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> I thought it would be useful to have a place to discuss strategy .... Strategy for what? To prevent it from passing, publicity and writing congressmen would

> I thought it would be useful to have a place to discuss strategy .... Strategy for what? To prevent it from passing, publicity and writing congressmen would seem to be the thing to do. What to do if it passes is rather trickier. And then there is what to do if it fails. It has been suggested that SOPA is actually designed to fail, but in the process to shift the Overton Window [1], so that previously unacceptable legislation becomes politically feasible. How to deal with a changed political climate, is also tricky. > Obviously this has very little to do with intellectual curiosity, so if you don't believe it belongs on HN let me know. Well, it certain has more to do with intellectual curiosity than the endless articles on angel investors. I think the problem with political stuff is more that it tends to produce polarized, community-wrecking discussions. Will this topic do that? I don't know, but I think it's worth a shot. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overton_window

CWuestefeld 15y ago
To prevent it from passing, publicity and writing congressmen would seem to be the thing to do. There's such a mountain of documentation supporting the fact that SOPA is a terrible idea, that it must be true that politicians simply don't care how bad it is. If so, then publicizing the facts will have little impact. Instead, I'd say that the best strategy is to more directly threaten their livelihood: out them personally for being the idiots responsible. Don't publicize information about SOPA per se, but make sure that any Google searches for any of its supporters will show that this person is the one to blame.
- pasbesoin 15y ago
  If you look outside the tech sphere, you'll find remarkably little reporting and communication on it. Notwithstanding, I agree with your point that the real end to this would/will be the impending demise of the careers of the sponsors of such legislation, both public and private.
seagreen 15y ago
Thanks for the link about the Overton window. It's a good reminder that there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye. I meant strategy to prevent it from passing. That seems like the thing to focus on at the moment. I'd like to find a good article about using social media against SOPA. That seems like something that would play to our natural advantages. For instance, in addition to posting on my FB wall is it worth the time to friend congressmen and start commenting on their posts?
- ggchappell 15y ago
  > I meant strategy to prevent it from passing. Here's a Reddit post that seems worth a look: http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/ngd4r/i_work_in_news_this_is_how_you_stop_sopa/ http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/ngd4r/i_work_in_...

CWuestefeld 15y ago

To prevent it from passing, publicity and writing congressmen would seem to be the thing to do. There's such a mountain of documentation supporting the fact that SOPA is a terrible idea, that it must be true that politicians simply don't care how bad it is. If so, then publicizing the facts will have little impact. Instead, I'd say that the best strategy is to more directly threaten their livelihood: out them personally for being the idiots responsible. Don't publicize information about SOPA per se, but make sure that any Google searches for any of its supporters will show that this person is the one to blame.

pasbesoin 15y ago
If you look outside the tech sphere, you'll find remarkably little reporting and communication on it. Notwithstanding, I agree with your point that the real end to this would/will be the impending demise of the careers of the sponsors of such legislation, both public and private.

seagreen 15y ago

Thanks for the link about the Overton window. It's a good reminder that there's a lot more going on here than meets the eye. I meant strategy to prevent it from passing. That seems like the thing to focus on at the moment. I'd like to find a good article about using social media against SOPA. That seems like something that would play to our natural advantages. For instance, in addition to posting on my FB wall is it worth the time to friend congressmen and start commenting on their posts?

ggchappell 15y ago
> I meant strategy to prevent it from passing. Here's a Reddit post that seems worth a look: http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/ngd4r/i_work_in_news_this_is_how_you_stop_sopa/ http://www.reddit.com/r/technology/comments/ngd4r/i_work_in_...