Response from my Senator regarding SOPA | Hacker News Reader

Response from my Senator regarding SOPA

15 pointspawn6 comments

Yesterday on a whim, I randomly decided to write a letter to my Senator encouraging him to be against SOPA. Here's the response I got. I'm sure it's a cookie-cutter response, but I'm considering possibly responding to it anyway to see if an actual conversation might be started. What do you all think? Think there's any chance whatsoever that a real conversation could be started? Worth doing anything else? If so, how would you respond?

Without further ado, the email: Dear Joshua,

Thank you for contacting me regarding S. 968, the Protect IP Act.

Intellectual property industries employ more than 19 million people, making it an integral part of our economy. Rogue websites dedicated to the sale and distribution of counterfeit goods and pirated content are a direct threat to these jobs and to entrepreneurs growing and building legitimate businesses online.

Businesses have lost $135 billion in revenue annually as a result of these rogue sites. Customers have also been harmed by these sites; for example, online pharmacies that don't adhere to U.S. regulations have been reported to cause a rapid increase in prescription drug abuse.

I am a cosponsor of the Protect IP Act which would cut off foreign websites dedicated to counterfeiting and piracy that steal American jobs, hurt the economy, and harm customers. It would allow the Justice Department to file a civil action against those who have registered or own a domain name linked to an infringing website. The bill does not allow the Justice Department to target domain names registered by a U.S. entity.

Innovation is a cornerstone of our nation's economic growth. Proper intellectual property protections and incentives ensure that inventors develop products that benefit consumers. Without such incentives for innovators, we risk falling behind places like China and India.

Again, thank you for contacting me. I look forward to continuing our conversation on Facebook (www.facebook.com/SenatorBlunt) and Twitter (www.twitter.com/RoyBlunt) about the important issues facing Missouri and the country. I also encourage you to visit my website (blunt.senate.gov) to learn more about where I stand on the issues and sign-up for my e-newsletter.

Sincere regards,

Roy Blunt United States Senator

This is the response I got from one of the reps I contacted. I also posted it to HN a while back: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3253611

""" Thank you for writing to me regarding S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act of 2011. I understand your concerns. I am a cosponsor of this legislation because I believe that we must protect American intellectual property against foreign websites that infringe upon our rights. By empowering the Attorney General of the United States to go after foreign infringing websites, this legislation becomes a necessary tool to ensure that U.S. companies remain competitive in the world marketplace. I recognize that there are technical concerns with the enforcement of this bill that need to be addressed. I am committed to working with my colleagues in the United States Senate to ensure that this legislation protects the Constitutional rights of Americans and does not stifle lawful free speech or innovation on the internet.

Thank you again for writing to express your concerns, and I hope that you keep in touch with my office regarding future legislation. For more information on this and other important issues, please visit my website at http://gillibrand.senate.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely, Kirsten E. Gillibrand United States Senator """

Total cookie cutter stuff. I don't think it's an issue of educating senators on the "issues." The ones who are pushing this bill forward simply want to turn the internet into cable tv.

Well for one, that $135 billion number is totally bogus. Every pirated unit is not a lost sale. Not even close. I know a while ago someone did the math on one of their reported numbers and it ended up like 200 DVD's per customer per year - on average - which obviously is completely ridiculous.

In the end what is happening is disruption. I think these senators need to be educated more about disruption and how it ended up "killing" many old jobs in the past, too, but also created other jobs in other places.

Hey, this is a response from My Senator (NY). She is employed on the board of a big law firm that works with Hollywood. I didnt know this until i checked her out after she sent me this. It was copy-N-Pasted in 3 parts (had 3 different fonts) in to the following Email from her (Or her staffer)

Dear ,

Thank you for writing to me regarding S. 968, the PROTECT IP Act of 2011. I understand your concerns.

I am a cosponsor of this legislation because I believe that we must protect American intellectual property against foreign websites that infringe upon our rights. By empowering the Attorney General of the United States to go after foreign infringing websites, this legislation becomes a necessary tool to ensure that U.S. companies remain competitive in the world marketplace. I recognize that there are technical concerns with the enforcement of this bill that need to be addressed. I am committed to working with my colleagues in the United States Senate to ensure that this legislation protects the Constitutional rights of Americans and does not stifle lawful free speech or innovation on the internet.

Thank you again for writing to express your concerns, and I hope that you keep in touch with my office regarding future legislation. For more information on this and other important issues, please visit my website at http://gillibrand.senate.gov and sign up for my e-newsletter.

Sincerely,

Kirsten E. Gillibrand United States Senator

most likely an intern there answering all his emails!

Of course it is. But if he/she responds to hundreds of people who e-mailed to complain about SOPA, I bet the senator would hear about it...

Yeah, most Senators have a number of people known as "Legislative Correspondents" or "LCs"--a paid (well, barely paid) position with the job of researching certain topics and answering constituent emails about them. Getting from an LC to a Senator is tough. Your best bet is a phone call.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com