I am very concerned about SOPA and similar legislation. Though I am in Canada, I will be affected by this legislation.
As I am sure many of you do, I have some friends at some of the organizations that support this bill. I decided to email one of them, though this will not change the tide, making young people in these organizations aware of the bill and its negative impacts is one avenue for influencing the higher ups and getting them to remove their support.
Anyways, here is what I sent, feel free to copy or comment.
Hey Matt,
Hope all is well. I don't usually do this, but I wanted to send you a quick email. You might be aware that the US Congress is currently debating the SOPA Bill against online piracy.
This is a horrible bill that will fundamentally alter the internet and society.
McGraw-Hill Education is a main sponsor of the bill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_that_support_the_Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
and as such, I wanted to bring this legislation to your attention. I do not know if you have the influence or power within the organization to change anything, but I think it is worth raising with your peers and superiors. While I understand McGraw-Hill and other publishers wish to prevent piracy of their copyrighted materials online, this bill goes way too far.
I won't bore you with details, but I think it is important that McGraw Hill re-evaluate their support of this bill that will wreak havoc on the internet and do serious damage to freedom of speech.
One good thread on the issue, along with video can be found here:
As I am sure many of you do, I have some friends at some of the organizations that support this bill. I decided to email one of them, though this will not change the tide, making young people in these organizations aware of the bill and its negative impacts is one avenue for influencing the higher ups and getting them to remove their support.
Anyways, here is what I sent, feel free to copy or comment.
Hey Matt,
Hope all is well. I don't usually do this, but I wanted to send you a quick email. You might be aware that the US Congress is currently debating the SOPA Bill against online piracy.
This is a horrible bill that will fundamentally alter the internet and society.
McGraw-Hill Education is a main sponsor of the bill http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_organizations_that_support_the_Stop_Online_Piracy_Act
and as such, I wanted to bring this legislation to your attention. I do not know if you have the influence or power within the organization to change anything, but I think it is worth raising with your peers and superiors. While I understand McGraw-Hill and other publishers wish to prevent piracy of their copyrighted materials online, this bill goes way too far.
I won't bore you with details, but I think it is important that McGraw Hill re-evaluate their support of this bill that will wreak havoc on the internet and do serious damage to freedom of speech.
One good thread on the issue, along with video can be found here:
http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3425973
Hope to see you soon!
Cheers,
Jonathan