This is not exactly web design related, but it is surely an issue that will affect us all if passed. As many of you will know, Congress is considering two bills regarding online censorship, the PROTECT-IP Act and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

As Tumblr tells us, “As written, they would betray more than a decade of US policy and advocacy of Internet freedom by establishing a censorship system using the same domain blacklisting technologies pioneered by China and Iran.”

Well, now you can easily act and directly tell your representative what you think with a new automated service offered by Tumblr. From their website:

Yesterday we did a historic thing. We generated 87,834 phone calls to U.S. Representatives in a concertedeffort to protect the Internet. Extraordinary. There’s no doubt that we’ve been heard.

So just to keep you updated: The well-intentioned, but immensely flawed “Stop Online Piracy Act” is still in the House Judiciary Committee. The hearing was yesterday and now members will debate and bring amendments to the bill. The Committee will reconvene in a few weeks — the date has yet to be scheduled. Nothing has been brought to a final vote. Everything is still very much in play. We’ll keep you posted on what’s going on and what you can do to help. But for now, we want to thank you.

For more information on what SOPA and the PROTECT-IP Act means for the web, read Devin Coldewey’s TechCrunch column, ”Kill Switch,” and ArsTechnica’s report on the bills.

To call your rep today and let them know you think these bills are unacceptable, visit Protect the Internet now or call your Representative directly. The Internet thanks you.