[lucasjung]

>Contact your representatives, do something.

I think his point was that OP did exactly that, and found that the 'AAs already have his legislator firmly in their pocket. It's like that scene at the end of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, where the chick is all relieved to see someone she knows and trusts, only to realize too late that he has already been converted.

I also absolutely hate the phrase, "Do something!" or "Get involved!" in regards to politics or causes in general. It's absolutely useless. People already know that they want to do something, they want to know what they can do that will actually have an effect on the outcome, preferably with tutorials, lessons learned, etc. Harassing already-bought politicians does not fall into that category.

[jterce]

> Harassing already-bought politicians does not fall into that category.

True indeed. The only thing to do with them is send them packing on the next off ramp. That's the idea behind a web app I'm developing: http://repwatch.us

You've got to be able to keep track of who needs to go and why.

[jarin]

I'm relatively sure that if there's enough public outrage and media coverage, some of the bought politicians might reconsider. I mean, COICA didn't pass after all, right?

[rooshdi]

Well, the PROTECT IP Act is like a rehashed version of COICA. They're just going to keep renaming the same type of bill until it gets passed. Plus, most of the public doesn't care because they don't know what's going on and the major news media doesn't care much to inform them. They get more ratings off of celebrity scandals anyways.

[nitrogen]

COICA was reincarnated as PROTECTIP. The problem with trying to build public outrage over *AA actions is that the media companies control the only communication channels that most people use to form their opinions.