For a brief time I thought about shutting down my various sites for the day.
I thought about it, and decided against it.
It’s not that I support SOPA or PIPA or any of the other bits of alphabet soup that will try to chisel away at our freedom of speech. In fact I hate them with passion. Instead I am going to post this about how I addressed the issue as citizen, and a consumer.
First and foremost, I contacted the offices of both my House and Senate representatives and asked them politely not to endorse the bills. Essentially I outlined that they are bad pieces of legislation and asked them to vote no if they are ever considered.
Then I set about my business for the week, only this time armed with a list of organizations that are pouring money into getting these bills passed.
It just happens it was time again to order a years supply of contacts from 1-800-Contacts, the company I have dealt with for years. Funny, they are one of the sponsors.
I called them up and let them know it was time to reorder, pointed out that their sponsorship had cost them a regular customer, and took my money elsewhere.
I scroll down the list, making notes, remembering things.
That Harley I have been saving up for? Never going to happen, they just burned that bridge. I’ll just keep riding my old Honda.
I have always been one that is on the fence between Gerber and Leatherman multi-tools. Looks like Leatherman just lost out on that, and I order for my maintenance department as well.
Walt Disney apparently wants me to vacation elsewhere, Wal Mart wants me to shop elsewhere, Sony and Nintendo both really want me to buy an X-Box.
You get the idea.
I have three ways I can address attacks like SOPA and PIPA.
I can write about it, for now at least.
I can hold my elected officials accountable, I tell them what my concerns are, and I vote.
Lastly I can hold those companies that would pay to break the internet by taking my money elsewhere.
You think the tiny little bite I put in these companies is worthless, well maybe your right. I’m little more than a mosquito buzzing around them. Tiny, relatively harmless.
Then again, if you think a mosquito is insignificant, try sleeping in a room with just one.
My friends, there are MILLIONS of us.
Think about it.
.
You folks have an awesome day. I’ll be back posting about WoW again soon enough.
~Dech
Too late for us on the Harley! But Hubby’s sacrifices and 20 year wait take priority anyhow, regardless he’d have gotten his bike, and gear, and it’s still going in for customizing this month because he deserves it more than anything. I hate these bills, I hate that they are being considered, I hate that the protests as a result have caused me to get a likely F on an assignment because Reddit is blacked out (sociology assignment due tonight). I hate everything about it. And I did my letter writing.
[...] Dechion posted today about how he is doing his part to fight back against SOPA and PIPA. Essentially these bills are causing a huge uproar, because they threaten some heavy handed internet censorship. I admit it worries me, that this blog that I have hosted for ten years may be a victim. But I don’t believe blacking out websites is going to help all that much. In fact, in many cases it’s hurting the very people that the protests are fighting to help. The End User. The people that may depend on your website for research, shopping, information, or even just a short entertainment break during a long day of work, or study. [...]