Hijexx:

Boycott these organizations for supporting SOPA. Hit them where it hurts: the almighty dollar.

You give them more credit than they deserve. These companies aren't in any position to discern why revenues are down. No one will attribute a dip in F-150 sales to Ford's support for SOPA; instead, they will lobby Congress to restore the tax credit in hopes of spurring sales of new vehicles. If The Ides of March fails to draw you to the box office, Sony Pictures Entertainment will conclude that you don't care enough about politics to be interested in a "supremely well-acted ", if cynical, depiction of the American political process. No one will figure out that you were boycotting the US distributor. They would sooner conclude that you had pirated the film over the Internet, thereby making SOPA's prompt passage all the more urgent.

Can the signatories to the letter be said to "support the bill" that is presently under consideration?

Here is what they wrote on December 14:

The undersigned businesses, trade associations, and professional and labor organizations, representing a broad cross-section of the American economy, write in support of rogue sites legislation. We commend both the House and the Senate for their attention to this important issue.

... The operators of rogue sites break laws, do not pay taxes, and skirt accountability. In light of these concerns, we urge you to enact carefully balanced rogue sites legislation this year. We commend the House and the Senate for their attention to this important issue and look forward to working with you in support of that goal.

The above language differs from an earlier letter of May 25 to the Senate, in which a somewhat different group of organizations more explicitly endorsed a specific bill:

The undersigned businesses, trade associations, and professional and labor organizations, representing a broad cross-section of the American economy, endorse S. 968, the "PROTECT IP Act of 2011" to protect American jobs and consumers. ... We urge you to approve the PROTECT IP Act and work with your colleagues in the House of Representatives to enact carefully balanced legislation this year. We look forward to working with you in support of that goal.

Both letters call for "carefully balanced legislation" and do not directly endorse specific remedies. This ambiguity gives Congress the latitude to devise the implementation details, about which the commercial advocates can later express their (possibly even sincere) disappointment even as they take full advantage of the new enforcement regime. (To decline to use it is to accept a competitive disadvantage compared to those do.)

It's a nice thought to communicate your disagreement to the signatories, but do you think they'll get the message because you bought your paper towels from Target instead of Walmart, or because you bought a cheap Chinese flat-screen TV at BJ's instead of a Sony at Sam's Club? There are way too many factors in play for those "signals" to be extracted from the river of economic activity.

RE: SOPA: Put your money where your mouth is