I often wonder if the people's voice really matters at all to our Government anymore. Our politicians know that their campaign money all comes from corporations, and that individual's donations count for a drop in the bucket in comparison. So why would they care about our opinions? All they have to do is make their opponent look bad by comparison, and then they can go ahead and do what their money wants them to do.
For the first time ever, I got a response from a letter that I sent to a representative that contained more than "Thanks for your input, I will consider it". This was in response to an email I sent about a Protect IP bill that would allow the government to force search engines and ISPs to block websites from view for American citizens. The response came from, unsurprisingly, Rand Paul.
Now, I'm sure that this same message probably goes out to everyone who emails him about this issue. But the fact that this response came from his office containing a declaration of his current opinion on the issue was reassuring. He didn't have to respond, or even acknowledge that he knew about the issue I was referencing. I wouldn't have expected it, nobody else ever has. He didn't have to give any hint of how he would vote on the issue, or the problems with the bill that he would address when it came to the Senate floor, but he did.
I don't agree with everything this man says, I don't think he's perfect. I think he has a few ideas that are a little bit "out there". . . but I'd rather have someone who takes their position seriously and genuinely tries to make things better, than the rest of our politicians who are just padding their wallets while mortgaging the country. People that I couldn't trust with a $20 bill, much less our country. Now we just need more people willing to stand up against the status quo.
Here is the response I received:
August 30, 2011
Dear Mr. Cobb,
Thank you for taking the time to contact me regarding the Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act of 2011 (PROTECT IP Act). I appreciate hearing your thoughts on this issue.
The PROTECT IP Act aims to protect the rights of trademark and copyright holders, including a private right of action for intellectual property owners. This means that intellectual property owners as well as the government can seek injunctions against websites "dedicated to infringing activities". Many websites are large with a great deal of content. Having an entire website blocked from searches due to questionable content is a broad overreaction to the problem the bill's sponsors are trying to solve.
Copyright owners already have legal remedies at their disposal to remove infringing material piece-by-piece. The definition of an "Internet site dedicated to infringing activities" in this legislation is both broad and vague. Many industry experts have also raised security and other technical concerns relating to the domain filtering requirements of this bill. Using a similar law, the Department of Homeland Security has already seized web site domain names - including some by accident. This hardly seems like a good solution, and such problems need to be fixed before this bill is considered.
On May 26th, 2011 the PROTECT IP Act was placed on the Senate Legislative Calendar, where it awaits further consideration. Again, thank you for contacting my office regarding this matter. Rest assured, should this issue come before me in the Senate, I will keep your thoughts in mind.
Sincerely,
Rand Paul, MD
United States Senator
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