Two things about SOPA/PIPA and then I'll shut up :)
The solution is to start lobbying for our own laws. It's time to go on the offensive if we want to preserve what we've got. Let's force the RIAA and MPAA to use up all their political clout just protecting what they have. Here are some ideas we should be pushing for:* Elimination of software patents
* Legal fees paid by the loser in patent cases; non-practicing entities must post bond before they can file fishing expedition lawsuits
* Roll back length of copyright protection to the minimum necessary "to promote the useful arts." Maybe 10 years?
* Create a legal doctrine that merely linking is protected free speech
* And ponies. We want ponies. We don't have to get all this stuff. We merely have to tie them up fighting it, and re-center the "compromise" position
In what can be the most interesting aspect of the whole SOPA fight, the people who are building the internet prepare to go to war with “Hollywood” (i.e. large media companies). Here we have Joel Spolsky. Paul Graham came up with a call to action to startup founders.
My first reaction to ponies was allergic (What's next? Kittens, to render to whole thing laughable?), but then I realized that I'm more and more out of touch with how public debates are done these days.
