There's been a lot of huffing and puffing in the tech community over the past few months about SOPA, the proposed legislation that many believe would cripple the Internet and thwart innovation. People have started online petitions, written countless blog posts, started boycotts against companies that support SOPA and campaigns to change Twitter avatars. (Check out the rest of VentureBeat's SOPA coverage here.)
Mike_FTW made this great observation: "If SOPA passes after we all added those ribbons to our avatars it certainly won't be our fault."
I changed my own avatar, but almost in an ironic way. I know full well that nearly everyone who follows me already agrees with me.
Blogging amongst ourselves won't change things. We need to do a much better job of educating Congress, the media and the people.
Part of the problem is that Silicon Valley has a belief in meritocracy. We believe that if we are right, we will win. It's a nice thought, but that's not how Washington works.
A common refrain in Silicon Valley is that Congress should be smart enough to know how the Internet works. It may sound reasonable, but it isn't. There are 535 people in Congress who are responsible for passing laws that relate to the environment, pharmaceuticals, transportation, infrastructure, foreign policy, social services — every topic under the sun.
Although it's a top-of-mind issue for us, neither California Senator Dianne Feinstein nor Senator Barbara Boxer list PIPA (the Senate equivalent of SOPA) on their top issues pages.
It's unreasonable to expect that members of Congress, many of whom are career politicians, study our business. Some make gut reactions in the name of privacy or fear of "hacking."
Mike_FTW made this great observation: "If SOPA passes after we all added those ribbons to our avatars it certainly won't be our fault."
I changed my own avatar, but almost in an ironic way. I know full well that nearly everyone who follows me already agrees with me.
Blogging amongst ourselves won't change things. We need to do a much better job of educating Congress, the media and the people.
Part of the problem is that Silicon Valley has a belief in meritocracy. We believe that if we are right, we will win. It's a nice thought, but that's not how Washington works.
A common refrain in Silicon Valley is that Congress should be smart enough to know how the Internet works. It may sound reasonable, but it isn't. There are 535 people in Congress who are responsible for passing laws that relate to the environment, pharmaceuticals, transportation, infrastructure, foreign policy, social services — every topic under the sun.
Although it's a top-of-mind issue for us, neither California Senator Dianne Feinstein nor Senator Barbara Boxer list PIPA (the Senate equivalent of SOPA) on their top issues pages.
It's unreasonable to expect that members of Congress, many of whom are career politicians, study our business. Some make gut reactions in the name of privacy or fear of "hacking."
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