Hacking politics : how geeks, progressives, the Tea Party, gamers, anarchists, and suits teamed up to defeat SOPA and save the Internet

Hacking Politics is a firsthand account of how a ragtag band of activists and technologists overcame a $90 million lobbying machine to defeat the most serious threat to Internet freedom in memory. The book is a revealing look at how Washington works today and how citizens successfully fought back. Written by the core Internet figures video gamers, Tea Partiers, tech titans, lefty activists and ordinary Americans among them who defeated a pair of special interest bills called SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP Act), Hacking Politics provides the first detailed account of the glorious, grand chaos that led to the demise of that legislation and helped foster an Internet-based network of amateur activists. Included are more than thirty original contributions from across the political spectrum, featuring writing by Internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz; Lawrence Lessig of Harvard Law School; novelist Cory Doctorow; Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA.); Jamie Laurie (of the alt-rock/hip-hop group The Flobots); Ron Paul; Mike Masnick, CEO and founder of Techdirt; Kim Dotcom, internet entrepreneur; Tiffiniy Cheng, co-founder and co-director of Fight for the Future; Alexis Ohanian, co-founder of Reddit; Nicole Powers of Suicide Girls; Josh Levy, Internet Campaign Director at Free Press, and many more. "From Aaron to Zoe--they're here, detailing what the SOPA/PIPA battle was like, sharing their insights, advice, and personal observations. Hacking Politics includes original contributions by Aaron Swartz, Rep. Zoe Lofgren, Lawrence Lessig, Rep. Ron Paul, Reddit's Alexis Ohanian, Cory Doctorow, Kim Dotcom and many other technologists, activists, and artists. Hacking Politics is the most comprehensive work to date about the SOPA [Stop Online Piracy Act] protests and the glorious defeat of that legislation. Here are reflections on why and how the effort worked, but also a blow-by-blow account of the battle against Washington, Hollywood, and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that led to the demise of SOPA and PIPA."--Cover