the parallels are striking.
In the 1930s, chain grocery stores were the enemy of the established grocery industry. They could undercut prices charged by mom-and-pop neighborhood grocers, cut wholesalers and brokers out of the supply chain, use their own rail cars and trucks to carry goods, and deal from a position of power with manufacturers. Activists assailed chain stores as "un-American." A flurry of laws were proposed (and many passed) to combat the chain store "menace."
Most of these anti-chain activists and laws were, of course, backed by the wholesalers, brokers, and independent grocery trade organizations who were trying to save their already-obsolete business model.
Refrigerators (home and railroad) were making the storage and transport of fresh meat and produce feasible. Improved canning technology provided a wealth of new foods most people had never had before and eliminated seasonal shortages for fruits and vegetables. Pre-measured packages meant people were no longer vulnerable to the old thumb on the scale trick when buying bulk commodities like salt or flour. And larger stores could carry a greater inventory (both in breadth and depth), meaning people could shop once a week and get everything they needed rather than stop at the store everyday in hopes that the one item they need will be available.
The fact that the chains offered lower prices and better selection to customers didn't matter to the anti-chain store folks. They came up with scientific and statistical arguments that lower prices and broader selections were actually bad for consumers.
The chains, on the other hand, were watching the development of the supermarket with anxiety. There's always a new business model over the horizon that's going to drive out the current one.
It's the same thing happening today with RIAA, MPAA, and the other "creative" brokers. Their industry has changed and they have not changed with it. And, like the grocery middlemen of the 1930s, perhaps there is no place left for them.
But, like those middlemen, they're not going down without a fight ... a fight that the consumer is going to pay for.
With SOPA and PIPA, these obsolete middlemen are forcing Internet players like Google, Bing, and Yahoo to do their policing for them. They don't have to chase down foreign pirates and cut off their access to the market. Backed by these laws, they can muscle Google, conveniently located in California, to do it for them.
It's difficult to determine how, or if, the recording and movie industries (and, in a few years, the publishing industry) are going to make money with digital content floating freely about in cyberspace.
The content is going to float. So, instead of fighting to keep the industry in the last century, it's time they start working on a twenty-first century business model.
"If you don’t like change, you’re going to like irrelevancy even less." -- General Eric Ken Shinseki
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BTW Amy, I like the pirates or cars question because "cars" can be typed quickly on a QWERTY keyboard using one hand.
Conan the Grammarian at January 18, 2012 11:53 AM
Great comment. Conan.
Opposition among incumbents is the norm when any new technology comes along. Recorded music was opposed when the phonograph was invented; the MPAA opposed the VCR – and these things ended up being a huge boon to both industries.
Instead of wasting their time and money trying to get Congress to legislate their way out of the problem, they should be working on a sensible web-based content distribution model.
Christopher at January 18, 2012 1:10 PM
I know I should not be surprised at the shit spewed by politicians (even the retired ones) but I am still amazed ex-senator and current head of the MPAA Chris Dodd was able to say this with a straight face about the blackouts today:
"It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It's a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests."
Elle at January 18, 2012 1:36 PM
Dear Congress Critter:
I cannot in good conscience support those who would support PIPA and SOPA, as they are at the core, a means to impose censorship on the free exchange of information and ideas that is the internet.
If you feel the need to bring us down to the same levels of 'freedom' that they enjoy in places like China and Iran, good luck without my vote and support.
Signed,
Your friendly neighborhood Constituent.
P.S. Please read the Constitution. And the Bill of Rights. Again. And repeat as needed.
DrCos at January 18, 2012 2:07 PM
DrCos!! I am SO copying your letter and sending it to MY congress critters!! Priceless!! Thanks so much!
Elle, I live in CT (Dodd's state). We all pretty much ignore him anymore.
Flynne at January 18, 2012 3:56 PM
How come all the news can talk about is Mitt Romney's taxes?
NicoleK at January 18, 2012 4:17 PM
Amy Alkon
https://www.advicegoddess.com/archives/2012/01/503-service-una.html#comment-2923407">comment from FlynneGreat letter, DrCos!
Amy Alkon
at January 18, 2012 4:19 PM
The RIAA weighs in on the "blackrout."
http://gizmodo.com/5877143/riaa-reminds-us-why-we-hate-them-with-obnoxious-smartass-tweet
Conan the Grammarian at January 18, 2012 8:22 PM
SOPA/PIPA is a public-private partnership between statists and Hollyweird corporate scum.
mpetrie98 at January 18, 2012 9:26 PM
Ron Paul is the only GOP candidate to publicly denounce SOPA.
Snoopy at January 19, 2012 5:35 AM
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