SOPA and PIPA

I just drove to Whole Foods to get some lunch for today’s nominating committee meeting for the CPD woman’s auxiliary (called The Partnership) – and was listening to the radio (Sirius Broadway Channel, of course).  I heard a funny old song from the show Finian’s Rainbow.  I wanted to write a little bit about it for the blog today, but I can’t – because I can’t find the info I need through my usual source, Wikipedia.

Wikipedia is blacked out because of the SOPA & PIPA protest.  Here is part of what they have posted about the protest:

Why is Wikipedia blacked-out?

Wikipedia is protesting against SOPA and PIPA by blacking out the English Wikipedia for 24 hours, beginning at midnight January 18, Eastern Time. Readers who come to English Wikipedia during the blackout will not be able to read the encyclopedia. Instead, you will see messages intended to raise awareness about SOPA and PIPA, encouraging you to share your views with your representatives, and with each other on social media.

What are SOPA and PIPA?

SOPA and PIPA represent two bills in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Senate respectively. SOPA is short for the "Stop Online Piracy Act," and PIPA is an acronym for the "Protect IP Act." ("IP" stands for "intellectual property.") In short, these bills are efforts to stop copyright infringement committed by foreign web sites, but, in our opinion, they do so in a way that actually infringes free expression while harming the Internet.

You guys know that I really don’t know too much about this stuff, but I do believe our representatives need to look at this more closely.  So I’m asking you to get involved too. 

Please write to your elected officials now – I just tweeted @petesessions to tell him we need free and open internet.  You can find out who your officials are through Wikipedia today:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackout

Thanks for your help – and back to Finian’s Rainbow next week!