Wikipedia goes dark for 24 hours to protest web piracy bills http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2012/01/18/wikipedia-goes-dark-for-24-hours-to-protest-us-web-piracy-bills/Call your elected officials.Tell them you are their constituent, and you oppose SOPA and PIPA.
Why?SOPA and PIPA put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won't have sufficient resources to defend themselves. Big media companies may seek to cut off funding sources for their foreign competitors, even if copyright isn't being infringed. Foreign sites will be blacklisted, which means they won't show up in major search engines. SOPA and PIPA build a framework for future restrictions and suppression.
In a world in which politicians regulate the Internet based on the influence of big money, Wikipedia — and sites like it — cannot survive.
Congress says it's trying to protect the rights of copyright owners, but the "cure" that SOPA and PIPA represent is worse than the disease. SOPA and PIPA are not the answer: they will fatally damage the free and open Internet.
Dear Rep. Todd Platts [R, PA-19], Sen. Patrick Toomey [R, PA], Sen. Robert Casey [D, PA]
Today I went to Wikipedia to research red deer and up popped the warning about upcoming legislation that might have a huge impact on my own ability to practice free speech- and my ability to blog photos and news and opinion and insights and inspirations that might actually help end the Israel/Palestine conflict... I believe that the anti-piracy act will too easily empower all the wrong people and seriously harm the average citizen's ability to research, keep accurate public notes as well as make intelligent contributions to the global conversation on important topics such as the Israel/Palestine conflict or ecology or even tourism and economics.
My own blogs and efforts are certainly not as professional or popular or entertaining as many of the multiple Jewish activists and writers who contribute to popular newspapers, blogs and list serves, exploring every aspect and perspective of the Israel/Palestine conflict, deftly arguing every side plus some... but I like to think my careful notes and my own pro-America/pro-Palestine contributions to the conversation help steer at least some free thinkers, inquiring minds and compassionate strangers away from the rampant hate mongering and anti-American rhetoric and the ugliness that tends to dominate non-mainstream forums focused in on using Palestine as a fulcrum for their rage.
I fear that anti-piracy laws can too easily be misused by well funded but misguided organizations and individuals who seek to harass targeted individuals in order to silence ideas and facts they want to oppress and hide, steering the general public away from seeing larger truths and trends.
I am a lowly unpaid blogger, poet & American homemaker who very much believes in free speech, the marketplace of ideas and the vital importance of paper trails made possible by the internet... I also believe in Palestine and the importance of supporting serious state building efforts. Already many very rational and well informed people here in America are reluctant to speak out publicly about the importance of ending the Israel/Palestine conflict with a just and lasting peace based on international law and respect for basic human rights because they have been harassed into silence by religious extremists and various well funded organizations that actually thrive on the continuation of the conflict. Please don't arm petty tyrants and big business with yet another weapon to use against vulnerable and conscientious individuals and NGOs.
Sincerely,
Anne Selden Annab
Help Build A Golden Rule Peace for the Holy Land
Google Search 2010
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