Any attempt to paint this as simply a war between 2 industry sectors – Hollywood vs. Silicon Valley – is intentionally deceptive.  The anti-SOPA/PIPA effort has been championed by scores of citizens rights, civil liberties, freedom of expression and anti-censorship activist groups and millions of concerned citizens who called their representatives and signed hosts of petitions.  There has been a huge upswell of public outrage against the draconian, Corporatist measures and not a shred of public support for the bills.  This is not two industries warring each other: rather it is the public and the public interest sector warring against the lords of corporate media and their friends in the intelligence & military communities who want to use their heavy-handed legislation to greatly expand surveillance and censorship powers, and to limit the exposure of people all over the world to alternative news media.  Such media questions, for instance, the United States’ baseless war-mongering and subversion of developing nations’ national sovereignty in favor of powerful commercial interests.

Any attempt to discuss SOPA/PIPA in absence of larger efforts to prepare the way for the ratification of ACTA is also a disservice to the public’s right to be informed about policies that affect their daily lives.

Caleb King
Jamaica Plain, MA