As someone who’s been on the Internet for closing in on 25 years, I am remiss in not seriously tracking the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA (and PIPA), drama. Especially so since I’ve seen and personally benefited from the explosive expansion of the global network of networks. Unfortunately, I just didn’t have time to contemplate blacking out Mass Programming Resistance.
So as penance, I plan to call my Congress-critters offices and give ‘em 2 cents of opposition to SOPA. Senator Warner and Congressman Wolf seem to be on the right side of things, but a little reinforcement is a good thing. Don’t know about Senator Webb though. Given the amount of Internet and Web infrastructure and business based in Northern Virginia, I’d think they’d all be against something that has very clear potential to kill jobs in Virginia.
I like Andy Baio’s explanation of how SOPA would damage his longstanding, and highly entertaining, site. Hat tip also to Baio for this Khan Academy link explaining the downsides of SOPA/PIPA for the more visually inclined. I also like Tim O’Reilly’s reasoning against SOPA as captured by Colleen Taylor.