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SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

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Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#41

Post by [deleted] »

davidw wrote: post #22
darrenkopp wrote: post #5

During that time we should compile a list of all representatives that support this bill and any/all donations and from whom those donations came from to support this bill. When the money trail is out in the open, I think both the representatives and the donors may be more timid about pushing forward against an unpopular bill like this.

sopahitlist.com is available. Perhaps it's too violent sounding, so better ideas are welcome. It'd be a list of SOPA supporters in Congress, and encouragement for their constituents to call in and say something, and/or vote for the other guy at the next election.

[deleted]

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#42

Post by badclient »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #33
davidw wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sopahitlist.com is available. Perhaps it's too violent sounding, so better ideas are welcome. It'd be a list of SOPA supporters in Congress, and encouragement for their constituents to call in and say something, and/or vote for the other guy at the next election.

sopashame.com?

I'd add the word list: sopashamelist.com

People and media love lists =)

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#43

Post by hastur »

kwantam wrote: post #27
hastur wrote: post #16

I live in Poland and I watched almost the whole hearing because I care. (Although we have a bigger problem in the EU right now - ACTA is about to be signed by the Commission, Parliament vote pending in a couple of weeks.) Big thumbs up for Congressmen Issa (R-CA), Polis (D-CO), Lofgren (D-CA) and Chaffetz (R-UT) for their performance. Remember those names if you vote in their districts.

Not just if you vote in their districts! For many people, congressional elections are decided before the race even starts. The best way to make your voice heard if you're in this position is to donate to closely contested campaigns in other districts. As someone who votes in Texas, I'm intimately familiar with the "my vote simply does not matter" situation. Instead, I (literally) vote with my wallet.

Good point.

On a separate note, I'd like to also list the Congressmen that were the most vocal and eloquent supporters of SOPA during the hearing: Smith (R-TX), Goodlatte (R-VA), Berman (D-CA).

Please make sure your friends and families associate these names with censorship and stifling of innovation.

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#45

Post by Maakuth »

InclinedPlane wrote: post #33
davidw wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

sopahitlist.com is available. Perhaps it's too violent sounding, so better ideas are welcome. It'd be a list of SOPA supporters in Congress, and encouragement for their constituents to call in and say something, and/or vote for the other guy at the next election.

sopashame.com?

People, your domain ideas are excellent but instead of posting them here for all squatters to take, please just register the darn domains. It's only couple of bucks after all.

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#46

Post by dlwh »

darrenkopp wrote: post #5

During that time we should compile a list of all representatives that support this bill and any/all donations and from whom those donations came from to support this bill. When the money trail is out in the open, I think both the representatives and the donors may be more timid about pushing forward against an unpopular bill like this.

My girlfriend's organization is dedicated to doing this. www.maplight.org

Here's SOPA aka HR 3261: http://maplight.org/us-congress/bill/112-hr-3261/1019110/tot...

They're a very careful organization, so they're very cautious in stating a congressperson's vote before the actual vote. But it's a start. The contribution ratio for my representative definitely prompted me to call her today.

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#47

Post by wanorris »

Bobby_Tables wrote: post #17

Lamar Smith needs to be sent a very clear message, in the form of a landslide defeat in the next election to someone along the lines of Darrell Issa. What would it take to make that happen? How do we (the tech community) recruit someone that has the poise and fundraising ability to win an election? What do we do once we find someone? Smith seems to be Public Enemy #1 on this issue, and I believe he represents a part…

This is a tough seat to go after because it's a reliable Republican district (around 2/3) and Smith has held his seat since way back in 1986. He's extremely entrenched, so the Republicans aren't going to be particularly tolerant of a challenger (edit: in the Primary), and the Democrats probably can't win the district.

I'm not sure who exactly lives in that weirdly-outlined subset of Austin, but unless something dramatic has changed since I lived there, his segment of San Antonio is dominated by traditionalist Chamber of Commerce types. His chunk of Austin might be an exception, but I would expect it will be pretty hard to get much traction in the rest of his district based on tech issues.

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#49

Post by WettowelReactor »

Newgy wrote: post #30
electromagnetic wrote: post #23

I fail to understand why taxpayers pay $174,000 as a salary to Congressmen given that 261 of them are millionares. Furthermore, I don't get why they're given a wage when dozens of them are being handed this salary or more on a single issue . McCain got paid almost 12 times as much on this bill as his wage.

The one way to ensure that all Congressmen are millionaires is to take away their pay. Honestly, the salary is already too small, they have to maintain a second residence in DC, which is one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country. In all seriousness, $174,000 is not enough money to support a family in a middle class lifestyle in DC. A townhouse in a safe neighborhood is $5,000/month, most of the pub…

Complete FUD. I live in the DC region and dont need nearly this much to be comfortable with my family. Now if I wanted to live in a prime spot downtown and forgo any commute or other compromises that would be a different story but I see no reason why our tax dollars should support congress living like rockstars.

Re: SOPA Hearings Delayed, 140,000 Americans watched the hearings

#50

Post by joelhaus »

darrenkopp wrote: post #21
nextparadigms wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I thought I'd throw this in here, too. These are the sponsors of SOPA and PIPA, and how much they received for it: http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20111203/00494716961/some-d...

That's awesome, now we just need to figure out who the companies were. Thanks for that link.

There is another mechanism used to incentivize support for ill-conceived policies: promises of cushy, high-pay lobbying jobs for officials and members of their staff.

I imagine this would only be uncovered ex-post facto. Here's a nauseating example:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Tauzin#Career_as_a_lobbyi...

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