SOPA, PIPA, and a Disapproving Rabbit

You know it's serious, when a rabbit gets involved:

"We Disapprove of SOPA/PIPA"
Disapproving Rabbits (January 18, 2012)

"Hey all,

"We normally keep politics out of Disapproving Rabbits, but as people who create and sell things on the internet (and have had our work stolen), both Sharon and I feel we should join the protest against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and Protect-IP Act (PIPA), which as you can probably tell by the names, are designed to fight Internet Piracy.

"We feel that the legislation goes too far, gives the government and media companies too much power, and is poorly written. You can learn more about them here, but I urge you to investigate on your own...."

Disapproving Rabbits had planned to take the site down for 24 hours, but that would have been a whole lot of work: since they use Blogger, just like the Lemming. Instead, they turned the background color to black.

Turning this blog's background to black would be trickier, since it's a bit complicated - and uses an antique Blogger template. Excuses, excuses.

SOPA may be a well-intentioned, incompetently-planned, overly-powerful bit of legislation. On the other hand, a free Internet is a serious threat to the power of old-school information gatekeepers. Maybe SOPA isn't as daft as it seems: and represents an attempt to regain control of what Americans are allowed to see and read.

I've posted about information gatekeepers before:

• "Information Technology, People, and a Changing World"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (February 23, 2011)
• "Blogs, Freedom of Speech, and Threats to the Status Quo"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (July 31, 2010)
• "Cultural Chaos, Divisiveness, and CNN"
  A Catholic Citizen in America (April 1, 2010)
• "What is an Information Gatekeeper?"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (August 14, 2009)
• "DC Gun Ban, Online Censorship, Individual Rights, and Power to the People"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (June 27, 2008)
  • Why I don't mind people owning dangerous things like
    • Guns
    • LP gas
    • Ammonium nitrate¹
    • Anhydrous ammonia¹
    • Printing presses
    • Fax machines
    • Computers

Other related posts:

• "SOPA and PIPA Google Petition: I Signed"
  (January 18, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: SOPA, PIPA, and 'Rules are for the Little People?' "
  (January 17, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: SOPA, Censorship, and 'Protection' "
  (January 13, 2012)
• "Lemming Tracks: SOPA, Tech-Savvy Folks, Hollywood, and Congress"
  (January 9, 2012)
• "SOPA: 20 Reasons Why It's a Really Bad Idea"
  (December 30, 2011)