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You are here: Home / Politics / Domestic Politics / Call me, call me anytime

Call me, call me anytime

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Today would be a great day to get on the phone and let your Senators know that they should think hard before they vote for SOPA/PIPA.

I would throw in a bunch of links to information about the bills, but I’m blogging fm the iPad and that is a pain in the ass. If people could post useful links in the comments that would be great.

Find your Congresscritter here.

Switchboard: (202) 224-3121

Guide for first-timers here.

Reader Interactions

28Comments

  1. 1.

    barath

    And don’t forget the bill that is very similar to SOPA/PIPA (I think it’s called the Research Works Act) that the publisher lobby is pushing, which would block free public access to publicly funded research.

  2. 2.

    gaz

    Well it looks like Cantwell came out against PIPA if I read that correctly. I’m not so sure about Murray – I couldn’t find information on her vote at her site – it’s probably there, and I haven’t found it yet. * shrug *. Although she votes most often with Franken, and Franken thus far, has been an asshole on SOPA/PIPA, IIRC.

    Generally, my representatives vote how I want them to, on the big stuff. If not I’ll vote them the hell out of office. It’s really easy to find another democrat in this state.

  4. 4.

    Gust Avrakotos

    Clearly the iPad has great spell checking in addition to its other useless useful features.

  5. 5.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    @gaz:

    Although she votes most often with Franken, and Franken thus far, has been an asshole on SOPA/PIPA, IIRC.

    Yes, he has. It probably has to do with the fact that he is a “content creator” and thus subject to people pirating his work. Very disappointing that he would be supporting someone like this, but even good people can be steered wrong when it might effect them or their colleagues. The fact that those fvckwits at the MPAA and RIAA could create literal blacklists of sites they want censored. They would NEVER overreach, would they?

    As much as I admire Obama, and respect AG Holder, I DO NOT want any AG to have authority to block domain name services. Even good and honorable people can overstep with this sort of vaguely worded provision.

  7. 7.

    The Ancient Randonneur

    BTW I called Senator Leahy’s office (he’s one of my Senators, Bernie is the other one) and registered my disappointment that he is a sponsor of the PIPA. The intern was a very nice young lady and said they have gotten quite a few calls like mine today.

  8. 8.

    TooManyJens

    @Violet: Not necessarily. Positions on this bill aren’t lining up a conservative/liberal axis. Eric Cantor and Darrell Issa are some of the leading opponents in the House, if you can believe it.

  9. 9.

    Violet

    @TooManyJens:
    Okay. I’ll call. I have to admit, I haven’t been following this issue at all. Can someone give me a short primer on what I should say to the poor intern who answers the phone? Obviously, I want the Senator to vote No on SOPA/PIPA. Is there more to know/say?

    Also, is it just the Senate voting today? Should call my Congresscritter?

  14. 14.

    Violet

    Alright, I called both of mine. The intern who answered the phone at both offices said that my Senators hadn’t said whether they’re voting for or against. I registered my opinion. Call took about a minute total. Interns weren’t very chatty.

  15. 15.

    Nicole

    Okay I called back and they were very apologetic for hanging up on me. Rangel is currently reviewing the changes, but the fellow on the phone said they’ve been getting lots of calls.

    @Xenos: Sadly, I am not as awesome as you and I sometimes miss things, especially when reading on a 2 inch screen in the rain.

  16. 16.

    Brachiator

    Today would be a great day to get on the phone and let your Senators know that they should think hard before they vote for SOPA/PIPA.

    Oh hell, yes. I was watching yesterday’s video podcast of Tech News Today, and they noted this little tidbit:

    Congressman Ryan, chairman of the House Budget Committee, became a target of the Reddit community last month. Reddit users considered Ryan’s previous stance on SOPA too vague — and took issue with the $288,600 that the Congressman had accepted from pro-SOPA groups.
    __
    Redditors began “Operation Pull Ryan,” a grassroots campaign to prevent Ryan’s re-election in 2012. The community embraced Ryan’s opponent, Rob Zerban, who is running for Congress in November of this year. Zerban returned Reddit’s affection, hosting an “AMA,” or “Ask Me Anything,” where he fielded questions directly from Reddit users.
    __
    Zerban credited Reddit with influencing Ryan’s decision on SOPA. In a statement posted on the social media site, Zerban said: “Reddit was able to force the House Budget Chair to reverse course — shock waves will be felt throughout the establishment in Washington today, and other lawmakers will take notice.”

