SOPA Protesting - UPDATE

Wikipedia's front page is dark today over SOPA and fellow SLOB, Dueling Barstools, has a protest page up as well. I would like to remind my readers that the SOPA bill is an example of the Congress working at the behest of big corporations in the entertainment industry to protect their business model, while imposing intrusive and unnecessary regulation on the rest of the world.

In an unusual display of right and left agreement that this is an example of crony capitalism at its filthiest I quote:

The email from DailyKos said this.

In short, this proposed law would allow corporate copyright holders the ability to cut off funding and compel the government to shut down websites they deem infringing, without the need of a court order.

And Neil Stevens, at the Daily Caller, opposes the bill as well, saying this:

This portion of the bill has little to do with protecting American interests abroad or with punishing lawbreakers. Instead, this portion of SOPA regulates the Internet at home. It is a framework for domestic censorship only tangentially related to intellectual property rights.

Darrell Issa, one of the few politicians I follow on Twitter deserves credit for crusading against this excrement. He has offered an alternative bill and asked for public comment. Protecting intellectual property rights need not trample our economic rights nor wreck the internet's technical infrastructure. Please put pressure on your Congressperson to oppose this legislation.

Here is what I wrote.

Congresswoman Davis,
The SOPA bill is a dangerous threat to the internet, both from the potential for censorship, misuse by third parties and damage to the internet's technical infrastructure. Please tell me that you will be voting against this bill or its companion Senate measure PIPA.
Regards, B

UPDATE

The protests and congressional contact seem to be having the desired effect. Harry Reid does not appear to have the votes to get a cloture vote on PIPA.