Meet Lamar Smith, representative from Texas, and Chairman of the House Committee on the Judiciary. As Chairman he can kill any bill he doesn’t like by denying it a hearing while giving priority to the bills he wants to pass, Like SOPA. While addressing the massive outcry over SOPA he stated that:
“It’s a vocal minority. Because they’re strident doesn’t mean they’re either legitimate or large in number. One, they need to read the language. Show me the language. There’s nothing they can point to that does what they say it does do. I think their fears are unfounded.”
Above is a list of people that have pointed at the language, including law professors and computer experts. You have a civil war among video game companies, and the successful boycott of a company. How do you ignore that? It’s an election year. This November. Whatever happens, Texas, please kick this guy out of office.
Please, if you have the ability to, elect this guy out of office.
via Lamar Smith Can’t Hear You – Boing Boing.
As a Texan (first and foremost), a computer nerd, and several other things that inspire me to fight against this bill, I will be doing my part to vote him out, and to tell everyone I can about his jackassery so that they, too, can vote against him.
Agreed. Smith has made me so incredibly pissed off, any challenger to his seat gets my vote.
It also bears mentioning that Smith is the one who introduced the bill in the first place.
If you had been paying attention to what was really going on you would know that Representative Smith had already removed the Provision of the Bill that has everybody (quite rightly) up in arms:
www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/13/rep-lamar-smith-blocks-dns-blocking-from-sopa/
For those who don’t do Fox:
www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45997872#.TxPO1YE3WSo
www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57358970/opponents-claim-victory-in-sopa-battle/?tag=mncol;lst;1
(Funny how there’s nothing at all about this on CNN, ABCNews or USAToday.)
One way to help block SOPA:
wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#!/petition/veto-sopa-bill-and-any-other-future-bills-threaten-diminish-free-flow-information/g3W1BscR