A post in TechDirt prompted this post. Yesterday the Senate voted to censor the Internet. The bill they unanimously supported is Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeit Acts aka COICA. The bill would allow seizure of domain names accused of aiding piracy. No surprise that the RIAA and Hollywood were 100% behind the bill. TechDirt listed some of the Senators who voted for the bill and some of these are real suprises including my senator, Chuck Schumer, Al Franken and Dianne Feinstein. There is a bit of hypocrisy here. While Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is chastising China for their censorship of the Internet, our senators are doing the same thing here.
The following is the email I sent to Sen Schumer today. If you think this is a violation of the First Amendment, it's time to contact your senator.
Dear Sen Schumer,
I usually agree with your voting, but am very disappointed that you supported the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act. I have worked in the music business for over 25 years and I've slowly seen the record companies destroy their own business. Having them back a bill like this is just one more nail in their coffin and government officials like you should not support their efforts to censor. They tried doing it with DRM and they will continue to do it, when all they need to do is listen to the consumer and put out quality product.
Please rethink this bill. Censorship of the Internet is last thing we need in this country. How can we chastise China, when we're trying to do the same thing here?
Sincerely,
Paula Sartorius
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