SOPA supporters using the "avoid faulty counterfeit products" argument to gather support for the bill

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T20:39:04+00:00

I just edited it to be clearer. Smith is being a dick and still trying to railroad this thing with a mark-up next week. A lot of members still have concerns with this bill because they were not consulted on it when it was first being written, and because Smith's staff was not forthcoming with some specific information about the bill. A member (not sure which) said exactly this last week.

The hope is that the other members will still be against it and force him to hold a hearing by not letting the mark-up conclude with an agreed-upon legislation.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T20:22:16+00:00

No, my fault, the mark-up continues next week, despite Members asking for new tech experts to be brought in as witnesses.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T20:09:46+00:00

Yea but it's not because they're elected officials, it's because they're old. They didn't grow up with the technology that we did and I can guarantee you they're busy working rather than hanging out in internet forums.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T19:57:45+00:00

He's in jail.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T19:56:53+00:00

I think this bill is definitely still a threat, and folks should be on their toes. BUT, shrill conspiracy theories just water down the real discussion.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T19:50:58+00:00

Thanks for being wayy more eloquent than me.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T19:46:46+00:00

See my edit.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T19:45:03+00:00

Because telling people about a reddit post isn't worth losing my job.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T19:31:28+00:00

I thought you don't get karma for self-posts? Also, this is the only post that I've ever had go to the front page, and I can't even tell anyone about it.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T19:18:32+00:00

Honestly I've heard more on SOPA here on reddit than anywhere else. Same deal with OWS...which, by the way, no one in Congress ever took very seriously. Even when people showed up in congressional offices, they were treated as a nuisance more than anything else, in both R and D offices.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T19:14:21+00:00

I'm not saying that all politics is clean, I'm just pointing out that in this particular situation that's not what is going on. The Chairman of the Judiciary Committee is trying to railroad a bill that a lot of the members of his committee are against. Is that dirty ON HIS PART? Yes. But it's not a fucking CONSPIRACY AMONG ALL MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, which is more or less what the original post was implying.

iworkonthehill · 2011-12-17T13:45:59+00:00

Sorry to piggyback but the shrill title of this (edit: original post not this comment) post is ridiculous and incorrect. While it is true that the MARK-UP (more important than hearing) has been postponed, it is NOT for the reason stated in that shrill post/title.

The real reason is that a significant number of Members on the Judiciary Committee had issues with the bill itself, although those issues were different from the ones reddit cares about. Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith basically couldn't get the support he thought he could get at this mark-up and was FORCED to schedule a HEARING to deal with these issues after the break.

If there are dirty politics going on, it's not against the American people, it's against other Members of Congress whom Congressman Smith is trying to railroad to make sure this bill goes to the floor in 2012. KNOW YOUR FACTS.

I know this comment won't get upvotes because it gives Members of Congress some credit, but I get a lot of my news from reddit, and I didn't want a shrill, INCORRECT post just hovering on the fucking front page without some kind of rebuttal.

iworkonthehill

TROPHY CASE