SOPA Protests 'Poisoned the Well,' Says Congressional Staffer 330
Techdirt has a story about statements from Congressional staffer Stephanie Moore, who had some interesting — and somewhat insulting — things to say about the 'net-wide protests against the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA). "Netizens poisoned the well, and as a result the reliability of the internet is at risk," she said. Moore went on, "Congress was criticized for not being tech savvy, but from a lot of the comments we got it became clear that the people who were calling us did not understand the bill any better than we did." The article also points out comments from Steve Metalitz, a lawyer who represents members of the entertainment industry: "Most countries in the world already have this option at their disposal to deal with this problem. If site blocking broke the internet, then the internet would already be broken."
Re:Wow you still don't get it (Score:5, Informative)
I'm not American, but I do agree - I thought the point was that the government already has the power to do exactly what SOPA is "for" - it just removed due process requirements to do it.
Re:Embarrassment extractor (Score:5, Informative)
The "device" is a large wad of cash and cheques which is shoved repeatedly into either the subjects hand or pockets. Other side effects of this treatment include: a deranged mindset, inability to distinguish fantasy from reality, and voluminous stools emerging from both digestive orifices.
not just some random staffer (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Translation (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The Main Problem with SOPA (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Translation (Score:5, Informative)
Basements are not common in Texas, fyi.
Re:Translation (Score:5, Informative)
She's not IN Congress. She's a staffer. Call her boss.
In a company, it is common for the secretary to handle more of the day-to-day business than the CEO.
In Congress, it is like that with the staffers. They have tremendous influence over that Congressperson's activities. Often, things go through the staff before they would ever arrive at the Congressperson's desk. They do the nitty-gritty legislative work more than the elected officials do. Mostly this is because of the sheer volume of laws that are created. It is too much for any one person to sort through. A dumb staffer with anti-American beliefs is a real problem. The elected officials rely far too heavily on them.
Re:Translation (Score:2, Informative)
You place it in your huge, flat, ranch house. Houses are seriously huge in some parts of Texas.