An open letter the Thaddeus McCotter , U.S. Rep. for Michigan's 11th District, and my congressional representative, whom I much admire. Dear Congressman McCotter: Please vote NO on SOPA (HR-3261) Why is SOPA/Protect-IP such bad legislation? First, let us agree that preventing online piracy is a noble and worthy goal. I don't fault legislators for trying to protect intellectual property. As is so often the case though, good intentions are no excuse for bad legislation. And SOPA is nothing if not "bad legislation". SOPA is a bill that aims to thwart piracy by turning ISPs, website operators, credit card companies, and domain registrants into police. It guts the DMCA's "Safe Harbor" provision, opening the gateway for Hollywood to shut down websites it believes to be infringing upon intellectual property rights without due process. Lastly, it imposes a huge cost of regulatory compliance on entities that are some of our most economically vibrant, ...
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Commentary from the Crossroads of Technology and Culture.