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Ok, you've convinced me. Now what? I have time and money, so give me a call to action dammit.
by asolove 15y ago
Ok, you've convinced me. Now what? I have time and money, so give me a call to action dammit.
- dsplittgerber 15y agoNot trying to provoke you and yes, it'd be easier that way - just trying to make a point. But you are, apparently, not really convinced. Otherwise you'd see what's at stake here and a ten-second google search wouldn't stop you from donating, to say the least.
- stephth 15y agoWhat's wrong with asking for suggestions on how to act?
- tikhonj 15y agoTell everyone you know. Share it on your favorite social network. The first step is getting as many people as possible aware of the ramifications of this bill.
- Aloisius 15y agoCall your Representatives. On the phone. http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml Seriously, there is nothing more powerful than a switchboard full of angry constituents.
- songrabbit 15y agoIf you are on android, I made this quick app to go from zip code to a list of your representatives and a call button for each of them. https://market.android.com/details?id=com.politicall.android https://market.android.com/details?id=com.politicall.android
- bh42222 15y agoSeriously, there is nothing more powerful than a switchboard full of angry constituents. And the sad reality is that there are not nearly enough of us angry about this to fill the switchboard. --EDIT-- I depressed myself and wanted to add something constructive: Lobbyists exist because groups often want more political clout than their members could achieve simply by voting. With lobbying it is possible for a small group to achieve an out-sized influence on politics. I think the most effective thing we can do is organize a lobby group. The first thing I would look for is how do industry lobbying groups form. Is there another industry which was threatened by government action and organized to defend itself? How did competitors come to agree on shared goals to lobby for? What was the first step? Why are there some industries where one lobbying body represents all very effectively, and other industries where, even on shared goals, individual companies have more lobbying power than an industry wide lobby? Here I'm specifically thinking of the EFF vs Google and Microsoft and IBM and some others.
- JabavuAdams 15y agoHere's your chance to lobby. Stop philosophizing and do it!
- sciurus 15y ago"I think the most effective thing we can do is organize a lobby group." There already is one, http://publicknowledge.org http://publicknowledge.org
- smokeyj 15y ago1) Put your money in an envelope 2) Mail it to your elected pimp 3) Beg for freedom of speech
- KleinmanB 15y ago1) Track down your representatives personal/work email address 2) Send your opinion in 3) Share and repeat
- zmj 15y agoEmail is not a good way to reach your Congressman. They get too much of it to address, and most of it is automated. Call, send a letter, or visit in person.
- megamark16 15y agoI just called mine. You should too.
- KleinmanB 15y agoBe it call, email letter or in person. Volume is the key.
- knieveltech 15y ago4) Watch as nothing happens.
- KleinmanB 15y agoIf you hit them where they live (personal Emil addresses and public facing forums) at least they will have to respond. These people are elected to represent the public if they aren't responding during their normal work day, we have a right to pester them until they respond.
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- feralchimp 15y agoSomewhere, someone is buying stock in Kenwood and Icom on the theory that amateur packet radio is about to make a giant comeback. :) I wonder how feasible it would be for private citizens to wire up an alternative U.S.-wide internet out of above-ground fibre and ethernet. I bet we could get Cambridge/Somerville MA pretty well hooked together, at least. Comms to the Bay Area may involve flying backpacks of DVDs back and forth, though. Get ready for some latency.
- deleted 15y ago[deleted]
- kd0amg 15y agoComms to the Bay Area may involve flying backpacks of DVDs back and forth, though. Supplemented, perhaps, with low-baud HF links.
- urza 15y agoI predict the rise of Tor in the next decade. After that.. maybe a new free (as in speech) physical layer.. Something in the line of recently mentioned darknet maybe http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2011/11/the-darknet-plan-netroots-activists-dream-of-global-mesh-network.ars?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=rss http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2011/11/the-darknet-...
- jdp23 15y agoa few things to do: - if you have money, donate to the organizations opposing it: EFF, Public Knowledge, etc. - if you have time, call your Representative. get your friends to call their representatives. - in any case, help get the word out: share links on social networks and email, vote stories up, bring it up with your family over Thanksgiving, tell people about EFF's action alert at https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173 https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?... and other feedback mechanisms
- jarrett 15y agoThis is the script I'm using for calling and emailing my Senators and Congressman. Feel free to adapt it. "I'm a voter in Congressman Rush's district, and I'm calling to ask the Congressman to vote against SOPA, HR. 3261. As the owner of an internet business in Chicago, I fear that I'll be forced to close shop if SOPA passes. SOPA would make it easy for anyone to have my websites shut down, without having to prove that we've violated any law. Our only recourse would be an expensive legal process that we simply can't afford. Thus, if SOPA passes, my company and others like it will be out of business, and many people will be out of work." Also, EFF makes it dead-simple to email the right politicians based on your address. They even have a template email for you. You can be done in under a minute: https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173 https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?... BTW, if you're afraid to call in because you think you'll sound silly/scripted/unimportant, don't be! The people who answer phones at political offices get lots of calls, and they're used to hearing all kinds of weird stuff. Believe me, even if you read your script in a Ben Stein monotone, you'll still sound twice as smart and engaging as a lot of what they hear. So don't be afraid to call your politicians.
- ks 15y agoI wonder if perhaps paper based letters would make a larger impact than email. A huge bag with hundreds of letters stands out these days.
- andrewpi 15y agoOne thing to note is that mail sent to Congress faces long delays due to the requirement that it be irradiated. If it's time urgent, then calling, faxing, or emailing is probably preferred.
- shibboleth 15y agoThey stand out if they are hand written and and unique. They can even be e-mails, but just remember to keep it precise and unique. Copy/paste responses are clumped together and given much less weight in terms of consideration.
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- DenisM 15y agoWrite to your representative and let your friends know that you did (on facebook). Start here: https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=8173& https://wfc2.wiredforchange.com/o/9042/p/dia/action/public/?...;
- JamesBlair 15y agoSame question here from a non US resident. News of this law makes me ill, yet I see nothing I can do to help.
- knieveltech 15y agoConvince the military of wherever it is you live to invade at their earliest convenience.
- einhverfr 15y agoI've been asking a question that I think the EFF and others have been asking: How the heck is this Constitutional? The problem isn't just free speech issues, but rather due process issues, since the takedown orders can occur without any adversarial hearings. In other words, the prosecutor goes to the judge, presents evidence, and the judge, without hearing from the defence, decides to issue the order. The 5th Amendment to the US Constitution states in part that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. This seems to fly in the face of that. How fast can you say "Star Chamber?" I would certainly hope that should this pass the first time a prosecutor goes to a judge with a request for this, the prosecutor strikes down this provision of the law on these grounds. I would certainly hope that such a ruling would be upheld on appeal. and there is some precedent for this. The Third Circuit recently had a magistrate judge refuse to sign a subpoena for cell site location data holding that the request might constitute a 4th Amendment search and as such a warrant was required instead. When appealed, the 3rd Circuit sided with the magistrate, much to Prof. Orin Kerr's surprise (on whose blog I followed this story).
- Symmetry 15y agoGenerally speaking, seizure doesn't require any adversarial hearings beforehand, and possible procedures afterwards are used to justify the "due process" requirement. This has been a big deal going back decades with the police finding people with large amounts of cash on them, and seizing it on the grounds that only drug dealers use large amounts of cash. This has caused all sorts of problems: http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/police-ignore-illegal-drugs-focus-on-seizing-cash/239349/# http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2011/05/police-i...