Proponents of the latest disastrous IP bill , the “Stop Online Piracy Act” (SOPA) insist it only targets the “worst of the worst”: so-called “rogue” foreign websites that profit from pirating U.S. intellectual property. But the broad definitions and vague language in the bill could place dangerous tools into the hands of IP rightsholders, with little opportunity for judicial oversight. One very possible outcome: many of the lawful sites you know and love will face new legal threats. …

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Electronic Frontier Foundation

Anybody who thinks about SOPA for more than 15sec will realize it’s an idiotic idea.

… It’s a power play from big corporate media companies — the sort of legislation that nearly everyone strenuously opposes but which might pass because the money is on the wrong side. …

Daring Fireball by John Gruber

American legislators are mostly bought off by old media. How does that happen. Here’s one painfully obvious example just brought to light by 60 Minutes, a show that aired Nov. 13, 2011:

… The next national election is now less than a year away and congressmen and senators are expending much of their time and their energy raising the millions of dollars in campaign funds they’ll need just to hold onto a job that pays $174,000 a year.

… Most former congressmen and senators manage to leave Washington – if they ever leave Washington – with more money in their pockets than they had when they arrived …

(Peter) Schweizer says he wanted to know why some congressmen and senators managed to accumulate significant wealth beyond their salaries, and proved particularly adept at buying and selling stocks.

Schweizer: There are all sorts of forms of honest grafts that congressmen engage in that allow them to become very, very wealthy. So it’s not illegal, but I think it’s highly unethical, I think it’s highly offensive, and wrong.

Steve Kroft: What do you mean honest graft?

Schweizer: For example insider trading on the stock market. If you are a member of Congress, those laws are deemed not to apply.

Congress: Trading stock on inside information?

Implicated are Nancy Pelosi, John Boehner and many other heavy hitters. If they were anyone other than the group of people writing the laws, they’d be in prison.

There is some hope this criminal behaviour can be slowed – Measure to ban Congressional insider trading gains steam