Musician Peter Gabriel Comes Out Against SOPA/PIPA; Website Will Go Dark

from the well,-look-at-that... dept

Tue, Jan 17th 2012 11:26am — Mike Masnick

We keep hearing how the "artists" that the entertainment industry gatekeepers say they're "protecting" are not at all pleased about SOPA and PIPA. For example, we've already seen Ashton Kutcher come out against the bill. The latest is that famed musician Peter Gabriel has said that his own website will go dark in protest tomorrow:

“This year is going to be a very crucial year for the fate of digital rights and freedoms on the internet. We strongly support the campaign against both the Protect IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act. For that reason our websites will be down from 05.00 GMT for 24 hours in support of the campaign.

Please check out http://www.avaaz.org/en/save_the_internet/ if you want to read more/sign the petition.

Thank you.”

Peter Gabriel

It's been really sickening to see our usual critics (some of whom are admitted lobbyists in favor of the bills) insist that anyone against the bills is "in favor of piracy." Clearly, many people from all over the place -- including those who make their living in the "entertainment business" are against the bills. Or are we going to hear that Peter Gabriel just wants free stuff, too?

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Filed Under: blackout, peter garbriel, pipa, protect ip, protest, sopa

66 Comments

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Jeff (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:18am

Gabriel is a class act
I have been a fan of his since '81 (OMG!) - he has always proven to be an artist willing to take a risk and try new mediums (think EVE, OD2 and MUDDA).

It is no surprise that he would come out against SOPA/PIPA because he has always been a supporter of human rights and human equality.

His stance shows he is a man of conscience and empathy, and I will support his artistic endeavors even more now!
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:33am

Go for it Peter, shock the monkies.lol
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Anonymouse, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:36am

OMG Peter's such a freetard!!
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:37am

One more freetard piracy apologist, just like Ashton Kutcher.
They just want free stuff.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:40am

Wow millionaires are against SOPA and PIPA, that should show all the paytards something.
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Yakko Warner (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:41am

Peter Gabriel's all about free stuff.
He expects to just lay down some tracks and get a steam train for free.
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Ninja (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:41am

Re:
Or are we going to hear that Peter Gabriel just wants free stuff, too?

Does the post above answer your question?

(I'm inclined to think the post is actually not serious but who knows? there's no /troll tag)
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Anonymous Poster, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:42am

Looks like the SOPA protests just went Big Time.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:44am

Re:
SledeHammer.lol
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:45am

INB4
All the websites that don't go dark tomorrow are clearly in favor of SOPA/PIPA.
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weneedhelp (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:46am

Go Peter
I ate dinner with him in the Tower Theater catering. He is an extremely intelligent man. He was explaining to us why he had to tour while selling many many albums. Not one ounce of I am better than you was felt. Great guy, great crew to work with. Does not surprise me at all.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:48am

Re: INB4
Or clearly against your opinion. You know Sopa and Pipa will help kill trolls, the only redeeming qualities of either bill.
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Rich Kulawiec, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:48am

An apropos quote from the man himself
"You can blow out a candle
But you can't blow out a fire
Once the flames begin to catch
The wind will blow it higher"
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 11:56am

Wealthy old man tries to look hip by protesting another country's legislation that he clearly hasn't read.

real cool.
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btrussell (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:00pm

Re: Gabriel is a class act
Are you kidding? They are trying to infringe on his "Sledgehammer!"
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:04pm

Re:
How the hell would you know what he has read and what he hasn't. Why do you need to make stuff up that you clearly don't know? Maybe because your position has nothing factual to back it up?
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jupiterkansas (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:05pm

Re:
He may be a millionaire, but he is trying to support many of "not rich" artists with his Realworld record label, which is also going dark.
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gorehound (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:07pm

Re: Gabriel is a class act
Good for him.I am just a humble old punk rocker but I have already taken down both bigmeathammer.com and goreproductions.com which is my only method of income at the moment.They will stay down for a few days.
And by the way I still remember seeing Genesis in Boston in the early 70's high on Acid I think.They had the coolest light show w/slides and Gabriel changed into a lot of weird costumes.
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pixelpusher220 (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:08pm

Re:
whether a troll or just sarcasm it raises an interesting point.

