[tor-talk] The Stop Online Piracy Act

[Nick Mathewson]

On Wed, Nov 2, 2011 at 9:13 PM, Andrew Lewman <andrew at torproject.org> wrote:
> On Tuesday, November 01, 2011 00:11:49 Jim wrote:
>> I haven't seen this brought up on this list yet, so I thought I would
>> mention it.  Tech Dirt (among others) are reporting on yet another round
>> of misguided (U.S.) legislation supposedly targeting copyright
>> infringement.  Part of this legislation involves attempting to prevent
>> DNS from resolving "offensive" domain names.
>
> I had a conference call with the EFF to discuss SOPA/E-PARASITE. The result is
> this blog post, https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/11/proposed-copyright-bill-
> threatens-whistleblowing-and-human-rights. If the text of SOPA sounds
> familiar, it's probably a copy of what is going on in China to justify their
> continuing clampdown on the Internet,
> http://thenextweb.com/asia/2011/06/08/china-increases-internet-control-takes-
> down-hundreds-of-websites/.
>
> Generally, Tor works on technology. Technology may always be able to
> circumvent policy, but if something is made illegal, then only criminals
> benefit. We'd rather spend our money on making Tor better for all of the
> positive uses of it, not fighting lawsuits and waging policy battles. However,
> sometimes we have to speak up and help those that do engage in lawsuits and
> policy battles, like the EFF.
>
> If you don't like the EFF, then Fight for the Future is another fine
> organization, http://fightforthefuture.org/.  If you don't like either of
> these, then directly calling your congressperson is a fine step too.

Hi. Usually I try to keep it technical, since that's where I get my
biggest multiplier for effort-to-results, so you don't usually see me
talking about politics.  But this stuff here is really important.  So
far, it's been one among several things driving up my blood pressure
and making me lose sleep -- but if it passes, it may well be problem
number one.

So, please don't do just _one_ of the above.  Please help the EFF,
Fight for the Future, and/or whatever other groups opposing this bill
you are comfortable with.  Learn what it involves, and why it's a
danger for free speech in the US. Sign petitions.  Get involved.  And
if you're a US person, please ALSO call your representatives.  I've
called mine, and I hope you will too.  Learn about the bill first, so
you have something cogent to say, and remember to be polite.

This one matters.

getting back to software soon I hope,
-- 
Nick