[mdlug] Fw: Just another example of GOVERNMENT FOR SALE

Fri Dec 16 13:16:51 EST 2011

An important issue to be aware of.

---------- Forwarded Message ----------
From: "Duane O. Brown" <duaneobrown at earthlink.net>
To: undisclosed-recipients:;
Subject: Just another example of GOVERNMENT FOR SALE
Date: Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:01:13 -0500

<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN">I am writing because we need to get off our butts and tell government they work for us.

The final straw that has me peeved is congress going to far in protecting the entertainment industry in considering a bill.

The bill I am referring to is "the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act" which includes Blacklisting web sites among many other things.

Today, December 15, 2011, The House Judiciary Committee debated for hours and about five hours into the hearing voted 22-12 to reject an amendment that would do away with its most controversial provision. A provision that would force changes to core internet infrastructure in order to try to stop copyright infringement. For many reasons this would not work but that is a different issue.

I'm all in favor of protecting children but this is being pushed by the entertainment industry to protect their business. The next 4 paragraphs are directly from an article on the Wired magazine website.

"
Despite that vote, members on both sides of the political aisle also expressed reservations that the internet-blacklisting legislation was moving too fast.

&ldquo;I would just ask: Why is there this rush?&rdquo; Rep. Dan Lungren (R-California) said. He mentioned there were exigent circumstances when lawmakers approved the Patriot Act weeks after 9/11, but none existed here. &ldquo;For the life of me, I can&rsquo;t understand it.&rdquo;

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-California) had similar thoughts, and added that the measure went too far. &ldquo;We never tried to filter the telephone networks to block illegal content on the telephone network, yet that is precisely what this legislation would do relative to the internet.&rdquo;

The legislation&rsquo;s most vocal backers are the recording and movie studios, who say online piracy is killing their business. The measure&rsquo;s detractors are civil liberties groups and internet architects who say the bill amounts to censorship and a fundamental alteration of the internet itself.
"

That was the end of the direct quote. Additionally, the article said "The measure effectively grants private companies the ability to de-fund websites they allege to be trafficking in unauthorized copyright and trademark goods." I'm not sure if there is any due process required I believe if the RIAA has it's way there will be none, anyway but this scares the crap out of me.

Write, call, fax, whatever but tell your friends and government they have to stop pandering to special interests and take up the cause of the rest of us.

While they are listening consider telling them "I DO NOT SUPPORT YOU HAVING LIFETIME BENEFITS UNLESS IT IS PROVIDED FOR ALL CITIZENS". The example that comes to mind is lifetime health insurance that we pay for and they don't.

If you want to know more about what is happening to some of our rights check out the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the EFF Action Center

The full article is Blacklisting Provisions Remain in Stop Online Piracy Act don't think this is not happening now check out Federal Judge Orders Google, Facebook to Disappear Hundreds of Sites from November 29, 2011

Duane O Brown

PS Everyone's email address was hidden EXCEPT for government officials. I also have many other issues I'm more than a bit cheesed off about our government not attending to as "I SEE FIT" if you don't agree with me or want to express your opinion PLEASE do so, just let me know.

____________________________________________________________
Get Free Email with Video Mail & Video Chat!
http://www.juno.com/freeemail?refcd=JUTAGOUT1FREM0210