Senator Ben Cardin - SOPA supporter/sponsor?

Not two weeks ago I sent a kudos out on Senator Ben Cardin for opposing the NDAA this year, not one month ago did this happen on Twitter, he stood his ground and voted for the Freedoms that make America Great, ie no indefinite detention of American Citizens. So I felt good about the guy and the senator for my state. Now I'm having second thoughts because he is a sponsor of PiPA

In the long run, the indefinite detention of American Citizens is much worse than SOPA/PiPa, but not by much because it really has no purpose but to pander to the MPAA, RIAA and the drug companies. It won't stop piracy, nor really do anything but allow for court orders and the attorney general to pull down websites on the 'suspicion' of piracy. The suspicion then doesn't compensate for website losses, potential losses or for real supporting data, evidence or a trial. Basically the NDAA goes after people for imprisonment and SOPA goes after websites in the same manner. This is especially confusing for a Maryland Senator because there isn't a strong movie, music or drug industry in the state.

So what it comes down to is I believe Senator Cardin needs to explain why, and not in a press release, does he think this is good for Maryland Voters. Why would our Senator become involved in a technically inaccurate and poorly written bill that allows for egregious violations of the first amendment on the whim of a corporation, especially one who's numbers have been thoroughly debunked by the GAO with the writeup by Kevin Fogarty on the actual costs

The one bit that strikes me most from the press release is the following

"remaining a cosponsor of the bill provides me the opportunity to be an active participant in the process of addressing the most serious concerns raised by my constituents"


I fail to see how anything in this bill helps the state of Maryland, his constituents or anyone other than old school big business which doesn't evolve, change or evolve and wants to maintain their monopoly on entertainment instead of changing.

I'm looking for advice, or thoughts on what to do. I plan on writing and depending on how this plays out either supporting Senator Cardin in the next election due to his stance on NDAA and changes to PiPA, otherwise his actions will have me supporting his opponent, and contributing $100 since it appears politicians only respond to who gives them money, not their constituents.

Stop SOPA

A rehash on the last post, this bill will change the way the internet functions and Congress is so far in bed with Lobbyists and Boosters that it doesn't matter what is good for anyone other than their campaign contributions. Most of the sponsors do not understand how the internet works and the primary sponsor probably can't comprehend the engineering or how to wire his computer to a wall... but still feel they can stifle innovation

Wikipedia is going blank, support them and everyone else who goes blank in protest, remember that GoDaddy supported the Bill and needs to be run out of business as does hollywood and anyone else voicing their support and money. This is America, stand up and make your voice heard...and vote out anyone who has voiced support...we're looking at you Texas(Lamar Smith) for electing the Congressman who wrote this POS and Harry Reid of Nevada for PIPA. So support wikipedia, support lolcats, reddit, Google, Yahoo for leaving the Chamber of Commerce and the other 7,000 websites that are going to shut down, and shun those that stay open. For a protest to work everyone needs to participate, and those that don't should be punished by losing money and most importantly change our government.


Great writeup of what isn't getting done while this highly technical, probably unconstitutional and business crushing bill

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:SOPA_initiative/Take_action
Stop SOPA Strike: http://sopastrike.com/

Just remember the first line of SOPA is basically a lie, 'To promote prosperity, creativity, entrepreneurship, and innovation by combating the theft of U.S. property, and for other purposes.' and instead should read, 'To support the outdated, cartel based, monopolistic tendencies of the RIAA, MPAA and other industries that have continuously stifled innovation...That's who this bill is for, not the American People, not the average Joe, not the entrepreneur, but for special interests n Hollywood and the music industry.

Stop SOPA

No need to say anymore than the title suggests but for everyone on twitter go here BlackoutSopa. That's all thats needed. We all know our distinguished representatives are full of crap and won't listen but the effort matters...so vote against every incumbent and go to
www.blackoutsopa.org and change your twitter icon