

Show HN: SOPA Sponsors - rvb
http://sopasponsors.com

======
tikhonj
I love how the biggest chunk of supporters is naturally around LA (Hollywood
and friends) and there is _nobody_ supporting it around the Bay Area.

However, outside these two obvious observations, I don't see any significant
patterns. It seems to just be a smattering of support with most states having
one or none. Is this because the issue is less important and controversial
outside of California (is it even?) or am I missing something?

------
JayNeely
Personally, I really like the map -- the information is related to _state_
representatives, and these people are going to listen to their constituents
more than anyone else. Having a map helps me quickly answer:

\- Are any of my representatives sponsoring SOPA?

\- Are there representatives sponsoring SOPA in any other states I can make a
difference in (have family, friends, business ties to)?

Suggestions:

\- Add contact info for each sponsor to the placemarkers, not just listed
below.

\- Please list _mailing addresses_ for each sponsor. While twitter and
facebook are convenient, representatives take written and mailed feedback much
more seriously.

~~~
rvb
Thanks for the suggestions. Will get that info up asap.

------
jeetukiran
Interesting to see the sponsors and their distribution on a map. Here is an
article on HBR on SOPA & PIPA to pass around that explains the issue in
simpler terms
[http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/e-parasite_threatens_interne...](http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2011/10/e-parasite_threatens_internet.html)

------
rvb
hey HN -

I put this together because I was curious who the actual sponsors of SOPA
were.

I welcome feedback on how to make the site more informative. In particular I
would like to include links to some of the best articles discussing the issue.
Any suggestions?

Thank you

~~~
SomeCallMeTim
I like the map; makes it obvious at a glance that the LA/Hollywood-region is
dominated by supporters, with not a single supporter from the Bay Area/Silicon
Valley. No surprise there, but even more stark of a contrast than I expected.

Also happy to see that my adopted state (Colorado) has no supporters at all.
Which is a mixed blessing, of course...no one to protest to who will pay any
attention to me.

Thanks for putting this together, though. Maybe others will discover nearby
supporters who they can protest to -- or who maybe have friends who they can
convince to write a letter. If anyone knows someone in greater LA, for
example, odds are good that they have a rep who's supporting SOPA.

------
joshmanders
<http://www.spatialsituation.com/sopa-map/>

------
pasbesoin
Don't forget PIPA ("Protect IP Act", S. 968), the Senate's counterpart. Both
must be reconciled and passed for this cr-p to go into effect. (Though I'm not
too hopeful about Senators' responsiveness.)

~~~
rvb
PROTECT IP already has 41 sponsors out of the 100 members of Senate:

<http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:SN00968:@@@P>

The facts that almost half of Senators are sponsors and that they represent
whole states would make a spatial visualization less helpful, I think.

I figured this particular format would be more effective to highlight the
small minority (32/435) of House members sponsoring SOPA. So I started there.

You're absolutely right that PROTECT IP deserves just as much attention,
though. I will get to work as soon as I can on compiling a table of the
PROTECT IP sponsors' contact info.

------
danso
Why is the most prominent image a map? Is there really a geographical
component to this issue? Or rather, is that purported geographical component
so pressing that it requires a map that takes up all available above-the-fold
space?

* To be less harsh...I think it's great you're gathering up the important legislative facts about this bill. I just overreact when I see maps being used for seemingly little purpose.

~~~
rvb
I wanted people to see at a glance whether there's a chance their own
representative is supporting the Act.

Also, the reason I started looking at it was to see if there really was a
concentration of support in any particular region. It seems as though there
is.

But your point is well taken... I probably should make it smaller so it's
clear there's more information below.

Thank you

------
kl
great map. good info.

