Stop SOPA and PIPA!

I decided not to blackout any of my blogs or sites today mainly out of laziness (and fear that I'd totally screw something up) but I support those who did. I wrote my congressional representatives and I hope those of you in the US will do the same. I also want to take issue with those who claim that people who are against SOPA and PIPA are by default FOR piracy. Of course that is not the case, it's a false dichotomy. They (and I) are for reasonable IP protections that don't break the internet and prop up old business models that don't want to be dragged into the 21st century.

BTW, Lamar Smith (R-Tx), author of SOPA, was at the American Astronomical Society meeting last week and spoke for about 10 minutes before the "Science and Society" talk. Unfortunately he didn't take questions, but I was sorely tempted to yell out while he was trying to tell us how much of a nerd he was "Then why did you write a bill that could break the internet??".

If you want to learn more about the issue here are some great places to start:

Google: End Piracy, Not Liberty

EFF: Strike Against Censorship

PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet from Fight for the Future on Vimeo.