We shouldn't blindly assume that people coming out against SOPA/PIPA are altruistic in their reasons. Once something gains enough inertia, lots of people will want to be on the side with the momentum.
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Hephaestus (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:11pm

Re:
Mike Can we get a give the troll a cookie button? or just "Give Cookie"
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:15pm

Re: Re:
Indeed, once the lobbyists are paid better not to support SOPA, you can be sure they'll flipflop.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:20pm

It's been really sickening to see our usual critics (some of whom are admitted lobbyists in favor of the bills) insist that anyone against the bills is "in favor of piracy."

As someone that was very pro-Metallica during the Napster case, and a staunch RIAA supporter, it's exactly that sort of attitude, among other things, that has slowly turned me against their industry. Back then I bought their argument that infringement was theft.

However, after years of watching them blatantly lie and twist fact to suit there agenda, deride anyone who disagreed with them as supporting "thieves" and therefore no better than criminals themselves, and then engage in behavior I considered to border on (if not outright cross the line on) extortion and blackmail (both against their customers and client) I've found it increasing impossible over the years to support, or even care about, anything they have to say.
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Gwiz (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:20pm

Re: Re:
Mike Can we get a give the troll a cookie button? or just "Give Cookie"

Nah, If you give a troll a cookie, they'll want a glass of mike. If you give a troll a glass of milk, they'll want complete control over the entire Internet.
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ChurchHatesTucker (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:20pm

Re: Re: INB4

What? They make it easy to take down sites by posting a lot of links in the comments of sites I don't like.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:21pm

Re: Re:
haha, a "feed the troll" button =P
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technomage (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:25pm

Re: Re: Re:
"Nah, If you give a troll a cookie, they'll want a glass of mike."

lol...poor Mike, he's become fluids for the trolls...
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sneeje, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:25pm

Re: Re:
As long as we apply that assumption both ways, then yes.

Just because you are for the bills, doesn't mean you are supporting the "greater good" either.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:27pm

Re: Re: Re: INB4
Yep, You got it anyone can oppose your view and use the pipa or sopa to make a fraudulent claim to have it removed.
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Gwiz (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:29pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
lol...poor Mike, he's become fluids for the trolls...

Yeah, just noticed that awful typo as you were posting.

[Note to Self]: Self, you really need to proofread better!
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:30pm

Re: Re: Re:
Treat trolls like the gigapet, feed them play with them, then forget about them and they DIE.lol
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Some Guy, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:35pm

Filthy pirates like Peter Gabriel shouldn't be allowed to steal from honest, hard-working and respectable musicians like Peter Gabriel.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:39pm

Re: Re:
It's obvious he hasn't read it. Anyone that actually takes the time to read it immediately understands that Google, Masnick, et al are all lying about how bad it supposedly is.

I wonder how much in donations Jimmy Wales was promised if he took the site dark; I know they've really been hurting for money recently.
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Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:39pm

Re: INB4
I'm not going to darken my website or any of my blogs because... I'm in support of SOPA/PIPA?

Wrong. I'm not doing it because I HAVE ZERO READERS. It's not worth the effort. It would be a cry in the wilderness, a tempest in a teacup. Crickets will chirp. Somewhere a dog will bark.

It's OK. Once SOPA or PIPA passes, you can use it to shut down my website yourself. I'm sure there's a phrase or a line of code that you could use to get it done.
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Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:40pm

Well, this is all well and good for established artists with a long history of innovation in the fields of claymation and computer animation but what about the thousands of independent artists that need the major labels and their legislation to survive? Who will protect their efforts and stop-motion animation?
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Capitalist Lion Tamer (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:41pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I'd rather have the option to spin them around and aim them at each other like Furbies, thus sparing everyone else the pain of actually having to respond to their nonsensical noises and eye movements.
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Machin Shin (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 12:52pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Don't we already have something like that?

Oh, I'm sorry I was thinking of Congress. They make even less sense then a room full of Furbies talking to each other.
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Nastybutler77 (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:01pm

Re: Re:
Someone's sarcasm meter is on the fritz...
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btrussell (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:04pm

Re: Re: Re:
If you are going to call someone a liar, you should back it up with proof.

