For the record, I'm against online piracy.
Only two things wrong with the bill:
1) Any 12-year-old with a bit of tech savvy can bypass the restrictions trivially.
(None of the bill's sponsors know anything about the Internet, or about IT in general.)
2) Innocent sites, like Google, eBay, Facebook, *OR THIS FORUM*, could be taken offline (at least in the US), under the broad language of the bill.
How? You search for, say, "Windows 7 retail disk" at Google, or at any of the discount-seeking sites, etc.
One result proves to be a pirate site.
Google or whoever is taken off-line for aiding and abetting this piracy.
*Any site with a Search box*, which is most of them, could be blocked, under the same scenario.
Unbelievable? Believe it.
One of the duties of Moderators here, as at all sites, is to delete spam as soon as it's found.
Suppose a spammer posts a link to a site that sells pirated software, music, movies, or whatever.
A screenshot of that could get THIS SITE blocked in the US, even if we delete the spam thirty minutes later.
And the overly-broad language could be used by politicians against sites critical of themselves or of Government policies.
Contact your elected representatives. Best way: Fax.
E-mails are easy to ignore, and mine said they won't allow attachments (like the one recommended below) due to a well-founded fear of viruses.
Voice mails are easy to ignore.
Snail mail is good, but it's slow, takes time to write, and costs a postage stamp.
Fax machines constantly spitting out faxes from angry constituents all day long will definitely get their attention, and the growing pile is a physical reminder of the degree of opposition.
Print out this one-page .pdf that explains what's wrong with the bill in simple, non-tech language that even Congress can understand:
https://www.eff.org/sites/default/files ... SOPA_0.pdf
No need for a cover letter. But at the top of the .pdf print-out, address it personally, in your own handwriting, like this: "Dear Senator Dork, ..". Ask for her/his opposition to the bill, sign your name, and add your printed name and residence address. (I used a pre-printed sticker, as usual.) This validates that you are, in fact, a voting constituent of this politician. They already have access to it anyway (voter registration records), and this way, you don't get flooded with e-mails from them.
How to contact your representative in the House of Representatives:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/
How to contact your State's two Senators:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_i ... rs_cfm.cfm
These should have links to their individual web sites, which should have fax numbers. If not, they'll have a local office location near you, in addition to the Washington, D. C. phone and fax. If no fax #, call the local office and ask for it.
Thank you.
And thanks to Giorgio for permitting me to use this space to solicit the help of my fellow Americans in keeping the Internet free of censorship.
[/soapbox]
