Lost in Staycation: Bringing SOPA to my Masses

Posted by betsy von awesome in inspire, political and tagged with electronic frontier foundation, pat toomey, protect ip act, sopa, stop online piracy act November 20, 2011

Great, isn’t it? If SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) Bill passes, creative and educational videos like this will no longer be available to the masses.

SOPA aka Protect IP Act were the buzz words earlier this week and SOPA was brought up in the House for debate on Wednesday.

Proponents of the bill say it protects the intellectual property market, including the resultant revenue and jobs, and is necessary to bolster enforcement of copyright laws especially against foreign websites. Opponents say it is censorship, that it will “break the internet”, cost jobs, and that it will threaten whistleblowers and other free speech.

The bill would allow the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), as well as copyright holders, to seek court orders against websites accused of enabling or facilitating copyright infringement. Depending on who requests the court orders, the actions could include barring online advertising networks and payment facilitators such as PayPal from doing business with the infringing website; barring search engines from linking to such sites and requiring Internet service providers to block access to such sites. The bill would make unauthorized streaming of copyprotected content a felony. The bill also gives immunity to Internet services that voluntarily take action against websites dedicated to infringement.

Credit

A visual demonstration of what would happen if SOPA passes the House:

I do love my interwebs, since I had the time and awareness to do something, I did.

I wrote my reps via Electronic Frontier Foundation and got this response from Pat Toomey (R-PA):

November 17, 2011

Dear Anna,

Thank you for contacting me about intellectual property protection and copyright infringement. I appreciate hearing from you.

I understand your concerns about expanding intellectual property protection and value your input on S. 968, the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property (PROTECT IP) Act. As you may know, Senator Patrick J. Leahy (D-VT) introduced this bill on May 12, 2011. Among its provisions, this measure would allow the U.S. Attorney General or qualifying plaintiffs to pursue legal action against registrants, owners, or operators of nondomestic Internet sites that infringe upon intellectual property rights.

It may also interest you to know that Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced legislation (S. 978) concerning copyright infringement on May 12, 2011. Among its provisions, this measure would increase the criminal penalty provision for criminal infringement of a copyright.

I understand your concerns regarding these issues and value your input. S. 968 and S. 978 currently await consideration by the full Senate. Please be assured that I will keep your thoughts in mind as work continues on these important issues.

Thank you again for your correspondence. Please do not hesitate to contact me in the future if I can be of assistance.

Sincerely,

Signature

Pat Toomey
U.S. Senator, Pennsylvania

He basically assures me nothing, other than “I’ve heard what you have to say”. At least he knows how I feel. Which is what I wanted.

It’s vital to keep the internet “broken” as they say, to allow an area for the free flow of ideas and expression.

Contact your reps or you can link to HERE as well.

Lost in Staycation: Rainy Day Philly

Posted by betsy von awesome in food truck and tagged with food trucks, philly November 20, 2011

Rainy Day Philly, means food truck time!

Lucky Old Souls Burger Truck. LOVE Park.

LOVE Park for Some Burgers

Overall , good. My first burger came out very rare, but they quickly fixed it up with a medium well for me and offered a comp Soda. I had the standard burger with special mayo sauce, it was a little light on the spices, though the mayo specialty was tasty.

FRIES!!!!

Fries were served cold, but I’ll give that to the 30-40 degree weather, and I wasn’t a big fan of their ketchup sauce. I will say this, they were fried to my liking nice and dark and crunchy. I would definitely order them again, without the ketchup sauce.

I do admire them for keeping it local and keeping fresh.

Lost in Staycation: NYC Day

Posted by betsy von awesome in road trip and tagged with big onion tours, brooklyn, brooklyn heights, new york, pommes frites, walking tours November 20, 2011

NYC Day!

First Stop: Brooklyn Bridge/Brooklyn Heights Tour via Big Onion Tours

Meeting at the City Hall Park we headed through the park, walking between the back of City Hall (where OWS took over later) and Tweed Court House.

Part of the Tweed Courthouse, now home to the Department of Education

Manhattan Municipal Building

The Manhattan Municipal Building, built because the original City Hall could not house all the government agencies needed to run the city. The building itself displays intense iconic symbolic features, including five cupolas atop the building representing the five boroughs.

Brooklyn Bridge: Manhattan Entrance

Fun Facts of the Brooklyn Bridge

Fact No. 1: The Brooklyn Bridge officially opened to the public on May 24, 1883. Emily Roebling (wife of Washington Roebling) carried a rooster across the bridge as a symbol of victory.

Fact No. 2: The bridge was originally called the New York and Brooklyn Bridge. It was officially given the name “Brooklyn Bridge” by the city in 1915.

Fact No. 3: Con man William McCloundy was sentenced to 2 1/2 years at Sing Sing Prison for “selling” the Brooklyn Bridge to a tourist in 1901.

Fact No. 4: When it opened, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest suspension bridge in the world, the first steel-wire suspension bridge, and the first bridge to connect to Long Island.

Fact No. 5: On its first day open to the public, 1,800 vehicles and 150,300 people crossed the span.

Fact No. 6: On May 30, 1883, a rumor that the bridge was collapsing spread through the crowds on it, causing a stampede. At least 12 people were killed in the ensuing panic.

Fact No. 7: On May 17, 1884, showman P. T. Barnum led 21 elephants over the Brooklyn Bridge to prove that it was stable.

Fact No. 8: For several years after its construction, the Brooklyn Bridge was the tallest structure in the Western hemisphere.

Fact No. 9: Each of the bridge’s four supporting cables is 3,578 feet, 6 inches long and 15 1/2 inches thick, and contains 21,000 wires that, combined, would have a total length of 14,060 miles.

Fact No. 10: The bridge turned out to be a tragedy for the Roebling family. The designer, John Roebling, died from tetanus after a ferry crushed his foot as he was scouting locations for the bridge. His son, Washington Roebling, of Trenton, N.J., fell prey to the bends from his time in caissons laying the foundations for the towers, and became an invalid. Washington’s wife, Emily, became the de facto head of construction in his stead.

Brooklyn Heights