[Coda]

Illusion, I'm speaking here as a user and not as a moderator, because saying this as a moderator would get me kicked off the staff...

Shut up.

What you just posted says "I hate SOPA because it'll stop me from getting copyrighted stuff for free."

That kind of attitude is exactly why a lot of people are ignoring the SOPA protests -- there's a sense among people who aren't Internet-savvy that anyone who would oppose SOPA supports piracy. And people who say the things you have said here are then cited as support for that belief.

Now, with my moderator hat back on, I'm not going to censor you, because you haven't officially broken any rules (though if you were to have given examples you WOULD have) and because I believe that you have the right to say it even though I think you're wrong.

But mod hat back off... statements like that make SOPA opponents look bad.

Now then, Renata, I wish that reactions alone were enough to say "it'll never pass". Sadly, Congress makes unpopular moves all the time; being unpopular doesn't stop laws from being passed, especially if the legislators voting for it believe that it's for the public's own good. :(

The blackout hasn't really raised awareness in Congress at all. Everyone in the House already knows about SOPA and everyone in the Senate already knows about PIPA. After all, they're expected to vote on it. Furthermore every representative and senator has already received a flood of e-mails, paper letters, and phone calls about it from the OTHER protest drives that have happened before today. This is why I say the blackout itself really isn't going to change the minds of very many congresspeople... though a new flood of people who have complaints about it MIGHT have an effect.

Finally, the US isn't a democracy. It never was and it was never intended to be. It's a republic. The whole reason we have a Congress, the whole reason we have an Electoral College, the whole reason that we elect representatives instead of voting directly on issues is because majority rule hurts minorities. If the US were a democracy, a lot of the protections that have been passed to help minorities wouldn't exist. The system works by allowing a small group of people (Congress) to be able to IGNORE the majority for the sake of finding a better solution.

But it also means that there are fewer people who need bought out to make things happen. A republic only works if the representatives are willing to make impartial decisions to pass laws that benefit the public. When politics interferes with doing what's right, that's when the system has failed.