Sunday, January 22, 2012

#SOPA #PIPA Congrats...But It's Not Over


Online political discussions are not typically where you'll find this librarian - but this is different, it matters too much to me, and to so many others - I can't fathom what it would be like to go back to being a passive consumer of information. I've been empowered and know how it feels, I won't give that up without a fight.

We stopped SOPA and PIPA for now. The hard thing, as well articulated in the video below, "get ready, more is coming" - Watch as Clay Shirky explains the backstory on SOPA and PIPA in the video, and then read this Post PIPA and SOPA piece to learn why many are not in the mood to celebrate in the wake of the news that SOPA and PIPA are dead.

As CNET reported, "the lobbyists and politicians backing the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, and Protect IP haven't given up."

Video Description: "What does a bill like PIPA/SOPA mean to our shareable world? At the TED offices, Clay Shirky delivers a proper manifesto -- a call to defend our freedom to create, discuss, link and share, rather than passively consume."



"Because until we convince congress that the way to deal with copyright violation is the way copyright violation was dealt with with napster, with youtube, which is to have a trial with all the presentation of evidence and the hashing out of facts and the assessment of remedies that goes on in democratic societies, that's the way to handle it. In the meantime, the hard thing to do is to be ready. Time Warner has called and they want us all back on the couch, just consuming, not producing, not sharing. And we should say no." -Clay Shirky

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