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How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

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Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#31

Post by bmelton »

freehunter wrote: post #26
redthrowaway wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Lost my vote forever" is, I'm sure, the kind of meaningless spiel they hear everyday. It would likely have the same effect on a congressman that saying "meat is murder" has on me - instant tune-out. A response informing the congressman of why he's wrong, citing loss of jobs and liberty while threatening innovation, all in the name of an ever-growing government keen to erode our rights in the service of special inter…

That's assuming that this comgressman believes his talking points. I'm of the opinion that many talking points are for _other_ people to believe, but the ones saying them do not believe in them. The subject matter just doesn't affect them. Why would a politician who has been bought by Big Media care about innovation, loss of jobs/liberty, or erosion of rights? Hit them where it hurts. Threaten _their_ job. If you los…

Threatening their job is one thing -- it's when you say that they've lost your vote _forever_ that it becomes too far, as they might feel that they have no choice for recompense to gain your vote back.

In short, it's going too far, and even if it isn't, certainly seems like an idle threat.

Saying something more like "I cannot vote for any candidate who supports this policy or any like it" is perhaps a more effective statement to make.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#32

Post by canadiancreed »

ghurlman wrote: post #4

Thanksgiving was the cutesy (but needed) Upgrade Your Parents' Browser Day. $winter_holiday_of_choice should include a Explain SOPA To Your Parents Lunch or something - we need to get as many level-headed against SOPA as possible.

Especially since that demographic will probably be the ones that would support candidates that support this bill. Showing what is lost, especially in the freedom area would be a big boost....assuming they want to learn that is.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#33

Post by jen_h »

alttag wrote: post #11

I participated in the recent EFF push for contacting elected representatives regarding SOPA. I customized their pre-packaged letter greatly, adding both my experience and qualifications and expounding on the distrust from the tech industry to SOPA. The response from my (Republican) Congressman was a form letter telling me I was wrong, and regurgitating a the pro-SOPA talking points. I've been contemplating a rather s…

My Congressman sent me a form letter thanking me for sharing my feedback about an entirely different issue. I did include the bill numbers and titles, so you'd think an automated system would pick it up, but I guess they're going purely by keywords--and "piracy" becomes "privacy" somehow.

No response at all from my Senators. I assume in three months, I'll get a condescending letter from at least one of them explaining why I'm wrong, just like with TARP and any other issue I bother to contact these folks about.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#34

Post by freehunter »

bmelton wrote: post #31
freehunter wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's assuming that this comgressman believes his talking points. I'm of the opinion that many talking points are for _other_ people to believe, but the ones saying them do not believe in them. The subject matter just doesn't affect them. Why would a politician who has been bought by Big Media care about innovation, loss of jobs/liberty, or erosion of rights? Hit them where it hurts. Threaten _their_ job. If you los…

Threatening their job is one thing -- it's when you say that they've lost your vote _forever_ that it becomes too far, as they might feel that they have no choice for recompense to gain your vote back. In short, it's going too far, and even if it isn't, certainly seems like an idle threat. Saying something more like "I cannot vote for any candidate who supports this policy or any like it" is perhaps a more effective…

A fair point. I like your wording.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#35

Post by alttag »

hesitz wrote: post #29
alttag wrote: post #11

I participated in the recent EFF push for contacting elected representatives regarding SOPA. I customized their pre-packaged letter greatly, adding both my experience and qualifications and expounding on the distrust from the tech industry to SOPA. The response from my (Republican) Congressman was a form letter telling me I was wrong, and regurgitating a the pro-SOPA talking points. I've been contemplating a rather s…

"I've been contemplating a rather severe letter in response, but I haven't gotten to it as I don't believe anything I can say to him will be effective." I doubt whether anything you say to _him_ would be effective. But why not write a response and then post the three letters (your first, his reply, your response) to a blog or website? If you publicly reveal the weakness of his position it could have some effect.

I'm a bit disappointed the EFF submit form didn't forward me a copy of the letter I sent through their site.

I didn't make a copy, and instantly after sending, wished I had.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#37

Post by jim-greer »

jamesmoss wrote: post #6

This is great but surely we need to be targeting a wider audience? SO is made up of tech enthusiasts, I imagine a large percentage of them have heard of SOPA and understand the issues. However they probably represent a tiny fraction of the population. Really we need the eBay's, AOL's and Craiglist's of this world to be running campaigns like this, getting the message out to the more casual internet user.

Craigslist might actually do it... I doubt AOL or eBay ever would.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#38

Post by brown9-2 »

ilaksh wrote: post #16

The fact that its even possible for this law to be considered should give people another hint at how dangerous and negligent our "representatives" are. Other obvious hints are apparent also, such as the Patriot Act and about 100 other things I won't mention. People just need to face reality. Its a corrupt system. The government is full of fraudsters and even mass murderers. I know its hard to accept that, but that's…

What would you change about the representative form of government?

Any government consisting of representatives of the people will end up proposing and debating laws that certain segments of the population sees as "bad" at times.

It's a test of how well the government works if the people can voice their opinion and have an effect on Congress's debate. If this happens and curtails the law, then government is working.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#39

Post by gergles »

kvermeer wrote: post #9
flyingyeti wrote: post #5

I'm used to seeing a close button on these types of messages on Stack Overflow. Kind of a nuisance to have it stuck there even after I've signed the petition. Maybe if it were a different color, or I hadn't been trained to read all of the yellow status messages on each SO page, it would be less annoying..

The system messages don't have a close button, they're usually used for important site status updates such as "There will be a short network wide outage starting on date at time for system maintenance". The use of the tool for memorials to Steve Jobs or for political messages like this is extremely rare. It's a good thing that you read the status messages. Normally, they're important.

The problem is that if they keep using them for politics or for other things that aren't system messages, people will start ignoring them. "Ugh, that's that bar that just shows dumb political messages."

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#40

Post by notatoad »

alttag wrote: post #11

I participated in the recent EFF push for contacting elected representatives regarding SOPA. I customized their pre-packaged letter greatly, adding both my experience and qualifications and expounding on the distrust from the tech industry to SOPA. The response from my (Republican) Congressman was a form letter telling me I was wrong, and regurgitating a the pro-SOPA talking points. I've been contemplating a rather s…

the response from your congressman's office was a form letter. the problem with letter writing campaigns is that after the first few most letters get stopped by the aides before they ever reach anybody of importance. congressmen have office hours. stop by and see if you can talk to him about it.
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