Maddox put it best in his article over at: http://maddox.xmission.com/
For those of you who don't know Maddox already, he tends to use harsh language and a ton of sarcasm, but don't let that distract you from the brilliant point he's making here.
For those of you who don't know Maddox already, he tends to use harsh language and a ton of sarcasm, but don't let that distract you from the brilliant point he's making here.
Because that's exactly what we need to wake up from this slumbering, do-nothing, "occupy everything," stagnant, non-action slump we Americans are in.
"Protest schemes that don't cost the participants any inconvenience, hardship or money remain the most popular, despite their ineffectiveness."-Snopes
We're a country where people think that...SOPA is the "Stop Online Piracy Act." It's a shitty piece of legislation put together by puppetmaster lobbyists and politician puppets who don't know IP addresses from their assholes. My problem with this huge online protest against SOPA, and the reason I rarely take part in such protests, is because it doesn't address any problems, only the symptom. The problem isn't this shitty bill, it's the people who sponsored it. So we protest this bill today, bang enough pots and pans to shame a few backers into not letting this bill pass, then what? Those same dipshits who wrote this legislation still have jobs. They're going to try again, and again, and again until some mutation of this legislation passes. They'll sneak it into an appropriation bill while nobody's looking during recess, because there's too much lobbyist money at stake for them not to. We defeat SOPA today, only to face it again tomorrow. It's like trying to stop a cold by blowing your nose. It's time we go after the virus.
- Boycotting gas for a day makes a difference. It doesn't. Delaying when you buy gas by a day only broadcasts your intentions to oil speculators so they can profit. And the oil still gets purchased a day before or after anyway.
- Painstakingly recycling every single shred of garbage in your home makes a difference. It doesn't. Even if you, your neighbors, and everyone you've ever met recycled everything and reduced your waste output to zero, it wouldn't even make an observable impact on overall waste production in the world. Household waste and garden residue account for less than 3% of all waste produced in the US. That's less than the average statistical margin of error, and most people don't even come close to producing zero waste.
- Changing your profile picture on Facebook will get people to: A) stop abusing kids B) stop molesting kids C) stop killing kids and D) do anything.
- Signing an online petition, or changing the front page of your website to protest SOPA will fix anything.
There have been many bills attempted (and some passed) like SOPA before it. There's the DMCA act of 1998, PRO-IP Act of 2008, the 2011 Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, and now the PROTECT IP Act of 2012. Think this victory means anything? A new bill gets introduced every year or two like clockwork. Check back in a few years, and there'll be another SOPA or Protect IP Act being squeezed down the lower intestinal tracts of congress. And then what? We black out our websites again like a merry band of idiots?
Raising awareness is a great way of feeling good about yourself without actually doing anything. Be honest with yourself:
How much do you care about SOPA?Would you be willing to:Because until or unless you do, all the loud clamoring isn't going to change shit. If you think it's too severe a punishment to fire these jackasses over this bill, then consider the fact that politicians who supported this piece of legislation either:
- Take time off work to go down to Washington DC?
- Boycott companies that supported it?
- Knock on this dickhead's door and ask him why he introduced such shitty legislation?
- Make sure none of these losers get elected ever again? Harry Reid (D-NV)
Howard Berman (D-CA)
Marsha Blackburn (R-TN)
Mary Bono Mack (R-CA)
Steve Chabot (R-OH)
John Conyers (D-MI)
Ted Deutch (D-FL)
Elton Gallegly (R-CA)
Bob Goodlatte (R-VA)
Timothy Griffin (R-AR)
Dennis A. Ross (R-FL)
Adam Schiff (D-CA)
Lee Terry (R-NE)
As of this writing, enough of you whined and got your way. Great, you stopped SOPA.
- Supported it knowing its full implications, despite the fact that it would introduce security risks, hurt the economy, innovation and jobs and would lead to censorship.
- Or that they supported the bill not knowing the full implications of this legislation, which means that they're ignorant, and they shouldn't have their jobs anyway.
It needs to get worse before it gets better. We need a really shitty piece of legislation like SOPA in this country to be the spark that ignites the lazy, idle tinders of protest. It's not uncommon or even controversial to say that Washington is corrupt. It doesn't cause anyone to bat an eye when you say it in public, with Republicans, Democrats or "other." That's a problem. We need SOPA to wake the sleeping giant in this country. It could have been our generation's Rodney King verdict. Instead of blacking out our websites, what we need to do is dismantle the system that created this bullshit. Enough is enough.
