Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Trying to Contact My Senator

Hmm, this is interesting.

I was going to send senator Kerry a quick email to let him know how I feel about the SOPA and PIPA legislation worming its way through congress. (Quick synopsis: I don't like it.)

Except when I click on his "contact me" link I get a 404 We're Sorry page.

Which is the same thing I get when I click on any link of his website.

So either he's joined the day of protest along with Google, Reddit, Wikipedia, and hundreds of others, or his servers are down, or he just doesn't want to hear what we have to say.

Either way, I don't like it.

If you're not familiar with this legislation, and you're at all fond of the internet (and if the idea of spending 5 years in prison for singing "Happy Birthday" on youtube seems unreasonable to you) I urge you to get educated quick and register your displeasure to your representatives. Google has a handy page set up for this.

Also, check out the livestream of the SOPA and PIPA protests, if you're on today.

Interesting times.

3 comments:

  1. Mmmmm. Sopapillas. Tasty.
    Wait, "Sopapilla" might be a trademark. But it's also delicious.
    Can I have the bunk by the barred window?

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  2. Craigslist has a handy petition/link, too! I signed that few days ago when I first learned of this atrocity. I get worried about the songs I cover on YouTube, too. And the images I use as backgrounds to websites I use. And costumes I make to wear in videos or to conventions. And the reviews I write for my blog. And the quotes I spit out in daily conversation. And the music I listen to on the radio, then change the station when ads come on the air.
    I could go on, but we're all thinking on the absurdly grave situation, here.

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  3. For what it's worth, I contacted my former-Democrat-turned-Republican Representative. Slippery and not likely to be responsive. However, as a Freshman House back-bencher, he is not particularly effective or harmful.

    On behalf of the manufacturing company I work for, I am a fierce defender of intellectual property rights. However, there are good bits of legislation and bad bits of legislation. SOPA was a bad bit of legislation and the Internet community (as in voters) backlash must have put the fear in more than a few legislators.

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