

SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings - kposehn
http://gigaom.com/2011/12/16/sopa-interest-by-the-numbers-and-the-end-of-the-hearing/

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darrenkopp
During that time we should compile a list of all representatives that support
this bill and any/all donations and from whom those donations came from to
support this bill. When the money trail is out in the open, I think both the
representatives and the donors may be more timid about pushing forward against
an unpopular bill like this.

~~~
davidw
sopahitlist.com is available. Perhaps it's too violent sounding, so better
ideas are welcome.

It'd be a list of SOPA supporters in Congress, and encouragement for their
constituents to call in and say something, and/or vote for the other guy at
the next election.

~~~
InclinedPlane
sopashame.com?

~~~
badclient
I'd add the word list: sopashamelist.com

People and media love lists =)

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Bobby_Tables
Lamar Smith needs to be sent a very clear message, in the form of a landslide
defeat in the next election to someone along the lines of Darrell Issa. What
would it take to make that happen? How do we (the tech community) recruit
someone that has the poise and fundraising ability to win an election? What do
we do once we find someone?

Smith seems to be Public Enemy #1 on this issue, and I believe he represents a
part of Texas with some tech presence (Austin). There may be others who are
good targets as well...if the message is "support this anti-technology bill
and you'll lose your job", maybe other Congresspeople will think twice about
supporting MPAA-written legislation.

(Or maybe they won't. But we won't know unless we try.)

~~~
wanorris
This is a tough seat to go after because it's a reliable Republican district
(around 2/3) and Smith has held his seat since way back in 1986. He's
extremely entrenched, so the Republicans aren't going to be particularly
tolerant of a challenger (edit: in the Primary), and the Democrats probably
can't win the district.

I'm not sure who exactly lives in that weirdly-outlined subset of Austin, but
unless something dramatic has changed since I lived there, his segment of San
Antonio is dominated by traditionalist Chamber of Commerce types. His chunk of
Austin might be an exception, but I would expect it will be pretty hard to get
much traction in the rest of his district based on tech issues.

~~~
nl
_This is a tough seat to go after because it's a reliable Republican district
(around 2/3) and Smith has held his seat since way back in 1986. He's
extremely entrenched, so the Republicans aren't going to be particularly
tolerant of a challenger (edit: in the Primary)_

That's what they said about the Tea Party challengers to Republican
incumbents. It can be done, with the right challenger.

~~~
mkramlich
I'm pretty sure the Tea Party is an instrument of the same folks running the
Repub Party. It's intent was to capture/keep a chunk of redneck voters who
would otherwise be disaffected with or embarrassed by voting for Republicans,
post-Bush, without losing them entirely to the Dems or some other non-
controlled organization. A pretty large chunk of Republican mom-and-pop voters
appear to be racists or poorly educated middle-class, for example, and the
Repub leadership wanted to create a safe harbor for them to vent that was
still somewhat directable. A sort of temporary but loyal opposition. They
don't want to lose the guns/bible/redneck demographic permanently because
they'd lose the ability to get majorities in elections. If all working middle-
class and poor people in country could get behind a single party, the
aristocracy/oil/military/banking interests would lose control of Congress.

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clumsysmurf
"Update.... Or not. Despite the fact that Congress was supposed to be out of
session until the end of January, the Judiciary Committee has just announced
plans to come back to continue the markup this coming Wednesday. This is
rather unusual and totally unnecessary. But it shows just how desperate
Hollywood is to pass this bill as quickly as possible, before the momentum of
opposition builds up even further."

[http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111216/11102617108/sopa-m...](http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111216/11102617108/sopa-
markup-runs-out-time-likely-delayed-until-2012.shtml)

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JeremyBanks
The title says "SOPA Hearings Pushed to 2012", but this is nowhere in the
article. Edit, please.

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rhizome
The "SOPA Vote Delayed" link on the front page is the better article upon
which to comment.

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aj700
As a European, just let me say, oh great, now I have to run a Tor relay/bridge
for the entire United States, and I'm not sure my basic adsl or my poor little
mac mini can cope with that...

    
    
      " ...and routes around it! "

~~~
waqf
Tor? Why not I2P? <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I2P> <http://www.i2p2.de>

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nextparadigms
Looks like while the SOPA was delayed in USA, ACTA was just signed in EU:
<http://bit.ly/sVF07v>

More on ACTA:

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/11/acta-
trade-...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/nov/11/acta-trade-
agreement)

<https://www.eff.org/issues/acta>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBWLVbcjq50>

~~~
hastur
I don't think it was actually signed yet, but they've agreed on signing it. So
yeah, it's a foregone conclusion, a matter of days - if not hours - before the
Commission signs it.

The Parliament is a separate matter. I think they're just going into holiday
recess, then in January they'll vote Schultz as the new Speaker and then
they'll vote on ACTA.