Instead of changing your Facebook icon to an anti-SOPA image for a day or two, here's something you can do that might make a real difference: boycott the companies that supported this legislation. There are too many to boycott all of them effectively, so I propose we pick two or three, hit them, and hit them hard. Punish them for putting their interests above ours. Hitting them in the wallet should send a message. I've highlighted the most difficult ones to boycott in red. The companies with the biggest return for our boycott are in yellow. The more we inconvenience ourselves, the more impact the boycott will have:
[COLOR=#fffffff] 1-800 Contacts, Inc. - 801-924-9800 https://www.1800contacts.com/ExternalRelations/ContactUs.aspx
1-800-PetMeds - 954-979-5995 http://www.1800petmeds.com/help.jsp
3M - 1-888-364-3577 http://solutions.3m.com/wps/portal/3M/en_US/WW2/Country/Corp/Contact3M/
ABC http://site.abc.go.com/site/contactus.html
ABRO Industries, Inc. (automotive supplies) - (574) 232-8289 http://www.abro.com/contact-us/
Acushnet Company (Titleist and Footjoy golf) - (800)225-8500 http://www.acushnetcompany.com/contact.html
Adidas America - (800) 448-1796 http://www.adidas.com/us/shared/help/help_contact-us.asp
AstraZeneca plc - 1-800-236-9933 http://www.astrazeneca-us.com/about-astrazeneca-us/contact-us/
Autodesk, Inc. - 415-507-5000 http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?siteID=123112&id=1073074
Beachbody, LLC - 310-883-9000 (P90X, Insanity Videos) http://www.hoovers.com/company/Beachbody_LLC/rjtthki-1.html
Bose Coporation - (508) 879-7330 http://www.bose.com/controller?url=/contact/index.jsp
Burberry - 800 284 8480 http://us.burberry.com/store/customer-service/contact-us/
Business Software Alliance Members:
Adobe - 408-536-6000 http://www.adobe.com/aboutadobe/contact.html
Apple - 408.996.1010 Tim Cook, CEO http://www.apple.com/contact/
Autodesk - See individual listing.
AVEVA - Houston Office: 713-977-1225 http://www.aveva.com/Contact.aspx
AVG - 978-319-4460 http://www.avg.com/ww-en/contacts
Bentley Systems - 1-800-236-8539 http://www.bentley.com/en-US/Corporate/Contact+Us/
Cadence Design Systems - 408-943-1234 http://www.cadence.com/cadence/contact_us/pages/default.aspx
CNC Software Mastercam - 800-228-2877 http://www.mastercam.com/AboutUs/ContactUs/Default.aspx
Compuware - 313-227-7300 http://www.compuware.com/about/contact-us.html
Corel - 613-728-0826 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Corel_Corporation/ctyksi-1.html
Dassault Systemes SolidWorks Corporation - France +33 1 61 62 61 62 http://www.3ds.com/contact/
Dell - 512-338-4400 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Dell_Inc/ryrsyi-1.html
Intel - 408-765-8080 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Intel_Corporation/rykxki-1.html
Intuit - 650-944-6000 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Intuit_Inc/rjffri-1.html
Mastercard http://www.mastercard.com/us/company/en/newsroom/contact_mc.html
McAfee - 408-988-3832 http://www.hoovers.com/company/McAfee_Inc/rhxkhi-1.html
Microsoft - 425-882-8080 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Microsoft_Corporation/rcrtif-1.html
Minitab - 814-238-3280 http://www.minitab.com/en-US/company/contact-us/default.aspx
Progress Software - 781-280-4000 http://www.progress.com/en/about/contact.html
PTC - 781-370-5000 http://www.ptc.com/company/contacts/index.htm
Quark - 303-894-8888 http://www.quark.com/Contact_Quark/
Quest - 800-306-9329 http://www.quest.com/company/contact-us.aspx
Siemens PLM Software, Inc. - 800-498-5351 http://www.plm.automation.siemens.com/en_us/
Sybase - 1-800-792-2735 http://www.sybase.com/contactus
Symantec - 650-527-8000 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Symantec_Corporation/rcxhif-1.html
TechSmith - 517-381-2300 http://www.techsmith.com/contact.html
The MathWorks - 508-647-7000 http://www.mathworks.com/company/aboutus/contact_us/
