I’ve been having trouble lately finding time to write, what with work; raising seven baby dairy goats (Oberhasli) in the house; an ailing 92 yr mother; and my son graduating from college.
Anywho’s… in case you didn’t notice, the Senate Judiciary Committee just passed the Protect IP Act (known as PIPA) last week. Luckily, Senator Ron Wyden (Oregon) has placed a hold on the legislation just as he did on it’s predecessor, COICA (Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act). Protect IP is the wayward son of COICA and will be even more damaging to the Internet as we know it. Since I still don’t have enuf time to write my own opinion of this ridiculous piece of legislation, I’m going to point you to some excellent articles/essays on just how dangerous the Protect IP Act is.
Larry Downes wrote the following two articles:
- Leahy’s Protect IP bill even worse than COICA, CNET News, 12 May 2011
- Leahys Protect IP Act: Why Internet content wars will never end, Forbes, 16 May 2011
Be sure to read the next to last section of the Forbes article titled “What are we fighting for?“
Lauren Weinstein has written extensively on both Protect IP & COICA. Here are his latest articles/essays:
- Blinded by the Light: The Internet Enemy Within, 31 May 2011
- Why PROTECT IP Web Censorship Will Fail – But Lead to Much Worse, 26 May 2011
- “Let Them Eat Bits”: How We Can Save Freedom On the Internet, 24 May 2011
- Why the Internet is the Most Important Thing in the World, 21 May 2011
- Knowledge as Sacrilege: The Criminalizing of Links and Search Engines, 15 May 2011
- “Free Speech Be Damned!”: Congressional Bill Would Censor Search Engines, 11 May 2011
Mother Board article:
Business Insider article:
- Protect IP (FKA COICA), 19 May 2011
And finally, I’ll close with a couple columns on TorrentFreak by Rick Falkvinge:
- It Is Everyones Duty To Defy Unjust Laws, 29 May 2011
- Monopoly Lawyers Shouldnt Write Monopoly Laws, 17 April 2011
If you have not yet emailed, called or written your representatives to oppose this nasty piece of legislation, then now is the time!
Latah’s…