pookypuggin: I have a dream… (Taken with instagram)

puddindont:

503: Puddin’ Unavailable

Because the US Senate is considering legislation that could possibly ruin the internet forever, Puddin’ don’t appear today, as an act of protest. The legislation, so called PROTECT IP Act, (PIPA), could result in the Puddin’ Don’t series being put in jeopardy if anyone claimed copyright infringement. There are some Puddin’ Don’t cartoons that parody works of trademarked content owned by powerful and hostile organizations (Disney, Viacom, LucasFilms, NewsCorp., Warner Bros., etc.). There have been many cases in the past few years where just the mere complaint of infringement, warranted or not, even in violation of long-standing legal copyright precedence, has caused otherwise legitimate, satirical content to be pulled down in order to avoid a risk of lawsuit. In most of these cases, artists and outlets have complied, simply because defending lawsuits is exceptionally expensive, and most often beyond the means of the defendants. This is exactly what this legislation–and SOPA, which was being considered in the House of Representatives–was all about. Spearheaded by the monied and the powerful, under the ruse of protecting artists’ rights, the powerful, true owners of intellectual property rights–record companies, producers, studios, media conglomerates, etc.–these pieces of legislation served little purpose beyond entrenching the stranglehold of over the rights to the creative works of artists by their “patrons”.

Censorship is for totalitarian regimes, like China, North Korea, or Iran. It does not belong in America, the “Land of the Free”. If you support the freedom of creative expression, as I do, please visit AmericanCensorship.org for instructions on contacting your Senator. The Electronic Frontier Foundation  has more information on this matter and other issues related to our freedom online.

Thanks, 

Puddin’ (and Jake)

I hadn’t planned on protesting today but this is too important to ignore. Thank you, Jake, for writing this. I will take the easy way out and reblog.