Colorado for Internet Freedom

Top Priority for CO: Set up Meetings

_

_

_

@Galetrail has set-up a Google Doc for brainstorming ideas. Please add questions and talking points here.

• Fill out this form to meet with Senator Bennett, who is a co-sponsor of PIPA.
  
• Call 303-650-7820 to meet with Senator Udall, who has no public position on PIPA yet.

Be polite and professional, and request a meeting on behalf of Colorado for Internet Freedom (the folks in this forum) to discuss the PROTECT IP Act and SOPA.  Make it clear that you want to meet with the Senator during the January recess, and that you'll be bringing others from your group.  Have your calendar open when you call, so you can pick a time that works for you.  When finished, post a report-back. 

For example: "Hi, my name is ________, I'm with Colorado for Internet freedom, and I'm calling to request a meeting with Senator _______ during the January recess.  The PROTECT IP vote is happening on January 24th, and I wanted the Senator to understand my concerns before the vote happens."

Report back by posting a comment below

IMPORTANT: If you do get a meeting, post another message. That way others can join you in your meeting.  If there's any other specific information we should include in this post, message us and we can add it. 

azn64

Hi, my name is Ben, I'm with Colorado for Internet freedom, and I'm calling to  request a meeting with Senator Udall during the January recess. The PROTECT IP vote is happening on January 24th, and I wanted the Senator to understand my concerns before the vote happens

babbsela

I sent an appointment request through Michael Bennet's website, and requested a meeting at his Denver office.

Damien5280

I'm familiar with this Senator.

We had hoped to get Romanov who is a doer, this one won instead.

He will probably vote against it, but I would not bet my assets on it as a sure thing.

He sways easily.

~Damien5280

Rebisch

I have requested a meeting with Senator Bennett in Colorado Springs anytime before Jan.24th.  I will be calling Udall later this morning.  Will keep you posted.

TrystinPotatos

Hello,

my name Is TrystinPotatos and i am supporting intenet freedom

I have planned to make an appointment with Michael Bennet, put a dictionary with several bookmarks to entries of communism, censorship, and jackass

some who are not familiar with this bill may overhear it and comment "hey isn't that what is happening in china? Haven't they practically made Google useless?" 

the people having the original conversation would look at this person like he was insane

"no... haven't you heard that the senate is trying to pass a bill doing exactly what communist china is doing?" "oh my god seriously?!?!"

i am the sort of person who is a firm believer in "support the developers" and i do not support or condone internet piracy and i can even see where the people behind this nonsense are coming from,

but this is ludicrous. just because one person in a room is casidered wrong or bad does not give you the rihgt to punish those around him a s much as you are going to punish him.

and let me tell you something funny

Nancy Pelosi and John McCain both said that his was wrong in there twitter feeds

 when a super-idiot and john McCain can agree on anytihng you know something is amiss or the planet is about to explode

and honestly if this passes i HOPE the planet explodes

StopSOPA-HQ

@babbsela @azn64 -- Make sure to call the senators' offices today to follow up on your meeting requests!

hanaleigirl

I did not get a meeting with Bennet but I do have a phone call scheduled with Monisha M. Merchant  Senior
Advisor for Business Affairs | U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet for this Friday.

Rebisch

Bennett office called yesterday.  Need to call back today to make appt.  :)

tttttttttttttttttt

Bennet's office called me back this morning and said no meetings were possible.

StopSOPA-HQ

UPDATE: One of the major take-aways from the briefing call with Public Knowledge was that you don't have to set up a formal meeting to come in and talk to someone in a Senator's local office - you can just show up! So if the meeting requests don't seem to be going anywhere: just find the location of your closest office, recruit a few friends, and get in there!

babbsela

I have a phone call scheduled with Monisha M. Merchant  Senior Advisor for Business Affairs | U.S. Senator Michael F. Bennet for this Friday. She said no meetings were available.

frickineh

Of course the town halls are in Trinidad and La Junta in the middle of the work day. I think it's pretty clear that they don't really want anyone to show up because then they'd have to answer questions. This is one of those times that I really wish I had vacation time.

Galetrail

The operator's response: "You can request a meeting through the website."

Richard

This just looks bad for Bennet, especially compared to both Udall and Polis. But then again they don't make megabucks from Comcast contributions.

aakash

Been a staunch supporter of Democrats and Obama, so far. If any democratic senator supports this bill, and Obama signs it into law, not just me and my family, but a number of other democratic friends are going to pull the support for democrats in the coming election. Hard to believe I supported this guy instead of Romanov! 

Erich

The Senator's actions in this matter will determine how electable he is in the years to come.

Galetrail

I also received a call back from the Sr. Advisor for Business Affairs for Senator Bennet. She is both willing to meet with us via a conference call on Wednesday the 18th at 8am or in person at their offices on Thursday (no more than 8 people) the 19th at 5pm or at 6pm at some location near their office that may accommodate more people. I don't feel comfortable leading the discussion myself and would gladly hand the raines over to someone more briefed on the topic. Please advise.

StopSOPA-HQ

@Galetrail - This is EXCELLENT news - thanks so much for all your work! Please let us know the exact location of the office, and we'll create a facebook event to draw more people to support you. Meanwhile - who's free on Thursday? Pipe up if you can go; we need as many people as possible to commit to going!

StopSOPA-HQ

Also, EVERYONE: Of the two times @Galetrail mentioned, which work best for the most people?

400trix

I put in a request for a meeting with Sen. Bennet in Boulder, but I'm more than happy to join in @Galetrail's conference call. Denver is a bit tricky for me to get to unless there's someone willing to carpool from Boulder.

ktdreyer

I'm in Denver. Let me know.

andee_c

@Galetrail - I can join a conference call or go to a meeting in Denver any of those times. (I'm not a discussion leader either, just an infuriated American)

Liat

@Galetrail - I can join a conference call! Keep us posted!

