Your Don't Mess With the Internet billboards are up in Lamar Smith's home district!

kn0thing · 3 days

One of the most important things going on here is that somebody working in Lamar Smith's office could conceivably see this from their window.

kn0thing · 3 days

On Lamar Blvd! (between 13th and 15th?)

kn0thing · 3 days

We're pointing dontmesswiththeinternet.org at it right now. Share the link around and that should help?

kn0thing · 3 days

Isn't one of the billboard providers called Lamar too? Starting to get creepy?

kn0thing · 3 days

Agreed!

kn0thing · 3 days

That's valid, but the internet itself is still our primary way to reach people-- even people in his district. So it makes sense to do something awesome that Smith, and people in-the-know will understand. Also, on another level the message is really clear: "Don't Mess with the Internet".

holmesworcester · 6 months

And fight back: americancensorship.org

holmesworcester · 6 months

I work on this stuff and here are some things everyone should know:

The Chamber of Commerce is pushing this bill very hard, flying in CEOs from all the industries that support it, making sure everyone knows where they stand. The drug industry is pushing it so that they can block Canadian pharmacies.

And entertainment industry unions (sadly) have come out strong for it as well, bringing lots of unions along with them.

In LA, my friend got approached at a mall to sign a petition for the blacklist bill, by people saying it was to "protect jobs". I haven't confirmed this, but I'm pretty sure they were paid canvassers.

holmesworcester · 6 months

If this law passes, anti-censorship tools like TOR could be sued and their sites blocked within the US.

holmesworcester · 6 months

If this law passes, you could go to prison for singing a cover song on YouTube.

Anything that would cost $1,000 to license (you'd be lucky to license any popular song for that) is 1 year in jail. Over $2,500 (most pop songs or video clips) would be 5 years in jail. And if you have any doubts they'll use this power if they get it, remember: these are the people that sued 14 year olds for more than the value of their parents' homes.

holmesworcester · 6 months

I'm one of the folks organizing this. What we're hearing is that personal contacts (phone calls, walk-ins) from people who work in tech are extremely effective.

Especially if you live outside Silicon Valley, where reps hardly ever hear from constituents on these issues. Every Congressperson knows that tech is crucial to job creation, and that today's startup founder could be tomorrow's millionaire donor.

The irony is that tech issues are a rare place where we can have an impact, but the tech startup community is notoriously apolitical.

textdog · 1 year

from the web into iTunes, faster than iTunes downloads into iTunes

holmesworcester

TROPHY CASE

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