You may or may not be aware of the fact that your internet freedom is currently being threatened by pending legislation. The SOPA/PIPA legislation would censor the information you are able to access over the internet, and powerhouse sites like Craigs List and Wikipedia would immediately be taken down. Small business sites and sites like MaverickMom.com who post information that may conflict with corporate profits could immediately be taken down as well. The intentions of this bill are to stop internet piracy, which is a noble effort. However, this legislation is not the answer because it will cripple our ability to share information. Can you imagine an internet without Craigs List, Wikipedia, or some of your favorite blogs? It could happen.
I read about occasional violations of our freedom over various things like organic produce and natural supplements but often, I’m not sure what to do about it. Here are some easy, fast, but effective ways that you, my friend, can help protect our internet freedom.
I just emailed many of my friends about this issue with a few links to contact their own state representatives. Below is the email that I sent, and you can feel free to copy and paste this content to send out as your own. You can also go directly to the link embedded within the email below to voice your concern to your local representatives. If sites like Craigs List and Wikipedia go black in protest of this bill, you can be sure that it’s worth writing home about now.
Hi friends,
You may already be aware of the pending SOPA/PIPA legislation that would restrict our internet freedom to the point that sites like Craigs List and Wikipedia would disappear. Small business websites and personal blogs like my own could immediately be taken down to protect corporate profit. Large businesses like Wal Mart and Time Warner support this legislation.
S. 968, S. 978 and H.R. 3261 would take the already strict laws regarding intellectual property and copyright and make them more onerous by causing website owners to be careful about not just what they post, but also what they link to.
We have very thorough copyright laws on the books; there is no need for this overstep. Take a few seconds to write your Senator today and encourage them to vote No, http://action.theeca.com/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=5006
We need to do something about internet piracy, but this legislation is not the answer. If you would like to help do something to protect our internet freedom and some of the best powerhouses on the internet, here is some further information and an easy way to do that.
You can also learn about SOPA/PIPA and the people who support or oppose this effort here: http://www.craigslist.org/about/SOPA
Feel free to forward this email to as many people as possible. The more informed we all are, the more empowered we will be to protect internet freedom.
Many thanks,
Lisa Benton
