In our last update, we talked about the unfortunate fact that Plaid was a fight we couldn’t win, because the laws we need to regulate Big Tech simply don’t exist yet. The Indie Sellers Guild (our all-volunteer free-to-join advocacy org for creative people) plans to fight to pass the laws we need for a better, fairer internet. And we’re already on our way to doing JUST that!
The top issue for makers and artists on platforms like Etsy is resellers - people who dishonestly pass off items ordered wholesale from factories overseas as handmade by them. Etsy enables this activity, by blatantly failing to enforce their own policies, year after year.
Every single day, more shoppers are scammed into overpaying for cheap mass-produced items on platforms like Etsy. It’s even happened to US Senators - including Wisconsin Senator Tammy Baldwin. Since the day she was scammed by a reseller, Senator Tammy has been working on a law called the COOL Online Act. It’s a simple requirement for products posted online to say which country they came from, much like products in stores say the same thing. Vintage items are exempt, and any item that is substantially transformed by the seller (any handmade item) is also exempt.
We learned about the COOL online act when Brian Conlan, Senator Tammy’s Executive Legislative Director reached out to us. He saw us on the news during the Etsy Strike, and reached out hoping we might support the bill. Etsy has been fighting this bill tooth and nail, putting words in our mouths and saying their makers don’t want it.
When we dove into the specifics of the bill (it really is a slam dunk for every single one of our members) we grew more and more excited. We sent a statement of support, along with a summary of our guild’s big research project, which supports just how badly makers want this bill (more on that later!)
If you would like to read the whole wild story about how our grassroots all-volunteer guild helped a BILL make it past the first hurdle through the Senate Commerce Committee, click here. Or if you want to skip all that and you’re like “OMG sign me up RIGHT NOW to help make that bill a REALITY!”, click here.
In a few days, we’ll share another update to tell you about the awesome research we sent to the Senate.