Stop American Censorship
Internet censorship is going to a vote in the Senate on January 24th (known as PIPA in the Senate and SOPA in the House). While Senators are in their home states for the January recess, we need to flood their public meetings and offices with our concerns about the bill. Learn More
Michigan for Internet Freedom: meetings with Senator Levin on 1/17 and 1/19 in Grand Rapids!
Meetings with Senator Levin's staff on 1/17 at 3pm, 1/19 at 2pm
@joshf has set up a meeting with Senator Levin's central staff in Grand Rapids on Tuesday the 17th, and @heyandy889 has set up another meeting on Thursday the 19th. Both need your support! Post back here, and get in touch with the appropriate person directly if you can go! Meanwhile, keep on requesting those meetings, so both Senators know how large the opposition to PIPA really is. Here's what you need to do:
- Call (616)-975-0052 to schedule a meeting with Senator Stabenow, who has no public position on PIPA yet.
- Fax (313)226-6948, ATTN: Kathy to schedule a meeting with Senator Levin, then call (313)-226-6020 to follow up.
Be polite and professional, and request a meeting on behalf of Michigan 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 Michigan 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.
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I would love to be a part of this, however I live on campus with no vehicle. If anyone is meeting with Senators Stabenow or Levin and is willing to pick me up in Ann Arbor, I would gladly join. Please email me at sabob@umich.edu if this is a possibility.
I'd love to be involved with this, I'm sure I could get some of my friends involved, also.
Keep me posted: garrett.r.nichols@gmail.com
a_sincere_ghost@yahoo.com
110 Michigan Street, NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2313
Phone (616) 456-2531
Fax (616) 456-5147
Also, we just created a Facebook event for the meeting: http://www.facebook.com/events/163325357103347. Let us know if you want any of the wording changed, and feel free to distribute it widely; the greater the show of support you bring with you, the stronger your overall impact is likely to be.
@joshf To the right in the sidebar --> there are some ideas for talking points. Personally, I'll bring a few copies of PROTECT-IP's text. To me, that's the bottom line as far as what the bill does and what it doesn't do.
2. See above. This is definitely a valid point (given that small web startups do not have the resources to monitor user-submitted content in the manner that this legislation seems to mandate)
3. PIPA is not only radically different, it threatens to BREAK the DMCA outright: http://www.facebook.com/notes/the-technology-liberation-front/why-sopa-threatens-the-dmca-safe-harbor/10150365499216218?ref=nf (Not sure who this group is, but the arguments are sound).
4. Take a look at these: https://fightfortheftr.wordpress.com/flyers-info-sheets-badges-infographics-for-meeting-with-your-senator/ Even more powerful, of course, are personal statements from other people in the state, whose lives will be directly affected by the passage of the legislation.
5. Simply having taken the time to go in (with as many others as you can gather) will be a huge success. It will show Levin's representative just how strong your opposition is, that you aren't alone, and that this isn't an issue that he cannot shove under the table. Even if you only get to meet with a staffer, staffers pass along what they hear, and "getting information up the chain of command" was one of the most important aims stressed by the PK people.
Great job so far, and keep it up!
I'd like to show up.
from http://levin.senate.gov/mi/westmichigan
West Michigan Office Information
Gerald R. Ford Federal Building, Suite 720
110 Michigan Street, NW
Grand Rapids, MI 49503-2313
Phone (616) 456-2531
Fax (616) 456-5147
The fb event is here https://www.facebook.com/events/163325357103347
This bill was passed just before the recess without the amendment proposed in this video.
Imagine how these two bills can work in tandem.
I want to steer us towards a focus on PROTECT-IP. Though the hype about the NDAA is alarming, the name of our group is Michigan for Internet Freedom. We scheduled a meeting under that premise.
Levin seems to think that the hype is unfounded. On the very front of his website, he says "The Detainee Provisions in the NDAA: Much of what has been said and written about the detainee provisions is simply wrong. If this bill did what some people claim it does, I would have opposed it myself."
Elaboration from Levin: http://levin.senate.gov/newsroom/press/release/the-detainee-provisions-in-the-national-defense-authorization-act-for-fy-2012
Full text of the NDAA, S.1867: http://www.opencongress.org/bill/112-s1867/text
This may look like I'm dismissing your concern, but that's not my intention. I think that this might not be the optimal forum for your concern, and I also think that there's further investigation to be done about the NDAA and any involvement on the part of Sen. Levin.
Not to dismiss anyone's best intentions, but getting people from the industry will have a bigger impact.
Can we have a roll call of who is showing up, and at the very least, their credentials?
I am a Systems guy. I have to be on site for a current customer for my company. I wouldn't mind helping out in some other fashion, but I cannot go off to Lansing in person. Let me know what I can do to help otherwise.
Thx,
JH