This is the most ridiculous thing that may come to pass and I would like to point out that Benjamin Franklin himself (who understood the importance of the freedom of the press and how England was throttling and monopolizing it in the form of copyright control without end and fought to have this freedom as part of the constitution) would never have allowed this. He's turning in his grave as we speak.
This is a letter taken from Scott Nicholson's blog, which you are encouraged to steal, pirate, copy, just speak out and send it to your representative, whatever you do. You can also file a petition online here: http://americancensorship.org/
Dear U.S. Rep. ________ and Editor:
I am writing to express my deep alarm at HR 3261 (Stop Online Piracy Act) and any government intrusion into the Internet use of United States citizens. It is not only a horrible precedent blithely couched in the guise of an economic security measure, it is opening the door to further government control of our speech, thoughts, and communication—indeed, the very fabric of our free society.
As someone who makes a living selling original digital content, I have no worry over people “stealing” my content or even selling it for profit. In fact, most of my books are easily available in illegal torrent streams, and I don’t give it a second thought. Digital piracy is a very negligible threat, largely exaggerated by the fear and hysteria of industries that are afraid of change. Even if the United States could police its own servers, the illegal content would still leak from cracks all over the world. The only possible outcome would be bigger government, higher taxes, and repressive control of our speech—and once the government has its prying eyes deep inside our Internet, do any of us really expect the government to turn a blind eye toward anything else it might not like?
What is the TRUE threat is the government making any move, however well-intentioned, into the public’s largest and most immediate discussion forum. The Internet is the biggest tool for free speech in our civilization’s history, and any regulatory shadow cast over it stands in direct contradiction to our First Amendment and, indeed, the foundation of the democracy we claim to espouse and defend.
I don’t lose sleep over Internet theft. But I lose a lot of sleep over the idea of Big Brother reaching into my computer and telling me what I can’t read, see, or believe. Say "No" to HR 3261 and value individual civil liberty over despotic government growth. Thank you.
YOUR NAME
YOUR TOWN
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Do something about this. Do not let this come to pass.
I am on it Martin!
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