How I relate to others about SOPA and PIPA
January 18, 2012Today, I attended the New York Tech Meetup rally against SOPA and PIPA bills. There was such a large turnout of people and it was reported that 2,000+ people have showed up.
While at the rally, I was approached by numerous people who asked if I would like to do an interview and answer some questions. I wanted to tell my story and how SOPA and PIPA will not only affect me but everyone else.
The most common question I was asked was my thoughts on the SOPA and PIPA bills in which my response was: "I live in the United States, not China. There is no reason for our government to censor the Internet. These laws will not effectively solve the problem they are supposedly trying to solve."
Another question I was asked was how this bill will affect me, in which I responded: "I am a student studying computer science. These bills will obviously affect me as it involves the Internet. Also these bills are vaguely written and they WILL affect USA based websites and companies despite what supporters are saying."
You can see my other response that was written in this article: Reddit Co-Founder Says Today's SOPA Rally "Geekiest, Most Rational Protest" written by James Thilman.
Now how I really felt I made an impact today was when random NYC people asked me about my beard beanie that my wonderful girlfriend Tracey Dunham got me (mine is similar to this).
Update: The Consumerist has a picture of me wearing my beard beanie and a friend of mine.
I would be walking around and catch someone looking at the sweet beard beanie. I would make eye contact with them and they usually asked me...
Person: "That is such a cool hat, where did you get it?"
Me: "I got it from the internet."
Person: "Where?"
Me: "I got it from Etsy.com, a website where people sell handmade arts and crafts. However, there is a possibility you may never find Etsy.com."
Person: "Why?"
Me: "Congress is trying to pass two bills; SOPA and PIPA. These bills can censor the internet if a website is deemed to be infringing on copyrighted content. Please urge your representative to not support these bills."
After that people did not continue the conversation but you can see their eyes widen as I mentioned the censorship word. I really do nope those people I talked to take action and get in touch with their representative.
So far the technology sphere has made a tremendous impact but that is not enough. We need to start educating those who are not technology savvy on how SOPA and PIPA will affect their lives. We simply cannot say "It will break the Internet" because I am sure most people have no idea how the Internet works. I am pretty sure the tech community is all for protecting intellectual property and there for we must not be saying the reason we oppose the bills is because "these bills are anti-piracy bills...". This makes us sound like we want to support people pirating intellectual property.
Simply start telling people...
1. These bills will not help create jobs, they will stifle the technology industry which has been growing and innovating for many years.
2. Big media companies have lobbied Congress with $94 MILLION dollars (compared to the tech industry which is ~$15 MILLION) to try and get this bill passed. Democrats and Republicans lined up to sponsor SOPA and PIPA but they CANNOT agree on issues such as unemployment or the deficit which are more important issues.
3. These laws are vaguely written and provide more power to those who are already ABUSING current copyright laws such as the DMCA laws. With great power comes great responsibility.
4. Remind people that they live in the United States and that Congress is trying to pass a bill that is on par with China, Iran and other repressive nations who censor their citizens. The United States has spoken out against such countries for their actions, so why is the United States trying to censor the Internet.
Keep calling, emailing, faxing, and writing letters to your representatives. I know I will continue to do so and remind them that I will be a first time voter. I will be voting for a candidate that does not support SOPA or PIPA and has my interests as well as my fellow American's interests at heart.