Raging Grannies Come Out Against SOPA/PIPA

from the don't-upset-your-grandmother dept

Fri, Jan 13th 2012 6:46pm — Mike Masnick

Even a group of (very politically active) grandmothers have come out against SOPA/PIPA. They note that it's rare that they agree with internet companies like Google & Facebook (they've protested both companies in the past), but that this is a very important issue to them:

The language in both of these bills is written with a very broad paintbrush. Their passage would have a huge impact on the work of human rights advocates who speak out against injustice on sites that could easily be labelled “rogue” websites. It’s a slippery slope when censorship reigns.

The indymedia network that thrives on open publishing (and our favorite www.indybay.org here in the San Francisco Bay Area) would be subject to censorship, defeating the very purpose of its existence. Similar platforms created to provide anonymity to whistleblowers could become major casualties of these bills.

All to save Hollywood’s bottom line?

They specifically call out California's two Senators for supporting such bad legislation. Either way, at this point, it's getting tougher and tougher to find anyone who actually supports these bills.

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Filed Under: barbara boxer, dianne feinstein, grandmothers, internet, pipa, protect ip, raging grannies, sopa

22 Comments

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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2012 @ 7:10pm

The indymedia network that thrives on open publishing (and our favorite www.indybay.org here in the San Francisco Bay Area) would be subject to censorship, defeating the very purpose of its existence. Similar platforms created to provide anonymity to whistleblowers could become major casualties of these bills.

Either senility has set in or they get their news on the bills from Masnick.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2012 @ 7:30pm

Re:
You are an idiotic troll. All censorship systems suffer from ongoing scope creep as more and more special interests pile in for their cut. Enforcement gets more and more savage. Censorship always ends up accompanied by snooping, which gets ever more intrusive. The cost to the taxpayer goes up and up, fast. There were very good reasons indeed why the founding fathers put the first amendment into the US Constitution.
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Spaceman Spiff (profile), 13 Jan 2012 @ 7:30pm

Howzaboutdat!
These are my kind of ladies! Of course, I'm going to be a great granddad myself in a few months! :-) And to think, I just started a new position as Senior Systems Engineer for a tier-one mobile phone manufacturer, and my office/cube mate is the same age as my granddaughter, who is the one going to make us greats... :rolleyes:
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2012 @ 7:50pm

Re:
Do you really have to make yourself look stupid in every article's comments? Once is enough, I would think.
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 13 Jan 2012 @ 7:51pm

Re:
Either senility has set in or they get their news on the bills from Masnick.

If they get their news from Mike they'd realize that .org domains aren't covered by this bill.

If senility has set in they have memory holes that are far more effective than anything the government is likely to do.
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Jean Of marc, 13 Jan 2012 @ 7:55pm

Everyone's against it!
I've been telling people that everyone is against this bill... I think when I've said "everyone", I really meant "young people" and the "technologically-inclined". I stand corrected. You grannies are awesome!
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2012 @ 7:59pm

That's well and good I suppose, but honestly anti-SOPA grannies strikes me as bring just as comically irrelevant as pro-SOPA firefighters. Color me unimpressed.
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Anonymous Coward, 13 Jan 2012 @ 8:22pm

Re:
Trollfail. First you're supposed to accuse them being filthy pirate freetard grannies. (Hey, the RIAA were right! Grannies are perfectly reasonable sue material!)
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Hephaestus (profile), 13 Jan 2012 @ 9:08pm

Re: I have a theory ...
You are set in your ways. You refuse to change. You refuse to listen to any new ideas. You repeat the same things over and over again, not remembering what happened yesterday, but always remembering the good old days ... oh wait, me thinks your are senile.
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ervserver (profile), 13 Jan 2012 @ 10:20pm

re
I think its very good...the fight is stronger when people from all segments of society participate.
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The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 13 Jan 2012 @ 10:37pm

Re: Re: I have a theory ...
Damn, you make senility sound fun.
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The Mighty Buzzard (profile), 13 Jan 2012 @ 10:41pm

Re:
Huge difference. Shills take money. Grannies give cookies.

Cookie hater.
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gorehound (profile), 14 Jan 2012 @ 5:52am

Pretty Awesome seeing Grandma's hate SOPA/PIPA
The more who dislike Censorship the better.And maybe the better chance to throw out of Government those who did support it and would have loved to take away all of our Freedoms.

We will now come after those in Washington who would support SOPA/PIPA ! Your donation amounts from Hollywood are outed.Your stance is outed.Hope you are also outed from holding Office again.You corrupt individuals have crossed the American Line with your BS Censorship.
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Jeff Downer Indianapolis, IN (profile), 14 Jan 2012 @ 6:33am

Grannies and SOPA
Ok. Just don't let them do one of those calenders.
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abc gum, 14 Jan 2012 @ 7:53am

Re:
I'm curious.
How would your grandmother react to you telling her that she is "comically irrelevant "?
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Marcus Carab (profile), 14 Jan 2012 @ 9:30am

Re: Re:
As a domestic .org, indybay would be immune as a target under Sec. 102 & 103, but as site that could potentially be called an information location tool, they may end up on the hook to help enforce such action against a foreign site.

I think one of the big problems with SOPA/PIPA as written would be the steady expansion of what sorts of domestic sites have to "participate", as it were, in the squeeze on foreign sites. I wonder: how long would it be before some company claimed that even a blog like indybay or Techdirt can't link to a sopa'd site in their coverage of it? Not long, I imagine. And that would be a step on the path towards requiring all blogs to filter those links from their comments, at which point you have a de facto national blacklist.
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TtfnJohn (profile), 14 Jan 2012 @ 10:15am

Re: Re: I have a theory ...
Makes me think he's part of the RIAA or MPAA, actually. ;=)
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TPBGirl, 14 Jan 2012 @ 7:06pm

Re: Re: .Org sites
Well if thats the case then ThePirateBay.org would be untouchable. As of right now, they top the MPAA's Hit List.

Now you got my curiosity up about .org's. PTheirateBay.org have a loophole now? ;)
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TPBGirl (profile), 14 Jan 2012 @ 7:16pm

Re: Re: Re: .Org sites
Please excuse my typos above. My wireless internet hiccupped on me :(
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Ninja (profile), 16 Jan 2012 @ 5:38am

Epic win. I suppose we can get the Raging Printers come out against SOPA as well?

Jokes apart, it's good to see them connected and active at this age. They could teach a thing or two for older ppl all around the world.

MAFIAA will disregard them as senile. Oh wait, our friendly troll up there already did it ;)
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paidtoclicksites, 17 Jan 2012 @ 3:23am

ptc site earning money
They could teach a thing or two for older ppl all around the world.
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another mike (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:04pm

good news
AARP should join in, they have one of the biggest voting blocs in the country. This bill would die quickly if they threw their weight against it.
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