Almost Colossus is joining with over
7,000 websites today in "going on strike" to raise awareness of the
Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and
PROTECT-IP Act (PIPA) currently awaiting decision in the U.S. House and Senate, respectively.
SOPA/PIPA would allow the government and corporations to censor the internet at will without threat of due process, thus crippling freedom of speech and access to information in accordance with our
1st Amendment rights.
To understand the effect of these laws from the perspective of the independent artist (and since I could not have stated it any better), posted below is a petition to Pennsylvania Congressmen from
Gavin Robb, friend of
Almost Colossus and human avatar/front man of Philly Cyber Art Rock group
S.T.A.R.W.O.O.D.
To learn more, visit
AmericanCensorship.org and help stop Congress from passing this Orwellian bullshit!
Dear Representatives Toomey, Fatah, & Casey,
The internet has been instrumental to each and every modern artist,
rewarding them fairly for their often undervalued sacrifice and the hard
work required to make a living (no matter how meager) sharing their
talents and passions. In the frighteningly common event that we are
unable to sustain ourselves on our art alone, simply being able to share
it with others is instrumental to our
sense of compensation. S.968, the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) would cripple
that ability, ultimately taking the simple, sincere joy of sharing art
for arts sake away from those who cherish it. And for what?
The
very industry that has forever shortchanged the artists who have
sustained it is comprised of the corporations who support this bill, all
in the name of their own infinite greed.
Their self serving
interests in ending the golden age of the internet is not worth
irrevocably hindering something that has meant so much to so many.
Gavin Robb
Listening to: David Bowie, Low | S.T.A.R.W.O.O.D.
