Josh Peterson
The Daily Caller
1/14/2012
MC Hammer
The latest celebrity voice in opposition to Rep. Lamar Smith’s legislation to allow the Justice Department to block foreign websites that facilitate copyright infringement emerged Friday.
The Texas Republican congressman’s bill called the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has drawn heavy political fire since it was first introduced in October.
Opposition to SOPA has come chiefly from the technology community. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the US Chamber of Commerce and the 31 members of Congress cosponsoring the legislation have all endorsed the idea.
Stanley Kirk Burrell — better known as MC Hammer or on Twitter as @MCHammer — recently updated his Twitter profile with a picture of himself and a banner that reads “STOP SOPA.”…
…MC Hammer who boasts 2.4 million followers on Twitter has become a prominent and influential voice in social media circles. He is currently working on the development of WireDoo, an Internet search engine, hoping to compete with the likes of Google…
Read the entire article at The Daily Caller.
Also at The Daily Caller, Obama to Congress: I’ll Decide What’s Constitutional
Related: Senate Conservatives Warn Reid Against PROTECT IP Blitz
Six conservative U.S. senators voiced concerns Friday over the substance and procedural context of controversial legislation to block Internet piracy, noting potential economic damages and free speech restrictions the legislation might impose.
Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), John Cornyn (R-TX), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Jeff Sessions (R-AL), Mike Lee (R-UT), and Tom Coburn (R-OK), sent a letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) on Friday expressing their concerns.
The letter, whose signatories include the ranking Republicans on the Budget, Finance, and Judiciary Committees, warns of “breaches in cybersecurity, damaging the integrity of the Internet, costly and burdensome litigation, and dilution of First Amendment rights” could result from passage of the hotly-contested PROTECT IP Act…
Update: Tech at Night: SOPA and PROTECT IP in yet more trouble. We need to constrain the FCC.
