Today, Jan. 18, 2012, I am blacking out my personal blog, Read at Joe’s, in solidarity with thousands and thousands of other websites in order to protest PIPA/SOPA legislation in the United States of America. Y’know, that country that boasts a First Amendment to its Constitution that states:
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
That wording is truly awe-inspiring, and makes the United States the world leader in innovation. Ironically, it’s the main reason the U.S. entertainment industry dominates the globe. So why does Hollywood want to strangle free expression? Because Hollywood cannot bottle free thought and sell it to you. If you think original thoughts, you won’t need to buy Hollywood’s prepackaged ideas. And the monolithic entertainment industry cannot charge you for thinking your own thoughts. Well, not yet, anyway….
After you’ve watched the video, please consider taking action to help defeat this horrifying legislation, which is bad for the United States — and the rest of the world. The website AmericanCensorship.org makes it easy to sign petitions and take other constructive action, including a painless way to write to your representatives in Congress.
And now I’d like to express my thanks to you for your time and effort on behalf of freedom of expression. I’d also like to thank WordPress for giving its members the freedom to black out our pages — and leaving anyone who supports SOPA free to express that opinion and not block their pages.
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