Callaway Golf Company - 800-588-9836 http://www.callawaygolf.com/Global/en-US/CustomerService/ContactUs.html
Caterpillar Inc. - 309-675-1000 http://www.cat.com/cda/layout?m=37324&x=7
CBS Corporation - 1-212-975-4321 http://www.cbscorporation.com/contact.php
Chanel USA - 1.800.550.0005 https://secure.chanel.com/en_US/customer-service/at-your-service.html
Coach - 1-800-444-3611 https://www.coach.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet//ContactUsView?storeId=10551&catalogId=10051
Columbia Sportswear Company - (800) 622-6953 http://www.columbia.com/contact-us/Contact_Us,default,pg.html
Comcast Corporation - 215-286-1700 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Comcast_Corporation/ryfyci-1.html
Coty Inc. - 212-479-4300 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Coty_Inc/hhkcri-1.html
CVS Caremark - 401-765-1500 http://www.hoovers.com/company/CVS_Caremark_Corporation/rfsxci-1.html
Dolby Laboratories, Inc. - 415-558-0200 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Dolby_Laboratories_Inc/ckcshi-1.html
Dolce & Gabbana USA, Inc. http://store.dolcegabbana.com/localize.asp?page=help/contactform&
Electronic Arts, Inc. - (650) 628-1500 (they open at 8am PT)
ESPN http://espn.go.com/espn/contact
Fender Musical Instrument Company - 480.596.9690 http://www.fender.com/contact_information.php
Ford Motor Company - 800-392-3673 http://corporate.ford.com/owner-services/customer-support/contact-ford/contact-ford-address-phone
Gibson Guitar Corp. - 1-800-444-2766 http://www.gibson.com/en-us/Support/
Harley-Davidson Motor Company - 1-800-258-2464 http://www.harley-davidson.com/en_US/Content/Pages/Utility/contact-us.html
Johnson & Johnson - (732) 524-0400 https://secure-www.jnj.com/wps/wcm/jsp/contactUs.jsp
Juicy Couture, Inc - 1-888-908-1160 http://www.juicycouture.com/Juicy-Couture-Customer-Service/customer-service,default,pg.html
Lacoste USA - 1-800-452-2678 https://shop.lacoste.com/contactus?skipSignIn=true
Leatherman Tool Group, Inc. - (800) 847-8665 http://www.leatherman.com/about/contact
Lexmark International, Inc. - 1-859-232-2000 http://www1.lexmark.com/en_US/about-us/company/contact-us.shtml
Liz Claiborne, Inc - (212) 354-4900 http://lizclaiborneinc.com/web/guest/contactinformation
L'Oreal USA - 1-212-818-1500 http://www.lorealusa.com/_en/_us/tools/contact/contact.aspx
Lucky Brand Jeans - 1-866-975-5825 http://www.luckybrand.com/Customer-Care/customerCare,default,pg.html
Marvel http://marvel.com/corporate/contact
Major League Baseball - 212-485-3444 http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/help/contact_us.jsp
Marmot - (707) 544-4590 http://marmot.com/contact
Monster Cable Products, Inc. - 415 840-2000 http://www.monstercable.com/service/contact.asp
National Basketball Association (NBA) http://www.nba.com/email_us/
National Football League (NFL) http://www.nfl.com/contact-us
NBCUniversal - 212-664-4444 http://www.nbcuni.com/contact-us/
Nervous Tattoo Inc., dba Ed Hardy - 323-785-4460 http://edhardyshop.com/contact.html
New Balance Athletic Shoe, Inc. - (636) 326-1024 http://www.newbalance.com/help/
New Era Cap Co Inc - 1-877-632-5950 http://shop.neweracap.com/infoPages/contact.php
NHL Enterprises, L.P. - 212-789-2000 http://www.nhl.com/ice/feedback.htm
Nike, Inc. - 1-503-671-6453 http://nikeinc.com/pages/contact-nike-inc
Oakley, Inc. - (800) 431-1439 http://www.oakley.com/customer-care/customer-care-info
Peavey Electronics Corporation - 601-483-5365 http://www.peavey.com/support/contactinfo/
Perry Ellis International - 1-800-994-0073 http://www.perryellis.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-perryellis-Site/default/CustomerService-ContactUs
Petzl America - 801-926-1310 http://www.petzl.com/en/corp/contact_info
Pfizer Inc. - 1-212-733-2323 https://www.pfizer.com/contact/mail_general.jsp
PGA of America - (561) 624-8400 http://www.pga.com/about/contact
Philip Morris International - 804-274-2000 or 800-343-0975 http://www.philipmorrisusa.com/en/cms/contact_us/default.aspx
