Trying and trying again.

Suggestions for effective anti-SOPA action

Reddit is organizing “Dump GoDaddy Day” on 12/29. A likely effect of this action is that GoDaddy drops any vestige of support for SOPA and then immediately fades into the background. This will be a nice win for the Internet, but Congress won’t care. The Internet’s (as it were) great handicap in this battle is a lack of lobbying power, itself a symptom of tech’s institutionalized reluctance to play by DC’s rules. But changing how Congress works is (or should be) a task for another day. With that in mind, two alternative actions that would likely yield better results than DGD:

• Target KKR, SIlver Lake, and TCV. GoDaddy’s majority owners are a triumvirate of PE firms with deep pockets, large Rolodexes, and large dollars at risk in internet companies with significant exposure to SOPA. They know the lawmakers and the lobbyists. They can help. (They may already be helping.)
• Set up a Kickstarter project to fund anti-SOPA lobbying. Use the internet to build a single-serve, ad-hoc PAC, one whose only goal is the defeat of SOPA/PIPA. Hire lots of lobbyists and give them lots of money. Aim them at everyone and anyone on the Hill. Coordinate their lobbying efforts with large-scale internet actions.

Congressmen may not understand the internet, but they damn well pay attention to the political winds, and lobbyists are their weathermen.