In the past few days, the alarm has been sounded in the technology community for us to help defeat the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). This legislation, while well-intentioned, is crafted in such a way that it would give private companies the power to shut down other private companies, and require the government and Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to initiate a system for DNS blocking and domain seizure. The law’s vague language and powerful provisions combine to create a law that has the power to shut down sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube – or more realistically, the next generation of Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. This isn’t hyperbole, it’s real.
A number of technology companies are banding together to defeat this legislation. Mozilla is one of those companies. Yesterday, the House Judiciary Committee held a hearing on SOPA, which I had the privilege of attending along with James Socol and Alex Fowler. Following the hearing, James and I paid visits to several members of the Judiciary Committee, meeting with a number of staffers and talking about Mozilla’s (and our personal) opposition to this bill. It was a great experience in hands-on involvement in the government, and I’m proud of our efforts.
Thursday, November 17th, 2011 @ 5:15 pm |
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Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: Mozilla, free speech, advocacy, politics, Stop Online Privacy Act, SOPA, open web