U.S. Congressman joins League of Legends developer in urging fans to oppose SOPA/PIPA

News
By published

congressriot

This morning, Riot Games joined Google, Reddit, Amazon, Twitter, and Facebook on the growing list of internet-based companies to publicly oppose the two extreme anti-piracy bills circling in the U.S. Congress, and asked its fans to do the same. Riot CEO and co-founder Brandon "Ryze" Beck outlined his company's objections to the two bills, the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA), on League of Legends' official forums and gave several examples of how the bills would harm League of Legends' gameplay and community if they passed. Among them, he warns that it could mean the death of livestreaming and other community-generated content websites like DeviantArt and Reddit.

The biggest surprise in the forum thread comes at reply #5, which is made by Congressman Jared Polis of Colorado--avid League of Legends player (he prefers Maokai and Anivia) and opposer of SOPA and PIPA--who expresses his objections to the bills and also urges LoL fans to contact their representatives to oppose the bill. Riot has confirmed his identity, made a special forum image for him, and granted him the rank "United States Congress" on the forums.

If you have questions about the two bills, or why Riot opposes them, hop over to this Reddit thread , where Riot's lawyer is taking questions about their stance on SOPA/PIPA in an "Ask Me Anything" post all day long.

If you want to contact your representive to let them know your feelings on the two bills, you can use Congress' official website or use the pre-written message that Riot recommends through this site .

Josh Augustine
Latest in MOBA
League of Legends promo image - huge dude in a huge suit of armor holding a huge axe
Riot walks back unpopular League of Legends changes: Hextech Chests are coming back, and the Blue Essence cost for new champions will be cut in half
A triptych of views from Deadlock's improved map, showing a suspension bridge backlit by a setting sun, a triumphal arch with buildings in the background, and a leafy park overlooked by distant skyscrapers.
Deadlock gets a massive map overhaul that shrinks its map from four lanes to three: 'This has a large range of accompanying map-wide changes'
Three monsters holding clubs in Dota 2.
As a lapsed 4,500 hour veteran of Dota 2, the big new Wandering Waters update has lured me back—but despite the changes, the game still feels stuck in its ways
Sahn-Uzal Mordekaiser revealed in silhouette against a white moon and a blood-red sky.
League of Legends is getting a hotly anticipated skin for its lich necromancer Mordekaiser, but fans' joy has been 'obliterated' because it's 'stuck in a $200 fomo gacha store'
Smite 2 art
Hi-Rez will only be giving 'minor updates' to Smite and Paladins now it's laying off around 70 employees, but don't worry, Smite 2 is the 'primary focus of the newly streamlined operations'
LoL summoner art
It's high time League of Legends got full voice chat
Latest in News
A Helldiver charges through the fire and flames in Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 CCO Johan Pilestedt says the industry's got it backwards by putting features over fundamentals: 'We talk way too little about the core philosophy'
Marvel Rivals codes - Venom and other heroes
'A developer who actually listens': Marvel Rivals' devs fix accidental Peni Parker nerf just 9 short hours after saying they would
Best Assassin's Creed Shadows armour - Naoe with her arm back about to attack with a katana.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows sneakily tones down the mess players can make across Japan’s religious sites in its day one patch
OpenAI logo displayed on a phone screen and ChatGPT website displayed on a laptop screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on December 5, 2022.
ChatGPT faces legal complaint after a user inputted their own name and found it accused them of made-up crimes
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivering pancakes and sausages to pre-GTC show hosts and guests, wearing an apron
'There might be a party. I wasn't invited,' says Jensen Huang of the rumoured TSMC proposal to join forces and run Intel's chip fabs
Endless Legend 2 Kin faction reveal
It's turtle time: Endless Legend 2's first faction is the fortification-loving Kin of Sheredyn
More about moba
League of Legends promo image - huge dude in a huge suit of armor holding a huge axe

Riot walks back unpopular League of Legends changes: Hextech Chests are coming back, and the Blue Essence cost for new champions will be cut in half
A triptych of views from Deadlock's improved map, showing a suspension bridge backlit by a setting sun, a triumphal arch with buildings in the background, and a leafy park overlooked by distant skyscrapers.

Deadlock gets a massive map overhaul that shrinks its map from four lanes to three: 'This has a large range of accompanying map-wide changes'
A Helldiver charges through the fire and flames in Helldivers 2.

Helldivers 2 CCO Johan Pilestedt says the industry's got it backwards by putting features over fundamentals: 'We talk way too little about the core philosophy'
See more latest
Most Popular
A Helldiver charges through the fire and flames in Helldivers 2.
Helldivers 2 CCO Johan Pilestedt says the industry's got it backwards by putting features over fundamentals: 'We talk way too little about the core philosophy'
Best Assassin's Creed Shadows armour - Naoe with her arm back about to attack with a katana.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows sneakily tones down the mess players can make across Japan’s religious sites in its day one patch
Marvel Rivals codes - Venom and other heroes
'A developer who actually listens': Marvel Rivals' devs fix accidental Peni Parker nerf just 9 short hours after saying they would
OpenAI logo displayed on a phone screen and ChatGPT website displayed on a laptop screen are seen in this illustration photo taken in Krakow, Poland on December 5, 2022.
ChatGPT faces legal complaint after a user inputted their own name and found it accused them of made-up crimes
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang delivering pancakes and sausages to pre-GTC show hosts and guests, wearing an apron
'There might be a party. I wasn't invited,' says Jensen Huang of the rumoured TSMC proposal to join forces and run Intel's chip fabs
Endless Legend 2 Kin faction reveal
It's turtle time: Endless Legend 2's first faction is the fortification-loving Kin of Sheredyn
A massive beachhead assault in indie RTS Beyond All Reason
Over 110 players and 10,000 units clash as this free RTS celebrates its growing multiplayer scene with some of the biggest multiplayer battles ever fought
live action Jimbo the Jester from Balatro holding a playing card and addressing the camera
Balatro's first demo could be edited with Notepad to unlock the whole game—the solution? 'Bury it as soon as possible' with a 'newer, shinier version'
Adeline Rudolph depicting Mortal Kombat 2 character Kitana, standing ready for combat with a fan splayed in each hand.
Karl Urban as Johnny Cage and Adeline Rudolph as Kitana look like good additions to the Mortal Kombat 2 movie, but I think a flawless victory is still far from certain
A group of bandits sweep into a tavern to viciously interrogate its subjects in the D&D 2024 monster manual.
'Hasbro pushed Sigil out of the nest': D&D's latest layoffs happened because the 'distinct monetization path' for its virtual tabletop Sigil never materialized