There's still a chance to stop it, especially since the Parliament is more
skeptical. Contact your representatives in the EU Parliament and threaten to
vote for someone else in the next election if they support this oppressive
Act!!!

~~~
cal5k
Unfortunately Canada plans to support this too, and our current Conservative
government steamrolls any and all legislation on their agenda right through
the house. Our senate is functionally useless, so it's essentially a foregone
conclusion.

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chris_gogreen
This is a result of not having a limit on the amount a corporation can donate
to a political campaign. The maximum should be 0, this is more like a
government by the people for the corporations.

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hastur
I live in Poland and I watched almost the whole hearing because I care.

(Although we have a bigger problem in the EU right now - ACTA is about to be
signed by the Commission, Parliament vote pending in a couple of weeks.)

Big thumbs up for Congressmen Issa (R-CA), Polis (D-CO), Lofgren (D-CA) and
Chaffetz (R-UT) for their performance. Remember those names if you vote in
their districts.

~~~
kwantam
Not just if you vote in their districts!

For many people, congressional elections are decided before the race even
starts. The best way to make your voice heard if you're in this position is to
donate to closely contested campaigns in other districts.

As someone who votes in Texas, I'm intimately familiar with the "my vote
simply does not matter" situation. Instead, I (literally) vote with my wallet.

~~~
hastur
Good point.

On a separate note, I'd like to also list the Congressmen that were the most
vocal and eloquent supporters of SOPA during the hearing: Smith (R-TX),
Goodlatte (R-VA), Berman (D-CA).

Please make sure your friends and families associate these names with
censorship and stifling of innovation.

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wavephorm
Is there a list of representatives that support this bill anywhere? Just so
voters know which people and political parties to never vote for again.

~~~
shadowfiend
I prefer not to decide to withdraw my vote until they cast theirs. And even
then, I honestly would rather not withdraw my vote until I've discussed the
matter with the relevant congressperson and found out what their reasoning
was. If they can make a reasoned argument, I will reconsider. Merely
disagreeing with my congressperson is not enough for me to withdraw my vote,
because it's a given that I will disagree with them on various points. If they
are a reasonable person, I will generally weigh the number of things we agree
and disagree on. If they are not willing to listen to reason, my support is
out the window immediately.

Anyway, I think despite the fact that it's likely that those who support it
now will vote for it, it's perhaps too early to make a decision on voting or
not voting for a given person based on this bill alone.

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tommi
> If they are not willing to listen to reason, my support is out the window
> immediately.

I think supporting SOPA proves that they are not willing to listen to reason.

~~~
shadowfiend
There's no evidence why that would be sufficient proof. They may have
different values than you and still consider things reasonable within their
framework of values. Then you have to decide whether disagreeing with you on
this particular value balance is enough to lose your vote in the context of
their other values.

~~~
tommi
I do appreciate that to fully understand a situation you must look it from all
angles. But what is the kind of evidence you are looking for?

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shadowfiend
I can't say for sure. It would depend on the particular line of reasoning of
the congressperson, and how that changes depending on what they do or do not
learn about the technical infrastructure from talking with me.

~~~
ericd
It's usually difficult to have a candid one on one with a congressperson. You
may have to votebased on what your gut says.

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maeon3
I hope they don't pull a "1913" and pass the bill on Christmas day like they
did with the federal reserve act, legislation which caused the great
depression and the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis and leaves us about 15 digits
in debt here today. sopa is kind of like that. Replacing free market
currency/internet with regulated currency/internet.

~~~
jberryman
I don't think it's really like that.

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electromagnetic
I fail to understand why taxpayers pay $174,000 as a salary to Congressmen
given that 261 of them are millionares. Furthermore, I don't get why they're
given a wage when dozens of them are being handed this salary or more _on a
single issue_. McCain got paid almost 12 times as much on this bill as his
wage.

~~~
Newgy
The one way to ensure that all Congressmen are millionaires is to take away
their pay. Honestly, the salary is already too small, they have to maintain a
second residence in DC, which is one of the most expensive real estate markets
in the country. In all seriousness, $174,000 is not enough money to support a
family in a middle class lifestyle in DC. A townhouse in a safe neighborhood
is $5,000/month, most of the public schools are terrible and the private
schools expensive, and the local taxes are extremely high.

Also lawmakers can't spend their campaign warchests on personal items.

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zero_intp
This is complete FUD. My wife and I make ~100k, and live inside the beltway,
quite comfortably, within a 30 minute drive to Capitol Hill.

Fairfax and Montgomery County have some of the highest rated public schools in
the nation.

~~~
lcapaldo
Do you also maintain a home in the state that you actually represent? This
might be FUD (I don't know) but saying that you do fine with less money isn't
indicative of anything if you aren't doing the same thing.

