'Nerds' Finally Get Their SOPA Hearings Over Technical Impact... But Not At The Judiciary Committee
from the good-to-see dept
While Lamar Smith and the House Judiciary Committee still have refused to hear from the actual technology experts, Rep. Issa has now scheduled a SOPA-related hearing... in his House Oversight Committee, and it will finally allow tech experts to speak about the technological impact of SOPA. It's a good list of speakers including: famed security researcher Dan Kaminsky (who co-authored the paper about problems of SOPA with Paul Vixie and others), Stewart Baker (former DHS/NSA top official, who has warned about SOPA harming internet security), Dr. Leonard Napolitano (from Sandia National Labs, who also warned about the security problems), Michael Macleod-Ball (from the ACLU). And representing the startup world, we've got Brad Burnham (from Union Square Ventures -- probably the most sought after VC firm for startups today) and Alexis Ohanian, the entrepreneur behind Reddit, Hipmunk and Breadpig, and who has been an outstanding advocate for why SOPA is dangerous. Think of this as the hearing that Lamar Smith didn't want you to hear. Update: Reasonable point in the comments: this hearing is extremely one-sided as well. Perhaps that's fitting "counter-balance" for the pro-SOPA hearing that the Judiciary Committee held, but it still would be nice to have at least some "pro-" voices on the hearing. Of course, can you think of an actual, respected technologist who is in favor of SOPA? Yeah... didn't think so...Filed Under: alexis ohanian, brad burnham, cybersecurity, dan kaminsky, darrell issa, dns blocking, dnssec, leonard napolitano, michael macleod-ball, pipa, protect ip, security, sopa, stewart baker
