VBWeekly: We call Congress about SOPA (video)

For our weekly video show, we decided that not only were we going to talk about SOPA; we were going to do something about SOPA.

Also, this was our CES wrap-up show, and Chris Peri, who was there to see it all, recaps some of the highlights of the consumer electronics freak-fest that was. You can check out all of VentureBeat’s CES 2012 coverage at your leisure.

SOPA is the Stop Online Piracy Act, a bill that attempts to conquer counterfeiting and piracy but would also entail widespread censorship on the web.

We wouldn’t call the bill controversial so much as outright hated — at least among the citizens of the Internet. Even the Internet’s founders and inventors have become very vocal about their opposition to SOPA and its sister bill, PIPA.

So instead of standing idly by and opining about SOPA, we picked up the phone and called Congress.

Jolie O’Dell (that’s me, folks) called Rep. Jackie Speier of California to express opposition to SOPA (in other, unfilmed correspondence, O’Dell also contacted her two senators about her opposition to PIPA). We highly recommend that you do the same post haste.

If you’re all fired up and ready to get in touch with your representatives in Congress, here’s a great guide explaining exactly how to do that.

If you’re not shy about getting on the phone, you can call your representatives in Congress directly. The Senate switchboard number is (202) 224-3121, and the House switchboard is (202) 224-3121.