Since everybody else is so brilliant and cogent in their arguments about why SOPA/PIPA is a Very Very Bad Idea, here is your roundup:
1. Making Light here (er, what they said about Macmillan) and here
2. Boing Boing
3. The Oatmeal does it with pictures
4. John Scalzi with a pro writer’s perspective
5.
The Daily Coyote on what would never have been under SOPA/PIPA (and for the record, Shreve, I loved your book)
And what do I think? I think the entertainment industry has persuaded the government to temporarily lose their damn minds. Because if anybody thinks Occupy is an issue now, wait until the 99% who depend on the internet directly or indirectly for their income are unemployed AND unable to download porn. There’ll be bloody revolution in the streets. Which is exciting to read about in fiction and history, but would you want to live through it? Me, neither. So here’s hoping for a hefty dose of sanity in the water supply in DC. In conclusion: keep America working and downloading porn. Down with SOPA/PIPA.
(In all seriousness, yes, piracy is a huge problem. Yes, it personally costs me money. That doesn’t mean that blowing up the internet is the answer. And I’m sure more people use the internet for Wikipedia than porn or piracy.)
I agree that piracy is a huge problem, but penalizing sites that don’t pirate anything is not the solution. Also, I’d like to see as much ferocity applied to book bootleggers as there is to punishing the people who rip off movie and music industry, but not holding my breath there.
Off topic, I hope you and yours are staying cozy and safe. I’ve been watching the weather for my people on the west coast and sending nice warm thoughts your way, too.
Nothing about this proposed legislation is the answer. I’m not holding my breath for a good solution that actually compensates content creators either, but in the meantime let’s keep a functional internet that gives me a fighting chance.
Thanks, we are safe and cozy. It’s going to be a messy weekend with minor flooding and winds taking down more trees, but I don’t expect anything too dramatic to happen. The biggest problem this week has been cabin fever with schools and businesses closed.
Don’t have much confidence in the DC moguls, but was very impressed by the public outcry. Hopefully, they’ll back off this legislation.
And {hugs} on the surprising weather out there (although yes, those of us who get lots of the white stuff only sympathize so much…). 😀
Too much snow also makes you hit the “enter” button too quickly. Sigh.
~Raine
Raine, I know it seems ridiculous to see the whole area shut down by 8 inches of snow, but it’s the steep hills. Snow gets packed down into ice, you can’t get up or down safely. I was very glad to see the outcry against this terrible legislation, too. Hopefully they don’t just quietly sneak it into some other “must pass” bill.
I like The Oatmeal one. 😉
uhmm that was me, Sasha
Sasha, I think The Oatmeal’s ended up on CNN. Humor is often the best way to get a point across.