Or are you just trying to show off your internet balls?
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Some Other AC (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:10pm

Re: Re: Re:
It is not obvious one way or the other. Regardless of this, a well known and mostly well respected(there are always dissenters) musician has come out and stated he does not support either SOPA or PIPA.
And as usual, I will add this to your inane comments:

"I wonder how much in donations Jimmy Wales was promised if he took the site dark; I know they've really been hurting for money recently."
Citation Please!
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Anonymous Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:15pm

Celebrity Opinions
On any other day, I could give a rat's ass for what ANY celebrity thinks (what, you think they have some special insight? Go as a Kardashian about anything).

Today, however, I do believe that we should credit those that are actually thinking.

Go Peter Gabriel!
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Nastybutler77 (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:15pm

Re: Re: Re:
It's obvious he hasn't read it. Anyone that actually takes the time to read it immediately understands that Google, Masnick, et al are all lying about how bad it supposedly is.

I wonder how much in donations Jimmy Wales was promised if he took the site dark; I know they've really been hurting for money recently.

Wow. That's a lot of bullshit for one short post.

So your defacto arguement is, "If you dissagree with PIPA/SOPA you haven't read it as no one upon reading it could have any issues with it." What a crock. Come up with a real arguement and get back to me.

And if Wales wanted to line his pockets he'd take the easy money and side with the **IA's since they're the ones throwing cash at anyone who will support this horrible, horrible bill.

Troll hard, retard.
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Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:20pm

Re: Re:
Nope, I doubt his reasons are altruistic.

Mine aren't, either. Purely selfish. I want to keep writing code. I want the economy not to collapse, so I can continue working and living in a house and eating, feeding my family, send my kids to college. I want to have more choices about the movies I can watch and the music I can listen to, not fewer. I don't want to live in the fear that any random remark I make could be used to take away my freedom or my belongings.

And I want that for my friends, too. And their friends. And everybody else in the world. Not because I'm altruistic, but because I like sharing things that I like, and I like helping people. I like it when other people are happy, it makes me happy.

I'd be inclined to call that "enlightened self-interest" but when you get down to it, my reasons are all selfish. I want the world to be a certain way.

It's easy to question the motives of somebody you don't know, especially if he's rich, famous, or (worse yet) both. And yet... I bet he wants the same thing I want. He wants the world to be a certain way. I'm sure we all differ in the details but in the end, everybody does things for selfish reasons. Whether it's direct gain of desired resources or feeling good about the rightness of your actions, you do things because you anticipate that the results and consequences of your actions will satisfy a need in yourself.

So while it's easy to be all cynical about Peter Gabriel's motives, in the long run, he's no more selfish than anybody else. We all try to fulfill our needs and, if we have energy left over, our desires.

For myself, I'm not going to refuse his help just because he has more money than I have. I'm also not going to assume that any successful artist must necessarily have a selfish, greedy hidden agenda when it comes to this. Maybe Peter Gabriel just sees SOPA and PIPA as threats to his business model? Sounds good to me. Screw altruism, give me enlightened self-interest every time. Then you know where you stand.
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Jeffrey Nonken (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:21pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
I dunno. Works either way for me. :)
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cjstg (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:23pm

Re: Re: Re:
lobbyists are tools, just like lawyers. you pay them and they do what you want them to. today they support a bill; the next they're against it. don't blame the lobbyists. they are a symptom of a system run a muck.
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cjstg (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:27pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
yeah, i actually kinda liked they way that was going. "...they'll want a glass of mike," and if you give them a glass of mike, they'll want to control the comments, and if you let them control the comments, they'll own the website, and if they own the website they'll shut it down.
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cjstg (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:33pm

Re: Celebrity Opinions
i think there is certainly a difference between talentless hacks like kk and someone like peter gabriel. gabriel has been innovative since the beginning both in his entertainment and business models. his is probably an opinion that should be listened to on any day. the entire works of kk could go away and our society would lose nothing.
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John Fenderson (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:35pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
I will absolutely blame lobbyists, but not solely them. They know they are tools being used to degrade and destroy much of what is good about this country and do it anyway. They are selfish bastards that put their personal profit over the good of their fellow man. They are reprehensible.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:35pm

Re:
That is exactly why I don't want to "fix" copyright, it is to corrupt already to be fixed and it need to be nixed.

