One of the biggest reasons politicians around the world feel comfortable crafting anti-piracy legislation which relies on restricting the Internet itself is a lack of leaders who actually understand the technology they seek to regulate.
Nowhere has this been more evident than in the House Judiciary Committee hearing over SOPA last month. During the hearing, Iowa Representative Steve King actually admitted (via Twitter) that he wasn't even paying attention.
Representative Jared Polis, representing Colorado's 2nd District, is perhaps the best example of someone who actually does understand tech issues. And not just in a general way from researching it, but from actual first hand experience.
Before entering politics, Polis was a successful Internet entrepeneur who founded multiple companies, including online florist ProFlowers. He is also, apparently, an avid online gamer. He recently joined a discussion on the League of Legends community forum about SOPA and PIPA to urge fellow gamers to take action.
Polis wrote:
Representative Jared Polis, representing Colorado's 2nd District, is perhaps the best example of someone who actually does understand tech issues. And not just in a general way from researching it, but from actual first hand experience.
Before entering politics, Polis was a successful Internet entrepeneur who founded multiple companies, including online florist ProFlowers. He is also, apparently, an avid online gamer. He recently joined a discussion on the League of Legends community forum about SOPA and PIPA to urge fellow gamers to take action.
Polis wrote:
Hi, this is Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado. As a member of the League of Legends community (partial to Anivia and Maokai), and as someone who made his living as an Internet entrepreneur before being elected to Congress, I?m greatly concerned about the future of the Internet and gaming if Congress doesn't wake up. You may have heard that Congress is currently considering a bill called the Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA. While SOPA has a ton of problems, there are some significant issues that I thought fellow gamers might want to know about.
I?m particularly concerned that SOPA might stifle the kind of innovation that brings us games we love, such as LoL. The bill makes it far too easy for angry competitors to sue good law abiding companies out of existence. It threatens any company or website that depends on user-generated content, even companies like Riot. Instead of coming up with great ways to keep making games like LoL even better, companies will have to spend their money hiring lawyers. That's why companies like Riot, who want to protect the games they create, are opposed to SOPA.
I?ve been working on alternative legislation that would protect the games companies create while also fostering innovation. But we also need you to call your members of Congress and let them know of your opposition to SOPA. This bill has a very real chance of passing, and it is up to all of who want to protect the Internet to take action. More information is available at http://keepthewebopen.com/. Please make your voices heard in this debate! I will be happy to respond to your posts below, and will check back every few hours today and respond to as many as I can.
