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How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

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Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#61

Post by CamperBob »

brown9-2 wrote: post #38
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.

What would you change about the representative form of government?

At this point, I'd probably ditch it as unworkable, and replace it with a more meritocratic, less corruptible form.

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.

No, it isn't. SOPA is an obvious exercise in moving the Overton Window. The bill(s) that follow it -- including those that will eventually pass -- will seem innocuous by comparison, regardless of their content.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#62

Post by anamax »

earl wrote: post #45
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…

There is a useful response: give $50 to your congressman's opponent, attach a receipt, and vote democrat in the next election. Remember, the only people in the us who matter are voters (especially primary voters), donors, and campaign volunteers.

> vote democrat in the next election

Why would voting for someone who voted for SOPA help stop it?

Harry Reid, D-NV, senate majority leader, is pushing SOPA as a jobs bill so claiming that it's a republican idea is silly.

http://maplight.org/us-congress/bill/112-hr-3261/1019110/tot... shows that police and firefighter unions are supporting SOPA, as are the teamsters, the electrical workers union, as well as the movie-related groups that you'd expect.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#63

Post by bluekeybox »

vectorpush wrote: post #28
bluekeybox wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These kinds of comments may scare away large numbers of level-headed people from standing up against SOPA. Do you honestly think that the emergence of a global super-entity to serve as a niche to all kinds of low-lives is a good thing? Because if you are, then a lot of people who are aware of your position will be against whatever you stand, which of course means that you will lose potentially valuable allies against…

Do you honestly think that the emergence of a global super-entity to serve as a niche to all kinds of low-lives is a good thing? Tell us how you really feel. Don't worry though, I'm confident that the government will eventually find a way to expunge all the undesirable "low-lives" from the net.

Spreading paranoia about the government is a classic tactic of disaffected "little" people, whether they are of the right or of the left.

There are plenty of things that are wrong with the government, but being paranoid and bitter is not the way to fix them.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#64

Post by _delirium »

ra wrote: post #53
notatoad wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

That's true, but there is a 'hack' to get around that. Generally new questions arriving at the office will not have prepared responses. New text can not usually be written by the staffers without being reviewed. So, the trick is to raise 2 (unrelated or related) issues in your letter. Issue one is the real issue you are concerned about, and the other needs to be something low profile that will not already have a cann…

I've tried that also, without really having any success. Perhaps it relates to their profile and volume of correspondence? Most of my (mostly negative) correspondence over the years has gone to my now-former Congressman (and former House Majority Leader) Tom DeLay, who I can imagine was pretty busy.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#65

Post by awj »

anamax wrote: post #62
earl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a useful response: give $50 to your congressman's opponent, attach a receipt, and vote democrat in the next election. Remember, the only people in the us who matter are voters (especially primary voters), donors, and campaign volunteers.

> vote democrat in the next election Why would voting for someone who voted for SOPA help stop it? Harry Reid, D-NV, senate majority leader, is pushing SOPA as a jobs bill so claiming that it's a republican idea is silly. http://maplight.org/us-congress/bill/112-hr-3261/1019110/tot... shows that police and firefighter unions are supporting SOPA, as are the teamsters, the electrical workers union, as well as the movie…

I think he more meant "vote for that congressman's strongest opponent." The party doesn't particularly matter so much as showing that his handling of this specific situation caused someone to support his biggest rival.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#66

Post by alttag »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #58
gyardley wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While your Congressman has probably already made up his mind on this issue, you're not going to help him change it if your communication comes from a 'liberal' organization like the EFF. Why don't you try writing him while incorporating some more conservative commentary? Here's a couple of links from the National Review, one of my morning reads: http://www.nationalreview.com/agenda/281962/larry-downes-sop... http://w…

How is the EFF a liberal organization? Their primary agenda seems to be pro individual privacy, pro encryption, and anti-copyright. Until 2001, some of those (encryption and privacy) were conservative issues. Now both parties tend to be in agreement and oppose the EFF on all of these issues.

I think GP is suggesting EFF has more in common with the ACLU than with the Tea Party.

I think of the EFF as more Libertarian, and a often bit extreme in its position, which I think often puts it at the fringes of either of the major parties.

As is mentioned elsewhere, both parties have trouble understanding/responding to tech/privacy/open source/IP issues, so it's good there's a voice. I glad the EFF finds opportunities to disagree with both parties.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#67

Post by SomeCallMeTim »

anamax wrote: post #62
earl wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a useful response: give $50 to your congressman's opponent, attach a receipt, and vote democrat in the next election. Remember, the only people in the us who matter are voters (especially primary voters), donors, and campaign volunteers.

> vote democrat in the next election Why would voting for someone who voted for SOPA help stop it? Harry Reid, D-NV, senate majority leader, is pushing SOPA as a jobs bill so claiming that it's a republican idea is silly. http://maplight.org/us-congress/bill/112-hr-3261/1019110/tot... shows that police and firefighter unions are supporting SOPA, as are the teamsters, the electrical workers union, as well as the movie…

It's well known that Harry Reid is bought-and-paid-for by MPAA/RIAA, just like Dianne Feinstein in California (who most of my liberal friends loved, but who I couldn't stand for her MAFIAA connections).

Politics is no fun. It's not like if I voted for the Republican opposing her that we'd get a better deal for ANYTHING that I cared about. We need a third party with reasonable political power, and/or a proportional-governance system where you tally the votes and give each party its proportional share of representatives. The current system is broken.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#68

Post by sukuriant »

bluekeybox wrote: post #22
maeon3 wrote: post #17

The global internet is quickly becoming a more powerful entity than all the rulers in Congress. Congress will not stop trying to put a leash on it. The more powerful the internet gets, the more you will see Congress trying anything to establish control. Child pornography, digital rights, copyright, Chinese hackers, national security, containing the terrorists, fud... Congress will use military force if necessary if t…

These kinds of comments may scare away large numbers of level-headed people from standing up against SOPA. Do you honestly think that the emergence of a global super-entity to serve as a niche to all kinds of low-lives is a good thing? Because if you are, then a lot of people who are aware of your position will be against whatever you stand, which of course means that you will lose potentially valuable allies against…

Even the Free and Open Source Movements need a Richard Stallman to be as successful as they have been.

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#69

Post by josephcooney »

bad_user wrote: post #49
abscondment wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Personally, I find myself disagreeing with both sides too much for this to be effective at all. I'm not going to say one should or shouldn't vote Democrat. But, there are too many considerations on which I'm unwilling to compromise to just vote for the enemy of my enemy. Neither party is your friend.

Politicians will always do whatever is in the interests of the people or companies giving them votes or donations, so unfortunately without voting for the enemy of your enemy (and maybe convincing others to do so), you don't have any other tool to punish these politicians. And they need to be punished, just like a good spanking at the right time does wonders for spoiled brats.

"unfortunately without voting for the enemy of your enemy (and maybe convincing others to do so), you don't have any other tool to punish these politicians."

This sounds awfully like "I Voted for Kodos".

Re: How does SOPA threaten Stack Overflow?

#70

Post by bluekeybox »

sukuriant wrote: post #68
bluekeybox wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These kinds of comments may scare away large numbers of level-headed people from standing up against SOPA. Do you honestly think that the emergence of a global super-entity to serve as a niche to all kinds of low-lives is a good thing? Because if you are, then a lot of people who are aware of your position will be against whatever you stand, which of course means that you will lose potentially valuable allies against…

Even the Free and Open Source Movements need a Richard Stallman to be as successful as they have been.

No they don't. You are jumping to conclusion from a sample of size one, ignoring survivorship bias.
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