86 copyright now!
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:41pm

Re: Re: INB4
You be wrong someone reads your blog and big things comes in small packages.

Think biotechnology, nanotechnology, all those tinny things don't do much on their own but combined they generate something.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 1:44pm

Re: Re: Re:
That can't be true I read the bills and reached the opposite conclusion of yours, that in fact Masnick, Google, etc are all right, those bills are a threat to democracy, may be the greatest threat democracy has ever faced.

This is a fight between evil monopolies and good freedom.
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princefeliz (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 2:01pm

SOPA/PITA
Everyone who owns a website and does not support SOPA/PIPA should take it down tomorrow as well.
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Atkray (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 2:20pm

Re: Re:
"Mike Can we get a give the troll a cookie button?"

It is to the right of the funny button.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 2:29pm

Re: Re: Re: Re:
No it isn't.

It's about people that steal movies and music and the tech companies that make money off that theft.

That's it.
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Brendan (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 3:01pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Then why doesn't the text of the bill(s) say that? The wording as is appears to be much much broader.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 3:09pm

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
No, it isn't.
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TtfnJohn (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 5:01pm

Re:
The National Film Board of Canada where they all go anyway? :)
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Samuel Abram (profile), 17 Jan 2012 @ 5:21pm

Re: SOPA/PITA
I certainly have. My website, samuelabram.com, will go dark tomorrow.
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Anonymous Coward, 17 Jan 2012 @ 7:11pm

Re:
Oh look, more hypocrisy from freetards that scream about free speech and freedom.

They try to block pure speech because they don't have the same opinion.

A bigger bunch of slimy douchebags you will never find.

Here's what was said:

"Wealthy old man tries to look hip by protesting another country's legislation that he clearly hasn't read.

real cool."
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teka, 17 Jan 2012 @ 7:50pm

Re: Re:
what?

"pure speech"? is this a newspeek term that i am not familer with?

Oh, I get it!
It is "pure speech" when a conglomerate of megacorporate interests and bought politicians are speaking and just "screaming freetards" when actual people and organizations that would be affected try to speak up.
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PaulT (profile), 18 Jan 2012 @ 12:40am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
While SOPA has been delayed, why don't you go off and formulate an argument that's not typically found in schoolyards? Lying about others and name calling don't really help your position.
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PaulT (profile), 18 Jan 2012 @ 1:08am

Re: Re:
Nobody's blocking your freedom of speech, they're just saving other posters from reading the ramblings of a drooling idiot who can't accept that people *have* read the bill and reached a different conclusion on its impact (or even agree that no such legislation is necessary until you get your business models adjusted to reality).

Anyone who chooses to read your foolish idiocy is still free to do so, however. We're not the ones trying to censor the internet because someone hurt our feelings or forced us to actually work for a living - that would be the people *you* worship.
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PaulT (profile), 18 Jan 2012 @ 1:19am

Re: Celebrity Opinions
I agree that I don't care what some celebrity has to say about most subjects. But, this isn't merely a celebrity mouthing off, it's a successful businessman stating his opinion about the very industry he's been involved with for decades - and siding against those who claim to be working for him. That he also happens to be a famous musician is almost incidental.
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GrownUp, 18 Jan 2012 @ 3:13am

Re: Re:
I grieve.
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Marcel de Jong (profile), 18 Jan 2012 @ 4:08am

Re: Re: Re: Re: Re:
Look here, retard, SOPA wouldn't even be able to take down ThePirateBay, because TPB has a .com address.

So how is it about stopping people who """"""steal"""""" movies and music?
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berzley, 18 Jan 2012 @ 8:21pm

Stop SOPA
I have a facebook event spreading the word and encouraging users to protest and contact represenatives
http://www.facebook.com/events/331207713568213/
Please check it out
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The Luke Witnesser, 20 Jan 2012 @ 5:01am

Here lies the truth about SOPA/PIPA that even TechDirt has yet to report: what MPAA, RIAA, and Hollywood execs do not want you to see.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJIuYgIvKsc
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NzS5rSvZXe8

The truth behind why these big companies responsible for SOPA and PIPA are also responsible for piracy itself is far more insidious than even their outmoded business model.

Hint: can you say, do as I say so I can crush you under heel?
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