Silicon Valley PIPA / SOPA Protest
- January 18, 2012 · 12:00 PM
Global PIPA / SOPA protests are a go. #NoPIPASF
Websites all over the globe are going Dark to protest radical copyright legislation.
Tech meetup groups around the country are joining forces to rally against PIPA.
Join us for a rally in San Francisco on Wednesday starting at12:00pm
Let's save the internet... really.
***Update ***
Speakers:
Brewster Kahle, Founder of Internet Archive is speaking.
Gideon Lett: VP Policy Governmental Affairs for Technet.org
Jonathan Nelson: Founder Hackers & Founders
*** Update ***
If you are joining in having your site go down, here's a blackout script: https://github.com/SaraJo/SOPA-PIPA-Protest...
In detail:
Tech Startups are one of the few bright spots on the global economy. We were under threat from SOPA, and are still under threat from PIPA, or whatever the media moguls decide to call their protectionist agenda next.
Right now, we're being written off as a loud but unimportant vocal minority.
I feel very strongly that we need to educate the population at large, clearly and succinctly.
Our memes:
We are the job creators
Tech companies are bringing the economy back from the brink
Laws like SOPA and PIPA break the internet
If PIPA gets made into law, startups will die
Radical, protectionist copyright legislation like PIPA is terrible for the economy
We want media moguls to innovate, not legislate
These laws are job killers.
Please join us.
Hackers & Founders is joining forces with tech meetup organizers around the country. We'll be holding rallies in New York, Washington DC, Seattle and Silicon Valley to put a public face to the online protests and blackouts that are still moving forward this Wednesday.
Silicon Valley groups involved:
Hackers & Founders,
106 Miles,
SV NewTech,
SF NewTEch,
Designers and Geeks,
Hacks & Hackers,
Electronic Frontier Foundation,
Internet Archive,
TechNet
invite everyone you can...
The Problem:
Even though the DNS blocking provisions have been removed from the Senate PIPA bill it is still toxic.
Both California Senators, Barbara Boxer and Diane Feinstein are co sponsors of the PIPA bill in the Senate. We need registered voters to call / email Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer's offices and voice their opposition to these bills and to voice their opposition to radical copyright laws like these.
The goals:
1. Give a human face to the online protests this Wednesday
2. Have a phone call drive to have people call their Senators and representatives right then and there.
3. Focus media attention to the largest legislative threat the internet and startups have ever faced.
4. Educate the public about how toxic this legislation would be to startups.
5. Be calm, respectful, stay off the sidewalks and clean up after ourselves.
To pull this off, we need:
As many people as possible to attend rallies around the country on Wednesday
Attract national media attention.
Convince as many people as possible to call / email their senators their opposition to these bills and the radical copyright agenda of the media moguls of the MPAA and RIAA.
Pro Tip:
What lobbyists do is simply convince as many people as possible to call their Senators and Representatives and register opposition to a bill.
Let's do this.
Senator Barbara Boxer's contact information:
DC: [masked]
District: [masked]
or email her via Contact Congress.
Instructions on what to say to register your opposition.
Senator Diane Feinstein's contact information:
DC: [masked]
District: [masked]
or email her via Contact Congress.
Instructions on what to say to register your opposition.
Majority Senate leader Harry Reid
[masked] (leave a comment)
Judiciary Committee
(ask for them and leave your message)
[masked]
Then, in the next few months, we need to talk about how we can fix these problems long term, rather than just react to these issues all the time.
I believe we need to create a Startup PAC to educate legislators and their staffers on these issues. There's a lot of other issues that a Startup PAC could take on to improve our industry and promote it:
Startup Visa
Immigration reform so people on H1B's can have expect green cards in reasonable time frames
Copyright reform
Crowdfunding
Patent reform
Creation of health care exchanges for small companies, solo founders and contractors to purchase health insurance as a group
Net neutrality
Creation of an early warning system for terrible tech legislation like SOPA/PIPA
Worst case scenario... This turns into the largest H&F meetup ever.
Besides, what else are you going to do? Cheezeburger and Reddit will both be down.
And, please with the Twitter, the Social Media-ing, the Social News-ing and the Facebookifying.
Thanks,
Jonathan
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A former member
SOPA is dead! And there was much rejoicing!
We still need to keep our eyes and ears open for PIPA and any future bills though. I'm sure this isn't over yet.
http://mashable.com/2012/01/20/...
January 20, 2012
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A former member
Just got a petition from SaveTheInternet.com/FreePress Action Fund encouraging people to sign a petition that will go to their respective reps: http://act2.freepress.net/sign/...
Of course, those always follow up with a tweet you can send out: #PIPA #SOPA are not dead yet. Take action now to kill the online censorship bills for good: http://bit.ly/xIbw8X
via @freepressJanuary 20, 2012
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A former member
@Christine, I don't think we should feel threatened by the shutdown of Megaupload. THere's pretty convincing evidence that they encouraged and profited from the distribution of pirated content.
http://www.extremetech.com/inte...I agree that the government probably already has the tools it needs to shut down DOMESTIC sites. Megaupload's servers are located in the US. That doesn't help them with FOREIGN sites like Pirate Bay.
