Tech Industry Finally Gets to Chime in on SOPA
Mike Masnick of Techdirt recently reported on an interesting development in the continuing sage of SOPA (the Stop Online Piracy Act): although Lamar Smith and the House Judiciary Committee still refuse to hear from members of the technology industry regarding the proposed legislation, Rep. Issa has scheduled a SOPA-related hearing for the House Oversight Committee, and is inviting tech industry experts to join in the discussion. Invitees include:
- Dan Kaminsky (the security expert who co-authored a paper about the problems with SOPA)
- Stewart Baker (former DHS/NSA top official, who has warned about SOPA harming internet security)
- Dr. Leonard Napolitano (from Sandia National Labs)
- Alexis Ohanian (the entrepreneur behind Reddit, Hipmunk and Breadpig)
- and others
You can read the article here.
He also wrote another excellent post that looks at, as he says:
“Lamar Smith’s claim that all of the problems of SOPA are “hypothetical” and no one has shown any language as to what’s wrong with the bill? Yeah, it seems that one such “hypothetical” has decided to take Smith up on his challenge. Enter Dajaz1, the American music blog that was censored for over a year and denied due process… under SOPA’s predecessor, the Pro-IP Act (which many of us tried to warn about at the time it was being debated). Yes, it appears that Dajaz1 (finally relaunched) has a thing or two to say to Lamar Smith about his “hypotheticals.”
It’s a well-written piece, though a tad lengthy, but definitely recommended - especially if you want to learn more about how SOPA and similar legislation hurts both regular “at home” Internet users and business to boot. Check it out.
