Protesters take anti-SOPA campaign to Manhattan offices of Schumer and Gillibrand
'The future of the NY tech community is in jeopardy,' the group states

Protesters will be asking Schumer and Gillibrand to withdraw their sponsorship of the legislation, Rasiej said, “or tell us specifically under what circumstances they would vote yes for PIPA taking into account our grave concerns.”

Requests for comment from the offices of Schumer and Gillibrand were not immediately answered Tuesday evening.
Rasiej said the web and information technologies have created “a renaissance in startup innovation in New York that now rivals Silicon Valley as a hub for economic growth.”

The legislation would have a chilling effect, he said.

“Because a new innovation by a startup could be interpreted by a judge unfamiliar with how the technology works, as infringing on copyright, investors and entrepreneurs would be discouraged from moving forward with a startup due to a significantly increased risk of legal entanglement. This in turn would dampen job creation and future opportunities for
New Yorkers and Americans as a whole,” he said.

With opposition piling on fast, SOPA in the House of Representatives is on hold, and PIPA in the Senate faces a procedural vote next week. Both bills seek to halt piracy of copyrighted materials such as movies and TV shows, especially overseas. Proponents also argue that the legislation would protect U.S. jobs being lost to rampant piracy of U.S. intellectual property.

But opponents say the legislation goes too far, imperiling innovation, fostering censorship, threatening the existence of legitimate websites and inhibiting the freedom that helped shape the medium.
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SOPA Protests Planned in New York, San Francisco

A New York City technology group called NY Tech Meetup, which hosts monthly meetings for startups, scheduled a protest for 12:30 p.m. Wednesday in front of the midtown offices of U.S. Senators Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand.