Senator Marco Rubio Dropping His Co-Sponsorship Of PIPA
from the another-down dept
It appears that the some in Congress are finally hearing you. Senator Marco Rubio, from Florida, has announced that he is removing his name as a co-sponsor of PIPA and is urging Senator Harry Reid not to go ahead with the plan to bring the bill to the floor.Earlier this year, this bill passed the Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously and without controversy. Since then, we've heard legitimate concerns about the impact the bill could have on access to the Internet and about a potentially unreasonable expansion of the federal government's power to impact the Internet. Congress should listen and avoid rushing through a bill that could have many unintended consequences.Publicity stunt? Or democracy in action? I vote for the latter. It's good to see politicians actually listening to constituents rather than lobbyists sometimes...
Therefore, I have decided to withdraw my support for the Protect IP Act. Furthermore, I encourage Senator Reid to abandon his plan to rush the bill to the floor. Instead, we should take more time to address the concerns raised by all sides, and come up with new legislation that addresses Internet piracy while protecting free and open access to the Internet.
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Filed Under: backlash, blackouts, marco rubio, pipa, protect ip, protests, sopa, sponsors
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You'd think that that'd be the default behaviour, after all they voted him in democratically as their representative.
Demos cratos, for the people.
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About time Congressmen listen
Now it's time to hit the other senator in FL who apparently needs more persuasion...
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Re: About time Congressmen listen
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[/troll]
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And I must say, Rubio's announcement is the best response to a complaint that I've ever gotten from a congressman (besides the thoughtful letter I once received from my local supervisor of elections). Nelson on the other hand, I wouldn't hold my breath. Too bad another Dem isn't stepping up to his incumbency.
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CYA stunt?
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If it is a publicity stunt...
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Internet Super PAC?
Why not start some type of Super PAC with backing of many of the same folks involved in the black outs/white outs today? Work towards going against re-election of folks who are in the pockets of organizations like MPAA and RIAA as well as those who do support these SOPA type bills?
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Re: Internet Super PAC?
and the above isn't even really considered being proactive, it's simply being reactive to our existing laws. Being proactive would be something like creating a constitutional amendment limiting the scope and lengths of copy protection laws and creating federal laws that actively limit state and local government's ability to enact overreaching copy protection laws.
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FTFY
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Agree, but for false infringement claims, I believe there should only be one penalty -- you lose your copyrights. If it is shown in court that you cannot be a good citizen, then someone else should take over your copyrights. In the case of a corporation, the copyright should immediately revert back to the individual who wrote/recorded/etc., the work in question. For individuals, the copyright is null and void and the work immediately becomes public domain. That is the only way you'll get these folks to stop being childish and start being good citizens.
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Main news media covering including The guardian news paper.
at http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/jan/18/wikipedia-blackout-protest
THE register http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/18/a_preview_of_what_sopa_would_be_like/ good luck guys hope you kill the acts.
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Any comment from the US on how your own press is reporting on this? I know the TV News coverage has been shoddy but what about the Press and their websites?
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PIPA/SOPA on NPR
NPR's reporting struck me as a bit naive, like they're just hearing about these bills right now. They seem to be doing he said/she said stories, giving MPAA and RIAA and Chamber of Commerce some credibility on the issue.
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For me, I've seen a lot of "why wikipedia is offline" reports, but they've gone out of the way to explain the controversy in their own words (underblown/overblown.) But it is nice to see that the media finally has to cover SOPA/PIPA since they've been ignoring it for so long.
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Democracy in action indeed when now millions around the world wake up to a topic that the main news stations have barely covered. Then in their upset and annoyance they are overloading the US Government's communication systems.
I hear a fire that burns and burns and burns with the voice of freedom.
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more on main media
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Thank you
My contribution towards dismantling SOPA on web site
http://staroba.my/Editorial/editorial-destroyers-of-the-internet-enemies-of-mankind-and-hitl ers-in-the-making.html
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Other News: SCOTUS shrinks public domain again
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He is NOT listening to his constituents
Where:
constituents == green pieces of paper with dead presidents.
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After visiting Wikipedia i found their app thet gives the names and phone numbers for my state reps very helpful. I entered my zip code and was able to call the Washington offices to tell them I was against sopa/pipa.
I was able to get through without a issue. Everyone who hasn't called should call.
Also, after speaking with them I get the feeling the phones are very busy today with like minded people.
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Re: [Keep calls coming!]
Call got queued, "Staff busy due to high volume of calls".
Keep trying until you get through.
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My deepest apologies to the corporate donors. I owe you one.
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Too often Pols just vote the line. When one steps out in any manner they should be praised.
I bet this has not won him fans in the gov.
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I bet this has not won him fans in the gov.
You're talking about "the line" like this is drawn up along party lines. It's not. This is a non partisan issue, which is why it comes down to lobbyists and their money. Usually when an issue is non partisan, whichever lobby throws the most money at the key memebers of Congress gets their pet bill passed quitely and without a fuss. It would have been the case here as well if it hadn't angered the internet.
This won't affect his fan status as far as "the government" is concerned (whatever that means). His corporate masters on the other hand may be perturbed.
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Spoke to my Senator's office
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Did we break Mr. Rubio's website
Sorry, the web page you have requested is experiencing technical difficulties. The Webmaster has been alerted.
You will be automatically redirected to the www.senate.gov home page after 10 seconds.
If this problem persists, please contact the Office of the Secretary Webmaster at webmaster@sec.senate.gov.
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Perhaps they should've informed the public instead of trying to rush the bill through. And by inform, I mean actually provide useful information, and not just the usual "Piracy is bad!" argument. People aren't buying into that any more.
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Lee Terry, too
This makes me happy since he is my senator.
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Ben Quayle (R-Ariz.)
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rubio
Now, we just need to get him to endorse Ron Paul for President in 2012.
I'm on it
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