.
I've already written to all three of mine three times.
Thank you for writing! It doesn't take much ... three short paragraphs, barely 7 or 8 sentences, with half of them being polite formalities to open & close.
@
NinjaHamster:
In my previous posts, I included some links to help locate your Representative & Senators online, so you can call or use the *.gov websites instead of spending money & time on a physical letter.
However, a nicely hand-written, one or two page letter makes a BIG impression. I've done a bit of activism, and elected officials consider it very significant when they get a (comprehensible, literate) hand-written letter from a constituent. They are fairly rare and they sort of "count" as 100 or 500 responses because it statistically means that about 1000 or so people with a similar opinion didn't take that sort of time for each one received.
I'm considering writting again to inform them of the better bill "OPEN Act". I don't know the details, but it looks like its better than SOPA or PIPA by miles. Still fuck us over, but at least it won't hurt the economy as much.
I would advise against that. Not telling you what to do, but the OPEN Act only looks better because SOPA/PIPA is so horrendously terrible.
Much better to request
1) throw out SOPA/PIPA and start over from scratch,
2) make it a serious and considered process for efficient legislation, and
3) it needs to be crafted by top,
neutral experts in modern information technology and law.
4) Industry lobbyists and partisan activists need to be kept out of drafting process; they may participate in the commentary process with equal voice to any other U.S. citizen.
SOPA and PIPA are a template for what should NOT be done; they are shining examples of exactly the opposite of what good legislation on this topic would look like.
I am also of the opinion that no legislation like this should even be on the Congressional agenda, at all in any form, for at least all of 2012. There are monumental problems facing this country that the Congress should be tackling and solving, and the SOPA/PIPA "debate" is a manufactured distraction that is wasting extremely valuable time and resources that are desperately needed on other vastly more serious problems.
Yes, that is the sort of language I've used when writing to my Representative & Senators (on this and similar topics). It goes beyond telling/asking them to kill SOPA/PIPA, it reaches beyond my mere opinion of this abominable legislation, this industry hat trick to subvert our country when it is distracted by enormous crisis. I also use the opportunity to indicate my fury at this circus filled with fart jokes that they are conducting instead of doing their jobs.
In my case, one of my Senators is in support of SOPA/PIPA, and I have pulled few punches in indicating just how monumentally indefensible that support is. That Senator has taken quite a bit of money from the entertainment industry, and I've expressed my disgust at the corruption of it. My other Senator and my Representative are "unknown," so I've strongly suggested that they get informed and take up a visible, opposition stance. And, I've requested that they respond to me with their position. Both my Senators received an email from me that was about three sentences and basically said "You represent me, and I expect you to vote against this on 24 January (or whenever the vote might get rescheduled). I will be watching your vote, and my support for you in the next election will significantly affected by it."
