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January 18, 2012 at 9:40 am 
Daniel Fincke Use the links Reddit provides below to educate yourself about SOPA and PIPA and to figure out how to constructively take action to make sure that neither they nor any future versions of them get passed. What’s that? You heard this legislation is dead? The Obama administration said Obama would veto it and it was pulled from the floor by Eric Cantor? I personally find it laughable when people tell me that the bills are dead because Obama promised to veto them. Do you need a list provided to you of all the authoritarian legislation or policies which Obama has promised to veto or to discontinue and only gone on to enact or to continue?
We have a high bar to reach. Congress and the Obama administration depend on corporate interests to fund their campaigns. 9 out of 10 Congressional races in 2008 were won by the candidate with the most money. Why should candidates worry about what you think and not about the businesses which would benefit at the expense of freedom of speech? You need to convince Congresspeople and their potential rivals that you care enough about this issue that you could actually be more devastating to their 2012 election hopes than loss of monetary advantage would be. That sounds like a pretty steep climb. It means we need every American committed to freedom of speech and expression to use whatever resources available to galvanize their fellow citizens and make their Congresspeople and their President fear that SOPA and PIPA are political poison.
When push comes to legislation, Obama and the Congress only care about reelection. Convince them that internet freedom is a non-negotiable precondition of their reelections.
Reddit:
SOPA and PIPA damage reddit.
today we fight back.
PROTECT IP / SOPA Breaks The Internet
Dear reddit,
action of the hour educate yourself
Important Upcoming Dates
- January 24, 2012 – Senate votes on PIPA
- February – House Judiciary Committee continues its markup of SOPA
FAQ
What is the intent of SOPA/PROTECT IP?
The stated intent of the bills is to provide tools for law enforcement and copyright holders to protect their intellectual property rights.
What’s wrong with protecting copyrights?
Nothing! The devil, as they say, is in the details. PROTECT IP and SOPA will cause too much collateral damage, have a high potential for abuse, and won’t even be that effective at stopping the crimes they target. Read alienth’s examination of where these bills fail.
I’m not in the U.S. Why does this affect me?
Many of the sites that you may use (e.g. Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc.) are all affected by this law and will be required to hide offending domains from you.If a non-U.S. site is blocked in the U.S., the site could suffer financially or even be bankrupted by the loss of U.S. traffic and revenue.
What are the differences between PROTECT IP and SOPA?
At a general level, the bills are very similar. SOPA, the “Stop Online Piracy Act,” is from the House of Representatives, while the PROTECT IP Act is from the Senate. Either or both bills may pass a vote in their chamber of congress on their way to becoming law. Both must be defeated to end this threat. There have recently been more detailed explanations in an ELI5 thread and alienth’s blog post.
What about ACTA?
The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA, is a multi-national agreement with similar goals to the U.S.-only PROTECT IP and SOPA bills. It is criticized for many of the same reasons that PROTECT IP and SOPA are, but is also concerning because it has been drafted in secret. ACTA is not the focus of this blackout but please take the time to learn more about ACTA.
I’m not a U.S. citizen. How can I help?
You can still call or e-mail the U.S. representatives (sponsors of the bills would be a good choice). However, you may want to turn your attention more towards ACTA or other over-zealous copyright bills in your country.
When will reddit be back? What should I do when it comes back?
reddit will return to normal service at 8 PM EST (0100 UTC). While our protest is temporary in nature, PROTECT IP and SOPA are not. Continue to pay attention and join the conversation in /r/SOPA when reddit returns.
More answers
Check out the /r/SOPA Community FAQ.
Learn more
- Read alienth’s blog post on why these acts are bad for business
- Information on H.R.3261 – Stop Online Piracy Act at OpenCongress.org
- Information on S.968 – PROTECT IP Act at OpenCongress.org
- SOPAOpera.org keeps track of where your congressmembers stand
- List of websites blacking out today at SOPAStrike.com
- Read up on OPEN, a competing bill
- Original reddit announcement of the blackout
Get Involved
- Outside the US? Find out what’s wrong with ACTA and do something about it. Email the US state department about PIPA and SOPA via Stop American Censorship
- Look up and contact your representative via the EFF
- Helpful info from a redditor on making phone calls to your senator or representative
- Complete the Take Action Checklist at Stop American Censorship
Posted in 
“9 out of 10 Congressional races in 2008 were won by the candidate with the most money. ”
Correlation is Causation DERP