January 20, 2012
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Steffen Frost
Jonathan put a lot of effort into organizing this event, great turnout.
January 20, 2012
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Steffen Frost
Here is the video of the interview with Jonathan.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...January 20, 2012
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CHRISTINE MASON
Vote postponed however, it doesn't stop the Feds from shutting MegaUpload Down, Who's Next? RapidShare? SoundCloud? DropBox?
Apparently the US Federal Government doesn?t need new legislation in place to shut down major file storage sites and lock millions of users out of their file lockers. The bigger question, then, is who?s next? http://tcrn.ch/xfkrpc
January 20, 2012
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A former member
I can confirm that the Senate has postponed vote on cloture and that the bill is going back to committee for revision. I heard this directly for Senator Feinsteins office moments ago when I called to leave a statement.
January 20, 2012
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A former member
If you haven't heard yet, the Senate has postponed its vote on cloture. Harry Reid made a statement today: http://democrats.senate.gov/201...
1 · January 20, 2012
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Gregory Yankelovich
@Rahul - the theft is an excuse to preserve archaic business model that is rejected by consumers. Some movie industry insiders already on the record to support this statement. Read the proposed law and legal commentary. BTW, I am not a "religious" supporter of "free" information/content.
January 19, 2012
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Bob
@Rahul... sorry bro but your statement is quite shortsighted and inline with the thinking of our geriatric senators, like Reid and Leahy, who do not understand the true impact of the SOPA lunacy. Watch pixelhose.com over the next few days to learn how SOPA will impact civil rights, police accountability, and your vacation. Seriously dude, I mean it... YOUR vacation.
January 19, 2012
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Gregory Yankelovich
I just saw on TV former sen. Dodd, who now lobbies for Motion Pictures Ass. screaming to pass PIPA. I am in for the sit-in in Barbara Boxer office. She co-sponsored PIPA and collected $1.4Mf from the groups supporting SOPA/PIPA. http://www.opencongress.org/bil...
January 19, 2012
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Rahul
Just in a nutshell, If you want to stop SOPA, STOP Burglaries! The core issue of SOPA if theft. Lack of condemnation for theft also gives a bad name to SOPA protestors as thieves.
January 19, 2012
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Rahul
@Susie, you got the point from my last post on this page. SOPA isn't an isolated law.
The challenge is theft. If you live in SF, you'll see that theft has become an integrated part of society. If people don't stop stealing and using stolen items, laws like SOPA will continuously be pushed.
Problem is not SOPA, problem is the theft mentality with constant look for vulnerable people. It's not smartness. Motto like "Becoming Bigger Better in a fast way" is theft mentality indicator.
January 19, 2012
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A former member
One suggestion I heard was to organize drop-ins at your representatives' offices. I got an email from the NY Tech Meetup today that says the bill is being pushed through. I did a little bit of research, and Reid is pushing it to be heard on the floor some time next week.
I also got an email from a NJ-based group whose members are going to their reps' offices tomorrow to rally.
In terms of short-term, it's about continue to call, organizing drop-ins and staying on top of the news.
January 19, 2012
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A former member
This was a great event and I was glad to be a part of it. My question is, what's next short term and long term?
In the short term, Is there more that we can do to help stop SOPA and PIPA? I think someone suggested placing banners on our sites asking users to call congress. This is a great first step. Any other ideas?
In the long term, even if SOPA and PIPA don't pass, it wont be long before another bill comes along. How do we keep informed and organized? How can we stop being re-active?
January 19, 2012
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Asher Bond
We learned that if the software industry doesn't even support SOPA/PIPA then who does? Intellectual property expires if you don't maintain or share it and information wants to be free if you let it. If you put a price on information, you're putting a price on your own head and that's the price of a troll's head.
- Asher Bond
Elastic Provisioner, Inc.January 19, 2012
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Steve Patterson
Here are my thoughts about positioning the protest to get the maximum response from Congress http://wp.me/pwoMA-3z
January 19, 2012
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Adina Levin
If you haven't called Senators Feinstein and Boxer yet, please do! At the event yesterday I talked to two of the speakers and *they* hadn't called Feinstein and Boxer's office. They need to hear that constituents oppose their Bill.
2 · January 19, 2012
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A former member
I arrived late, but it was a nice experience. We have similar laws in my country, I hope they finally don't pass them here
January 19, 2012
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A former member
I'm glad they organized it. It was free speech and democracy at work in spite of corporate lobbying.
January 19, 2012
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A former member
Check this out guys: It's an updated list on each senators position on the bill. I am extremely saddened our own 2 Senators (Feinstein and Boxer) are supporters themselves.
--> http://www.opencongress.org/wik...January 19, 2012
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Amparo
16 senators withdraw support of unpopular PIPA bill http://arstechnica.com/tech-pol...
1 · January 19, 2012
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A former member
I just changed mine back and thanks for the Capsul8, Cameron. I've shared it on Twitter, FB and G+.
