I was actually following this from another site before I knew there was a thread here.
This irritates me to no end. I know piracy is bad, blah. But I mostly buy used games anyway. Does the producer see any money in that? Pretty sure just Gamestop gets the money for hooking me up with the copy. And blacklisting THE best way to get information (I know it isn't always accurate but it is information still) is a terrible idea.
Who says what is okay for me to look at and not look at? Who decides that for me? What about my rights? So some pirating makes it okay for the government to decide what I can and can't look at? I mean, I'm for moderation in government and this is just bigger government.
But eh, I know I can only do so much, but I signed the petition. I'll be the first to admit that we have very little control over the government generally, but lots of press and lots of pissed off voters DOES make those politicians a little nervous. They do want their comfy jobs after all. We have to out weigh the support from the people pushing the bill with negative press to even hope to do anything.
Anyway got this email from the people:
[spoiler]Kayla -- big news! Yesterday the Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to send the Internet blacklist bill to the full Senate, but it was quickly stopped by Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) who denounced it as "a bunker-buster cluster bomb" aimed at the Internet and pledged to "do everything I can to take the necessary steps to stop it from passing the U.S. Senate."
Wyden's opposition practically guarantees the bill is dead this year -- and next year the new Congress will have to reintroduce the bill and start all over again. But even that might not happen: Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Hollywood's own senator, told the committee that even she was uncomfortable with the Internet censorship portion of the bill and hoped it could be removed when they took it up again next year!
This is incredible -- and all thanks to you. Just a month ago, the Senate was planning to pass this bill unanimously; now even the senator from Hollywood is backing away from it. But this fight is far from over -- next year, there's going to be hearings, negotiations, and even more crucial votes. We need to be there, continuing to fight.
We're doing everything we can: working with key staffers to remove the most egregious parts of the bill, lobbying more members of Congress to speak out against this bill, and insisting on hearings so the whole Senate can learn about how dangerous this is. And, of course, we'll keep working with you to make sure more people hear about this bill and tell their senators.[/spoiler]
Next thing to worry about are those new scanners in airports giving us cancer.