All about the money.

To those who are getting a bit annoyed by these protests, sorry - I know I'm kind of jumping on the bandwagon here, but I do think this is a big deal, and I'm just doing my part to speak out against this. For those of you who may not be up on exactly what SOPA/PIPA are, here is some information about them: [link] - This link comes from Wikipedia, one of the organizations protesting SOPA. They have more or less "blacked out" their English version of the site to that end.

I'll try to keep this short and sweet. In trying to design my anti-SOPA stamp, I wanted to present a message that isn't already being presented in hundreds of other stamps. SOPA/PIPA have, from fairly early on in the process, been met with massive opposition, particularly from technology companies and everyday citizens. In light of that, the bills should have died a quick death and never even come down to a congressional vote. The reason they have reached this point is because of media industry lobbying - in layman's terms, Hollywood is paying the government large sums of money to pass this bill. This, unfortunately, is not an uncommon occurrence in the United States government. The reason many people have not been aware of such practices is because the laws don't usually have such far-reaching consequences or infringe so much on human rights.

These new bills have naturally generated a lot of anger, bitterness, and disillusionment with our government (the government of the U.S.A.). I do not want to portray that with this stamp. It is merely a plea for Congress to act in the best interests of the people they swore to serve. This bill, if passed, would be a problem for more than just the United States, as it involves tampering with the infrastructure of the Internet. If you are a U.S. citizen, tell your congressman you are a constituent who opposes this bill. If you aren't an American, contact your country's State Department/Ministry of State/Ministry of Foreign Affairs and tell them you oppose legislation like this.