I've generally refrained from talking about subjects not directly related to paleontology and scientific illustration, but since our ability to have these conversations are now under attack, I've decided to make an exception today and add to the chorus of people opposing SOPA and PIPA.
Both are bills that are intended to protect intellectual property - and given what I do and how I make a living, believe me when I say that protecting intellectual property is an important subject to me. But the bills go (much) too far in crippling online commerce, removing the job of oversight away from the public eye (inviting the censorship of unpopular views, rather than illegal activity), and are unlikely to be effective in combating piracy.
In short, this bill was written by people who don't understand the internet, and are throwing lots of money and influence at Congress is part of a desperate wish to try and turn back the clock to before the web was available. It won't stop those who are breaking the law. It will legalize tools for government agencies to censor parts of the web. It would slow or stop the economic growth of online companies, including the ones that make blogging possible (both companies like Google's Blogger and WordPress, and also many companies that support paid bloggers with advertising).
Also, I wanted to point out that this is a bipartisan issue: members of both U.S. parties acted to delay the vote on SOPA in the House of Representatives, and members of both parties are threatening to bring PIPA to a vote in the Senate quickly before more opposition appears. And this will impact U.S. citizens (and the international community) regardless of party affiliation.
If you want to learn more about the legislation you can read about it here.
To find a representatives to contact, head over to Wikipedia's main page, or to sign a petition go here.
We'll get back to dinosaurs tomorrow!
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