Vermont for Internet Freedom

StopSOPA-HQStopSOPA-HQ
in Individual State Discussions
Top Priority for VT: Call into Leahy's Town Hall!

Here's what you need to do:



Be polite and professional, and request a meeting on behalf of Vermont 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 Vermont 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."


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. 

Comments

  • alkraussalkrauss
    If they ask how many people are in our group or will be coming with me to the meeting, what should I say? I've never done any meetings at the national level, but when I did a little advocacy at the state level in New York, this was something that was asked prior to granting a meeting.
  • alkraussalkrauss
    I just heard that Vermont Edition, the public radio call-in show that airs live at noon, will be making Bernie Sanders available for call in questions on Monday. I think we all should try and call the show with this issue. In my experience, you have very little chance of actually getting on as a caller unless you place your call at the beginning of the show, so make your call as close to noon as possible. They have a call screener, so maybe having a lot of callers with this issue will increase the chances that one of us gets aired. Also, at the VPR website you can post questions to Sanders. They've still got today's show as "upcoming" at the moment, but later today or tomorrow the page should be open for comments and questions to Sanders on the Monday show.
  • alkraussalkrauss
    Any way we can reach out to other states to find more people in Vermont opposed to SOPA? It would be really nice if we could get a lot of local callers to express their dismay about SOPA to Sanders on Monday's call-in show, plus it could be an opportunity to raise awareness in Leahy's home state about an issue which I think is largely under the radar here.
  • StopSOPA-HQStopSOPA-HQ
    @alkrauss - great suggestion! People on the board should definitely participate! As to the question of how many people will be coming, mention that you're not sure, but once a date has been secured that you will be able to give a better estimate as well as a full list of Names of the attendees.
  • alkraussalkrauss
    I made the call to Sanders' office before reading your response. The schedule an event form was not on the website, so I just called. The staff person I spoke with said that this vote is scheduled pretty much first thing after the Senate is back in session, so that it isn't very likely that there's time for a meeting before the vote. However, he did take my name, number, and address in the event of an opening, and promised that he would take my concerns directly to Senator Sanders. I didn't give an organizational affiliation, but did ask if it would help in scheduling a meeting if I came with a larger group and was told that given how short time is, it probably still wouldn't be possible. Sanders isn't a co-sponsor and probably does have Leahy's ear at least somewhat, so I think it's important to get him on our side. He hasn't taken any public stand on the issue, according to the staff person I spoke with.

    Anyway, on to Senator Leahy.
  • alkraussalkrauss
    I just spoke with Freeda at Senator Leahy's office. She took my name and telephone number, and promised to have a staff member get back to me next week and possibly schedule a meeting. I mentioned having previously sent an email to Senator Leahy and not being satisfied with the response, and also that I'm usually on the same side of issues as Senator Leahy, so I'm hoping for a chance for a more in depth discussion of this issue.
  • StopSOPA-HQStopSOPA-HQ
    That's alright, it might be worth calling back and asking if it would be possible to have a group meeting with a member of his staff and other Vermont for Internet Freedom members. Meetings with Staff members are equally as valuable in terms of further educating the Senators about the bill and its ramifications, and showing them that the large opposition to the bill has a face.
  • alkraussalkrauss
    I was able to ask Senator Sanders one of Public Knowledge's suggested Town Hall Meeting questions: "Will you stand with Senators Wyden, Moran, Paul and Cantwell and oppose Internet censorship on January 24th?" You can hear his answer by listening to Vermont Edition's rebroadcast at 7PM today or visiting the archives at http://www.vpr.net/program_about/84/. The short answer is that he is still considering how he will vote.

    The host, Jane Lindholm, was conversant with the issue and invited more discussion of it on this Thursday, January 12, when Senator Leahy, who sponsored the legislation, will be on the program. I'm glad to have gotten some press coverage for the issue (thanks also to others who also posted to Vermont Edition on this). Given Jane Lindholm's handling of the question, I'm even hoping that perhaps we might be able to get a segment of Vemont Edition devoted to this issue, although I'm not sure  exactly how to go about pursuing that goal.
  • textdogtextdog
    @alkrauss that's awesome. we'll have to push Senator Leahy on the issue that the Sandia National Labs based in NM said there is a cyber security issue with the bill and ask him if he is willing to do a cybersecurity and national review of the bill before moving forward.
     