2 · January 19, 2012
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Cameron Matthews
Well, our favorite sites are back to normal... but let us not forget. It's time to kill these draconian bills and find solutions that don't criminalize innovation. I created this capsule keep the message alive. I preserved blacked-out Wikipedia. I preserved censored Craigslist. And I preserved The Oatmeal's steamy koala-on-goat action. This is why we created Capsul8 and it's why we stood outside City Hall in protest this afternoon. http://capsul8.com/moments/422
January 19, 2012
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ekai
I put together this video from today asking people "what's the worst thing about SOPA/PIPA to you?" A few of you are in it. More to come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...January 18, 2012
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Rahul
Shoot! Missed it! Couldn't follow this story! Just came back from the local emergency.
But this is a GOOD WAY TO DELAY it. Authors like us will always push for a similar law whose work has been in danger. The only way to stop it is to have a law that anyone can copy paste anyone's content.
Make sense?January 18, 2012
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Cindy F Solomon
Jonathan is awesome! Thanks for taking the lead and putting this important event together - what klout! Learned that we are all "gender-neutral" dudes amongst other things. Very cool that Craig Newmark and MC Hammer added their support in person!
January 18, 2012
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Gideon Lett
Senator Wyden's "Letter to the Internet": http://www.huffingtonpost.com/s...
1 · January 18, 2012
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Rosemarie McKeon
So many developers outside at noon and not eating lunch! Great idea and a well delivered spontaneous event about something we all care or should care about. I met Craig Newhart (craigslist.org) and heard MC Hammer speak and met the awesome Jonathan and Brooke in person. look forward to seeing how the documentation of this event gets 'packaged' and placed for everyone in our community.
January 18, 2012
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Ben Werdmuller
If anyone needs a collaborative space to upload and download video footage of the event so we can report on it after the fact, I've set up one at http://savethe.net.latakoo.com/
. I've uploaded my shaky cellphone video there, such as it is. I'd love to see (and edit with) other peoples'.2 · January 18, 2012
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CHRISTINE MASON
here are some of my photos:
this one will be on the news & blogs
https://instagr.am/p/iXu4I/
http://instagr.am/p/iYDgC/
http://instagr.am/p/iV_pt/really rad concept: https://twitter.com/#!/Traveling...
January 18, 2012
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Naureen
http://instagr.am/p/iW9OG/
here is one of many photos I put up on instagram!January 18, 2012
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Naureen
Best quote from the crowd "we're not professional protesters."- yet we came out and we voices and agreed on SOPA needing to be stopped!
January 18, 2012
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A former member
The event is essentially over now, though there are quite a few people milling about and chatting and finishing their videos/blog posts. Thanks to Jonathan Nelson and the other organizers for putting together this event and raising awareness!
1 · January 18, 2012
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A former member
Hopefully, you're en route by now Phil. I used to live in the Outer Richmond. Maybe NextBus.com might help you see what buses are running. The 5 goes right past the Civic Center too.
January 18, 2012
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Phil Herrera
The busses have stopped running from the outer richmond for some reason...? Been waiting for 35 minutes.. Is anyone heading down there from 24th and Geary?? If so, give me a ring 415.[two]98.863[five]
January 18, 2012
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A former member
Brazil already have some similar laws to SOPA and PIPA. Back in 2007, a decision shut down YouTube access (via DNS) in the hole country because of one single video (more info: http://searchengineland.com/you...
).Don't let them take your freedom away.
1 · January 18, 2012
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Bob
@Naureen... Great point. The same situation is true in Iran, China, most of the Middle East, and Africa. This @#$%up bill is a stone's throw from governments extending the definition of "illegal content" and declaring any content as unpatriotic or blasphemous and start shutting down web sites that facilitate access to such content.
Congress should truly be ashamed of itself for even considering this act.
I am hoping for a "Don't Go To Movies Protest Weekend" soon.
See you all soon...
1 · January 18, 2012
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Naureen
I can't wait!
Some of you rarely protest anything! Finally we are all fighting to protect: Why are you going?
I am going because my father lives in a country - Myanmar- where this is REALITY- the government controls how much of the internet the people access. While the USA has been criticizing their government, I have watched many of my fellow citizens here sit & LETS our media become shits, and fight over some %crap. PROTECT what you have left in MEDIA, internet freedom & VOICE! #nopipasfJanuary 18, 2012
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A former member
If anyone is heading over from Berkeley, let me know and maybe we can travel over together. I'll be heading in on BART from the Elmwood area in about an hour or so either Rockridge or Downtown Berkeley Stations work for me. Find me on Twitter @ReginaWalton.
January 18, 2012
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A former member
I have extra poster board, letter stencils, and black paint. If you are in SF early before the protest, let me know and I can lend my materials. I also have an extra wooden pole if you want to prop your sign up, but you'll need packing tape or duck tape. Contact me if interested. [masked] or direct message me on twitter @bogusred
I will probably be hanging out at the Hilton the hour before the protest as I'll be there for an unrelated event. So that's a spot we could meet up at
January 18, 2012
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