    I don’t know whether this group can take full credit, but it is an interesting strategy.

  17. 17.

    gaz

    @The Ancient Randonneur:

    I DO NOT want any AG to have authority to block domain name services.

    I don’t share your concern from the basis of limiting my individual access (assuming of course, that that * is * your concen). It won’t for me. A simple update to my DHCP server (which is a piece of hardware on my wall) will mitigate that issue for me, and I’ll be free to ignore it.

    I do however, lament the fact that these cretins were just about ready to remove the US from the DNS game. I thought we were supposed to * creating * jobs. I don’t see how legislating us back to the stone age will help that, even if the DNS issue itself weren’t directly to blame. It’d have re-percussive effects.

    My other big problem is that it FURTHER entrenches the precedent of giving the bastards at MPAA and RIAA everything they ever wanted.

    IOW, I don’t care about the tech ramifications of the bill, but I’m deeply concerned about the potential for economic damage and further political damage stemming from it.

    bastards.

  19. 19.

    Nicole

    Gillenbrand staffer has no idea what the Senator’s position is and no one answers the phone in Schumer’a office.

  22. 22.

    dmsilev

    Off topic. Oh, Mittens, how could you?:

    Mr. Romney added: “And then I get speaker’s fees from time to time, but not very much.”
    __
    In fact, in the most recent year, Mr. Romney made $374,327.62 in speaker’s fees, at an average of $41,592 per speech, according to his public financial disclosure reports.

    He regards a portion of his income that in and of itself would put him in the top 1% of Americans as “not very much”.

  23. 23.

    gaz

    @dmsilev: Of all the people that would sign on to my wager that romney will win the nom and lose the general, I wish this guy would.

    I could really use $10,000 =)

  24. 24.

    Jason P.

    I got a hold of both Schumer and Gillibrand’s offices, and the staffers on the phone were very nice and said, “We’ll tell the senator.” No mention of “We’ve gotten a lot of these calls” or anything, but they seemed to know immediately what I was talking about.

  25. 25.

    Keith G

    In it’s original form, the veto was created so that the plebs could have a smidgen of protection from the machinations of the powerful.

    With this in mind, if this bill is passed, whose side is Obama on?

  26. 26.

    Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal

    casey is sponsoring it, so that is a lost cause. this is toomey.

    Thank you for contacting me about intellectual property protection and copyright infringement. I appreciate hearing from you.

    I understand your concerns about expanding intellectual property protection and value your input on S. 968, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act. As you may know, Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) introduced this bill on May 12, 2011. Among its provisions, this measure would allow the U.S. Attorney General or qualifying plaintiffs to pursue legal action against registrants, owners, or operators of nondomestic Internet sites that infringe upon intellectual property rights.

    It may also interest you to know that Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced legislation (S. 978) concerning copyright infringement on May 12, 2011. Among its provisions, this measure would increase the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright.

    I understand your concerns regarding these issues and value your input. S. 968 and S. 978 currently await consideration by the full Senate. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as work continues on these important issues.

    Thank you again for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of assistance.

    Sincerely,

    Pat Toomey
    U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania

    in other somewhat amusing news, Laura Cummings dropped out of the gop primary to challenge casey, saying she doesn’t want to be a “santorum loser”. god i know its practically impossible but could you make “santorum loser” stick in the lexicon.

  27. 27.

    Sly

    @Xenos:

    Try calling Moynihan or D’Amato’s office.

    You’d probably have better luck with D’Amato, but not much more.

  28. 28.

    Lord Omlette

    Small note: the guide for first timers was written wrt passing ACA. In this case, we want them to NOT pass the bill. Hopefully everyone already knows that.

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