  • theyetitheyeti
    What's the next step? Should we continue to call requesting to meet with the Senators?
  • StopSOPA-HQStopSOPA-HQ
    @theyeti Definitely. Even if you don't get an immediate response, having the Senators' staffers overwhelmed with phone calls that are mostly complaints about PIPA will have a very powerful effect. Keep it up!
  • StopSOPA-HQStopSOPA-HQ
    Please share the Facebook event page for the Leahy event on your Facebook wall ::

  • alkraussalkrauss
    On this radio program, I understood Leahy to say that he's going to modify the legislation to separate the DNS parts of the bill and allow a vote on the rest of the bill without the DNS provisions. Did anyone else catch exactly what he said and if so, could you explain what he meant?
  • StopSOPA-HQStopSOPA-HQ
    @alkrauss did you also catch the part where the only caller allowed to talk to him was a PIPA-supporter??? We're not sure what he meant, by that statement, but we're not going to hold our breath on that one. His claim that the mark-up process was open and democratic was a flat out lie - the mark-up lasted SEVEN MINUTES (meanwhile, SOPA's markup has thus far taken more than a month) and none of the companies in opposition to PIPA were asked to testify infront of the committee...
  • alkraussalkrauss
    Nevermind, I figured out he was just talking about the Managers
    Amendment http://judiciary.house.gov/hearings/pdf/HR 3261 Managers
    Amendment.pdf which not only does not significantly address the dns
    problems, it criminalizes offering a way to access an uncorrupted
    version of the DNS as a "circumvention device" (see page 22. The more I
    dig into this stuff, the angrier I get.
  • alkraussalkrauss
    The host, Jane Lindholm did read a couple more comments against the legislation at the end of the show, and also promised another segment on this issue very soon. I think she will be good to her word. I also think it is very important to get accurate information out to Vermont residents, so we should continue to send information to Vermont Edition so that the producers can get up to speed on this issue, which can be extremely confusing to people who are not exceptionally tech savvy.
  • Dragonborn_BRDragonborn_BR
    Many thought that the Mayan prophecy predicting the end of the world in 2012 .. but no. was so advanced that they predicted the end of the Internet in 2012 (uhahuahu. .. = /)
  • ScarlettfoxScarlettfox
    ok this is unrelated to sanders but this is a letter I received from Bernie

    Dear
    Ms. Thurston:

     

    Thank
    you for contacting me to express your concerns about internet tracking and an individual's privacy online. 
    The Internet has been a tremendous platform for the exchange of ideas across the planet, for fostering
    democratic and open societies, and for fueling economic growth.  It is therefore of the utmost importance
    to keep it a free and open forum for anyone who wishes to access it. 

     

    Regulating
    the internet to protect individual privacy is an important
    and complex issue, and not surprisingly many people have strong views about such protections, whether
    they regard personal information or intellectual property rights.     But
    we each have an expectation of and a well-recognized right to privacy under a number of Supreme Court
    constitutional decisions.  

     

    I
    am a supporter of an open and accessible internet, and I believe that one way to maximize its potential
    is to place limits on the information that can be collected about the identity and usage of individuals
    as they go on line.  I believe individuals should have to right to say, "I do not want information
    collected on what sites I visit on the internet" or, "I do not want my location revealed to others when
    I use a cell phone, computer, or other electronic device." I have serious concerns about     data
    mining as well, which can collect sensitive information like financial or health records and sell that
    information to commercial customers.

     

    For
    these reasons, I will support legislation providing for a "do not track" option for every person who
    goes online.  I will also continue to advocate for the right to individual privacy in other respects,
    not only in real space, but in cyberspace.

     

    I
    share your concern that we must address issues in the age of the internet with the goal of protecting
    the right to privacy even as we welcome a new century of electronic information.  I believe that
    if done in the right way, online privacy can be synonymous with the expectations of those rightly accustomed
    to open communication on the internet.

     

    Again,
    thank you for contacting me about this important issue.  Feel free to contact me again in the future
    about this or any other subject of interest to you, or for up-to-date information on what my office is
    working on please visit     http://www.sanders.senate.gov. 
    While there, I invite you to sign up for my e-newsletter, the Bernie Buzz, at     http://sanders.senate.gov/buzz/.
     Please be aware that due to security screening procedures, postal mail to my office experiences
    delays that will lengthen the time it takes me to get back to you.  The fastest way to contact my
    office is by calling 1-800-339-9834.



    Sincerely,





    BERNARD SANDERS

    United States Senator

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  • Vote_them_outVote_them_out
    The best way to put an end to poorly crafted legislation that creates more harm than it does good is to vote those people out of office that support and propose these things without understanding them or reading them, anyone that would support this kind of trash does not deserve to be in office, Vote them out....
  • mdr3dmdr3d
    The plan: 
    https://www.facebook.com/pages/World-against-SOPA/304313362953003?sk=info 

    first step:

    1._ No subscriber to this group will ever buy a under copyright item
    2._ No subscriber to this group will ever go to a cinema
    3._ No subscriber to this group will ever buy film on pay tv
    4._ No subscriber to this group will ever buy a book (paper or e-book)
    5._ No subscriber to this group will ever buy a news paper
    6._ No subscriber to this group will ever buy a magazine of any kind
    7._ No subscriber to this group will ever buy a CD
    8._ No subscriber to this group will ever buy a DVD
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