The Day the Internet Didn’t Fight Back
"By late Tuesday, some 70,000 calls had been placed to legislators and roughly 150,000 people had sent their representatives an email."What was to be expected?  The offices of my Senators and Representatives were swamped all day with phone calls.The author keeps paying lip-service to the comparison of this effort to SOPA/PIPA --- which was entirely different.  Those bills were a direct challenge to the internet as we knew it, and everyone (including the big players) moved in to participate.  That protest was about two game-changing bills with votes on the floor (all other paths for success had failed - if you're Google,Wikipedia, etc); this protest was about the status quo.Our elected officials heard us today - from seemingly nowhere, that the status quo isn't acceptable.  The verbiage directly called the kettle black on the supposed "FISA Reform Bill," reminding politicians that the powder is dry if head too far off course.  And that (IMHO) makes a big statement.I felt the post was unjustifiably negative[/defeatist] with a link bait title and lame observations.  It would be great to see Google, Facebook, Wikipedia, etc. play a larger role and "see the bigger picture"-- especially given that companies like Microsoft have officially recognized dragnet surveillance as an "advanced persistent threat." [0]  Again, it would be great, but it can't be necessary.  We want their help, but we cannot need it.PS - It's defeatist to say the following: "internet protests will never change anything in Washington.""The Powerbroker," a Pulitzer-Prize winning biography praised by Aaron Swartz [1], conveys the following two lessons with regards to affecting change in government:  1.) the only thing which matters (from the perspective of a common man) is raising the political stakes in every manner possible, forcing the issue into the court of public opinion where politicians must pick sides in a very public affair.  2.) The other things which matter are in conversations which you are not a part of. . . ... dig in.  This is a minor skirmish in a long war (of attrition) against the Est..[0] - http://www.theverge.com/2013/12/5/5177554/microsoft-plans-se...
[1] - https://zolabooks.com/list/aaron-swartz-reading-list/1