PING - 1.800.474.6434 http://ping.com/about/contactus.aspx
Ralph Lauren Corporation - 888-475-7674 http://www.ralphlauren.com/helpdesk/index.jsp
Red Wing Shoe Company - 1-800-733-9464 http://www.redwingshoes.com/customer-service
Reebok International Ltd. - 781-401-5000 http://corporate.reebok.com/en/about_reebok/contact_us/default.asp
Revlon - 1-800-473-8566 http://www.revlon.com/Revlon-Home/Revlon-General/Contact.aspx
Rite Aid - Home Office: (717) 761-2633 http://www.riteaid.com/contact_us/
Rolex Watch USA Inc. - 665 5th Ave, New York, NY10022 - Tel: (212) 758-7700 - Fax: (212) 223-7443
Rosetta Stone Inc. - 1.800.280.8172? http://www.rosettastone.com/global/contact
Shure Incorporated - (847) 600-2000 http://www.shure.com/americas/about-shure/contact-us/index.htm
Sony Electronics Inc. (try 1-800-222-7669) http://news.sel.sony.com/en/corporate_information/contact_us
Sony Music Entertainment - (212) 833-8000 http://hub.sonymusic.com/about/feedback.php
Sony Pictures Entertainment - 310-244-4000 http://www.hoovers.com/company/Sony_Pictures_Entertainment_Inc/hjyjki-1.html
Spyder Active Sports, Inc - 303-544-4000 http://www.spyder.com/about/contact
Taylor Guitars - 619-258-1207 http://www.taylorguitars.com/contact/support/
Taylor Made Golf Company, Inc. - 1.866.530.8624 http://www.taylormadegolf.com/customer-service/contact-us
The Dow Chemical Company - 800-258-2436 http://www.dow.com/financial/contact.htm
The Estee Lauder Companies - 877-311-3883 http://www.esteelauder.com/customer_service/contact.tmpl
The Timberland Company - 603-772-9500 http://www.timberland.com/category/index.jsp?categoryId=4039631
The Walt Disney Company - 818-560-1000 http://corporate.disney.go.com/investors/shareholder_contact.html
Tiffany & Co. - 1-800-843-3269 http://www.tiffany.com/service/policy_con.aspx
Time Warner Inc. - 212.484.8000 http://www.timewarner.com/contact-us/
Toshiba America Business Solutions, Inc. - Corporate Offices (949) 583-3000 http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/navShell.jsp?cf=su_contact
True Religion Jeans http://www.truereligionbrandjeans.com/contact.html
UFC - Ultimate Fighting Championship - (702) 221-4780 http://www.ufc.com/contact
Visa http://corporate.visa.com/utility/contact-us.shtml
Viacom - (212) 258-6000 http://www.viacom.com/contact/Pages/default.aspx
Wal-Mart - 479-273-4000 http://walmartstores.com/AboutUs/9505.aspx
Warner Music Group - (212) 275-2000 http://www.wmg.com/contact
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. 203-352-8600 (see bottom of their link for corporate) http://www.wwe.com/help/contactus
Xerox Corporation - 1-800-275-9376 http://www.xerox.com/perl-bin/world_contact.pl#0
Zippo Manufacturing Company - 888.442.1932 http://www.zippo.com/customercare/contact_us.aspx ***Note: if there are any inaccuracies on this list (companies that don't support SOPA that were included, or companies that weren't included, email me).
The companies in red aren't impossible to boycott, just a lot more difficult because of their size. For example, you'd probably have to spend an hour of research every week just to make sure you weren't supporting a Viacom property if you chose to boycott them, and a boycott fewer than a few million strong probably won't matter to a company as large as Viacom. The companies in yellow stand a chance of getting some significant fallout from a boycott. There are a number of publishers on this list, including my own publisher. If the consensus I get from readers is that we should boycott publishers, I'll support the boycott even though it hurts me. However, publishing companies traditionally haven't gone after piracy as blindly and bone-headedly as the MPAA and RIAA, so there are more deserving targets.
Which companies do you think deserve the boycott for SOPA? How would you propose we solve the problem that doesn't involve changing your Facebook profile picture?
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