This may be a repeat message that someone else has posted, and it's certainly just an echo of what the admins displayed most of the day, but the more exposure, the better our chance.

Write to your representatives, or do whatever you want to do to make your voice heard! I know you may feel insignificant as an individual, but if everyone used that excuse to avoid speaking up, we will lose! Here on RPG alone we are probably a thousand or more strong (maybe that's a low estimate, I don't know); if each one of us makes a statement, that's a collective voice that is difficult to ignore!

And if every community like ours does the same, then we will beat this nonsense. So don't let this pass without giving your two cents, pence, rupees, reals, yen, or whatever else you've got.

-SF

For those who are interested:

Today, I stopped by the Capitol Hill Complex and visited the offices of some representatives and senators, urging them to oppose SOPA and PIPA. I spoke to staff and left my contact information. (Yes, I gave them my real name and phone number.) I explained that I am a writer (still working on my fifth novel, actually), and while I am certainly very much concerned about protecting my intellectual property and copyright, these bills are NOT the way to do that. "This is like taking a sledgehammer to kill an ant," I told one staffer. "Sure, you might kill the ant -- or you might miss -- but there's going to be a whole lot of other ants, and you might also take off your own toe in the process."

For those who are curious, I did mention RolePlayGateway. I talked about the community that many of our members have found on this site, and emphasized that there are multiple sites like ours, all of which will be destroyed by these bills, even if the vast majority of people never engage in copyright infringement and the administration and staff take all reasonable measures to prevent it. So there are now people in Congress who have heard of our website.

Moved to the Main Lobby as it is more a statement to the community rather than a point of discussion, or debate.

Being a Canadian, I dont have much options in the way of protesting US senators and these bills. This is not to say i dont oppose them! Your northern neighbors have your backs and would like to help in any way we can. Yes, Im one man, speaking for millions who dont all share my views.

It would be nice to know if there was something I could do though to protest it, that doesnt involve forming a picit line across the border.

I am actually Canadian as well. What part are you from? I lived in the Vancouver area for about 11 years before moving down south with my family; I am also half-Newfie.

Your spiritual support is much appreciated, even though you can't physically act. Here is yet another instance of the US trying to police the whole world.

Good news, though: for now, the bills have been shelved. We'll see them again before too long, though, I'm sure.

They have another one coming down the pipe already. In fact, it may be that SOPA was never intended to pass but merely to be a smokescreen. This new one uses the public reaction to child abuse to blast a hole in the 4th amendment. Basically it allows the feds to monitor your IP, ostensibly to catch child pornographers, but we all know how these laws work. The patriot act was supposed to be about catching terrorists and now some of those terrorists are environmental and constitutional advocates. This law seriously endangers the anonymity of activists, journalists, and others who question our government and help to keep corruption in check.

Here's the petition against the bill

http://signon.org/sign/stop-ptfipa-hr-1 ... _by=319880

You've got the guts, you've got the wits! Good for you! :).

Aha I think anyone would have to say, that is very impressive, Ylanne. Who would've thought people like that could have ever heard of RoleplayGateway?

I'd be interested to know what their response was.

I'm willing to assure you that they had no idea about our community prior to Ylanne's mention of Gateway. As for their response, it will likely be something along the lines of when the ChannelAwesome team (ThatGuyWithTheGlasses.com, spoonyexperiment.com) went and met with some Congressional aides to voice their concerns. It's unlikely there will be any sort of official response of any real substance, but it is good to voice our thoughts and concerns to our representatives.

I was thanked for dropping by and sharing my concerns and my personal story. (Someone did violate my copyright of my intellectual property about exactly a year ago, and the Gateway administration was instrumental in seeing the infringing content -- not the website on which it was posted -- removed.) The staff seemed intrigued to hear from a writer whose copyright was violated, and expressed marginal interest in my description of Gateway and the type of creativity, original and fan-based, that occurs here. As Jag said, I highly doubt there will be any official response to my visit. (I'm not exactly a rich and powerful lobbyist, or anything like that.)

Good on you, Ylanne, for taking the initiative.

Just this morning, I actually received a letter from one of the California senators in reply to the one I wrote regarding the bills. So our officials are definitely willing to heed our opinions, which is good to know.