17 12 / 2011
![thedailywhat:
The Internet Is For Freedom of the Day: One of the more inspired maneuvers used by anti-SOPA lawmakers to try and stymie their near-invincible opponents during yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing was attempted by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), who introduced an amendment excluding “pornography” from SOPA’s protection [pdf].
The genius of it was that the bill’s supporters, particularly its conservative author Rep. Lamar Smith, would likely want to avoid voting in favor of a bill that has the best interests of the adult film industry at heart.
Additionally, determining what constituted “pornography” would undoubtedly leave many entertainment industry properties such as rap songs and certain mainstream films vulnerable to exclusion — something the bigwigs behind SOPA would not particularly care for.
Though the effort was short-lived — the amendment was ultimately defeated by pro-SOPA politicians — it did manage to accomplish two important feats.
It contributed to the derailment of the hearing, which in turn led to the clock running out, forcing the indefinite postponement of the debate. (alert: word is that the markup might start up again next Wednesday)
Perhaps more importantly, however, it accomplished something heretofore thought impossible: The insertion of the lyrics to Avenue Q’s Internet-famous number “The Internet is for Porn” (below) into the official congressional hearing record.
[cnet.]](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lwczf87yr51qzpwi0o1_500.jpg)
The Internet Is For Freedom of the Day: One of the more inspired maneuvers used by anti-SOPA lawmakers to try and stymie their near-invincible opponents during yesterday’s House Judiciary Committee hearing was attempted by Rep. Jared Polis (D-CO), who introduced an amendment excluding “pornography” from SOPA’s protection [pdf].
The genius of it was that the bill’s supporters, particularly its conservative author Rep. Lamar Smith, would likely want to avoid voting in favor of a bill that has the best interests of the adult film industry at heart.
Additionally, determining what constituted “pornography” would undoubtedly leave many entertainment industry properties such as rap songs and certain mainstream films vulnerable to exclusion — something the bigwigs behind SOPA would not particularly care for.
Though the effort was short-lived — the amendment was ultimately defeated by pro-SOPA politicians — it did manage to accomplish two important feats.
It contributed to the derailment of the hearing, which in turn led to the clock running out, forcing the indefinite postponement of the debate. (alert: word is that the markup might start up again next Wednesday)
Perhaps more importantly, however, it accomplished something heretofore thought impossible: The insertion of the lyrics to Avenue Q’s Internet-famous number “The Internet is for Porn” (below) into the official congressional hearing record.
[cnet.]
Permalink 593 notes
17 12 / 2011
"The fact that there was any debate over whether to call in experts on such a matter should tell you something about the integrity of Congress. It’d be one thing if legitimate technical questions directed at the bill’s supporters weren’t met with either silence or veiled accusations that the other side was sympathetic to piracy. Yet here we are with a group of elected officials openly supporting a bill they can’t explain, and having the temerity to suggest there’s no need to “bring in the nerds” to suss out what’s actually on it… The chilling takeaway of this whole debacle was the irrefutable air of anti-intellectualism; that inescapable absurdity that we have members of Congress voting on a technical bill who do not posses any technical knowledge on the subject and do not find it imperative to recognize those who do.
This used to be funny, but now it’s really just terrifying. We’re dealing with legislation that will completely change the face of the internet and free speech for years to come. Yet here we are, still at the mercy of underachieving Congressional know-nothings that have more in common with the slacker students sitting in the back of math class than elected representatives. The fact that some of the people charged with representing us must be dragged kicking and screaming out of their complacency on such matters is no longer endearing — it’s just pathetic and sad."
Joshua Kopstein, Dear Congress, It’s No Longer OK To Not Know How The Internet Works (via drinkyourjuice)
This friends, is the most important article you’ll read today. (via shortformblog)
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Agreed.
(via vicemag)
(via vicemag)
Permalink 2,154 notes
16 11 / 2011
if you'd like to email your representatives
to express your opposition to sopa and pipa - two proposed acts which would encourage censorship of websites and online content - the above link is quite an easy place to do so. simply fill in the form.
(Source: dazaibrosamu)
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