| Dear Fellow Patriot, |
Happy New Year! This is Kevin Jackson from Black Sphere and I am using this email to tell you about a new project we are beginning in 2012 – Unhyphenated American. I am a Black man but first, and foremost, I am an American. I am NOT a hyphenated American, just an American. Before I am able to tell you about our plans and goals for 2012, I first have to let you know that there is a movement afoot in Congress that could take down my efforts to spread pro-American ideals and I am now going to explain how drastically it can, and will, effect your life it if passes and becomes law. NOTE: Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader from Nevada, recently stated that the first thing the Senate will consider when it returns from the Christmas Break is SOPA. |  |
|
Accordingly, we may have to take action as early as this Wednesday. In summary, the American ideal of individual liberty is being jeopardized in a more direct and sinister manner than ever in our nation's history by two bills that are being brought up in the Congress, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House, and PROTECT IP (PIPA) in the Senate, would remove the Constitutional basis of our free speech rights, depriving us and our children of the power of open dissent. The bills would entrust the government with the role of acting as thought police on what is or isn't legitimate political criticism. The consensus is exceptionally broad that these are the two most draconian and arbitrary pieces of legislation to arise in years. Noted left-leaning blog Politico reports that both conservative and liberal bloggers believe the legislation signals "the end of us.” Online experts at TechDirt, referring to PIP state the bill is for the most part "horribly ugly.” Adam Savage of Mythbusters argues the bills are not only unconstitutional, but anti-constitutional. The co-host explains: |
| | The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), passed in 1998, is a lousy piece of legislation and a very useful lens through which to regard these two new pieces of legislation. Think of all the stories you've read over the past 14 years of people slapping DMCA takedowns of content that they didn't own, just because they didn't like what it had to say. One that comes to mind is Uri Gellar, the popular psychic who performed spoon bending and other tricks on TV in the 1970s. Using a DMCA claim, he had YouTube pull videos of him being humiliated during a 1973 appearance on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, when he had no copyright claim to them at all. This is exactly what will happen with PIPA and SOPA. We've seen it again and again. Give people a club like this and you can kiss the Internet as you know it goodbye. It's really that bad. And it's a clear violation of our First Amendment right to free speech. The Internet is probably the most important technological advancement of my lifetime. Its strength lies in its open architecture and its ability to allow a framework where all voices can be heard. Like the printing press before it (which states also tried to regulate, for centuries), it democratizes information, and thus it democratizes power. If we allow Congress to pass these draconian laws, we'll be joining nations like China and Iran in filtering what we allow people to see, do, and say on the Web. |
|
The online censorship legislation has generated a widespread backlash from online mainstays that indicates the magnitude of threat the bills present to the very vitality of the Internet. One of the most vocal opponents of SOPA has been SCRIBD, the online document sharing service. Michelle Laird, the company's director of communications, stated the following in a press release: |
| | Today, users of Scribd are able to watch as the words they read are being taken away, as Scribd demonstrates to its millions of users what the SOPA & PIPA would do every day if these laws are passed. "With this legislation in place, entire domains like Scribd could simply vanish from the web,” said Jared Friedman, CTO & co-founder, Scribd. "That's why we're showing our users just what SOPA and PIPA could do to Scribd and other sites. These bills aren't just dry acronyms; they're a direct attack on the underpinnings of the web.” |
|
The web has not only flourished due to the freedom of expression it has engendered, but the open avenues of commerce it has opened up. The bills would not only stifle and chill speech, but curb online commercial activity. Passing these into law in the midst of a stubbornly long and deep recession would show that the U.S. government is not only hostile to free speech, but apathetic to the dire state of Americans' economic livelihoods. The Congress is within days of declaring open war against the Constitution. While assuredly horrible laws have been passed before, none of them sought to restrain average Americans' right to protest them. Under the new regime, the act of pulling a plug on a disliked blog would be just a mouse-click away. As even the socialist Rosa Luxemburg noted, "freedom is always freedom for the other guy.” Both right and left agree – we should argue about our ideals in an open environment, and that demands an open Internet. We are now working on a plan of attack against SOPA and PIPA and will bring it you in a day or two. Please respond to me with any questions, observations or suggestions. |
| Sincerely, |
 |
Kevin Jackson, Founder
Unhyphenated America |
|
No comments:
Post a Comment