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Dear Representative Carolyn B. Maloney, :D :D :D

I'm a software developer, and I build the future of the web, every day.

H.R.3261, the 'Stop Online Piracy Act', is the most frightening piece of
legislation I've seen to date in the United States. It proposes limitations on
speech in a manner much like China or Mubarak's Egypt. The United States should
not be emulating these examples.

The broad language and scope of this bill provide sweeping powers to government
and corporations to curtail speech in the name of “fighting piracy,” but they do
so without the weighty deliberation and process which any curtailment of free
speech is due.

The powers of censorship afforded by SOPA would be unreasonable even if if we
could trust law enforcement and Big Content to exercise these powers
responsibly—but experience has proven that they are willing to break existing
law in pursuit of their bogeymen, and in the process they've trampled on
legitimate activity. This bill does not represent potential for abuse: past
behavior shows that abuse is a certainty.

Innovation is, by definition, likely to be misunderstood by law enforcement and
Big Content. A citizen innovating in a fashion which threatens the business
models of corporations doesn't have the resources to defend themselves from a
legal department, and so tomorrow's fresh ideas die on the workbench, victims of
self-censorship.

These aren't speculations. These chilling effects are real and well-documented.
At the end of the day, this bill represents an attempt by Big Content to
legislate their way out of changes to their industries and business models and
keep their gravy trains flowing—at the cost of innovation and freedom.

Please don't let this bill become law. Fighting piracy is a noble goal, but not
at the expense of our freedoms.


Very Respectfully,
Idan Gazit
(your constitutent)