Friday, January 20, 2012

My letter against SOPA

January 20, 2012

Dear Representative Schrader:
Dear Senator Wyden:
Dear Senator Merkley:

I urge you to vote against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and its Senate equivalent. I believe that this legislation will lead to regulation of the Internet and the abridgment of its freedom. I believe there will be less creativity and innovation if it is too easy for copyright holders to sue for nominal or inadvertent misuse of copyrights.

The music, movie, and publishing industries have a history of seeking excessive copyright length, attempting to restrict fair use, and attempting to restrict the size and use of the public domain. These industries will leverage any law to restrict competition even where the competition does not rely on stolen intellectual property. A copyright system only has value if it actually increases innovation and creates a robust body of intellectual capital in the public domain. It should not be a tool for entrenched interests and accumulators of intellectual property created generations ago.

Please vote NO!

Sincerely