3 ms·

This is a step in the right direction, but this level of action should not stop after SOPA. The tech industry is so large and powerful in this current era that

by aspir 15y ago

This is a step in the right direction, but this level of action should not stop after SOPA. The tech industry is so large and powerful in this current era that it's due time that it begin to develop a more powerful voice in Washington. SOPA has made it this far because our congress does not have a reliable technology lobby to educate our lawmakers. SOPA would have been killed already if this lobby existed in full strength; and this industry has the funds to have actually created this presence many years ago. We should focus on stopping SOPA, of course, but after this episode, something needs to be put in place to prevent this from happening again.

derrida 15y ago
Perhaps. But I worry those lobbying voices would only in the end represent big money, and not necessarily the small entrepreneurs and creators. I can imagine a future where a powerful tech lobby augments a bill like SOPA to benefit the existing big players, and locks other (small) competitors out. I don't think we can fight fire with fire. I do think that the widespread opposition to SOPA has united many. Organizations which represent our common interests and already have widespread support, need to be further supported, the EFF etc. I would be skeptical of efforts from players to throw lots of money at a new organisation 'in Washington' in the hope that it does the work. Good and effective organizations already exist, they need your activism and they need your funding. :-)
- aspir 15y ago
  True, but I wasn't really referring to us (small firms, freelancers, etc.) but the big companies. Its practically laughable to take out a NY times ad [0], when each of these companies (or their respective founders) could pledge a hundred grand a quarter and dramatically change the industry's presence. This could be used against small business, but that's not really my point either. I guess my point is that if you won't "play the game," you'll always end up losing, and there's too many billions of dollars at stake to not play the game. Why should Google struggle for years in youtube-based court litigation when they could have stopped SOPA at inception? Many industries (pharmaceuticals, energy, chemicals) understand this. They don't particularly like it, but they also understand that its in the best interest of their industry's long term growth. I think Internet powerhouses are beginning to realize this now too. [0] http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/internet-titans-fight-sopa-with-full-page-ny-times-ad/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/internet-titans-fight-sopa-... EDIT- This is also just a thought: how many lunches, golf outings, and "beer summits" with Sen. Leahy and Rep. Lamar and their respective staff would that NY Times Ad have bought. I'm willing to wager that the RIAA and big content do.
toyg 15y ago
Who is large and powerful in the tech industry? Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe... they all have their own long-established lobbying efforts in place. Unfortunately, they don't care about the internet; the net is actually disruptive of their business model, for the most part. You can look at BSA's position to see what "big money" from the tech industry really wants. For them, Google, Facebook etc, are uppity competitors, and they'd love to see them cut to size by the government. So it's rather the internet-based industry, rather than the generic "tech world", who should improve their lobbying. FB, Google and Twitter execs should start cashing in some of those umpteen photo-ops with Obama, threatening to sponsor and enable primary challengers for everyone who will vote for bad bills. Even better, threaten to silently downrank specific politicians on their sites: "we can do censorship too, let's see how you hurt when people can't find your donation page".
- prophetjohn 15y ago
  I hate to break it to you, Apple, Microsoft and the rest: they're all essentially internet-based. If Apple doesn't care about the internet, they need to have a long, hard think about why people are buying their products. How many iPads are they going to sell when people can only access a crippled version of Facebook and Twitter is shut down? The technology industry as it is today exists almost exclusively because of the ubiquity of the internet. Companies whose products stand to suffer directly from SOPA are not the only tech companies that should be worried; any company whose profits are a result of the proliferation of the internet should be scared of SOPA. That's almost every single tech company out there.
  - toyg 15y ago
    Eh, go tell the BSA... I bet Microsoft would thrive in a censored internet as much as it did in the pre-internet days.
kn0thing 15y ago
I've been pleased with the folks at engineadvocacy.org and I'm hoping this can be a long-term solution. They're non-partisan and solely focused on lobbying on behalf of the tech entrepreneur, plain and simple.
- aspir 15y ago
  These guys are what I've been dreaming of. Thanks! Now you should casually point Reddit their direction :)

by aspir 15y ago

derrida 15y ago

Perhaps. But I worry those lobbying voices would only in the end represent big money, and not necessarily the small entrepreneurs and creators. I can imagine a future where a powerful tech lobby augments a bill like SOPA to benefit the existing big players, and locks other (small) competitors out. I don't think we can fight fire with fire. I do think that the widespread opposition to SOPA has united many. Organizations which represent our common interests and already have widespread support, need to be further supported, the EFF etc. I would be skeptical of efforts from players to throw lots of money at a new organisation 'in Washington' in the hope that it does the work. Good and effective organizations already exist, they need your activism and they need your funding. :-)

aspir 15y ago
True, but I wasn't really referring to us (small firms, freelancers, etc.) but the big companies. Its practically laughable to take out a NY times ad [0], when each of these companies (or their respective founders) could pledge a hundred grand a quarter and dramatically change the industry's presence. This could be used against small business, but that's not really my point either. I guess my point is that if you won't "play the game," you'll always end up losing, and there's too many billions of dollars at stake to not play the game. Why should Google struggle for years in youtube-based court litigation when they could have stopped SOPA at inception? Many industries (pharmaceuticals, energy, chemicals) understand this. They don't particularly like it, but they also understand that its in the best interest of their industry's long term growth. I think Internet powerhouses are beginning to realize this now too. [0] http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/internet-titans-fight-sopa-with-full-page-ny-times-ad/ http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/internet-titans-fight-sopa-... EDIT- This is also just a thought: how many lunches, golf outings, and "beer summits" with Sen. Leahy and Rep. Lamar and their respective staff would that NY Times Ad have bought. I'm willing to wager that the RIAA and big content do.

toyg 15y ago

Who is large and powerful in the tech industry? Apple, Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe... they all have their own long-established lobbying efforts in place. Unfortunately, they don't care about the internet; the net is actually disruptive of their business model, for the most part. You can look at BSA's position to see what "big money" from the tech industry really wants. For them, Google, Facebook etc, are uppity competitors, and they'd love to see them cut to size by the government. So it's rather the internet-based industry, rather than the generic "tech world", who should improve their lobbying. FB, Google and Twitter execs should start cashing in some of those umpteen photo-ops with Obama, threatening to sponsor and enable primary challengers for everyone who will vote for bad bills. Even better, threaten to silently downrank specific politicians on their sites: "we can do censorship too, let's see how you hurt when people can't find your donation page".

prophetjohn 15y ago
I hate to break it to you, Apple, Microsoft and the rest: they're all essentially internet-based. If Apple doesn't care about the internet, they need to have a long, hard think about why people are buying their products. How many iPads are they going to sell when people can only access a crippled version of Facebook and Twitter is shut down? The technology industry as it is today exists almost exclusively because of the ubiquity of the internet. Companies whose products stand to suffer directly from SOPA are not the only tech companies that should be worried; any company whose profits are a result of the proliferation of the internet should be scared of SOPA. That's almost every single tech company out there.
- toyg 15y ago
  Eh, go tell the BSA... I bet Microsoft would thrive in a censored internet as much as it did in the pre-internet days.

kn0thing 15y ago

I've been pleased with the folks at engineadvocacy.org and I'm hoping this can be a long-term solution. They're non-partisan and solely focused on lobbying on behalf of the tech entrepreneur, plain and simple.

aspir 15y ago
These guys are what I've been dreaming of. Thanks! Now you should casually point Reddit their direction :)