Congress will begin voting 1/24 on "SOPA" and "PIPA". Regulations that may harm forums such as this. You might want to read up on and sign this petition.
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/
I hope this doesn't violate terms of service. I think this is very important.
While I fully support the tech industry on this, the cynic in me about American politics thinks that the fix is already in. By that, I mean that the American movie and music industries have already greased the appropriate palms in Washington, and that passing of regulation in this area is a fait accompli.
I sincerely hope I'm wrong, and I'd love to see a post in this thread by any member with actual experience as a congressional staffer or some kind of research expertise, as to whether an internet petition does any good at all on something like this.
I know that citizens (and presumably voters) petitons should theoretically have some weight...but something tells me $$$$ toward future campaigns, something you know those industries have done here, dwarfs any real voice of the average joe.
I suppose there's little downside to signing on (and relatively little effort required) so what the hell. But I'm not optimisitc that these bills will be tabled at this point.
Horribly cynical way to be (hey, isn't cynicism part of the blues?) I know, but I've lived too long and seen too much shit go down, to not have an idea about how broken Washington really is.
I'd love nothing more than to be dead wrong about this.
Last Edited by on Jan 18, 2012 7:28 AM
The UK Governmemt has an on-line petition system whereby if any subject has more than 100,000 signatures then they must raise the issue for discussion in parliment. An excellent idea in theory but in practise if it doesn't agree with Gov policy then there is not much hope of anything happening. However at least it gets the subject in the news etc and raises it's profile.
I couldn't handle the irony of censoring a thread about legislation that could censor the internet, so I'll say it's related to harmonicas because it's related to the future of harmonica forums (and other forums.) I'm going to stay out of the discussion though (at least on MBH).
Some interesting points of view here. This could directly affect those guys out there who are making videos and generating content that we all enjoy and learn from.
Censorship of the internet, the NDAA resolution that erases the 4th(?) amendment, the government always trying to further restrict our gun rights, TSA training American citizens to get used to searches and pat-downs by officers of a government agency, the military training to act as police in our communities, FEMA camps everywhere...I'm cynical, too.
Cristal - you might be right. The link? I believe this too and am shocked that the economic indicators are not really reflecting this although I believe the stock exchanges are being manipulated. However, gold and harmonicas (for Nat) should be priced much higher.
Gene, that is correct too. Capitalism can be messy at times.
I think hours within my posting that "the fix was in", the first reports begin to hit the net that legislators were abandoning the initiative in droves. Either I'm the worlds worst political analyst, or I've got some weird reverse voodoo thing happening. Either way, I've never been happier to be dead wrong about something.
If it indeed was a massive rallying of the proletariat that caused the pinheads in Washington to reverse course, well all I have to say to that is...
