Copy of a letter I have sent to my representative. Similar letters have also been sent to both of my senators.

Dear Representative Chaffetz,

When you campaigned in 2008, you promised to go to Congress and fight for me. As your constituent, I am writing you to ask you to PLEASE do everything in your power to fight SOPA and PIPA.

I create content for the web, and I go out of my way to ensure that everything I create is legitimate, original and worthwhile. I have had that content pirated, and I feel firsthand the frustration of seeing others use and profit from my stolen efforts and being unable to find effective recourse against these people.

I want good anti-piracy legislation. We NEED good anti-piracy legislation. But SOPA and PIPA are NOT good legislation. While I appreciate the effort put into helping web-based businesspeople like myself gain speedy recourse against pirates–and this should be a part of good anti-piracy legislation–I am unsure if the laws will help a small business like myself, and I am genuinely terrified of the breadth and ease with which this recourse may be misapplied to legitimate content created under fair use.

I know this is a tricky issue. Balancing speedy recourse against infringement versus appropriate defense against censorship of free speech will require some clear thinking, tough negotiating, and hard fighting. But that’s what we elected you for.

Please give us good anti-piracy legislation. And please, do it by first stopping SOPA and PIPA.

Thank you,

David Brady
President, Shiny Systems LLC, and active Utah District 3 voter