JimBartlett

@Galetrail - I can join a conference call too...just let me know when, and pass along all the access info!  As owner of several small businesses founded here in Colorado, I can tell you that nearly ALL small business owners should be absolutely freaked out about the potential repercussions if either of these two bills were to pass.  Anyone that uses Craigslist to advertise small business products/services could see all client leads vanish in a heartbeat if/when someone accuses CL of having a pirated link (or such) posted on it anywhere.  That's MORE than the equivalent of shutting down the Denver post publishing engine (and all other major city newspapers nationwide) instantaneously because someone accuses one advertiser or editorial/news writer at one of the newspapers of writing about something that's thought to be illegal.  This is a huge mistake....like using a nuclear bomb to kill a potentially ill rodent.

Any US representative or senator from Colorado better realize the impact to our great state (and the rest of our country!) if they allow this proposed legislation to move forward in any form.  The recording / entertainment industry tried similar tactics back when the VCR was invented, and again when the MP3 player was invented....they claimed in both instances that they would lose huge revenues to piracy if such technologies were allowed to be produced.  Subsequent market data has not shown that to be true at all.  To the contrary, the entertainment and recording industry has sold MANY MORE movies and MANY MORE music since the advent of such devices...their revenues have skyrocketed.  In fact, the Internet has assisted in effectively promoting millions of songs/movies, etc., and there's no evidence that these bills will better protect against piracy...they will only cause incredible damage to the reliability and capability of the Internet.  

Thanks to everyone for pitching in and writing/calling our elected officials, and for joining in on conference calls and town meetings.  Blessings in the New Year! -- Jim

Denver_Becca

I'd like to request the Thursday evening meeting at 6pm at a location that can allow for multiple people.  Is there a room in the Denver Public Library that we can use?

I'm happy to carpool Boulder folks down to Denver.  I live outside of Broomfield so I can be in Boulder by 4:45 or 5pm.  I can drive down 4 people.  However, I am also attending a fundraiser that night so folks would need to take a Regional bus back.

If we get this meeting set, and it is large and public, I am friends with multiple event promoters in Denver who are very concerned about this issue.  Thank you sincerely, to everyone, who has done such relentless work to build these relationships.

whodat

I can go on Thursday. I am in Boulder and can carpool as well.

Galetrail

Ok... the Conference Call will be held on Wednesday at 8am for a maximum of 1 hour. Please call in promptly as to not disturb the discussion. Below are the call in details:

• Dial-in #: 1-218-936-4700
• Access code: 5959257

Additionally, please fill out this form and we will add your name to a list which will be issued personal access codes. If the call becomes unruley we will mute everyone and ONLY those with personal access codes will be permitted to ask a question.

Galetrail

Since I'm not the best lead on this topic, I'd love some help driving the conversation.

Enclosed is a link to a Google Doc where we can cover 

1) key topics (short bullets)

2) key talking points per each topic (longer prose to address the topic and its potential negative impact) 

Please be courteous of others on this document and limit yourself to editing your own topics and talking points.

Senator Bennet's Senior SOPA Advisor Conference Call Talking Points Document

Pat

Mark Udall sent a news letter last week saying he is against this bill. You can see his position on this on his website or his FB page. I told him I hope he is not just saying he is against it and then voting for it like he did the NDAA. We will see. I got an email back saying he is against it. Just keep watching him. Bennett is for it and sponsored it so good luck changing his mind. He is a total Reid progressive Dem.

abrowncitizen

Hi, my name is Alex and I just would like to say I am against the acts that limit freedom of the press. I believe that SOPA and PIPA acts limit constitutional freedom, therefore I urge Senator Bennet to vote against it.

tttttttttttttttttt

There seems to be a bit of confusion around the date of the call. Just to be clear it is on Wednesday the 18th at 8am. And that is mountain time correct?

Thanks for organizing the conf call. I'll be there tomorrow, I'm not the best debater, but I'll do my best to express my concern.

Chalence

KEEP YOUR LAWS OFF MAH RIGHTS!

scary

I'm not exactly sure how Bennett calls himself a democrat without laughing out loud, considering his vote to extend the Patriot Act among other questionable decisions, he is the veritable elephant in donkey's clothing.  I'm not aligned with either party, but normally vote along democrat lines. I'll make sure to leave Bennett in the NAY next time the ballot comes around.

Not to mention how much of a distraction this is compared to issues that take precedence, jobs, health care, economy, budget, wars, environment.  This is all political theater cranked up to 11.

Galetrail

For our call at 8am Mountain Time... please read the following:

Talking points from http://my.americancensorship.org/
http://fightfortheftr.files.wordpress.com/2012/01/2.jpg

Talking points from Google
https://www.google.com/landing/takeaction/sopa-pipa/

Talking points from Tim Orielly
http://gigaom.com/2012/01/13/tim-oreilly-why-im-fighting-sopa/

Amazon’s Talking Points
http://www.geekwire.com/2012/amazoncom-strongly-oppose-sopa

Again the dial-in details are below:

• Dial-in #: 1-218-936-4700
• Access code: 5959257

Dan

Thanks for setting this up!

StopSOPA-HQ

Thanks and congrats to @Galetrail and everyone who participated in the conference call! Please post back here and let us know how it went, when you get a chance.

wolve_570

Seriously Congress! If you pass these pills this whole generation will break at the seams! Technology is a BIG part in everyone's lives! You can't just take that way from us! I'm sure most of the Senator's and Congress men use the internet on a daily basis! So why take that away by passing these bills?!