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F2C2012: Aaron Swartz keynote - "How we stopped SOPA"

F2C2012 · 500.2K views · 2012-05-22 · 22:52

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Overview

Aaron Swartz's keynote at Freedom to Connect 2012 describing how ordinary people helped defeat the SOPA censorship bill. He recounts how the Senate unexpectedly united behind the bill and how grassroots action stopped it.

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HN shares it as an inspiring account of citizens changing Washington, especially after Swartz's death.

Recommended by 2 HN people across 2 months · HN mentions 2013–2023

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What people said

kamjam · 2013-01 · Strong recommendation

So the alternative is to do nothing? Which is better? At least this gets some momentum going, hopefully being picked up by press, maybe even them questioning the president about it at some later interview. Doing nothing means nothing will get done. This is probably exactly what the government would like you to do. "The people rose up and caused a sea change in Washington" ~ Aaron Swartz This last part of his speech is so powerful. [VIDEO]

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bguthrie · 2013-07 · Recommendation

I agree, though other petitions can be effective. If you care about a cause, place your signature on a petition hosted with an organization that will tirelessly advocate for that cause. Organizations in turn live and die by their ability to gather and show support for the causes they fight. If there's anything techies should've learned from the SOPA battle, it's that it is possible to make political change when enough people speak out. If you haven't watched aaronsw's talk on stopping SOPA, it's well worth your time. [VIDEO]

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rglover · 2023-03 · Reference

It's been said elsewhere in here but I'm going to parrot because this caught me by surprise and this is on the level of importance of the SOPA [1] craziness back in 2012. The TikTok ban has very little do with TikTok. It's yet another Patriot Act (now, the Restrict Act [2]) style back door to slip in some seriously heinous legislation that could find you fined to the tune of millions, or worse, thrown in jail for 20 years. > A person who willfully commits, willfully attempts to commit, or willfully conspires to commit, or aids or abets in the commission of an unlawful act described in subsection (a) shall, upon conviction, be fined not more than $1,000,000, or if a natural person, may be imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both. I do view TikTok as a covert military campaign (ideological subversion) and do think it should be limited in the West, however, not via this bill. [1] [VIDEO] [2] [LINK]

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